99 Accord EX 2.3 left side suspension noise

Check struts and upper strut bearing plates.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/diagnosing-noises-in-your-car

[quote=”tytotheler92″ post=158797]Hi everyone,

Long time subscriber to ETCG but I’ve really never used this forum, however this seems like the perfect place to ask this. So I bought a 99 Accord EX with 140k last year for my sister. I’ve since done brakes, timing belt, water pump, and replaced the IACV and cleaned the TB/Upper manifold. It’s had this ongoing front end noise since we got it however (It’s now at 162k) at low speeds that I really didn’t worry about until last night when I was riding in it as it has gotten MUCH worse. It has a very pronounced creak and clunk noise at low speeds and especially while turning coming from the left side. It doesn’t do it up in the air, ball joints and struts look to have been replaced before I bought it and shortly after I bought it I replaced the tie rods. Everything is tight and it drives fine except under hard acceleration it will pull left a bit.

I’m not used to this suspension setup, but I’m thinking it needs radius arm bushings? I’ve heard people say that is common and others say they never go bad, but the pull to the left under acceleration to me would be explained by those as they seem like they are the sole control for and aft movement of the front suspension.

Thanks for any help you can provide![/quote]

Struts or strut bearing plates. Especially if its not OEM hardware.

[quote=”tytotheler92″ post=158853]Strut bearings is what it sounds like to me, but these don’t have any? They’re a coil over like setup and the struts don’t spin.

Ball joints are tight, but I’ll grease them and see if it goes away. I replaced the links at one point too. I’ve been chasing the noise with little success. I normally don’t have an issue finding suspension noises either.[/quote]

try spraying silicone spray on the upper +lower control arm bushings to see
if the noise goes away. Bushings could be worn.

[quote=”tytotheler92″ post=158858]I’ll do that. It’s gotta be something like that.

So radius arm bushings are not a possibility?[/quote]

Anything is a possibility. If we try certain areas instead of everything we
have a better chance to catch the noise.

Mine had pretty noisy front sway bar bushings when I bought it with 190k. I chased it around for a little while because the bar seemed pretty tight in the bushings. It was just a little bit of slack and I had to pry it just right to see it, but it made some pretty bad sounding clunking when ever the front of the car went over uneven surfaces. It’s inherently louder at low speeds because there is less road noise to drown it out, and the bar moves more when the wheels have time to articulate the road surface. If it’s that, you can reproduce the clunk by driving at parking lot speed and raking the steering wheel back and forth quickly but smoothly and rhythmically, and it will make a clunk each time the body flopping changes direction.