Can anyone confirm my blown rear struts? (Update: FIXED!)
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Can anyone confirm my blown rear struts? (Update: FIXED!)
I am hearing weird *** noises in the rear of the car, from clanging noises, to thud noises.... My 2001 Acura EL just hit 100k, everything is stock.
Wondering if fellow 2k1 Civic'rs are nice enough to help me out and figure out what's up... I am afraid of Acura's $97/hr death rates, just to INSPECT for the problem.
If anyone is having a meet, I'll even go to that 
How would I inspect for leaking/blown rear shocks? I can take the wheel off, but it's covered up in that "funnel" thing at the top.... some plastic piece.
Side question: Anyone know ballpark how much it would cost to INSTALL aftermarket shocks? (front and rear) Any recommendations on shops that would do it for a cheap price?
If they are blown, I've been quoted Tokico HP (blues) for $160/$85 each for front/rears, plus GST only. Comes out to $530 + install. (Tokico blues are non-adjustable, lifetime warranty!)
Detailed description:
- When going over bumps, it 'sounds' as if the wheel is not bouncing back onto the ground appropriately, and instead the entire car is "dropping" to the ground.... i.e. I'm assuming this is the sound of a shock not bouncing back.
- This is the one that troubles me... Going over bumps or whatever, sometimes I hear a metal sound clunking/clanging/clicking... No friggen clue what this is...
- Among everything else, tons of rattles now....
Wondering if fellow 2k1 Civic'rs are nice enough to help me out and figure out what's up... I am afraid of Acura's $97/hr death rates, just to INSPECT for the problem.
If anyone is having a meet, I'll even go to that How would I inspect for leaking/blown rear shocks? I can take the wheel off, but it's covered up in that "funnel" thing at the top.... some plastic piece.
Side question: Anyone know ballpark how much it would cost to INSTALL aftermarket shocks? (front and rear) Any recommendations on shops that would do it for a cheap price?
If they are blown, I've been quoted Tokico HP (blues) for $160/$85 each for front/rears, plus GST only. Comes out to $530 + install. (Tokico blues are non-adjustable, lifetime warranty!)
Detailed description:
- When going over bumps, it 'sounds' as if the wheel is not bouncing back onto the ground appropriately, and instead the entire car is "dropping" to the ground.... i.e. I'm assuming this is the sound of a shock not bouncing back.
- This is the one that troubles me... Going over bumps or whatever, sometimes I hear a metal sound clunking/clanging/clicking... No friggen clue what this is...
- Among everything else, tons of rattles now....
Last edited by FurBall; Jun 5, 2005 at 08:16 PM.
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From: Etobicoke, Ontario
Rep Power: 0 You can test your shocks right now...
Go open your trunk and start pushing it up and down (from the trunk hook latch area so you don't dent your trunk lid... which is why I recommend opening your trunk...)
Give it a few hard pushes to get that car rocking up and down... quickly let go and see if the car stops itself. If the thing keeps bouncing up and down like a pogo stick... your shocks are done. If it stops say after 1 or 2 rebounds.. your shocks are fine.
If you hear a loud clunking sounds... it could be because the foam bump-stop on the shock itself is destroyed and therefore the shock is bottoming out and hitting against your shock mount at the top or the rod is hitting the bottom of the shock.
I'd be glad to see what is wrong if there is another meet.
Tokicos are great. I use KYBs myself (same company) on my Civic. And on my Lexus I use Tokico Blues and the car still rides like a cadallic but handles like a gokart (compared to what it use to with stock shocks)
Go open your trunk and start pushing it up and down (from the trunk hook latch area so you don't dent your trunk lid... which is why I recommend opening your trunk...)
Give it a few hard pushes to get that car rocking up and down... quickly let go and see if the car stops itself. If the thing keeps bouncing up and down like a pogo stick... your shocks are done. If it stops say after 1 or 2 rebounds.. your shocks are fine.
If you hear a loud clunking sounds... it could be because the foam bump-stop on the shock itself is destroyed and therefore the shock is bottoming out and hitting against your shock mount at the top or the rod is hitting the bottom of the shock.
I'd be glad to see what is wrong if there is another meet.
Tokicos are great. I use KYBs myself (same company) on my Civic. And on my Lexus I use Tokico Blues and the car still rides like a cadallic but handles like a gokart (compared to what it use to with stock shocks)
cant boost cuz it'll wreck the name
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Rep Power: 0 also feel the strut and see if its leaking or shine a light on it. Common problem with vics. There was an extended warrenty put out on struts but i doubt it went past 100k.
Thread Starter
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From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Rep Power: 0 THE PROBLEM HAS FINALLY BEEN SOLVED.
After 3 visits to the dealership, and using half a can of WD40 (which didn't do anything), the problem has finally been solved.
It was the rear swaybar endlinks! They were loose/rusted out or something.
1st try: damn a-holes didn't do anything because I wouldn't let them charge me $97/hr to find the problem. So, they said they couldn't "see" anything.
2nd try: Said they found it to be dried out bushings in the back, that should be ok for another 50-75k. They just lubed them up. "Oh BTW, your heatshield is rusted up front, so would you like to replace" I said yes, so total came out to 1hr to lube the bushings, and another hr labour + $100 for the heatshield. Confirmed rear shocks are perfectly fine. Damage: $300. But, that didn't solve it.
After this, I decided to take off the rear wheels, and remount them. While doing this, I also WD40'd everything I could see in the rear suspension. Didn't fix it.
3rd try: The car is now sounding like it's falling apart, and I'm very unhappy with the car now. I finally decide to go one more time..... Told them this is my 3rd time in, and they got the chief mechanic to drive it. He looks like that indian guy from City TV!
Anyway, he determined it to be the rear sway bar, noting that whenever the rear suspension is torqued when going over bumps, turning, etc., the noise is present.
Sure enough, after another hour of labour at $97/hr, and the cost of 2 new rear swaybar endlinks that I had a "deal" at $20/each, my car finally feels like a champ. They also re-torqued the entire rear suspension, supposedly. NO MORE REAR "rattles", at all! (I thought these were all rear deck rattles, but they're totally gone!!!!)
After 3 visits to the dealership, and using half a can of WD40 (which didn't do anything), the problem has finally been solved.
It was the rear swaybar endlinks! They were loose/rusted out or something.
1st try: damn a-holes didn't do anything because I wouldn't let them charge me $97/hr to find the problem. So, they said they couldn't "see" anything.
2nd try: Said they found it to be dried out bushings in the back, that should be ok for another 50-75k. They just lubed them up. "Oh BTW, your heatshield is rusted up front, so would you like to replace" I said yes, so total came out to 1hr to lube the bushings, and another hr labour + $100 for the heatshield. Confirmed rear shocks are perfectly fine. Damage: $300. But, that didn't solve it.
After this, I decided to take off the rear wheels, and remount them. While doing this, I also WD40'd everything I could see in the rear suspension. Didn't fix it.
3rd try: The car is now sounding like it's falling apart, and I'm very unhappy with the car now. I finally decide to go one more time..... Told them this is my 3rd time in, and they got the chief mechanic to drive it. He looks like that indian guy from City TV!
Anyway, he determined it to be the rear sway bar, noting that whenever the rear suspension is torqued when going over bumps, turning, etc., the noise is present. Sure enough, after another hour of labour at $97/hr, and the cost of 2 new rear swaybar endlinks that I had a "deal" at $20/each, my car finally feels like a champ. They also re-torqued the entire rear suspension, supposedly. NO MORE REAR "rattles", at all! (I thought these were all rear deck rattles, but they're totally gone!!!!)
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