Picked this CRV up for a good price and will use as my daily driver and sacrificial teen driver learning car. That said, I'm fussy, and I'm busy abbout correcting things that annoy me. It also gives me an excuse to learn something about the car. So, this weekend I was doing the front brakes thing, poking around and checking components - came across this doo-hickey - looks like something to do with the sway bar. Can anyone tell me the part in the red "circle"? The left side was connected, this is the right side. I really can''t tell if steering/handling is affected as I have no baseline for comparison.

Appreciate the pointers.

 

That's an anti-sway bar endlink. And, by the look of it, it'll need replacement.

 

Sway bar end link! The original factory ones were notoriously bad. I use these Moog ones - they are grease fittings so aren't totally sealed but are servicable, so the entire part lasts longer. Just shoot more grease in with a gun during each lube job.

Driver's side Passenger side