Hi guys,

My 97 honda accord is bone stock. It has a creaking noise coming from the driver's front. It creaks when moving up and down and also when you move the wheel from right to left, but not from left to right. Any ideas where it could be coming from? i hate tracking down noises...

 

It could be a bad axle.
Try looking under the car to see if the rubber boot is cracked and if it has grease and dirt on it.

 

Dry Ball Joint(s) The grease has hardened from the cold and the ball joints have started working dry. Since no-one sees fit to manufacture a Honda Ball Joint with a grease (Zerk) fitting; you've two options.
1) Replace them
2) Drive it until one breaks. It may be a rather crude solution, but it will at least id which one it was

P

 

Hardened grease?

I'm gonna say.....bushings. Probably either sway bar bushings, or control arm bushings. They tend to make more noise when they are cold because eurathane/rubber/plastic are all a lot less forgiving at low temperatures. Try some silicone spray on those parts. My car has the creaks a bit right now also.....

 

Yup, when it gets cold it takes the consistency of wax.
Harkin back to the days of re-packing front wheel bearings (showing my age, huh?) and remember the old guy who showed up with the twelve year Oldsmoble and having to scrape out the old grease because it had hardened. And thirty minutes in the parts cleaning tank just to inspect his original bearings.

Honda published a paper for just this problem. ("Massage the ball joints"); sure, it worked until the next cold snap. I ultimately threw up my hands and changed out the ball joints.

The hint is the "<U>also when you move the wheel from right to left, but not from left to right</U>" comment. Bushings will make noise for suspension up/down movement, but not for turning the wheel.

P