97 Lumina car strut replacement

[chevycarol83]

OK my uncle is a retired machanic and i was low on cash so I bought my front struts and let him put them on. Well Im not driving the car right now because when i test drove it to see how he did you can hear a popping noise coming from the strut on the passenger side in the front. does anyone have any idea what this is.? Did we get a bad strut or do I need another machanic? PLEASE HELP

[Bearwulf]

Check to be sure that the strut to knuckle bolts are tight (lower end of strut).

[dwalmop]

The struts on a 97 have no bolts on the bottom to bolt to the knuckle. They are cartridges that slide in from the top under the hood. The first thing I'd check is the rubber strut mount under the top plate under the hood. Make sure the bolt is tight and that the mount (it's more like a bushing) isn't deteriorated. You could also check to make sure the strut is threaded in all the way and tight at the middle of the tower, if that makes sense. There is really nothing else to it. I can't think of anything else to check if it wasn't making the noise prior.

[Bearwulf]

Originally Posted by dwalmop

The struts on a 97 have no bolts on the bottom to bolt to the knuckle. They are cartridges that slide in from the top under the hood. The first thing I'd check is the rubber strut mount under the top plate under the hood. Make sure the bolt is tight and that the mount (it's more like a bushing) isn't deteriorated. You could also check to make sure the strut is threaded in all the way and tight at the middle of the tower, if that makes sense. There is really nothing else to it. I can't think of anything else to check if it wasn't making the noise prior.

Then yours must be different than ones I've worked on.
Just checked the manual, '96 & earlier no strut to knuckle mount, '97 & later have have this mount.

[dwalmop]

So they have a cartridge-type strut, and it's attached in another way besides at the balljoint? Even so, I don't know why you'd even touch anything down there when replacing a cartridge coming from the top? I suppose if he wasn't sure what he was doing....That's a new one to me though; a cartridge style with a separate knuckle. All of the ones I've seen have a sort of one-piece knuckle - strut tower that is held on at the lower control arm with the ball joint.