Mackln308

I would not call myself an expert by any means but I would say that I am well versed in comparison to most people out there and better versed than most weekend warriors. I have recently encountered a problem with my 2001 civic ex's steering. I don't know what it is with and have not had the time recently to get under it and investigate further than I already have. I was driving to the store one day and heard a crunch/pop and once I stopped and got under the car I noticed that the passenger side sway bar link was broken. I proceeded to immediately change it and noticed the lower control arm was cracked but it appears that it has been for longer than I care to admit. This is not the issue but I would like to assume the issues may all correlate. I decided to drive home and all sounded well until i decided to drive to the store again and I heard a similar noise as if something metal was dragging on the ground and when I got under the car nothing was at all. I drove away and the dragging sound stopped and changed to more of a metal on metal rotational sound. The cv joints look good after a visual inspection, and everything else looks good at a glance. Since then I have driven it sparingly and have found that after roughly 5-6 miles I notice the noise but it usually sounds alright at first.

lazlong

Does the car pull, shimmy, or vibrate while driving or braking? Did you change the swaybar bushings when you changed the end links? Could be bad struts, strut mounts, bushings, or wheel bearings. Metal on metal sound sounds like bearings. Also, remember when you replace something in the suspension it puts added stress on the parts you didn't change, meaning it's just a matter of time before you'll have to change the entire suspension. I know, I went through the same thing.

02_d17a1_dx

iTrader: (1)

Change out the strut bearings to the 02-up metal ones, if thats not the noise it will be soon.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

you will need the strut bearing + top mount.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

i am willing to bet its your LCA bushings... i would hear a "clunk" noise in me steering and so i tore my car apart (its still apart as i speak) and loan behold its the front LCA bushing. if it is broken, then when ur suspension compresses/rebounds the LCA is hitting ur chasis (its not suppose to, but a broken bushing will allow vertical travel)


LCA = lower control arm

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

LCA with broken mount/bushing



you can see here that its been banging on the chassis

Mackln308

There is some vibration in the steering for sure. I currently have it apart in my garage otherwise I would take it for a spin to elaborate on how much. I haven't seen anything obvious since I have put it on jacks (this afternoon). I will have to look into all of your suggestions first of course. How easy are those jobs?

MindBomber

Both jobs are simple, but to replace the bushings in the LCA requires a press.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

patience young grass hopper. there is a way to the madness. i an currently working on a DIY to fix the broken bushings. and its requires no new mounts.

let me finish finals this next week or so and ill put up the DIY

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

simple. unbolt 3 bolts on the LCA:
1. horizontal bushing bolt
2. vertical bushing bolt
3. ball joint bolt (well, technically a nut)

then you break the ball joint and WAM! LCA is off!

Mackln308

In all honesty I don't think it is the LCA or LCA bushings but that doesn't matter because I have to replace it anyway due to that crack. I did forget to add that it sounds much worse when I turn to the left and unnoticeable when I turn to the right. And like I said before, it sounds rotational so I would think wheel bearings 1st out of all of the suggestions. I can hear it even when on level road and not bouncing so I don't think it is the strut bearing. I'm going to have to get under there again and look but it seems that I will have to dump some money into it just to see what it is.

lazlong

Yeah, sounds like bearings.

Mackln308

Well I think the sounds may have been a combination of things. One I think a rattling sound that I really paid no attention to was the vertical bushing in the LCA. And believe it or not I think the metal on metal sound I heard was actually that guard by the caliper being bent in towards the rotor. However, I cannot confirm that because after getting the necessary parts, I went to removed the ball joint but the separator didnt really do the job (maybe due to some relatively minor corrosion). I went to start removing the LCA bolts and found that the vertical bushing bolt removed from the captive nut but not enough to remove it. Around the nut is a decent sized metal piece that had pushed out of it and I cannot get it to unscrew without getting something around that big metal piece. I don't know if anyone has run into this problem as well, but any suggestions would be nice so I don't wast my time on purchasing tools that won't get the job done. Thanks!

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

pics?

Mackln308

These were the best I could get, the first is the LCA bolt and bushing and the last is the ball joint obviously. I've been beating on the separator with no joy at all. I've started removing the rotor and all of that so I can get that ball joint out of the more easily but I haven't had the time to get everything off as of yet.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

ball joint - if you using the fork type, forget them. go to harbor freight, they had a real separator.
they look like this one.
http://www.amazon.com/OTC-6297-BALL-.../dp/B0015PN010
bushing - are the top nut rotating with the bolt? if so, the welds broke and you need to hold the nut as well.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

theres two basic ways to break the ball joint:

use a ratchet or something along those lines:
look at post 8
http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2713532


or you can do it the proper way, and go to autozone and rent a PITMAN ball join separator. this is much easier than the other
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...er=555631_0_0_

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

scratch comment... i was thinking on my other car... should be OK...

Mackln308

The nut on the top is not spinning, but the metal piece from inside the bushing is. It is big and tough to get a hold of with tools to keep in in place. One i get the wheel off I am just going to beat down on the control arm with a hammer until it separates from the ball joint. That is if i can actually get the other side of the control arm off.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

non, non, get a rental separator in the autozone - they are easier to use.
after taht, you can take the bushing with the sleeve off easier. first the ball joint.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

click on my autozone link. thats what it looks like.

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

I did it with a vice and a pipe

To break the balljoint free either use the method where you put a wratched between the LCA and knuckle or the way I did it was take a big pipe or something similar, and rest it on the knuckle being careful not to destroy the ball joint boot, and whack it with a hammer a few times it should break free.

Mackln308

OK so this ball joint just isn't coming out so I decided to cut the ball joint once I got the 2 bushing for the LCA out and then took the steering knuckle off. I finally got the stuck bolt out with a lot of time, WD-40 and a good old fashioned hammer. I had to use a half inch breaker bar to get the lower bolt off of the steering knuckle but that finally came off. After I did the same for the top bolt the nut came off but the bolt will not come out. I have tried prying it with a hammer, using WD-40, smacking it with a hammer, smacking with a 4lbs dead blow. It just doesn't want to budge much past .5 inches out. Anyone know a trick? Maybe I am missing something. I have posted a picture of my latest problem.

lazlong

Jack up the knuckle to relieve pressure on that bolt.

jbrown59

iTrader: (3)

You can get a used LCA for $60 on ebay then swap it out.

Mackln308

I got the knuckle out and since the ball joint wouldn't come loose I used a hacksaw to cut it from the lca and then pushing the rest of it out using an air hammer at work. I have the new ball joint in the freezer right now so hopefully that will help me hammer it in the knuckle in a couple hours.

Mackln308

This project is becoming my nemesis. The freezing trick didn't work so I tried a c clamp and that didnt work. Then I went to autozone and used their ball joint kit and the things is too big to hit the ball joint straight on and get it in. The part that bolts on to the strut juts out which eventually slides the clamp off. Im thinking of heating the knuckle with a torch if I can't get this thing on and hopefully it will expand enough to drop in there. Any ideas?

Mackln308

Thanks for all the help guys! I have it almost all the way back together. I got the ball joint pressed with 1 1/4" sockets, a vice and a 3 lbs dead blow hammer. I messed up some of the hardware threads getting them out when they were seized so I need to get that but once that is all acquired it should finish relatively quickly. Again thanks for all the help and I look forward to any help in the future!

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

sorry, have not accessed this thread for a while...
with the knuckle out, it could have been easier to take it and the ball joint to a shop and ask them to press it in - much less labor costs...

But your way is the least costly except for the tools...

02_d17a1_dx

iTrader: (1)

Next time, if you ever have to do a ball joint again, the autozone one fits, you just have to use it backwards, thats what i did and it worked very well and went in straight. If I had one I could show you how I did it, but it sounds like you've got it in already.