Why does my car's cruise control make a clicking sound when I engage it and...

[master_of_puppets4321]

...disengage it? I own a 2003 Honda Civic LX Coupe. Whenever I engage or disengage the cruise control, a clicking sound comes from the rear of the car. I don't know if this sound is normal, but I have only begun to notice it recently.

 

[CactiJoe]

The rear of the car? Hmm, that's a good brain teaser. Might have a suspension inspection since there typically is some quick pull when you engage the cruise and fast deceleration when you disengage the cruise.

Any quick jump in power, up or down, will make the suspension move slightly. A lot of the foreign cars have a bad design in the rear control arm that looks like a wishbone and has a permanently sealed joint that cannot be lubricated, ever. So, the rubber protective boot weathers and ruptures as the years pass and the now rusty joint fails and the tire falls inward at the top and can pop or get damaged when it hits the wheel well or the control arm. I think Honda is one of those models I'm thinking of.

I have a lower control arm on my 1988 Cadillac that clicks when you accelerate fast from a a dead stop but it is not going to fall off. The way it's designed I'll be long dead in my grave before this happens.

Good Luck!