clicking on passenger side front... not good....

snowball1288 · 02-23-2006, 07:36 PM

uuughh!!!!!
ok so i have a 1999 civic dx with neuspeed springs with about 1.75-2 inches drop and camber kits. so my camber kits have decided to squeek non-stop, so i greased those up, and as soon as i thought i had all the rattles and squeeks taken care of in this car....

im getting this odd rattle / clicking from the front right side. I first noticed it when i went over some bumps downtown. then i was facing down a hill, stationary and let on and off the brakes very fast, and i could get it to click each time.

i took the car home, jacked up the front and took a look around. everything looks ok, but if i spin either of the front wheels theres a slight click as the differential makes the other wheel spin (when the slop is overcome). is that normal? i cant remember if it always used to do that or not. otherwise, i cant find any other noises.

I have a couple theories, so this is where i need help.

1) Maybe its a CV Joint... seems that when the slop is overcome when i turn one wheel with the front off the ground, there is a click as the other wheel starts to turn

2) something else is loose in my front suspension

3) could my shock be bad? it is the stock shock....

4) Its Les Schwabb's Fault. haha. i like that one, personally.

thanks in advance.

SilverY2KCivic · 02-23-2006, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snowball1288

3) could my shock be bad? it is the stock shock....

thanks in advance.

Answered your own question.

I knew that was the culprate from your first sentance when you didn't mention you have any different shocks than stock. Lowering on STOCK shocks is never good. Really why lower if you don't upgrade all the involved parts? If new shocks (and with those springs I'd only get KYB AGX, or Koni Reds or Yellows) don't solve the noise, the next thing to check is the CV boots/joints, then your bushings. Since you say it's a click it could be the axles. Does the clicking increase with speed? Also did you see any grease on or around the CV boots? That's how you'll know if they are shot. Good luck!

BullShifter · 02-23-2006, 10:43 PM

I've never heard a strut make noise while there is no load, but I agree they should be replaced. Without having the car here, I would lean more towards a bad axle. Try turning the steering to full lock either way and drive slow listening for an increase in noise. Try it with the steering at opposite lock. If you can't point out the noise, let some walk next to the car while you move.

Can you create the noise without turning the tire? Try grabbing the tire from the top and bottom then try to move up an down, do the same thing grabbing the front facing & rear facing side of tire.

Make sure the car is in neutral and try spinning both tires in the same direction.

Try those few things and post results. Noises are next to impossible to fix without hearing them.

OT - One of the other service advisor's at Honda had a customer put his cell phone out the window so we could hear this noise we never found. That was amusing

SilverY2KCivic · 02-23-2006, 10:56 PM

All wind, huh? LOL! =P

BullShifter · 02-23-2006, 11:04 PM

Yep. Noises were the most annoying thing to deal with at Honda. Some people would come in for every little noise, it's like it's a car! Nothing beats the time a customers kid put change in the CD player. No warranty coverage and the customer was without a radio for 8 weeks.

We had a great one today, customer kicked a rod in a quad 4. Talking to him about an engine replacement since it's not worth rebuilding. Anyways he says, "when you say you need to replace the engine which parts do you mean?" LMFAO

That big ass metal thing under your hood. Shit maybe we could have sold him 2 more cyclinder for his quad 4, and even spark plug wires - car doesn't have any.

snowball1288 · 02-27-2006, 08:37 PM

alrighty i got it figured out.
it was the front right side camber kit. the thing came totally loose. after rocking teh car side to side and kicking the wheels a bit to try to reproduce teh sound, i noticed i could grab the upper part of the passenger side wheel and by pulling on it, actually move the upper part of the wheel towards me (like decreasing the camber, by pulling on the wheel... that sort of motion). id say i could move the top part of teh wheel a good centimeter towards me. VERY SCARY.

so i stopped driving it and dropped it off at les schwab where i had the camber kits installed. Get this: They got the car at 9am and said they'd get to work on it after a few other cars. i called them at 5:30pm to ask what progress they'd made and they said "oh yeah. your car's been ready for like... 6 hours." so i went down and picked it up. they offered no explaination of what they had done ("the mechanic who worked on your car didnt leave a note and he went home about an hour ago") , but said it was totally free of charge. now the wobble in that front right wheel is gone, along with all my sqweeking, clicking and rattling in the front right suspension.

i assume they tighted up that camber kit somehow and oiled it properly. but that thing has been nothing but a pain. constantly squeeking and, recently, rattling. all fixed now though. odd eh?

BullShifter · 02-27-2006, 10:37 PM

Congrats for finding the noise and a free repair.

That procedure for finding play/noises works 95% of the time.

CIVICLX93 · 03-10-2006, 09:15 PM

hey i have the same problem with my drivers side wheel but the only thing is im totatlly stock(soon to change) i bought a bushings kit from energy do you guys think that will help.or since i dont have a camber kit is there some sort of screw or bolt that i might have to get?

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