WhiteRain

Last week I had my 1996 Grand Am in the garage and had the front struts and strut mount bearings replaced. Now I'm hearing what sounds like a rubbing noise when turning and even the tiniest little bump causes the rubbing noise. I took the car back to the garage and now he's telling me that the strut mounts are gone. He just replaced the bearings in the mounts so shouldn't he have noticed if the mounts were gone or on their way out? And besides that I had the strut mounts replaced about a year and a half ago. Would they be gone already? A friend tells me that maybe he intalled the struts upside down and thats whats causing the rubbing noise, is that possible?
Please help!

J-Ri

I've never seen a strut that can be installed upside down, I know that on G/As they will only go on one way.

I ALWAYS replace the mounts when I do struts (it prevents problems like this one). If the customer wants to do it without them, they can take the car somewhere else.

If it's making a rubing sound, I would check for anything that may have been left loose. I always hate saying it, but making a problem does make more money, not everyone is trustworthy. A bad mount usually makes a clunking or popping sound, not rubbing unless it's so screwed up the wheel isn't where it should be.

__________________
'04 Cavalier coupe M/T 2.2 Ecotec
Supercharged 14 PSI boost, charge air cooler, 42# injectors
Tuned with HP Tuners

'86 3/4 ton Silverado
350 V8, 4x4, 4" lift, 1 ton axles swapped, converted to 4 wheel disc
35" BFG Mud Terrain T/As
Shortened to 109.5" wheelbase for those tight trails

http://www.boycottpepsico.com/default.aspx

You see "Fresh oil, loose gravel"; I see "Free undercoating"

WhiteRain

Thanks for the advice. It was the mechanics choice to only install the bearings instead of the mounts. I guess thats why he offered to refund me for the bearings and he's not gonna charge me for installing the mounts.

J-Ri

I may have sounded too cynical in my last post, I didn't mean to make it sound like he was making a new problem. Since he offered to refund your money and do the mounts for free, he was probably just trying to be nice and get you out of there with as much money in your wallet as possible.

__________________
'04 Cavalier coupe M/T 2.2 Ecotec
Supercharged 14 PSI boost, charge air cooler, 42# injectors
Tuned with HP Tuners

'86 3/4 ton Silverado
350 V8, 4x4, 4" lift, 1 ton axles swapped, converted to 4 wheel disc
35" BFG Mud Terrain T/As
Shortened to 109.5" wheelbase for those tight trails

http://www.boycottpepsico.com/default.aspx

You see "Fresh oil, loose gravel"; I see "Free undercoating"

inafogg

it sounds like he no's he screwed up & trying to get it right.first thing i thought off is the coil spring is installed wrong & rubbing against inner wheel well.if he is doing it for free ok, but not sure i'd go back in future....
GOOD LUCK BUT NOT TO SURE YOU'LL EVER NO WHAT THE REAL PROBLEM WAS

WhiteRain

I agree with you inafog that he might of screwed up. That was the first thing that come to my mind, and now he's trying to fix his mistakes with out me know what it is by saying the mounts are gone. But oh well what can you do, I have no clue about how to fix a car so I have no choice but to take a mechanics word for what he says is gone. The car is in the garage right now actually, I'm hoping it comes back with no more noises,
Thanks for the info!