Rabid_Lemming

As the title states, I hear a funny sound coming from my front left wheel well. It is suspension related, but I am unsure as to what it is. My car is lowered on Tein H Techs, and there has been no problem, until I had to do a lane shift in Atlanta, and hit a bump in the road with four other people in the car. Now, when I drive, on certain bumps (not all the time), my car makes a clunking noise on that side. It almost sounds like something is loose. The ride feels fine, and it is not bouncy, but perhaps that's because if the shock was blown, it's only on one side and the other three compensate? The height of the car is still evenly balanced so I can't figure out what it is. I'm going to have my car on a lift this weekend, so any suggestions as to what to look for to figure out what's wrong would be great.

-Keith-

Check the perch/top hat... make sure its tight and the top hat is installed and centered properly.

thumper_1151

I had a strut go bad on my tc with the stock springs at only 15,000 miles it caused a clunk noise I had to take it to the dealer 4 times before they finally fixed it. when I picked it up the third time they told me once agian they could not verify my complaint, so I told the service writer to get in the car so he could here the noise. we didn't evan make it out of the parking lot and the writer heard the noise multiple times. he apologized and finally got it fixed for me. they replaced the strut and it has been fine since. I am sure since you have the h-techs on the dealer will blame it on your springs.
good luck.

Rabid_Lemming

We found what it was...the nut at the top of the strut tower had come a bit loose.

Shifty

They lowered my car a week ago and they replaced my front left strut which was clunking. I only have a little under 15k miles too.

chubster41

hmm I have this problem right now


can u take a picture of what was loose?

thanks

Rabid_Lemming

Ok, I won't be able to take a picture for a while, but I can describe it. First off though, if the sound occurs only on certain bumps or road dips, where the wheels have to drop to absorb the impact as opposed to retract into the well to absorb a "hit" then yes, you probably have the same problem. When you pop the hood, on either strut tower, there are three bolts to actually hold the strut in place. However, in the center of those three bolts, there is a rubber gasket. Pry this gasket up and you will see the top of the strut. In the center is a nut (I wanna say it's a 17mm but not sure). That was what was loose for me. You don't need a deep well socket, just any socket of that size will do. See if the nut is loose, and if it is, there you go. I think that the reason mine went loose is that when we dropped my car, we only tightened the nut when the strut assembly was off the car., and not when it was held tightly in place by the three bolts. Anyway, good luck with that man, hope this helps. If you still need pics, it will take some time, unless some kind soul posts them for me based on the description.

chubster41

damm homie....I had forgot about that part andc when I checked it sure enough it was loose now no more clunky clunk sound...thanks man

Rabid_Lemming

No problem man, glad I could help.

smakusdod

Does anybody know what the torque should be for that nut (center strut tower nut)?

Smoses799

I just had this same problem. The strut just needed to be tightened. I had my mechanic figure this out while it was in for a oil change. He charged me $30. everything is great now

smakusdod

for the center strut nut torque rating, i found this:

"Front Struts : center lock nut - 35"

can anybody confirm this? 35 ft of torque sound right for that 17mm center lock nut on the strut tower?

fsan619

wtf.... I have a similar problem (on the same mf-n wheel).... I have not had time to get under the hood though.... I will let you know wtf it is tomorrow.

smakusdod

i spent a good chunk of time listening to my car/having a friend listen, etc. We determined there was nothing wrong with my suspension, but i have no clue what all the knocking is coming from the front of the car when i go slowly over speed bumps, etc. Its not the shocks/bump stops or anything like that. Its almost like a liquid sloshing back and forth, hitting the sides of whatever container it is in. right front tire area. Very odd, but you can't hear it from outside... so i guess ill just wait until the car blows up or something. hah.

Rabid_Lemming

Directly in front of the front right tire is the resevoir for the windshield washer fluid.

smakusdod

holy crap, thats probably it. does your car make wierd noises and do you feel slight thumps over potholes or speed bumps?

Rabid_Lemming

Well, I never heard that before to be honest. But, on the right side of my car, I have a torque damper, and that just makes it really loud on that side with engine noise Have you used a lot of your washer fluid? If so, maybe topping it off will make it less "sloshy"

fsan619

Well, turns out it was a loose top strut nut.... Just torqued the whole suspension and now good to go....

summx

so i tried pulling the gasket up and it felt like it was on there very tight. I didnt want to break anything so i figured i would ask. Im not very mechanically inclined so bear with me. What was the best way to pull the gasket up? also do you pull just the metal part or the rubber part along with it up?

Rabid_Lemming

The rubber part in the center is what pulls up.....no metal whatsoever....you should see a slot where a flathead can slide in to take it off.