After driving my 99 honda accord and going over a speed bump on the way home I heard a sound just as the car went over it(similar to the sound of a bad shock). I instantly though my shock took a dump. After getting out I pressed down on sides of my car to find the source. It was comming from front driver side of the car. Next morning I went outside and shook that side again, there was no sound coming from it. After driving the car for 40 minutes the sound came back. I also noticed after the long drive it made a faint version of the noise as I was turning my wheel at low speeds(<5mph) on level surface. I let the car stand overnight and next morning drove it again for an hour. The sound did not comeback. I did a quick inspection of suspension parts and found no obvious problems. I'm really confused, anyone know what is up?

**Update on 5th post**

Modified by 3zFree at 5:35 PM 12/26/2007


Modified by 3zFree at 5:35 PM 12/26/2007

 

jack the car up and inspect the suspension, that is the only way you are gonna find it.

 

Already did it and everything looked good, no obvious damage.

 

that is pretty interesting. i will tell you that the shock does have gas in it, and the gas reacts differently as it gets heated. that would be why it's intermident (sp?).

the basic shock test though, push down hard on that side and see how many times the car goes up and down to get back to it's resting position. it should be hardly any times. Also, if you repeated push down, and you can practically start bouncing the car off the ground (i've seen a kid do this with an eclipse), then the shock is bad.

remember, the shock is 'dampening' the boingy action of the spring. if the car acts like it's just on a spring, the shock isn't doing anything.

 

Just a small update guys. It only starts making the sound after hour or so driving. if I stop the car and let it stand for 10 or so minutes the sound goes away again. It does sound like the shock cause it has that sound of a motion going two ways. I've done the bounce test and the shock is doing its job to control spring oscillation(after pushed down few times hard it goes up and stays there). If I bounce right after I finish a long drive you can hear the sound of a bad shock, but If I let it sit a bit or drive on even surfaces for more than 5-10 minutes it becomes quiter over time and dissapears completely...

 

if the suspension checks out ok, try looking at your axle. previous problem with a Camry

 

I really doubt it would cause symptoms that I described in my problem, but i'll check it out better tomorrow morning.

 

that shock isn't the only thing moving when you push the car down. if the shocks is controlly the spring, then it's not the shock.

what is this sound like? is it squeaking? other things it could be are the spring squeaking on either perch, or maybe a bushing or something. check and make sure all the suspension bolts are tight. probably a long shot, but check the two bolts that hold the radius rod to the lower control arm. when i bought my race car, the last race it did was an enduro, and one of those bolts had almost backed all the way out.