96 Camry Steering Wheel Shaking (lefe-rignt direction) when when deceleration

[iodine]

My car (96 Camry 4CL 2.2L) steering wheel shakes (left-right direction) when decelerating even without pressing the brake. When this happens, the wheel seems locked and need extra effort to turn the wheel to the left. Last time this happend, there was some metal noise which really scared me.


I know my car needs a new CV shaft as it “clicks” when turning. However, I am not sure what cause the shaking.


Do you have an idea why this happens and how much to fix it?







Did a search on the forum, there are several possible reasons causing the shaking,



Unblanaced tire/Poor aliagnment : Might be, but is this left-rigt direction shaking? And this should not give the metal noise.


Rotor: Should not be. As it shakes without pressing the brake.


Bearing: Might be, how to confirm this?

Power steering system: Might be, how to confirm?



CV shafts/joints: To myself, it is more likely to be the reason. As it has problem when turning, connected to the wheel which may cause the left-right direction movement, and can cause the metal noise.





What cause this problem do you think? Please help me dioganoise this.



Your inputs and help are more than welcom. Thanks.

[toyomoho]

A failing CV joint will typically make a clicking or popping noise when making turns. The problem joint is typically on the opposite side of the direction of turn.

A bad CV joint can cause vibration, if bad enough it can break.

You can try swapping front and rear tires to determine if there is a change.

There could be many causes for this problem. Inspect the ball joints, tie rod ends, wheel bearing, steering rack for excess play.

Raise the tire and grab at the 3 and 9 o'clock position then shake the to check for excess play.

You will need to replace the joint which requires taking apart the suspension. When doing so the suspension parts can be inspected.