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Topic
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I’ve had this 2006 Element for about 1000 miles. It has about 107K on the odometer. There’s a front end rattle that seems to be worsening and has me stumped. Speed, turning, braking, and road quality make no difference — it comes and goes at unpredictable times. The sway bar links are not broken either.
Using a small microphone, I took audio samples from several areas under the car and under the hood. The noise was non-existent near the wheel well areas on both sides, except I caught it faintly with the mic taped to the right side stabilizer bar. The place where it’s heard loudest and clearest is on top BOTH left and right strut mounts. I’m wondering if the joke is on me though, and the struts are acting like stethoscopes? In any event, why would the noise be remarkably similar above both struts?
When driving, it sounds like the rattling alternates from the (front) left and right sides. I cannot hear it with the windows down though. All of these audio samples are 30 secs or less.
Top of Left Strut Mount
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4-_2K4j57_6bXhkclJVRlNlWk0/viewTop of Right Strut Mount
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4-_2K4j57_6aF96OUVDcG9UVTA/viewFront Center, Underneath Hood, Nearest Windshield
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4-_2K4j57_6VlZMV2RDLTlMOXc/viewFront Right Stabilizer Bar
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4-_2K4j57_6OXJ6WEhmWlhtVE0/view
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Replies
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Check the air dam and plastic inner fenders. People run over curbs and car stops and pop the fasteners loose then they flap in the wind.
I was able to wedge the microphone between the inner fender and the front bumper area and did some road tests. Couldn’t hear the rattling at all. Same for anywhere I placed the mic toward the front of the vehicle.
Strut mounts came to mind, but do both sides really fail at the exact same time?
I did replace the rear and driver’s side engine mounts soon after purchasing the vehicle. They were Honda OEM replacements and everything looks perfectly fine — nothing loose or broken like it was before.
[quote=”Rattman1″ post=150580]I’ve seen 2 strut mounts fail really close to each other. With in 1000 miles.[/quote]
So if I remove the strut assemblies from the car…how can I verify it is indeed the strut mounts? Will it be obvious (visually or audibly), or will I need to compress the coil springs first and remove the mounts for closer examination?
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