This is a 93 4 door civic lx with a b16a. This is weird to me....You can drive this car all day and only hear it twice or you might hear it 15 times in 10 miles. I thought it was the axle, but it doesn't do it when you make a hard turn ether direction. So then I thought maybe the strut, but you can go over a hard bump and still don't hear it. I notice it the most when I take off and when I slow down quickly. The upper control arms were loose(camber kits) when I bought the car, but I tightened them three days ago and they haven't come back loose yet. I check them before and after ever time I get in the car. I think the motor mounts and transmission mounts look o.k., but it may not be visable.Anybody have a idea what it might be? Maybe I missed something or I'm just blind. O by the way at some point and time this car was wrecked bad in the front end if that helps, but looks like it was put back together pretty good. Thanks for any help.


Modified by OldSkool26 at 7:02 AM 4/7/2007


Modified by OldSkool26 at 7:06 AM 4/7/2007 <U></U> <U></U>


Modified by OldSkool26 at 7:07 AM 4/7/2007

 

check your lugnuts they could be loose

 

Checked there all tight.

 

Bmp

 

mine did the same thing whenever i slowed down at a light or stop sign. it turned out to be my bearing in the upper control arm. get that checked out asap, cause if that breaks on the highway it would be a bad day.

 

I know there is a ball joint in the upper control arm and the camber kit that mounts the arm to the body(strut housing). So what kind of bearing are you talking about? I'm thinking your talking about the ball joint. I'm I correct?

 

Is there a lot of play in your balljoint?

 

have you looked at your wheel bearings yet?

 

Its most likely the camber pieces that connect to the upper control arm. Take off your wheel and shake the UCA which is the horseshoe shaped suspension piece. If it has play, this is where the popping noise comes from.

 

sounds to me like a ball joint issue...
I would inspec them ASAP - you dont want them to break on you...

 

if the rubber bushing in the front lca for the strut bolt is old it will create the sounds you described upon starting and stopping. mine did the exact same thing, thats what it was. the bushings are about $13 a piece from honda.

 

I've had a similar problem for the last couple of years. It's a loud pop like when you crack your back. It happens when I reverse over the steep curb in my driveway, or if I come to a quick stop. Sometimes it sounds like a suspension component literally hitting the sheet metal.

I had adjustable upper ball joints, but I replaced them with used oem upper control arms and it didn't solve the problem. I've replaced the axles (and I think the new one is bad because the car rumbles a lot if I launch it, but otherwise drives and turns fine). I have aftermarket suspension but I checked and re-torqued every mounting bolt. I have a GSR front sway but it doesn't appear to be hitting anything (no rub marks). I replaced my outer tie rods. I have caster spacers between the two pieces of the LCAs but they're in there tight. My OEM engine mounts were corroded, but I put in aftermarket inserts.

I have my power steering rack looped with a breather, but the problem existed before that. Another thing I've noticed is that the steering kind of pops sometimes. I replaced the column because the nut that holds on the aftermarket steering wheel was stripped. So pretty much the only thing left is the rack/inner tie rods (boots are torn). So I got a manual rack, replaced the rack end bushing, replaced the inner and outer tie rods, but I have yet to throw it in. I'm going to get a new rear engine mount to replace the old mount that has inserts (the vibration sucks).

I have new lower ball joints but I need to buy a press before I attempt to install them.

When I jack up the car, the wheel shakes front to rear, but the steering wheel moves also, so I don't think it's a problem. The wheel doesn't shake up and down.

Obviously the car is too far modified to take to a mechanic for diagnosis (I didn't even mention that I swapped in LS suspension/brakes). Hopefully my long search can eliminate some variables for you.

 

Mine had the exact same problem after i bought my car's shell and started driving it forawhile. I replaced almost everything, till one day i noticed that if the car is jacked up, I can make the sound by holding the uca and shifting my bodyweight to pull it in and out. It turned out to be a bad bushing. When i took it out to replace it with one from the junkyard the entire bolt on the driver side was all rusted, even where the bushing should've tightly fitted around it. Putting in the new bolt actually fixed it but I replaced the whole uca just to be safe.

 

calipers?. my floating crappers are hesitent to release sometiems

 

yeah...i meant ball joint

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Heart4Audio &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">calipers?. my floating crappers are hesitent to release sometiems</TD></TR></TABLE>

HUH???

 

when you take off hard, if you feel a hard hit against your dash or like a loud bang, it might be your motor mounts are shot... does it pop out of gears at all? one of my friends did, and it ended up being his rear mount...

 

Thanks for helping my friend, he is busy today but he told me to tell everyone thanks for the info. After another inspection we think it is the lower ball joint, but we are going to check out the strut bolt bushings, wheel bearing, and the camber kit again to be on the safe side. He's a good guy and I don't want him to get hurt, so I told him to sign up on Honda-Tech to get a couple more opinions(I work 60 plus hours a week and don't have alot of time to help him). You guys are great, thanks again for all the input.