Cannot find suspension noise 97 acura

[Erin]

Another noise to deal with. :sick:

So anyways if I jerk the wheel real quick to the left when driving the car at low speeds, I can hear something thump (as if catching) in the front end. It also does it at low speeds going over potholes (most noticeable at slow speeds like less than 5 mph)

When the car is parked and bounce the driver side hard, the harder it is bounced, the louder this knock. The car rebounds immediately and solid when bounced.

Here is what I did so far –
Replaced upper control arms (they were bad anyways and I did this before I noticed steering noise)
Replaced sway bar links (has the bushing sandwich setup) and those are definitely tight.
Inspected everything I could find in the front end, going so far as inspecting the steering. No loose bolts, rack does not move when pried on, inner and outer tie rods seem OK. ANY movement of one wheel or steering wheel transfers perfect.
Lower Ball joints seem OK, no movement noted when prying above or below. I have not completely ruled them out as a possibility mostly because I am so paranoid about ball joint failure.
All bushings seem intact. I even pried on a few of the connections and nothing is loose that I can tell.
Visually inspected engine mounts. When going from reverse to drive etc, engine seems stable.

Everything was fine until today. Like all the sudden something decided to get noisy.

So at this point, I don’t know what else to look for. Did I miss something?

As an aside – it kind of sucks to spend 3 hours messing with the front end, giving an honest effort and come out empty handed.

EDIT – The shocks are not leaking and rebounding as they should but is there a way to further test them to see if the upper strut mounts are binding? Even if so, that wouldn’t explain the noise when bouncing would it?

Topic

[Peter]

http://jdmshop.eu/image/cache/data/poduszki%20amortyzatorow%20schemat-500×500.jpg

Can be this part, I don’t know how it’s called in english 🙂 shock absorber mount/damper

[Erin]

Kind of where I am leaning. I am just wondering how to test that or know for sure before tearing into the strut.

One other thing – when I turn the wheels when the car is standing still, there is no noise, even if I jerk the wheel fast.

[Peter]

there will be noise then riding through bumps

[Kenneth]

Sounds like the upper mount, on the strut.

[college man]

If the sway bar end links are new and the sway bar bushings are tight
and intact. Next time have some one bounce the car and put your hand
on the upper strut mount to feel the knock or the spring. Be careful
of a hand pinch with the spring.

[george gonzalez]

I have similar noises in mine and it’s hard to pin down. Sometimes it’s in the top strut mount or the bottom fork to arm bushing. After 18 years every rubber bushing is suspect. You may end up replacing each and every one of them. They’re not expensive but it’s a bit of a pain as they’re often not available locally so you have to wait three days for each one to show up in the mail. Such is life with an older car.

[Ingvar]

College Man hinted towards them. Sway bar BUSHINGS. They are normally hard to get to and check on. If you can see sway bar from the top, you can use long pry bar to move it on the subframe. If it moves – you got it. For 97 car you destined to have them tired anyway.

[Author]

Replies