cykaforlet

Hello all, this is my first post on the forum.

Let me start by saying I have endeavored to do as much research as possible before starting a new thread, but here we go.
I bought a 2002 LX manual last December and have loved it since. When I bought it, the dealer told me that it needed new brake pads and rotors, as when it went around left turns and weight was shifted to the right side of the car, it made a clunking/scraping/vibrating sound you can feel through the floor of the car. I have had scrapy heat shields before, and so I replaced the rotors and pads on the front and made sure the heat shields were out of the way. To no avail. I was poking around inside and everything seems pretty solid, but I have no idea what this could be.

AS soon as you go into the slightest left turn doing above 20 MPH, it goes clunk-scrapey-grind, and then stops as soon as you straighten out. I can feel the vibrations through the floor.

Anyway, whatcha think?

D.

Colin42

have you checked the suspension at all?

cykaforlet

Should I just jack it up and check all the components with the wheel off? Would I be able to feel it without weight on that side?

Colin42

Leave the wheel on, gives you more leverage to wiggle stuff around, and trans in neutral so you can spin the wheel

cykaforlet

Should I just jack it up and check all the components with the wheel off? Would I be able to feel it without weight on that side?

Slumpertcivic

First thoughts, blown LCA bushings.

Would not rule out anything yet, but that’s where I would start.

cykaforlet

Yeah, those are the lower bushings that ride close to the heat shield I'm assuming? The heat shield is actually bent out right where the LCA rides close...

Up on a jack she goes. I'm guessing that the bushings shouldn't be sagging...

cykaforlet

So, a very entertaining story. Amidst all of the fuss with the wheels/suspension, I had decided to do the valvecover gasket, as she was leaking a bit. I set the lash too. I then went to pull off the right wheel from where the vibration emanates, and with a snap one of the lugs broke off. So, being the rational human being with exactly $170 in the bank account, I realized I had to remove the entire hub to get the new lug in. I pulled the entire lower control arm off and the hub+assembly and saw that the bushings were pretty cracked. I also noticed the other side had different ball joints and a beautiful new LCA. So, with that $170 I went to my local CarQuest and bought a new MOOG LCA and ball-joint. I had a local shop press in the new ball and then went to throw it all back together.

Everything went together fine and fit like a glove. I torqued the axle nut down by hand, almost killing myself in the process. I then went to back out of my driveway and the car did a little "clunk-scrapey-crack" number. I quickly whipped out the jack again, and to my surprise I had forgotten to bolt the ball-joint in. They say ignorance is bliss, is what they do.

So, I pulled the wheel off and then realized the the tri-bearing piece of the axle had pulled out of its' home. This was distressing, me thinking that I had royally f*cked my car. I then realized that all I needed to do was pack the puppy with some grease and hose-clamp the boot. So, all of that done, I took it for a test drive and it still makes the gentle but felt-through-the-floor-of-the-car scraping around turns towards the left direction.

My empty wallet is confused...

Colin42

Heat shield?

BrotatoChip

CV joint?

cykaforlet

I replaced the axle/cv joint and ripped the heat shield off when I had the new lug pressed in. It still clunks, but feels like the vibrations are passing through the whole frame over to the left side as well. Anything else that could be scraping/hanging?

cykaforlet

Anyone think I should just change the bearing? It's got 200k on it and they've never been done... It only makes noise when there's pressure/weight on the right side around turns. Sometimes if it's banked the not at all...

cykaforlet

I just replaced the other axle with a new one from carquest. It's a little bit less noticable now, and the scraping isn't as violent, but it still sounds like it's rubbing somewhere. Do you think I should check the heat shields again? I wouldn't think that you could feel heat sheat scraping through the floor of the car...

NDNV

Bad front wheel bearings? Especially the passenger's front one?

FirstCIVIC2001

I'm having a similar issue. Whenever I make left turns going over 20 I hear a scraping near the back right wheel. I'll do some investigating and let you know what I find.

Colin42

rust build-up on drum rubbing on backing plate

FirstCIVIC2001

That is probably what it is. My drum is very rusty.