Originally Posted by Sheiladawn78

Hey guys! I have had some fairly major repairs done to my 2001 Honda Accord EX Coupe 2.3L Automatic over the last few months. So I'm not understanding why I'm having the issues I'm having now. This car has 220k miles and I'm kicking myself for putting the money that I have put into it at this point! I love my car though! I'm just kind of thinking maybe it's time to let her go??

Anyway, here is the extensive list of parts I have replaced:
* Front shocks/struts and mount bushings* Front outer tie rods* Front lower ball joints* Front outer tie rods*** I have the inner tie rods, but they didn't get installed because my boyfriend can't figure it out! We went rounds about them! He swore those parts were nowhere ony car! He even told me he talked to mechanic and the people at the auto parts store and they told him those parts weren't ony car! So I found a video and proved him wrong. Needless to say they have not been installed yet!* Front and rear sway bar end links* Front and rear sway bar mount bushings* Brand new hubs/bearings all the way around.* Brand new 65k mile warranty tires all the way around.
* Total wheel alignment* Brand new rotors, calipers and brake pads all the way around.
* Transmission swap (Let's not forget that)!
* Motor mounts

So anyway... I'm all excited my care is "DONE" and ready for me to take her for a spin!

Now here's what's going on:
* There's the awful squeak coming from the front end! Sounds like the shocks or possibly the control arms?
* There's a growl coming from the front wheel area. Almost as if the flywheel isn't lined up just right or something in the axles is grinding. Like a gear grinding sound. Remember as a kid putting a card in the spokes of your bicycle? That's what it reminds me of. This noise occurs only while the car is rolling. The transmission shifts beautifully though.
* One of my front lower ball joints has blown already. It's only been like 4 months since they were replaced, at most!
* The front end feels kind of like it's swaying or wobbling around, but the body of the car isn't. That's a hard one to describe.
* I have had this problem with memory steering that did improve a couple weeks after doing all the suspension parts, but since the transmission is back again and the car has a tendency to wander a little.

Can anyone offer me some advice or explanation of might be going on? I'm baffled by all of it actually, but the ball joint blowing and the growling while the car is rolling concern me! I'm at least $2500 in on these repairs and I don't know how much more I'm willing to sink in, but I'm not necessarily ready to give up on her yet! PLEASE HELP!!!
grinding in the front could be he pulled the cv joint apart or messed up the wheel bearing. Jack it up and spin the wheels. Squeaks can be a bad ball joint over tightened. I think 37-48 ftlbs, loose bushings depends on if its during turning or bumps. Can also check by lifting the car and compressing suspension with a jack sometimes.
the swaying sounds like loose bolts or missing bolts
double check.
inner tie rods require a inner tie rod tool and the bellow to be removed. Get from harbor freight.

THANK YOU, IN ADVANCE!

Originally Posted by Sheiladawn78

The squeaks are happening over bumps. He used WD-40 and the squeaking sort of went away. Now it's more like the strut is flipping around. It's a knocking noise now.

I'm aware of needing the tie rod tool for the inner tie rods and that they are inside the bellow. I bought the inner and outer tie rods and bellows together in a 6 piece suspension kit. He actually put the new bellows on the struts!

So I guess the answer is that I have the wrong person working on my car?! Lol

Originally Posted by Sheiladawn78

The squeaks are happening over bumps. He used WD-40 and the squeaking sort of went away. Now it's more like the strut is flipping around. It's a knocking noise now.

I'm aware of needing the tie rod tool for the inner tie rods and that they are inside the bellow. I bought the inner and outer tie rods and bellows together in a 6 piece suspension kit. He actually put the new bellows on the struts!

So I guess the answer is that I have the wrong person working on my car?! Lol

Originally Posted by hondaslave1342

First piece of advise,, don't let him touch your car anymore. It was a waste to align without installing the inner tie rod. Now your going to have to pay again. I would personally just take it somewhere. Front end needs to be torqued to spec not just tightened.