front spring noise
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front spring noise just left install shop and have clicking noise when turning on front springs. Any suggestions for corrections because I will be returning to the shop on Thursday to get true springs installed. The shop installed Eiabach pro-kit instead of Sportline. I've seen some posting, but I'd need advise before returning to the shop.
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Rep Power: 0 There are plastic greased bearings that go on top of the springs. If these were not reused, you will get that noise. These can be easily cracked or broken when the original springs are removed. They are actually a cap that goes on top of the springs and fit between the spring and the top mounts.
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...SHOCK+ABSORBER
Item 9
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...SHOCK+ABSORBER
Item 9
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From: Alabama, US
Rep Power: 0 Only other thing I can think of is the spring isn't oriented, seated properly. Also check that all the fasteners are tight. The steering mechanism anchors to the strut, I believe.
I have ProKit and there's never been any noises.
I have ProKit and there's never been any noises.
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From: Tampa, Florida, US
Rep Power: 0 I just put on my Goldlines and I had a clicking noice after driving it for about an hour or so. Whenever I would turn the wheel it would click. So we tightened the 17mm on the top of the strut and it went away. I just think that the car needs to get used to the new springs, that's all.
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Rep Power: 0 Thanks guys....will have shop tighten center nut on Thursday when they put on my correct springs I ordered(Sportlines). For those of you with Eibach Sportlines, please post what size wheels and tires you are utilizing without any rubbing problems.......I ordered 215/40/17 with a 45mm offset......hope it works fine
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From: Germany, Other, ZEBRA
Rep Power: 0 Your top cap on the strut is probably of line. The flatter part of the cap needs to go to the inner side of the of the mount when bolted in place, if not it causes the spring to pop. The arrows also need to line up look at the DIY at the top of the forum.
Tuckin' 19's
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Rep Power: 0 I just put in my dropzone springs last night & i'm having the same problem. I will have to try it, and see if it fixes the probelm. I thought the spring wasn't set right in the strut, causing it to move and click. I have some buddies who work for Honda as mechanics, and I had them look at it. They told me it was something up near the top of the strut for sure. I'm hoping thats all thats wrong! Thanks for the great info Cokafka!
is it possible to even put that cap on backwards and fit? I'm pretty sure you have to have it facing in the right direction or it won't line up correctly...and thus won't fit on. Am I correct on this?
Matt
Matt
Tuckin' 19's
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Rep Power: 0 I'm going to address atleast one side tomarrow....so look for the post towmarrow night, and I will tell you...
I did alot of research today on the subject, and also came up with this. Posted by "andyman97"; His post was regaurding the same issue as this thread and he wrote:
------
Ok, if you did your own spring install you should remember that there was a rubber piece that sits right on top of the spring. This piece is bigger on one side and smaller on the other. The smaller side needs to be seated on the spring. The reason your hear this noise is because when you turn, the spring turns also because it isn't secured correctly. Take the strut out and check to make sure it's seated right. This should solve your problems (view full thread)
------
I'm going to try this as well!
I did alot of research today on the subject, and also came up with this. Posted by "andyman97"; His post was regaurding the same issue as this thread and he wrote:
------
Ok, if you did your own spring install you should remember that there was a rubber piece that sits right on top of the spring. This piece is bigger on one side and smaller on the other. The smaller side needs to be seated on the spring. The reason your hear this noise is because when you turn, the spring turns also because it isn't secured correctly. Take the strut out and check to make sure it's seated right. This should solve your problems (view full thread)
------
I'm going to try this as well!
Tuckin' 19's
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Rep Power: 0 I finished one side, and guess what? It worked. I'm gunna take the digital camera out side to do the next strut so I will have pictures to share what I did, and how I did it.
Tuckin' 19's
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From: Daytona Beach, FL
Rep Power: 0 Updated: 04/25/2003 @ 9:45 am
Included in this update was a better description in the spring alignment under “Extra” along with “Important Notes” located at the very bottom of this post.
I took the some pictures of the steps I took to fix the spring movement, which is causing those awful noises you all are hearing. I took a large chunk of time to physically take the strut apart and figure out how it works, what spins, and if this or that is angled. If you follow this guide I’m more than positive it will fix those awful noises.
Alright! Here we go! These are the steps I took to fix those noises.
1. Jacked up the front of the car.
2. Removed the wheel, and then the strut.
Below is a photo of how my strut was aligned when I took it out. The red arrows are pointing to the markers that were supposed to be aligned together.
3. How to fix this problem! Allot of the strut is dummy proof in the fact that some things only go one way, thus making it almost impossible to screw it up...lol..I guess I’m one of those exceptions, but I redeemed myself by taking the time and looking the strut over. Luckily for you I’m about to give you all the tips: The plate with the three bolts on it that secures the top of the strut to the body, only fits in one way. You see the silver sticker in the picture above! Well this sticker should face the rear of the car. What happens when you align this sticker to the rear of the car? It simply lines up the bolt pattern that is intended for the strut. You will also see that it moves the “L” or “R” (depending on which side you are working on) engraved letter and arrow away from the car, and almost lines up perfectly with bottom of the strut that connects to the rotor.
4. You can’t really spin the cap that sits on the top of the spring (the one with the rubber garment), but do what you can to align the marker on this cap with the plate you aligned in #3. You most likely will have to take this cap off and align it as best as you can up with the bottom of the strut were it connects to the rotor. When you remove this cap you will have to remove the plate in #3, thus probably messing up the alignment you just did in #3 so you may have to redo #3.
A picture is worth a thousand words in this case. There are a lot details in #3 & #4 which may be really confusing, so here is a photo of how the top of the strut should look after to finish #3 & #4.
5. You’re finished! When you go to reinstall your strut the sticker should face the rear of the car, the top plate and the bottom cap should be aligned with one another, and should be running almost parallel to the bottom of the strut where it meets the rotor.
EXTRA!!!!
I also took a few more steps in this alignment, however, it may only be spring brand related. I have DropZone springs and I noticed when compared to my stock springs that the top coil ended in a different place when the bottom coil was installed against the formed step in the bottom spring seat. If you look at the rubber grommet that sits in the cap listed in #4, you will see an indentation of where the old spring ended in the grommet. The new spring ended 180-degrees different in the grommet from where the old ones ended. So, I pulled out the grommet turned it 180 degrees, placed it back in the cap (pulling the little tabs through the holes), and the grommet sat on the new spring the way it sat on the old ones even though the coils ended in different places. There is also a dummy tab so when unassembling the strut, if the grommet falls out you don’t put it back in the cap the wrong way. I ignored this tab when rotating the grommet and it worked just fine. I have no idea if this effected fixing the noise, but I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt to do it for correct setting of the spring.
Below is a picture of the dummy notch in the cap
Below is a picture of the dummy tab on the grommet
Below is a picture of the grommet once I turned it 180 degrees in the cap. The arrows are pointing to the dummy notch and tab.
Important Notes: In between the plate (#3) and the cap (#4) there is a thrust bearing that can come apart and scatter ball bearings all over your garage. Which I noticed after I dropped about 30 ball bearings on mine:-). This bearing has a cover to prevent this from happening but can get caught on the plate (#3) when removing it. I prevented this from happening by holding the top plate (#3) and cap (#4) together while I worked on them. The last tip is to take your time! Once you figure out the first one, the second will be a breeze.
Included in this update was a better description in the spring alignment under “Extra” along with “Important Notes” located at the very bottom of this post.
I took the some pictures of the steps I took to fix the spring movement, which is causing those awful noises you all are hearing. I took a large chunk of time to physically take the strut apart and figure out how it works, what spins, and if this or that is angled. If you follow this guide I’m more than positive it will fix those awful noises.
Alright! Here we go! These are the steps I took to fix those noises.
1. Jacked up the front of the car.
2. Removed the wheel, and then the strut.
Below is a photo of how my strut was aligned when I took it out. The red arrows are pointing to the markers that were supposed to be aligned together.
3. How to fix this problem! Allot of the strut is dummy proof in the fact that some things only go one way, thus making it almost impossible to screw it up...lol..I guess I’m one of those exceptions, but I redeemed myself by taking the time and looking the strut over. Luckily for you I’m about to give you all the tips: The plate with the three bolts on it that secures the top of the strut to the body, only fits in one way. You see the silver sticker in the picture above! Well this sticker should face the rear of the car. What happens when you align this sticker to the rear of the car? It simply lines up the bolt pattern that is intended for the strut. You will also see that it moves the “L” or “R” (depending on which side you are working on) engraved letter and arrow away from the car, and almost lines up perfectly with bottom of the strut that connects to the rotor.
4. You can’t really spin the cap that sits on the top of the spring (the one with the rubber garment), but do what you can to align the marker on this cap with the plate you aligned in #3. You most likely will have to take this cap off and align it as best as you can up with the bottom of the strut were it connects to the rotor. When you remove this cap you will have to remove the plate in #3, thus probably messing up the alignment you just did in #3 so you may have to redo #3.
A picture is worth a thousand words in this case. There are a lot details in #3 & #4 which may be really confusing, so here is a photo of how the top of the strut should look after to finish #3 & #4.
5. You’re finished! When you go to reinstall your strut the sticker should face the rear of the car, the top plate and the bottom cap should be aligned with one another, and should be running almost parallel to the bottom of the strut where it meets the rotor.
EXTRA!!!!
I also took a few more steps in this alignment, however, it may only be spring brand related. I have DropZone springs and I noticed when compared to my stock springs that the top coil ended in a different place when the bottom coil was installed against the formed step in the bottom spring seat. If you look at the rubber grommet that sits in the cap listed in #4, you will see an indentation of where the old spring ended in the grommet. The new spring ended 180-degrees different in the grommet from where the old ones ended. So, I pulled out the grommet turned it 180 degrees, placed it back in the cap (pulling the little tabs through the holes), and the grommet sat on the new spring the way it sat on the old ones even though the coils ended in different places. There is also a dummy tab so when unassembling the strut, if the grommet falls out you don’t put it back in the cap the wrong way. I ignored this tab when rotating the grommet and it worked just fine. I have no idea if this effected fixing the noise, but I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt to do it for correct setting of the spring.
Below is a picture of the dummy notch in the cap
Below is a picture of the dummy tab on the grommet
Below is a picture of the grommet once I turned it 180 degrees in the cap. The arrows are pointing to the dummy notch and tab.
Important Notes: In between the plate (#3) and the cap (#4) there is a thrust bearing that can come apart and scatter ball bearings all over your garage. Which I noticed after I dropped about 30 ball bearings on mine:-). This bearing has a cover to prevent this from happening but can get caught on the plate (#3) when removing it. I prevented this from happening by holding the top plate (#3) and cap (#4) together while I worked on them. The last tip is to take your time! Once you figure out the first one, the second will be a breeze.
Last edited by danscreations; Apr 25, 2003 at 08:44 AM.
This may be a stupid question but I'm going to ask it anyways....if our struts have the same problem as yours and we correct it, will it affect the alignment of the car at all?
I'm going to say no but I want to make sure.
I'm going to say no but I want to make sure.
Tuckin' 19's
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Rep Power: 0 Yes it will affect the alignment! It most likely will not mess with your camber (unless you have a camber kit on the front), but it will mess up your toe, which will eat up your tires fairly quick. If you have a front camber kit you could mark the head of the bolt & the bottom of the strut where they meet with some paint. Then when you put the camber bolt back in you would align the marks together to set the camber back to what it was before you removed it. However, if you removed the strut, then you messed up the alignment so you will have to get it realigned anyways and they will fix the camber and toe.
I'm not sure if "Allied" is nation wide but we have them here in Florida. They offer 1 and 3 year alignment plans, which I got a 1 year plan for $91 with tax and fees. Just make sure that your particular Allied will work with aftermarket suspension parts, cause some of the Allied won't work on them. Supposedly you can use the year plan at any Allied, and so far it has worked for me, but one place gave me a hard time about the aftermarket suspension.
I'm not sure if "Allied" is nation wide but we have them here in Florida. They offer 1 and 3 year alignment plans, which I got a 1 year plan for $91 with tax and fees. Just make sure that your particular Allied will work with aftermarket suspension parts, cause some of the Allied won't work on them. Supposedly you can use the year plan at any Allied, and so far it has worked for me, but one place gave me a hard time about the aftermarket suspension.
Last edited by danscreations; Apr 25, 2003 at 01:28 PM.
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From: panama city, Florida, US
Rep Power: 0 I just installed H&R springs and I am getting the same thing. Not only can you hear the pop but you can feel it. It doesn't matter which way I turn. I am going to try and make a couple of adjustments and see what happens. If you find a sure fix, please let me know.
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Rep Power: 0 http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/sh...+install+noise
"Ok, if you did your own spring install you should remember that there was a rubber piece that sits right on top of the spring. This piece is bigger on one side and smaller on the other. The smaller side needs to be seated on the spring. The reason your hear this noise is because when you turn, the spring turns also because it isn't secured correctly. Take the strut out and check to make sure it's seated right. This should solve your problems"
--
andyman97
"Ok, if you did your own spring install you should remember that there was a rubber piece that sits right on top of the spring. This piece is bigger on one side and smaller on the other. The smaller side needs to be seated on the spring. The reason your hear this noise is because when you turn, the spring turns also because it isn't secured correctly. Take the strut out and check to make sure it's seated right. This should solve your problems"
--
andyman97
Last edited by Bartkat; Apr 26, 2003 at 05:52 PM.
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