Sound on bumps/turns

[JustinVGT]

Over the past several months my front driver side strut seems to be making a sound, sort of a thump when I hit a bump or make sharp turns (more during right turns I think). I installed my S-techs almost 2 years ago and it didn't make this sound in the past. Last weekend I put my car on jack stands and checked out my front suspension. Everything looked fine and all the bolts were tight. With the front up and the steering unlocked, I manually turned the wheels to hear the sounds. I did notice the top of the struts make a rubber rubbing sound where the struts are pivoting in the towers. I was thinking this may be the sound I hear over bumps and sharp turns, but I'm not sure. Another thing is the center bolt in the top of the strut that has grease, the driver side one will not loosen. It just rotates the piston of the strut. Is this okay? I guess it may be a problem when it comes time to replace the strut. When struts are worn out or blown, do they make certain sounds? I have not seen any oil leaks and the car still seems to handle great. Is there a way to test the strut? I may be driving over 2k miles next week to FL and back, but I don't know if I will even be able to get this fixed in time if it is something bad. It sure is hard to describe and determine what this may be over the Internet, but if anyone has any ideas, I apprecieate the help. Thanks,

[Mavrik]

I was getting a clunking sound a year after installing mine. I tightened the nut at the top of the strut tower on the front left and right even though they did not seem to be loose. I also tightened the 3 bolts holding the strut to the tower. The noise went away even though none of them seemed loose.

[JustinVGT]

Hey Mavrik, yeah, I remember your posts about the sound you had. I checked all those bolts you mentioned. Those that are in the top center, when I turn them either direction, the piston of the strut turns with the wrench. I don't think it gets any tighter. Did your's turn the piston as well? It makes that rubber skreeching sound when I turn those bolts in the top.

[NSimkins]

A couple years ago, I mentioned this similar issue I had to the former Vibe Brand Quality Manager and was told there were some issues of a lack of "padding/insulation" on the strut tower (where the strut tower meets the body (ie. those top 3 bolts)) during the 2003 model year Vibes (fixed in future years). I know that I started to get a knock/bump suspension-related noise about a year after I had my Vibe. About that time, I switched over to Tein springs and ended up putting some all-purpose one-sided sticky rubber padding (maybe 1/8" thick) (edit: this stuff from Home Depot) generously on both strut towers before I reinstalled them back on the Vibe.That seemed to work and for at least a year or two now no noises that I can hear. I knew you were an '03 so it's worth a shot. Unfortunately, the easiest way to do that is to remove the entire assembly from the car. I tried to just lower it in the tower but there just wasn't enough room for me to get it done right.Hope that helps.

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[Mavrik]

Quote, originally posted by JustinVGT »Hey Mavrik, yeah, I remember your posts about the sound you had. I checked all those bolts you mentioned. Those that are in the top center, when I turn them either direction, the piston of the strut turns with the wrench. I don't think it gets any tighter. Did your's turn the piston as well? It makes that rubber skreeching sound when I turn those bolts in the top. I don't remember the piston turning when I tightened the nut at the top of the tower. Mine were tight unless your talking about something else I didn't check.I also sprayed some lube in there as well to lube up the bearings. I know sunfires and cavaliers were having strut bearing issues causing clunks and a little grease in there took care of it.

[JohnC]

There is a specialty tool to hold the piston when removing the strut/spring, I think this part is normal.Have you checked your CV joints? They often will start clunking in turns only until they get worse then you will hear them clunk if you abruptly get on or off the accelerator.

[zionzr2]

hmmm.....My wife's cavalier is starting to show these symptoms.... no mods on it, may have to take it to the cv shop

[JustinVGT]

John, how can I check the CV joints? I did a google search on CV joints and found this: http://www.2carpros.com/topics/cvjoint.htm which people mention symptoms I am encountering as well. When I had the wheels off, I turned the axle several times and inspected the rubber boot. The boot appeared to be fine, but there is a clicking sound as the axle turns coming from the rubber boot area. I thought the clicking sound was just the rubber compressing when being turned since it is angled. Does anyone recall their front wheels clicking when you turn the wheel by hand? I don't hear it when driving, only when I have the car raised. I hope it's not the CV joints going bad, someone mentioned on that link it's around $500 to get replaced. Has anyone here replaced their CV joints? I just did some more research and found: http://www.autozone.com/servle...c.jsp. They say a clicking sound can be worn or damaged outer CV joints or bent axle shafts. Sounds like this may be more serious than I thought. I only have around 55k miles. How long do CV joints typically last? It doesn't look like something I'll be able to do myself, so looks like I'll have to spend quite a bit of $$ to have them replaced if needed.

[Atomb]

my wife had a similar problem on her car...turned out one of her springs was cracked and the sound was 2 pieces shifting.

[JustinVGT]

I inspected the spring, as much as possible with it still installed and didn't see anything wrong. I'm reading up on CV joint problems with the search and it does sound like it may be the problem. The only thing is, my car is still completely smooth, vibration free, and doesn't make any sounds that I've noticed unless it's a certain kind of bump or turn. I think I will probably have to take it to a mechanic to have looked at .

[Mavrik]

I was about take mine in to when the noise went away. I even had made and appointment lol. Guess the car didn't wanna go in the shop.

[JohnC]

Sounds like you have pretty much diagnosed the problem, CV joints will click/clunk worse when the car is lifted/supported from the frame or unibody, this puts the max angle on the joint.Most of the time they are pretty easy to pinpoint...there will be a ripped or worn boot that allows water and dirt in. I clean mine then spray silicone lube to prevent the wear. Other than a contaminated joint CV life depends on the size of the joint compared to the wieght of the car and how the car is driven. Hard acceleration especially while turning or going over large bumps is very hard on them.Asfar as normal driving you should easily get 200k miles out of ours, seems like the Ford Tauras is especially hard on then, I see them getting replaced at less than 100k all the time. Some are pretty easy to remove (front axle assemblies) while other require diassembly of all the front suspension and alot of spiecialty tools.Sorry for your troubles, hope it is something cheaper to fix.

[JustinVGT]

I really don't know. When I drove home from work yesterday, it made the thump sound maybe 2-3 times on the 14 mile commute. I couldn't hear anything when slowly make a very sharp turn in the parking lot and nothing during the drive except the 2-3 times over a bump/turn maybe. It usually happens during higher speed turns, not slow. A friend of a friend that is a mechanic might be able to look at it. I'm also not going to drive my car to FL next week, my brother is going to drive. So, that's 2k+ miles I don't have to worry about right now.