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I had a similar thing happen on my 89 Accord – but I called it a squeak rather than a creak. In some cases it seemed intermittent.
Replaced struts (needed it anyway as fluid was leaking on one) and that didn’t fix it. Buddy of mine injected his “secret sauce” into the rubber boots on the ball joints on the Upper Control Arms (UCA) and Lower Control Arms (LCA) and that didn’t fix it. Then he injected the sauce in the boot of the tie-rod end and VIOLA! squeak gone! er, at least for a week or so.
I did the checks shown in Eric’s videos and in addition found one of the UCAs had a ball joint with lots of play (posted a video of it!). Also found that, indeed, there was play in one of the tie-rod ends.
So I replaced BOTH UCAs and BOTH tie-rod ends. Now the squeak is gone permanently!
Buddy said if I had taken it to a shop, they would have replaced all of the ball joints (UCAs, LCAs & Tie-rod ends). That makes sense as a defensive measure with old parts. But doing it one’s self one has the freedom to replace JUST the squeaking part!
All fwiw! Good Luck! Report back what you find!
Just want to add my experience, in case anyone gets bit by the, “I can do it myself” bug like I did…..
Some struts, like my 1989 Honda Accord LXi, have coils that are so tight together that it is impossible to use any other kind of spring compressor. {Coils are so tight one can’t get the hooks, fork or clamp piece in between the coils to hook on the coil! (see pics) } In those cases, you will absolutely need this tool! Shoot even when I found one of these to borrow, the compression part was easy, but the strut nut misbehaved. Using any other kind of spring compressor and there would have been and “explosion.”
I’ll add that one thing Eric apparently didn’t encounter, while doing any of his strut videos, is what happened to me: the upper nut on the strut was “stuck” or frozen to the strut shaft. In this case, the impact wrench did nothing but spin the shaft and associated pieces inside of the cylinder. This is the “fun” I had. So on top of the strut where the nut is located I noted that the shaft has either a hole in the center for a hex key or has flat sides for a wrench or vice grips. Then the fun was placing an open faced wrench on the nut and using vice grips to hold the shaft – trying to break a recalcitrant nut without the help of the impact wrench. Not even putting a little tension (or most of it) on the assemble by uncompressing the spring worked! Just brute force and some heat from the “big red wrench.” So this tool was critical.
Imho, Eric is far too polite about this when he says he’s happy he no longer cringes when doing struts – <font color="#0044ff]these coils are down right dangerous.[/color] The way I think about this (rightly or wrongly) is that one coil supports at least 1/4 the total weight of the car! So that’s a lot of built up energy in that coil – all waiting to be released instantaneously if one slips up. Haven’t found any part of my body that can take that kind of “encounter” unscathed. So imho it is important to get this right – [color=#ff0000″>safety over ego! Get the right tool for the job – this is the right tool.
Hey thank you! So you mean I should beat on the part of the knuckle where the tie rod end sits?
Will be my luck THAT is frozen up too! Then the pickle fork….. Hope AZ has one to loan?!
If not JB Tool….
http://www.jbtoolsales.com/otc-4559-2-set-pickle-fork-driver/[quote=”thisisbuod” post=136890]
Where the heck did you find struts for that thing? My friend has a 1980 Accord and I couldn’t find struts anywhere. Not even Napa had them.[/quote]Thank you for all of that insight on parts and doing the repairs! I’ll beat (carefully) on the tie rod end to break it free.
Will I need the special tool to break the UCA ball joint free from the knuckle?
Ah, parts! Now I’m no expert and only learned a few things from the University of Google. I have to wonder if there is a difference in “population” (number sold) between the First Generation (Gen 1 – 1976-81) of the Accord and Gen 3 (86-89) that effects parts availability? Seems like major parts are still fairly ubiquitous for my Gen 3 Accord. Had a mechanic once tell me I was lucky I had a FI engine as “most of the carbureted models didn’t last.” fwiw
Here is what I usually do, fwiw. I usually start with something like HondaPartsNow, BKHondaParts or one of the other online Honda parts dealers that pops up when Honda Parts are Googled. Getting the right part number helps me since I don’t know the proper names, then I plug that into search engines, Amazon and eBay. Mind boggling how many parts (and discounts) are available on eBay!
So for my Gen 3 Accord, I was able to find struts at Honda dealers, KYB.com (OEM maker?), Monroe, Rock Auto, CarID, CarPartsKing, PartsGeek, CarParts.com, JCWhitney and the big box stores (AZ, AA, NAPA). For the strut “experience” I snagged a pair of Gabriel G55742 Struts (claimed to be “OEM Ride”) off Rock Auto at a “private label close out” discount ($52/pair) No quick struts were found in the aftermarket, though I think one of the Honda dealers was advertising the “Assembly” at around $180 ea or 360/pair. (in retrospect after my ordeal, the expensive OEM quick struts might have been economical, especially if I had needed to hire $150 of labor to swap the springs)
Have not had to go this route yet but I think there are companies that buy out parts inventories from dealers after a few years (10?). The ones that look like they sell Honda parts are:
http://www.partstrain.com/Shopby/Make
http://www.vpartsinc.com/Also have had some success looking up parts at:
http://www.rearcounter.com/When that fails I head to the “recycle market” and have found Vince III here to be extremely helpful! Good old Midwestern helpfulness – kinda like Eric!
http://mandmautoparts.net/Not so much success with the online used part “request” sites, however. I have found I can get OEM used parts when I need body or non-critical mechanical parts through this route.
So that is all I know about buying parts for my two 20+ yo cars. Perhaps there are other sources/venders I am missing? Anybody able to add something?
Well finally got the new struts and the old springs married and then reinstalled in the Accord! WHEW!
Karma came to the rescue! Found a VERY nice guy who had a wall mounted spring compressor who helped me finish this task!
Now all told swapping struts wasn’t easy. While Eric’s videos show that it might take about 10-15 minutes per strut to change over the springs using the proper compressor, reality isn’t always that way. Now I know why the standard auto mechanic software says 45-minutes per strut! Oh sure, we got the struts in the compressor just fine and the spring compressed just fine too. However, the hard part was that the nut on top of the strut just would NOT budge. Instead the whole cylinder decided it wanted to spin. Yeah, we tried backing off the spring and putting more tension on it – to no avail! The correct answer in this case is apparently a special tool or tools: one that hold the top of the strut rod and another that turns the nut. Now unfortunately those tools were at his shop and not with us, so instead we had to reach between the springs with vice grips and get a bite on the strut rod in order to get the thing loose! So all in all, the whole job probably took 45-minutes to an hour.
So once the struts were restored, I went to reinstall them. This was a BUNCH of fun because the whole suspension system was skewed or cock-eyed. That due to the fact that BOTH lower control arm (LCA) mounting bolts and sway bar links were removed. My system of avoiding the issue with the frozen fork bushings on the LCA, by dropping the LCA with the space provide by those two disconnections, worked well when it was ONE strut at a time. Reassembly using this technique was normally a bit of a struggle, but with BOTH sets disconnected it was much more difficult! A lesson learned. Before, the LCA mounting end seemed to want to snap right back into place with a little jacking on the bottom of the knuckle, now I needed two jacks, one on the knuckle and another under the fork!
Then of course, when I got the last strut in place things just didn’t align properly. I rotated the three bolts on the top mount but still could not get the little tab to match up with the slot on the fork. The spring and strut pieces indexed(?) with slots so they were reassembled that way. But alas the lower shaft was about 1/4-turn off. I was able to get everything back together like that but noticed that in doing so the brake line was under high tension. I had visions of hitting some bump on the freeway and unknowingly ripping the brake line and the ending up in the ditch next time I tried to stop! So instead of leaving it like that I got out a pipe wrench and CAREFULLY rotated the lower casing into place.
Anyway, everything reassembled and road tested. So all is good.
Oh and noticed one other small “issue” but I’ll make a video of that and ask in a new thread.
So for anyone following me and contemplating this repair here are my take-aways.
While Eric’s videos suggest against doing the spring compression one’s self, if one wants to do the repair on their own, I think it makes more sense to bite the bullet and buy “quick struts” thus avoiding any spring compression. First there is the safety issue (see Eric’s videos!) If a spring gets away from you it’s all bad. If you have a broken spring, just forget about it! Avoid the safety issues and buy the quick struts! Also there is nothing with the old worth saving, so get all new parts. Second, if your springs are tight coils like mine (see above pictures) there is NO WAY one is going to compress them with anything other than a wall-mounted unit. So unless one has a buddy that owns said tool, one needs to figure in the cost of hiring someone to do that step and by that time one is probably matching or exceeding the cost of the quick struts. Third, if one has recalcitrant top nuts on the struts, then again special tools or destroying the old strut is necessary to get the job done. Also figure in more TIME to do the job. But one won’t know if those nuts will misbehave until they get to that phase of the project and then it is too late! Fourth, buying parts – now I had the luxury of time so I could buy struts here, mounting kits there and boots over there to get a cheaper cost. A one-stop shopping visit to assemble all of the required parts is going to challenge the quick strut price. But even if one saves a few bucks remember there is “some assembly required” and if one needs to reach out for help at any point the budget is blown. Also, I ended up reusing the top part (mounting plate with bolts) and regretted that because the gaskets were shot and had to be repaired with form-a-gasket. Again, more time and expense for a little item that would be fixed by a whole new quick strut.
If one can’t buy quick struts for their car (none were available for this 89 Accord) I’d suggest buying ALL of the pieces parts and having those assembled – much easier than fooling with old parts, some of which could be damaged or might break in the process.
So that’s my story – Once again with Eric’s videos and the kindness of the brain trust here, I learned something and got he job done!
Thanks again to everyone who helped! All of you!
Bottom line: $137.90 total cost.
Estimates ranged from $500 (private garage) to $381.66 at Sears with lower quality parts.
Note quick struts for other Hondas (not this relic) run about 110 each, so $220-$240 for a quicker easier job![quote=”nickwarner” post=135837]
[i]That local gas station is bidding high. It doesn’t take long on a wall mounted unit when someone brings you the parts. But they are losing out on their parts markup since you have your own parts, and they are losing the labor to install your new parts into the car so maybe they’re just trying to make it a little more worth their while. Call a few other places and see what they say. If you drive to them personally, and it isn’t some big chain store type of place, tell them you are paying in cash. Might sway things your way if this isn’t something you need a work order generated on the books for. Back before I bought a hydraulic press I had a deal with a local shop who would press wheel bearings for me. I paid cash to the owner and all was good.
[/i][/quote]Well I found a guy who had a wall-mounted spring compressor and he helped me switch the springs over to the new hardware. The project took about an hour because the top bolt was recalcitrant. We had to heat the bolt several times and grasp the piston shaft with vise grips juts to break it free. Was not an easy job, so now I see why the gas station bid the price the way they did.
I would have been in favor of cutting off the bolt IF I had the top pancake mount pieces. But I wasn’t able to find them or was too cheap to buy them. Next time: quick struts or just buy ALL of the individual pieces and have those assembled. I think that is the take away here. Penny wise and pound foolish.
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[quote=”nickwarner” post=135837]Appreciate the thanks. I didn’t learn the things I know without someone else helping me out or by trying to go it alone and royally screwing the pooch. I prefer the former to the latter. As I’m laid up with a torn knee at the moment I have some free time and figured I would help others not get in over their heads without a lifeline to get help. That was the whole reason Eric got into this, and its the same motivation that a lot of the guys on here are posting to help people. Not like we get paid to do it, its a freewill offering of knowledge. Even when you find a guy who seems to have all the answers and has been doing this stuff for 40 years, that means 40 years ago he was a newbie and didn’t know how to do much. He needed somebody to help him learn. We all start somewhere.[/quote]Oh you are welcome and thanks again. I’m guessing there is good karma in these acts and hope as I learn and post, that someone following finds this and learns from my experience.
Thanks again to all who have helped during this repair!
So the learning continues! As I mentioned my “back up car” had problems so I could not take the struts out of the Accord until I had reliable transportation. So the first step was track down the problem with the other car.
The problem I was having was a VERY severe vibration in the front of the car. The steering wheel was jerking right to left and moving about 4 inches total travel from one end to another. Oh, it seemed to smooth out a bit at higher speeds and I did drive it like that to the parts store one time. However, experience told me this was something not to mess with – better addressed sooner than later or risk a breakdown somewhere.
So it felt like the the vibration was coming from the Driver’s (left) wheel area. Last week I had the wheel off and looked around. The wheel looked fine. The strut wasn’t leaking. No play in the ball joints. No bends in the steering rod or sway bars. No visible issues with the axle. The knuckle looked OK. So I was stumped. I figured I’d have to toss this out to the brain bank here and see what steps I should take to track down the problem.
So I decided the best thing to do would be to make a video of the steering wheel jerking around and then take the tires off and give a “tour” around the components. So I get out on a flat street and start filming – a short 1-2 min clip which shows the jerking and drift to the right. Head back in the driveway, park and start the tour of the front end when I noticed a problem with the right side tire! Huh? Thought I had checked that? Oops!
Look at that! A BIG bulge in the tire – no doubt a result of the many potholes we’ve had around here. Wonder how I got lucky enough to NOT have it blow out on me? But duh! I looked at the left side and shoulda looked more carefully at the right side too!
So this is a fix I can take care of relatively easily. Got a decent used tire and had it mounted. Then the “If it ain’t broke but could be better – let’s fix it!” kicked in. So I rotated the tires taking the matched set with decent tread to the front: left rear to right front and right rear to left front. (thank goodness this doesn’t have directional wheels like the Accord!) …and of course vice versa as those mates swapped places too.
But alas, for me that also meant cleaning up some rusty lugs, cleaning the wheels and tires AND dressing the tires (both sides). This is how to take a half hour job and turn it into a 4-hour job! …I’d never make it as a flat rate technician! :silly:
So tires rotated, cleaned and reinstalled – test drove the car and it runs/tracks well! No vibration!
Now I have the car I need to get the springs swapped over to the new struts for the Accord. Oh and btw, local gas station’s garage told me that it takes 45-minutes per strut to swap the springs to new struts. (Yeah, they have a wall mounted unit.) So a total of 1.5 hours is what they wanted to charge me. REALLY? Looked like Eric did one strut in about 10-minutes in the video. How can it take these guys 4+ times as long? I was guessing this was a 30-45 minute job all-in for both struts! Jeez.
Oh and I thought I might avoid the whole mess by just buying some quick struts and returning the struts and mounting kits I purchased. However, going back to my notes, I could not find the quick struts as apparently they aren’t made for this vintage car and what I had written down was for a younger model! Sigh. Another learning item – ordering parts!
So the story isn’t over yet, it is getting close! I’ll let you know how it turns out!
[b]Thanks again for all of the help along the way! The “thank yous” I posted are genuine and the karma bumps another sign of my appreciation, but in reality poor compensation for the kindness!
[/b]Gosh darn it! These boards are a Godsend! I’m working on my car this evening and I realized that the great support here is what gives me the freedom to venture forth and try things. That is because I know that if something goes awry, there are a number of kind soles here willing to help me out with their infinite knowledge! Can’t tell you how much that means to me! Can’t say THANK YOU! Enough! Thanks to all that help, thanks to Eric for the site!
So, Nick, I had the same thought you did and this evening went out a tried the OTHER side (Right) to see what I could do. Wheel off, brake lines off the strut brackets, bolt off upper part of fork and tadda! the nut off the fork bushing. BUT no dice! That one is frozen in place too! Sigh. But that is what I was anticipating and as I mentioned in my prior post, I had an idea – one Nick came to about the same time!
I figured there was more than one way to skin that cat! After the exercise of jacking up the suspension to allow me to get the sway bar link back in place, I wondered if I couldn’t get enough room to lower the fork and get the Stut out of its seating? So the fork bolt was out, first step was standing on the hub (carefully). Sure enough, the LCA and the fork dropped and I gained 1.5 to 2-in! Yippee! But still not enough. Needed another inch. Then I took off my newly installed sway bar links and that added a bit but not much.
So not wanting to mess with the lower ball joint (Haven’t gotten comfortable with them yet!) I had been studying the drawings in the Service Manual and wondered IF I could remove the back (rear) bolt on the LCA, if that might give me enough room to free the strut? So cranked on the LCA mounting bolt and….
So with a little jacking here and there – the forks were now acting like a pivot point. By lowering everything and viola! The strut was free from the fork! (I thought I might remove the front radius rod too, but the darn knucke and axle were in the way and I couldn’t see how to get the impact sockets on there.) Anyway, I was so excited! No messing with that recalcitrant fork bushing!
So yeah, without taking the fork free from its now permanent mooring on the LCA, I got the Strut out! See!
So marked the orientation of the spring with the various pieces and triumphantly went to get the borrowed spring compressor! But alas, it wouldn’t be a novel or educational if everything went smoothly now would it? And apparently I don’t have that kind of luck!
So here is the sticking point! Grrrrr!
Those freakin’ coils on the springs are so darn close together that there is NO WAY the business end of the spring compressor would fit in between! Shoot! Not even on the lower end where the gaps between the coils were larger!
But alas, how about getting a bite on the top and keeping that in place and attached to the spring and just easing the strut out! Nope! Not long enough!
But NOW I remember something Eric said in the old, old Accord video… something about the coils being too tight to mess with and it would be better to just take them to a shop and have the springs swapped to the new struts? Yeah, now I get it!
So it looks like that will be what I have to do. Now I am regretting not buying the set of quick struts I saw – just $200 for the pair. I’m thinking by the time I get done paying the shop to switch the springs, my $85 investment so far is going to rival that! Sigh.
But now I have wandered further into the suspension and had more of it apart. And I was able to coax everything back into place – so now I have done the repair at least one time already. Next time should be quicker & easier as I know what I need to do!
Ah the process of learning! And one wonders why technicians get paid so much – its the knowledge, tools and ability to meet these roadblocks and work around them. Gotta remember that next time I watch an Eric repair video and he makes it look easy!
[b]Thanks, thanks and thanks again to all who have helped me! I’m having fun learning and am greatly appreciative of the free education I am getting from the kindness here!
[/b]Hey Nick – thanks for the long reply! Much appreciated!
Your new control arm should come with a new bushing already installed.
er, um, ah…. who said anything about a new control arm? :ohmy: My hope is to avoid that situation, but we’ll see!Right now I think I am going to try one thing and if that fails put the repair on hold. I have been driving the car since I replaced the broken Stabilizer Bar link. All of that nasty squeaking noise is gone! So amazing how one little cheap repair fixed a majority of the issue. I took the car out last night to test it for the rattling noise – the one I get when I hit a hard bump. I had been hearing it on moderate to light bumps and THAT is gone – now just on hard bumps. But alas the left strut is leaking so it does need to be replaced.
Problem is that I need a car available while I do the repair. I had the Honda all torn apart when I found the broken stabilizer link and set off in the other car to get parts. Unfortunately, once I pulled out of the driveway, I had severe vibration of the steering wheel. So I don’t wanna drive that until I figure a fix. Yeah, when it rains it pours! I’ll start a new thread on that soon.
So I am hoping that I can find a way to get the strut out of the fork without removing the fork from the LCA bushing. Seems like it is just a matter of less than an inch of play some where – we’ll see. Sure like to see my chances of getting that bolt out when it isn’t loaded.
The only reason there are countersunk screws in your rotor is to hold it on while the car is on the assembly line. That is all.
Interesting. I found another picture in the Service Manual that suggests there are an additional two bolts that go on the face as well. I guess using the theory I saw in one of Eric’s videos I would have thought that it was there for a very important purpose, else why would Honda spend the extra money over the long haul. I do remember the axles being replaced at some point, and that evidenced from the unrusted, new like, hub nut.Clean threads are a good thing, and I also get all my fasteners clean. I consider it part of the job to do.
Nice to see we think alike in this regard. I have to say, tongue-in-cheek, that apparently this view isn’t held by the guy that makes the videos here? 🙂 Or maybe that is just a remnant of the flat rate system? Too bad shops don’t do it either. Sigh.I used to wonder why the factory doesn’t never-seize things until I worked at a place that built airport equipment.
Yeah, I hear ya. Just seems like there ought to be a way to do that and not end up with everything coated in never-seize? But I spent many a day scrubbing NS off everything after a job. I’m learning that a “little dab, will do ya!” Instead of “more is better” and that helps.The safety pins on those AZ rental tools should work.
Good to know! I like those better than the ones with no safety pins.Can get tedious putting the u-bolts and nuts on and taking them off.
Gotta rib ya a little for that one. lol! For this chair, anything safety related that keeps me from getting mangled by a flying piece of metal is worth the effort, just part of the job at and and never considered tedious… even though I can lack patience at times. Oops!Now one thing you could do is pick up a cheap cutting outfit from Harbor Freight and the small tanks for it.
Good idea, I had my eye on those when I started the muffler repairs, but the propane torch and the impact wrench got the job done. I guess cutting might have been easier with a torch, but the Dremel was an OK back up. At a shop the whole thing woulda been cut off to save time.I have seen a little kit from Bernzomatic out there that allows you to get steel glowing. They sell you two bottles, one using either propane or MAPP gas and the other is the same size which has oxygen.
Yeah, thanks! I have seen these somewhere, but wondered if they were any good? Have you used them before? Then I need to think if they are worth the cost, or just spend the extra on one of those mini tank set ups?Thanks again for all of the help and advice!
Of course with me, one small job turns into yet ANOTHER small project…. since I removed the wheel, I looked down and noted that I needed to address the wheel lugs! Yep, I’m firmly committed to the theory of “take care of your threads and your threads will take care of you!”
This is why it takes me forever to do any job as I have to stop and clean threads and then coat them with never-seize!
So first step was a good scrubbing with a wire brush. Then a little PB Blaster and a toothbrush to clean up the rest.
Dried things off with a rag and got my never-seize and its brush. Freshly coated wheel lugs!
But alas, no good deed goes unpunished as it were. Just before I place the wheel back on, I looked and noticed something else was awry! Looks like I am missing one Phillips-head bolt on the face of the brake disk. Jeez. Wonder how this happens?
Now I get to track down some more parts!
I love auto repair – it’s fun!
[b][color=#ffffff]Well I got the Stabilizer Bar Tie-Ins today (late) and took the time to install the new one for the broken one. Wouldn’t ya know the new bolts & bushings didn’t just “fit” in the space provided and I had to “think” and do something different.
Top nut on the old bolt came right off with the impact wrench. Maybe having soaked it with PB Blaster overnight helped?
Then put the middle set of bushings and washers on the new bolt and tried to put it into place between the lower control arm and the stabilizer bar. Sigh. No way this would fit! It was off by nearly 2-inches.[/color][/b]
So….. since I’m learning and just figuring out the suspension system, I thought that what I needed was either a lower control arm or a higher stabilizer bar. So I got the impact wrench and put it on the top of the stabilizer fork and loosened the bolt!
Then I pushed down on the hub and gained some space as the strut raised up in the fork (or the fork lowered on the strut). It was some nice progress, but unfortunately, just a half-inch shy of what I needed. So thinking to myself, “Self, you added some space by lowering the control arm, hmmm, maybe I could gain some space by raising the stabilizer bar?” So I committed blasphemy and placed my jack under the stabilizer bar and lifted – GINGERLY!!!!!
Got the additional 1/2-in I needed and got the new bolt in place. Didn’t crank hard on the stabilizer and moved it just a small amount, so don’t think I bent it in anyway – just a little flex on a long bar. Next was getting the strut back to its original location in the top of the fork. Since I’m not Hercules, and merely lifting didn’t get it, a little ingenuity was in order. (Is this what they mean by working smarter, not harder?)
[b]Yep a little jacking on the LCA raised things up enough the strut seated in its original position.
So everything in place, added a liberal coating of Never-Seize.
[/b][b]Then put the remaining bushings, washers and nuts in place and torqued the nuts on. Interestingly the heads on the top & bottom nuts were 13mm but they tightened OK with a 14mm. (final torquing with the 13mm, however) and the nut in the middle is a 12mm head! Go figure!
[/b]So the finished job looks like this!
[b][color=#ffffff]Now two things:
1) I neglected to coat the flat surfaces of the bushings with Silicon grease as the Service Manual suggests.
2) I tightened the bolts to “snug” though not that snug, and now see the Manual asks for 16-ft-lbs of torque.So…. when I go back to do the struts, I’ll have to remedy both of these.
Isn’t it fun learning? 🙂
Now we wait for the USPS to deliver a new LCA, outter, strut-fork bushing with bolt and nut.
http://tinyurl.com/qx4er7wTHEN the real fun begins!
[/color][/b]THANKS AGAIN! The kind people on these boards never cease to amaze me! Lots of good advice that I am grateful for!
Yeah! Working on an old car is LOTS of “fun!” But hey – I’m getting an education as I go! LOL!
>>>They are another spot where a torch is nice to nip out the old ones. But if you have to you could just throw a cutoff wheel onto a grinder to get it off. I doubt it will unbolt.<<<
It is a mystery to me why parts that are exposed to the elements like the suspension parts – why aren't they assembled using something like never-seize (NS) or Kopr Kote? Gosh the drillers I watched always used some kind of lube on their threads: Take care of your threads and your threads will take care of you! Geez, might add a whole $5 to the cost of the car! Anything that gets reassembled by me always gets a liberal coating of NS!
Speaking of spring compressors – Eric's videos sure do give one cause for pause and concern. Nothing like the dangers of the failures and near misses to drive the point home. I found some spring compressors at Eric's Fave tool supplier, the Lisle 62300 MacPherson Strut Spring Compressor. These have u-bolts that tighten around the spring to prevent them from getting loose. Seems like this would be a good solution? Would love to see a tool review of these!
http://www.jbtoolsales.com/lisle-62300-macpherson-strut-spring-compressor/
Sure wish this was what I could borrow from AZ, instead they gave me an OEM MacPherson Strut Spring Compressor:
Might hose clamp around the hook and safety pin to help keep them in place? I saw someone suggesting placing a rug piece over the top just in case!
Yeah, once I can get the parts in (ordered & waiting on shipping – NAPA no have!) I'll work on getting the old bushing out. I can see this promises to be a bunch of fun! Hope the new bushing can be hammered into place and doesn't need a press.
Hope I'm "getting it" and heading in the right direction!
Thanks again for all the help!
Thanks for the ideas & links! VERY helpful.
So the plot thickens! LOL!
Figured I better start soaking the bolts on the right side while I am waiting on a solution to the driver’s side stuck bolt. Took the tire off and sprayed a liberal amount of PB Blaster on the key components. Then I noticed something else – a rod/bar just hanging in air! Huh? Ran around and looked at the other side and Whoa! Serious problem here!
No wonder when I make a VERY hard left turn I hear a snap and klunking sound like a hard hit to the under carriage with a 3 pound hammer! NO stabilizer bar over there! Ouch! Now I gotta wonder how this failed, looks like it pulled apart in a stretch/drawn out, pulled on taffy, metal failure. It doesn’t look like it sheared.
Then I note that the problematic bushing on the left side looks “interesting”! Surface is kind of flaky as it looks like the rubber is failing. That opposed to the right side where the rubber is smooth.
I tried more “work” with the impact wrench. Started to see some smoke coming up from the area. Then I noticed a SMALL movement of the impact socket. That brought some joy to my heart. So I tried going forward and got some movement in that direction. Then I noticed that all of the “movement” was the rubber of the bushing flexing! I guess the next step is is keep working that flex of the rubber back & forth until it eventual fails or melts and I can get the bolt out. ? Pretty much resigned to the idea that I’ll need to replace that bushing and bolt. Just gotta order the parts and WAIT for them to come in.
In the mean time I need to button things back up again so I can drive the car to the parts dealer to get the parts! That is because my trip out today with the OTHER car suggests some kind of problem with its suspension, steering or axle! When it rains it pours, lol! I certainly am getting an education!
OH and I looked at taking the LCA arm off along with the fork & strut. It looks like something I’m not prepared to do as that would mean breaking connections with:
the ball joint at the knuckle,
the frame/body
front stabilizer bar, and
front radius rod.Then I realized all of that work done and the fork still straddles the drive shaft. So it looks like I’d have to drop the drive shaft to get the fork free. Yousa!
Nah, I’ll figure out how to get that bolt out or destroy the bushing (drill it?) and replace it. Oh, then I can finally get to the dangerous part – the spring compressor.
What I don’t get about these spring compressors is that one is trying to compress something along a plane or circle. It takes three points to define a plane, so why not three legs to the do-it-yourself spring compressors? I see the $700 spring compressor tool operates on this very theory as it has three upper and three lower arms to hold the springs. Guess I’ll have to borrow TWO tools in order to get three legs? Or am I talking trash?
And oh yeah, I looked, these Honda springs are pretty narrow and tight together already. Should be an interesting operation!
Great idea Eric – Kudos for Fixing it Forward!
Hey one item I saw on the list was “water came in passenger side” and that was right after (on the same line) as the leaking coolant. Is this a separate issue or a related one? Does the van have coolant leaking inside?
Just wondering….
Keep up the good work! Thanks for all you do!
OK, so now the old pipe is out and it is time to put the new pipe in place. Just a bit of careful wiggling to get it in place and not knock any paint off: and the pipe is in place!
Used a box as a third hand to hold the back end of the pipe up while I inserted bolts in the front
Now I’m particular, so I used all new bolts and nuts. Looked for class 10 or better, heat treated, as they could be found. Then I applied some never-seize to my bolts to hopefully slow any corrosion and make the repair easier next time?
Once the bolts were in place, tightened them up snug with hand wrenches….
…before final tightening with the impact wrench.
On the back part of the pipe, the pipes didn’t naturally line up.
But making use of the vice-grips as a “third hand” solved that issue and allowed the bolts to be inserted and tightened.
And that is the repair!
Resonator Pipe = Pipe B cost me $31 delivered! Probably have another $25 in new bolts, nuts and flange gaskets.
Pipe B started and completed on January 15, 2015
