Ive done my share of searching and i think i have it pretty much narrowed down ....but tell me what you guys think.

91 crx si GSR, H&r springs, tokico blues, sway bars, crossmember, pull poly bushing set. This car is like new, all ball joints / tie rods are all new. EVERYTHING IS NEW!!. ... this is why its pissing me off.

When I turn and hit a bump (usually pulling in/out of driveways) i get a nice round of clunks and a feeling of freeplay in the steering wheel. I can sometimes feel it while hitting a large amount of small bumps while driving straight. When i tug on the wheel its solid as a rock, loaded or unloaded. I push / rock the car by grabbing the wheel... nothing. I can only recreate the problem by hitting a bump while turning.

What bothers me the most is when I have somebody in the car and they feel the car is about to fall apart

thanks


Modified by ham at 7:36 PM 7/27/2005

 

Could be struts or ball joints. Jack the car up so the wheels are off the ground and see if there is any play side to side and up and down.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by snowseeker &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Could be struts or ball joints. Jack the car up so the wheels are off the ground and see if there is any play side to side and up and down.</TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ham &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">When i tug on the wheel its solid as a rock, loaded or unloaded. I push / rock the car by grabbing the wheel... nothing. I can only recreate the problem by hitting a bump while turning.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

I had a similar problem with my POS Beretta....turns out the stabilizer bolt(?) that goes through the A-arm was snapped in half. Not sure if it would be the same for your CRX, but sounds similar. I didn't notice it until I was changing brake pads, because it's right behind the spindle.

 

CV boot? check to see if there are cracks. its usually a clicking though

 

Clunking around corners on fwd usually indicates a worn inner cv joint.

 

I had the exact same problem on my civic when i lowered it, but realized my shock bolts came loose somehow. Either they werent bolted down or something broke, but even the slightest bumps would feel like huge potholes. Make sure the shocks are bolted in securely. good luck

 

Possible axle or a loose/bad sway bar endlink.

 

Sounds like the sway bar is binding. I had something like this happen on the wife's toyota. Sometimes the sway bar bushing bolts loosen up. Even the ones on the chassis. I think somebody mentioned this already.

 

everything is all tight. it almost feels like its inside the rack. I can feel freeplay in the steering wheel only when I hit bumps, and it kinda jerks the wheel.

 

Inner drivers can be swapped side to side :-) this puts the wear onto the reverse direction.. which is much less of a problem in real life.

 

Shock strut Bearing.. If not brand new.. Replace 'em..
Clunks on bumps and turning??

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bare &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Clunks on bumps and turning??</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah. when im driving around normal, its really nice. when i hit small (rattling type) bumps and when im turning while hitting bumps.... sounds awful.

im gonna tug around on it and pull the wheels off today

 

Either control arm bushing up front. Spray silicon grease on 1 bushing at a time and see if the problem goes away or gets better. Then check the back to see if the bolts holding your wheel assembly to the frame isn't sheered off. My dx had this happen in the rear.

 

i would check lugnuts to make sure they are tight and havent come loose but if it isnt that, it def sounds like bad axles.... good luck man

 

i also heard it could be the rack n pinion. SOMETHING is moving.... and its not my ball joints, shocks, tie rods, bushings, sway bars or any loose bolts. axles check out ok

 

ok guys i think i got it...... i had my car on the ground and i had my dad kick the wheel (simulate hitting bumps) it started shaking the wheel and making the noise. the inner tie rods were moving. the outers are fine.

i tried tightning the rack adjustment screw and it make it a little better, but it still has alot of freeplay in the inners.

 

try this take off the sway bar endlink nut and move the sway bar end links out of the way. then drive the car if the noise is gone then its most likely sway bar mouns bushings or endlinks.

 

Then check the back to see if the bolts holding your wheel assembly to the frame isn't sheered off. My dx had this happen in the rear.

LMAO! My DX does the same thing. You kick the whell, and it moves from forward to front. The bolts that hold it to the frame came off. You may want to check that, just in case you haven't.

 

i have to change out my rack regardless, i grabbed the inner and yanked it up and down and it moved quite a bit.

 

i messed with the rack end bushing which suspends the rack in the housing and it made it nice and solid. ALso, I decided to upgrade to an HF rack for quicker ratios.