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        General >> Give/Need advice to/from others >>  front strut top mount
        
(Message started by: jonnycab on Jun 29^th, 2007, 6:59pm)

Title: front strut top mount
Post by jonnycab on Jun 29^th, 2007, 6:59pm

Could anyone tell me what kind of noises the strut top mount makes when it's gone & how it affects drivability ?

The reason I'm asking is because I'm suspecting that my O/S front may be caput :)

Title: Re: front strut top mount
Post by Matt on Jun 29^th, 2007, 8:09pm

i can tell you as my 12v'er has got a duffen,

it creaks when you go over bumps, push down on the car etc... slight knocking on normal roads, and with the 12v the steering feels a bit odd when unwinding from a right turn (o/f one gone on mine) feels like it gets stuck, tho that could be the steering rack lol,

open the bonnet and push the car up and down, the top mounts shouldn't have any movement, on mine, when you do that you can see the top of the mount moving on the rubber

Title: Re: front strut top mount
Post by jonnycab on Jun 30^th, 2007, 1:28am

Cheers Matt....that kind of sounds like what mine is doing, but it doesn't creek when you push down on the car, only over slight bumps & more when cornering left.

I did post this a few weeks back & the conclusion was the hot weather making something creek, but I fear that this isn't the case.

I'll have to do some more investigating ;)

Title: Re: front strut top mount
Post by big_neil on Jul 3^rd, 2007, 8:17pm

i,ve just replaced both top mounts on my dec 98 ultima, very slight clunking when driving and when all the front end was checked ,no play any where on the suspension(that makes a change), as the man says get someone to bounce the car whilst you feel the top mounts and you,ll feel some play if its them. price was £27.18inc vat for the mountings and £12.08 inc vat for the two bearings.two hours labour should do it.

Title: Re: front strut top mount
Post by jonnycab on Jul 4^th, 2007, 4:02pm

Just had the car checked over at the garage & they can't find a stitch wrong with it ???

He reckons he ain't seen many cars of this age with the front suspension/steering in such good order & so is stumped as to whats causing the wandering & creeking.

Could be as was said before in another post that it is a bush drying out. So just have to play it by ear for now.

As for the wandering, he's suggesting it may be down to the cheapo tyres that are fitted ::).....sorry, did I not mention the wandering ::)

I'll try swapping the front for the backs & go from there :)

Title: Re: front strut top mount
Post by pat on Jul 4^th, 2007, 8:41pm

Had the knocking problem on our 2.9. Of all the daft things the n/s/f top nut was loose- could see the gap between nut and washer. Prised off the plastic nut cover,exposing the allen key recess in the top of the piston, tightened it up and hey presto!
Now it's knocking on the o/s/f....... >:(
Strange because it was 1-owner, dealer-maintained before we bought it and looks as though it has had new ones at some time.
P.s. re-the plastic cover removal. Not trying to state the obvious but really for the maybe uninitiated.
Although an ex(very long ex!)- motor engineer, it took me half an hour to realise it was a cover }{ :P

Title: Re: front strut top mount
Post by jonnycab on Jul 5^th, 2007, 2:15am

Pat, at what point did you realise, that even though the black plastic nut was going 'round, nothing was getting any looser }{ ....sorry, you gotta laugh though ;D

Just to confirm though....the strut nut isn't loose, neither are the three that hold it in position :)

Been listening to this noise all night now (so have my passengers :o), & it's still wandering, so swapping the rear wheels for fronts made no difference.

I'm now working on the theory that the O/S track rod end may be the culprit (as it creaks more when turning left). It was new a few months back when the rack was fitted, but it was a pattern part.

The creak does actually seem to be (after careful listening) coming more from the lower end of the O/S strut....so a dried out track rod end ball joint ?....this would certainly be a cause of the wandering as well.

Another thing I didn't mention was that the creak sounds as if it's in the steering column, but the column & it's couplings are fine. So I'm thinking that the creak is somehow being amplified, from the track rod & up through the steering....is this possible ?

Anyway, gonna whip it off in the morning & remove the rubber boot to see if there's any grease in it & give it a good wiggle to see if it starts to stiffen....fingers crossed ;)

Title: Re: front strut top mount
Post by big_neil on Jul 5^th, 2007, 12:54pm

i,m surprised the garage can,t find owt wrong, these cars are noted for suspension probs. when i,m in my mates garage we always have the car up on a lift and use a 4ft bar (yes i know it,s a big un) and gently lever everywhere as the obvious isn,t always there to find ,,, it must be summat , keep checking!

Title: Re: front strut top mount
Post by pat on Jul 5^th, 2007, 8:57pm

I knew the piston was turning with the locknut but couldn't figure how to hold it without jacking it up to extend the spring. I wasn't thinking of putting a pair of padded grips on the strut - honest. @

Then that night a mechanic mate mentioned that once the plastic DOMED COVER OVER THE NUT was off, you put an Allen key in the top of the strut. :o :-[ Doh!

It's not my fault - the Consuls, Zephyrs and 100E s didn't have them(ask your Dad)

Title: Re: front strut top mount
Post by jonnycab on Jul 9^th, 2007, 1:21am

Sorted ;D...

Both track rod ends were really loose (6 month old pattern parts). Replaced both & wandering is no more :D

Was still creeking though ???....sorted that now as well....

The culprits ?...anti-roll bar bushes....these were replaced not long ago, because that's where I originally thought the noise & wandering was coming from, but after replacing them, the creek seemed to come back after a few miles....when the car was warmed up.

Took the anti-roll bar off again & gave the bushes a spray (inside & out) with 'Weldtite TF2 teflon lubricant', then re-fitted the bar......... no more creeking can be heard ;D

I did lube the bushes up with a bit of washing up liquid when I first fitted them, but this appears not to be enough ???

Are new FMD parts inferior to the original parts....I'm thinking maybe :-/

Title: Re: front strut top mount
Post by big_neil on Jul 9^th, 2007, 4:12pm

i can,t believe you,ve been driving round with slack track rod ends, it beggars beyond belief what could have happened, good job it,s sorted!

Title: Re: front strut top mount
Post by jonnycab on Jul 9^th, 2007, 5:09pm

When I said they were really loose, I didn't mean they were about to pop the balljoints, just that there was no tightness in them & considering they were only 6 months old, then I thought that they must have prematurely worn :-/

I put a new pair in to see if it would cure the wandering/tramlining & as luck would have it, they did :)

Title: Re: front strut top mount
Post by Matt on Jul 9^th, 2007, 6:22pm

ive seen it before, my mate was the most recent, hes got a nissan 300zx, took it in to have the rear steering rack replaced, drover it home and there was a strange knocking coming from the back, brought it to me the day after, both track rod ends were loose, you could move the shaft up and down...

Title: Re: front strut top mount
Post by jonnycab on Jul 10^th, 2007, 2:17am

Sorry, a bit of a mis-understanding here I think ::)...when I said loose, I didn't mean that the nuts weren't done up tight, I meant that the swivels seemed worn with no tightness.

Apologies on my behalf, I suppose it did sound as though I was talking about the nuts, but I can promise that I never let my nuts get loose & I do check them regularly.

Glad we cleared that one up then ;D