Ok I need a little help here. I have a rattle noise in the front end of my 91 CRX Si. It started out when I hit bumps, especially ones that did not really compress the suspension. It has gotten worse, now I hear it quite often driving at highway speeds. it also seems to be messing with the tracking of the front wheels. It sounds like rattle a ball joint would make when going bad. I checked them, going so far as to pop several of them just to be sure they are fine.

My other thought is possibly a bushing going bad, but considering the extent of the noise, I would expect that it would be obvious. The car does have 130k miles on it, and I know the bushings are getting tired, but they all still look well intact. There is barely even any surface wear cracks in them.

My next thought is the steering rack...I have a hard time believing it is this though. I woulds suspect it more if it made a noise when I turned the wheel slightly. which it does not.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.


[Modified by Crosser, 5:58 PM 1/10/2002]

 

wheel bearing???

 

That was one of my other thoughts...I have shaken the wheel and it does not feel llike the bearing is loose to rattle like this. it does not make a noise typical to a bad bearing either

 

Sounds like you are just going to have to jack it up, and crawl under and start tugging on the suspension. Start with the sway bar and dont forget the tie rods...etc...

Good luck.

 

Done that...did you read the origial post...I have even popped a few of the ball joints, just to be sure. Everything feels solid. I am baffled. Thanks though Chris.

Anyone else ever had a problem like this?

 

Yea. I read it. 3 times.

 

Not trying to bust your chops Chris...I do appreciate the help...It is just both myself and my roomate have looked at this and are a bit baffled. Both of us are no sluches with the wrench either. My roomate especially.

 

Do your coil overs have sleeves that go over the shocks? How are they mounted? On SE-R's, you use duct tape wrapped around the shock to keep the sleeves snug, and sometimes they loosen up (as I suspected on my '93 when it started making noise from the front end, but I sold the car before I could really try and diagnose it). The sleeves also loosen up even when using the rubber O-rings that are supplied with the coil-over kit. Also, last year the spring perch rubbed against the inner fender sometimes, which really bothered me for awhile 'til I figured out what was causing it.

If your CRX was yellow like your roommate's, you wouldn't have no problems!

 

So you are telling me if I paint it yellow, this will go away? Cool, going to get the pain now. hahaha.

It is not the coil-overs...this noise pre-dates them...It was very very slight back then though. It has just atarted getting bad recently.

 

Hey Eric!

I assume you've done the dumb stuff like tighten the strut tower bolts and the main shock bolt... Sorry I can't more help...

Andy

 

The noise will go away, and your car will be faster!

 

You could just turn up the radio...or open the sunroof.

OK seriously.
Do you have coilovers? Sometimes when entering my driveway, my rear suspension completely unloads on one side (this happens when you stiffen the car with a cage, sway bars and coilovers ). Anywho, sometimes my aluminum hat on the left rear coilover gets a little ****-eyed as a result. A very annoying rattle always ensues.

 

Maybe it's not even the suspension, but something loose in the engine compartment? Or a brake heat shield? There is no discernable play in the front suspension? I'm not familiar with CRX/Civic suspensions. Do you have a radius rod?
HOw is it messing with the tracking of the front wheels?

 

Hey Eric, good to "see" you. Cliffs Notes version - wheel bearing, CV joint and/or ball joints. Read on and I'll share some of my experience with similar problems.

Mine started with an audible click when I launched (even at street speeds). It eventually got to where I could feel it too. So I did the requisite checks. I put the car in the air and shook the various control arms - no knocking. Tried to move the hubs - solid. Did a nut and bolt on the car and everything was fine.

I was baffled, but I kept driving it.

These noises, and more, got worse and worse until I was afraid to drive it. So I put it up in the air and tore down the entire front end. Here's what I found.

1. Inner CV joint was really really worn. This explains the pop I felt on launch.

2. Left front wheel bearing was going bad. BUT...only when I had the knuckle off the car could I tell. Apparently just the weight of the control arms...even in the air...was enough to "take out" the slop.

3. Ball joints weren't knocking, but were VERY free moving. Leading me to believe maybe they were bad and I couldn't feel it with my hands.

How did I fix it? Luck. I found a totalled 2000 GS-R at a junkyard with no front end damage (engine was gone already ). Bought the upper control arms and the steering knuckles. Had new bearings pressed into the knuckles just for peace of mind...and here's what I saw.

1. These fresh (2000 vintage instead of 1995 track ***** vintage) ball joints were much tighter. Not binding, but tight.

2. Same with the new wheel bearings.

3. I replaced the right driveaxle with one from raxles.com. The guy (along with RoadRacer and the OPM crew) helped me isolate the original knocking to a busted inner joint. The left axle was new and the right one was banging around, so it was pretty obvious.

All problems were solved. So what do you do? If you have another car available, tear down the entire front end and examine things on a workbench. In the meantime, try to find a junked car that's newer, or less tired, than yours. If nothing else you can buy the arms, and have balljoints pressed into them while still driving the car.

FWIW...I'm guessing upper ball joints.

 

Eric,

Is it possible that it is a non-suspension related rattle? Sometimes exhaust systems develop rattles - the double walled exhaust manifolds in Integras are one example. Maybe the suspension feel is something unrelated to the rattle.

Good luck,
Alan

 

It is not a non-suspension noise. I feel it transmitted through the stearing wheel. it is not a coil-over shifting. My fronts are tight, there is no real free play in the spring...besides, this noise be it slight pre-dated the coil overs I have in the car. It is not a ball joint, I have poped several of them and rattled the remaining and they are all solid...absolutely no play in them. it would be obvious if it was causing this problem. I also know it is nothing to do with the CV-joints on the half shafts...I just did all the CV boots and checked the CV-joints. It is not making the noise during launches either. I am leaning back toward wheel bearings or something in the steering rack.

 

I think there's some kind of steering rack adjustment, at least on the Integras, that you might look into. Also...have you checked your tie rod ends?

 

Karl,

To go along with your avatar, you really should write your responses as Herbert Kornfeld would.

"Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, bruthahs 'n' sistahs. K-Dog here, His Stone Cold Baadness, The Original Gangsta, The Mack Daddy, The Freaky Gangbanga."

 

Yeah, I checked the tie rod ends...they look fine. I am looking into the steering rack adjustment that was one of the items on my list I am checking. Thanks.

 

Eric,

Happy New Year! I hope the holidays were fun, safe, and enjoyable for you and your family. I have been reading your thread and am in a similar, but not exact situation. Check this out...

Going over small frost heaves (speed bumps caused by the road expanding and contracting at cracks that develop in it over the winter, you
southerners wouldn't understand!!!) or other irregularities that don't really cause suspension travel, I hear a strange noise as well. It sounds like a "void", not quite a "pop", but not a "rattle". It really seems to come from the LF, but now I hear it from other corners of the car. This happened last winter as well, even before I got the Ground Controls (this past summer) which are on a different set of Koni Sports altogether. I seem to think it has to be the bushings in the front control arm (polyurethane, I think they're dead) or the shocks don't like cold temps and something needs to warm up and/or expand, because once the spring and summer come, the noise is gone until next winter!

How's that for odd?

As for your issue, I would not only check the steering rack, but the u-joints on the steering column itself (under the dash). On one occasion I tightened them on a whim (was just taking a wrench to the car) and got a 1/8 - 1/4 turn on one of the bolts. It could be something as
minor as that.

Well, I hope everything works out for you. See you sometime in the next few months.

Anthony "Mario" Crea

 

Eric,

Did you discover anything yet? I'm curious to see what it was.

Anthony "Mario" Crea

 

Me to..
I got a wierd clunking in my civic...
it doesnt' happen under braking...
but the calipers are tight and the rotors are on good....
so the only thing I could come up with is that the pads are clunking around..
since it never happens when even just a hair of brake pressure is applied

 

No, I have given up for the time being...It is not that bad...just gets on my nerves now and then. I figure I will just let it get worse and figure it out then. I do not feel like just replacing things until I get it right. I will see if it continues to get worse and figure it out then. Thanks for your help. I will get back to you if I finally figure it out.

EC

 

One possible check for wheel bearings.

Heh.. I didn't see this diagnosis suggestion, so here goes.

Story:Back when I had my Z, I had a rumbling up front that progressively grew worse and worse. Finally took it to a Z "specialist". (I won't name names). He took me and the car on a test drive and found a wide 4 lane road with very light traffic and threw the car left and right at about 35-40mph.. when he turned right the noise would get slightly worse, when he turned left it went away completely. "Left side wheel bearing" he diagnosed confidently, and proceeded to replace the left side wheel bearing. Twice. Still didn't fix it. Took it 130 miles home to the _REAL_ Z specialist that I knew. He listened to my story, laughed, showed me the easy way to replace the right side wheel bearing. I did it. It fixed the problem.

Explanation: The error the first "specialist" made (twice) was in diagnosing which side's wheel bearing was bad. The noise went away when that side was more heavily loaded by the turning maneuvers, not when it was slightly less loaded.

Suggestion: So if you think you can safely take it somewhere where you can alternate loading one side of the suspension then the other (slalom), and listen to see if the sound goes away.. you might try that. If it behaves as mine did, I'd say your pretty certain its the bearing. If not, I don't know for certain if that eliminates the bearing from suspicion, though.
Disclaimer/Warning: Obviously use your best judgement and caution doing this.. don't kill/maim/injure yourself or somebody else trying to diagnose your car. The test didn't work very well at low speeds, unfortunately, so be careful.

 

It does not make the noise in turns. It is over small imprefections in the road. I know it is in the right front as well. I will figure it out eventually.