scooty

I'm just about ready to pull my hair out!! I've replaced the front struts, (KYB Gr2s) and can't get the stock springs indexed. I've redone them about 5 times now with varying results but I still here popping, binding and clunking sounds while driving through a turn on a bumpy road.

I also here squeaks from the top of both struts if I push down on the fender directly over them. Very annoying!

03 Civic LX.

I have replaced:

1) Front A arms
2) Tie rod ends
3) Ball joints
5) Completely removed the front sway bar and end links
6) Struts and upper strut mounts

There is a hole in the lower spring seat, an arrow on the upper spring perch and an arrow on the upper mount. The hole in the lower perch, arrow on the top perch and arrow on the upper mount all line up with the knuckle mounting area. Much like as shown in the first pic on this thread:

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/4...like-pics.html

Note when everything is aligned in this way, the 2 arrows face each other like this >< and at the same time are positioned so that they also align with the knuckle mounting area.

Also note when everything is lined up like this the bolts in the upper mount are perfectly lined up with the holes in the car if the steering wheel is held straight and centered, so I'm guessing there is some significance to these arrows being where they are.

I have also greased, using silicone lubricant, the bearing contact area between the upper mount and upper spring perch. All my bolts are tight and torqued as per specs.

The rubber upper-spring isolator that sits on the very top coil and under the upper spring perch, has a little tab that lines up with a notch in the upper spring perch so lining this up is no big deal. Is there supposed to be grease on this part?

There is conflicting info on this board where some are indexing their springs as i have described and others are aligning to factory paint marks and ignoring the arrows. There were no paint marks on my struts or mounts, just on the springs, so I can't try this method.

A lot of people have this problem on here. There are a lot of posts but no clear solution.

Can we please come to a consensus on the proper spring indexing procedure and put this issue to rest once and for all? Any Honda certified techs on here?

scooty

Really? No one knows for sure?

MindBomber

It sounds like the spring is not seated properly.

Lift the car off the ground, loosen the spring retainer bolt, then adjust the position of the spring. When it is seated properly the sound will disappear.

scooty

Ok, so with the car in the air and the top nut on the strut loose, how do i "adjust the position of the spring?" Do you mean just grab the coils and rotate back and forth until the spring pops into the correct place in the seats?

MindBomber

Exactly.

scooty

OK so I just tried this and it did not make a difference. However i did discover that the front motor mount is squeaking.

With the wheel in the air and the car in gear, if I grab the wheel and rotate it back and forth hard so the axle transmits all the torque to the motor causing it to rock back and forth, the front mount squeaks. It's strange because it's not broken or anything. What's a good replacement brand?

I guess this accounts for some of the front end squeaking, but the springs are still popping.

MindBomber

If you've followed the instructions in the thread you linked to earlier, you've done it correctly and the spring just isn't seating right. I've known it to take people a couple tries to get it right on occasion.

OEM are the only engine mounts replacements I would use.

scooty

Where can i get OEM mounts at a reasonable price? Or do i have to go to Honda?

MindBomber

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/