Dear Experts,

I have a 1996 Honda Accord
2.2 VTEC
259K miles

Recently, the Accord is making
lots of noises and squeaks from the suspension

I first noticed that when I turned the
steering wheel about 6 - 8 inches
that the squeaks were in sync with
the steering wheel movements.

This mainly happens when the car is travelling slowly
or stopped.

When I drive slow over bumps, there is squeaking.

Last night, after a long trip, I
bounced the suspension, and
heard some squeaks.
Only on some wheels, not all
But no squeaks this morning.

When driving at highway speeds, I don't
hear any squeaking, but this could be the
wind drowning out the noise

Any ideas what is causing this?
Is this something to be concerned about?


Thanks a lot!

 

Probably a worn or oil soaked sway bar bushing. They make a loud squawk sound.

 

I went to a busy mechanic today, and
showed the symptom in the parking lot.
He didn't have time to get up on the lift.

Turned the steering wheel back and forth,
and the squeaks were in sync with the wheel.

He said that it was probably a ball joint.
Does that make sense?

Thanks

 

Possibly.
Easiest thing to do if you are not sure which side.
Use your factory spare tire jack, raise the car up just enough to get some air under the tire.
Turn on the car and try left/right.
If it always squeaks the same it's probably not the BJ.
If it only happens when the left or right wheel is down, then it is the side that is on the ground(loaded).

 

HI,

Thanks for responding.

I still haven't had a chance to
have a mechanic look at the suspension.
Or, try what you mentioned.

One thing, is that the noise definitely
seems to be coming from the
right front wheel area.

Today I noticed something. As I
returned to the car, the space
between the tire and the fender
seemed rather big.

See some of the pictures. In the
dusk, I measured these distances
between the tire, and the fender.

Left front: 100 mm

Right front: 105 mm

Does this make any sense?

Any other thoughts?

Thanks

 

 

Thanks Mike for responses

Ok, Finally I have an update,
in case any other poor soul needs some info.


I went to a few different places, and was getting
conflicting information on the diagnosis.


Finally, I went to Midas in Fargo, ND

They also thought the cause might be dry ball joints

They added grease via a needle through the boot.
Similar to this video:


Unfortunately, there is no grease nipple lately
for ball joints. I'd only had this ball joint changed
about a year ago. And already, it's giving issues.

Another conspiracy of planned obsolescence?

 

Use Honda BJs, they are fairly priced and will last you 100Kmiles no problem.

 

Ok, here's yet another update.

I'd had both front lower ball joints replaced.

Midas squired the grease into the
right ball joint. It had been replaced by a
guy working out of his garage.

The left ball joint I'd had fixed at a
shop that gave a warranty on the repairs.

Turns out that a week after the squeaking
stopped on the right one, squeaking
started on the left ball joint!

The shop replaced it under warranty.
(I'm not 100% sure of the manufacturer, but I
think it might have been Mevotech.)


So, very strange.
Two aftermarket replacement ball joints
from two different manufacturers,
failing in less than a year!
And less than 10K miles of driving.

Is this typical of auto parts quality these days?

 

When it comes to ball joints, water pumps and electrical in the 90s Honda's, it's just better to go oem. The extra cost is worth it to avoid the headache 9f down time or doing the same job over and over again