I've been gettin this "pinging" sound from the front of my 00 civic recently (couple months), im guess from the right side wheel well, though im not exactly sure. it sounds like hittin a baseball with an aluminum bat.
everytime i acelerate from a full stop i get a "ping". no ping when decelerating. i tried to reproduce it by pushing up and down on the hood but doesn't happen. it only pings when the car moves forward. sometimes when i shift hard and the car jerks forward it happens as well.

My guess is its the shocks but im not sure. but so far the ride has been fine. i have koni yellows dropped on eibach sportlines. install about 3 years ago.

I guess my question is does anyone have an idea of what it might be? is it something i should be worried about? if can any of you techies out there can help me out i really apreciate it. thanks!

 

take the tires off and inspect all the suspension components.

make sure you have no play or shimmy in the suspension.

also check the ball joints for torn boots.

check your shocks too, make sure everything is tight.

 

Check everything out ASAP! I lost a lower ball joint a while back and it was no fun at all! Luckily, I wasn't on the highway when it failed.

 

how will i know if the ball joint fails? what is it like?

 

Your wheel will fall off. I'm not even joking.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jazzman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Your wheel will fall off. I'm not even joking.</TD></TR></TABLE>

it wont fall off. it will lose steering and have no support. so basically your tire will tuck itself under and the fender will be supporting it and itll get pushed back into the door area.

to check the ball joint grab the tire and push and pull it and feel for any play. also check the boots, if you have a leaking boot or a hole in the boot replace it.

sometimes it will also make some noise.

 

so you guys dont think its the shocks at all? wow this is begining to sound costly.

 

No I think they're just concerned. Could be your shock, could be the spring squirming around in it's perch, or it could be a ball joint. Since your description doesn't really rule out the ball joint, you better check it out. Just in case it IS the ball joint.

The problem with figuring out car noises over the internet is WE CAN'T LISTEN TO IT FOR OURSELVES...

Jack up the car, grab the tire (at top & bottom) & try your best to wobble it up & down. There shouldn't be any looseness.

Do you know what the ball joints are? Look at their rubber boots. Are they torn?