Hi guys,

A honda tech the other day quickly looked at my 91 EF sedan b/c I was complaining of a squeaking sound coming from the left driver's wheel.

He didn't drive or anything but just pushed down on the front of the car a few times and said the likely cause of the squeaking is the lower ball joint.

Now I'm sure without jacking up the car its difficult to determine what the actual cause is.

Here are the conditions that make it squeak like crazy:
1. Cold temps. Usually minus 10 or colder Celsius.
2. Going over bumps
3. Sometimes turning the steering wheel
4. Sounds like a screech/sqeaking sound
5. When temps warm up it goes away

I have new struts up front, sway bar bushings and end links were good at the time of inspection last summer

My thoughts were maybe upper control arm bushings but the honda mechanic says it could be but its more likely the ball joint b/c of the metal to metal screeching/sqeaking sound esp when cold.

Has anyone here experienced "testing" for bad ball joints just based on the conditions listed here?

Car has 378, xxx kms.

Thanks

 

ball joints are cheap...if it looks worn, change it out. Its a easy install. Places like Autozone will let you rent a tool for free that makes the job a breeze.

 

When was the last time you greased the sway bar bushings? If you replaced the OEM bushings with poly. bushings, they squeak like crazy when they are dry. Take the bushings off the sway bar, clean them up, re-grease them and re-install.

Now, as far as the lower ball joint, jack the car up so the the front tire barely lifts off the ground. Now take a jack hande/pry bar/baseball bat and place it under the center ot the tire. Lift up on the handle, you should get no movement in and out, you might get some movement up or down. If you get movement in or out, replace the lower ball joint.

While the car is still in the air, turn the wheel until it locks and you cannot turn the wheel anymore. Now try and turn the wheel by holding the tire at 9 and 3. If you get some movement, your rack needs some attention. It might be rack bushings, outer or inner tie-rods or even the rack end bushings.

 

have you cheacked the shocks? shock bushings?

 

Shocks are new, bushings the last time I checked were good, sway bar bushings are new factory rubber ones. I will jack up the car and check right now since I have to jack the car up anyways to change the ball joint.

 

Also, while the car is jacked up put hands on the tire 12 oclock and the 6 oclock positions. try moving tire toward you and away from you. If you have play in the wheel that is usually balljoints, the opposite 9 and 6 oclock is usually tie-rod endz. After ya figure out the prob then maybe a alignment?

 

okay guys so here's the scoop.

I had the car jacked up on jackstands and used all my weight to pull the tire at the 12 and 6 o'clock position. Absolutely NO movement whatsoever (my gut feeling told me that my car didn't needs new ball joints - can't trust Honda dealership after all!).
I put my hands at the 3 and 9 o'clock position. NO movement at all.

I looked at the fork bushings: The usual light cracking but still very much tight in the lower swing arm. Other bushing that is bolted to the frame is tight too with no obvious signs of wear.


I pried at my sway bar bushings and even though they looked new after 17 years I opted to replace them anyways just in case. Car felt a tad bit tighter but nothing truly noticable. Biggest waste of 10 bucks ever

Shocks are brand new Tokico blues on stock Si springs taken from my crx. The reason why I replace the springs with Si ones was b/c the driver's side sedan springs were broken.


I suspect the upper control arm bushings. Why I think that? b/c there anything else that can make that creaking/squeaking sound.

Last possible cause? Top cap on top of coil spring. Yeah I don't think that it can cause the noise but I'll be damed b/c it sure sounds like its coming from the top somewhere.....

Any other suggestions?

 

Make sure the top hats have both of the bushings you know on the top and the bottom of the hats where you slide the strut cylinder through to put the 14mm on to tighten it. and make sure the aluminum sleeve is not missing too. the sleeve that passes through the bushings on the top hat. Should be rubber on the inside of the top hat where the spring would meet it. Just trying to think of all possibilities.

 

I just replaced the upper control arm on mine, and it squeeks like mad!!! It was brand new too. bumps, the weather, everything makes it squeek. I tried spraying it with WD40, but the squeek was back in a day. :/

 

if the boots on the balljoint are still intact, then i have a hard time believing they are the cause of the squeeking. if they are torn or ripped, then its very likely thats the cause.

as for anything else, its gotta be something rubber, like in the top hats or something.

 

just because the boots are ok, doesnt necessarily mean that the ball joint is good too... when our civic started squealing the boot was still fine... couple weeks later the balljoint let go going 65 on the highway... not good.. also on our sebring the boot was fine for the upper balljoint but it still needed to be replaced.

 

A ball joint can be bad even if the boot is not torn, however if there is no excessive movement it is probably not the problem.

Your problem probably lies in 17 year old rubber. Next time it is making noise spray 1 area at a time with wd40 or silicone spray this will help you narrow down your problem.

Oh.. and its probably a good idea to change both sides when you do find the problem, chances its just wear so the other side will follow shortly.

 

yeah it definitely blows to not be able to figured out what the heck is making that sound. I am tempted to take it to another shop to let them try to figure it out.

It definitely sounds like a rubber squeak and not a metallic grinding squeak.

 

check our control arm bushings, mine where making that sound, so i put new bushings in and it went away

 

I caught the car squeaking again when it was warm and it really sounds like the lower swing arm bushing.

I'll keep driving the car until it gets really noisy and then I'll be able to remove whatever faulty piece it is that is bad.

When testing for free play on a ball joint or tie rod end how hard do you have to push/pull to feel all free play? My noise could be a ball joint issue but when I reef on the tire and rim I can't get any movement so I'm not sure if I'm just weak or if there is supposed to be another way of testing them.

Thanks

 

i still think that it's the worn out lower ball joint problem. i've had similar situation twice. the first one had been replaced with cheap oem replacement... didn't last quite long (only about 3 years). the 2nd time replacement was using original honda japan part.

 

Okay so finally got the answer that I needed to get rid of that pesky squeak.

It was the problem that my gut feeling was telling me the whole time. Upper control arm bushings on the driver's side are toast. I can either replace the whole control arm or replace just the bushings.

The bushings seem relatively easy to change. I've already ordered a new Honda one but I will also order the bushings and rebuild the old control arm. Ball joints are rock solid tight with NO play and the tie rods are also in excellent condition.

Do you guys know if the left and the right control arm are interchangeable?

Thanks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by stevescivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Do you guys know if the left and the right control arm are interchangeable?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

no, not EFs.

 

the sucks that the left and right UCA's are not interchangeable...

Oh well, they weren't that expensive so I guess I shouldn't complain.... considering that at 380, 000 km's on the control arms I have nothing to bitch about...

I love my ef!

 

Okay so a shop told me that my UCA on the driver's side has bad bushings so I went and ordered a Honda one and replaced it yesterday. Great I though the sqeaking is gone.

Well today it got down to minus 25 celsius and the squeak came back..

This is driving me mental. I initially thought it would the UCA but Honda tells me lower ball joint. I do my own balljoint test and its tight. Second shop tells me its tight but tells me UCA is bad. I replace UCA and still squeaking.

This is driving me mental.

Would/could it be possible that my springs somehow is making all the annoying noises?

It still sounds like from the lower ball joint area but I'm starting to lose my patience....

 

then its you lca's

 

but the LCA bushings look fine...

No major cracks that are any different than my CRX's bushings....

I'll have to dig some more another day... too tired to keep taking things apart all the time.

 

Back on Jan. 12, I was driving home from work on I-80 in my new-to-me 91 Civic Wagon and was travelling at a good rate of speed in the fast lane when I heard a popping sound followed by my driver's front end hitting the pavement. Turns out my lowwer ball joint failed, causing my tire to turn outwards, thus ripping my drive axle out. Luckily I was able to slow down and pull over. After calling AAA and having my car towed back to PA from NJ (Thanks AAA PLUS!) it now sits jacked up waiting to be fixed! The car is outside and it's just too damn cold lately to do anything. Anyone know how I can push this car into the garage with a damaged lower ball joint and a non working drive axle?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by progress &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Back on Jan. 12, I was driving home from work on I-80 in my new-to-me 91 Civic Wagon and was travelling at a good rate of speed in the fast lane when I heard a popping sound followed by my driver's front end hitting the pavement. Turns out my lowwer ball joint failed, causing my tire to turn outwards, thus ripping my drive axle out. Luckily I was able to slow down and pull over. After calling AAA and having my car towed back to PA from NJ (Thanks AAA PLUS!) it now sits jacked up waiting to be fixed! The car is outside and it's just too damn cold lately to do anything. Anyone know how I can push this car into the garage with a damaged lower ball joint and a non working drive axle?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Holy thread jack batman!

Anyway, I'd just throw it up on a dolly (maybe with a jack on it?) and roll it up by hand with a couple of friends.

 

Sorry about the thread jack. Just thought since it was pretty relevant to the OP's topic... Thanks for replying though.