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I took my civic lx 02 to a trusted mechanic to have various things done, including timing belt and water pump change (80,000 miles), but also to get an alignment because of weird tire wear and a slight (barely noticeable) vibration during driving. Apparently the right front was pushed back and needed a bit of work to get it back into alignment - fine.

The car has been driving fine for about a month, but now I'm noticing a rubbing sound (not very loud - can be masked with the radio) under braking when turning right, from the right side of the car. I had an issue in the past with a ruptured cv boot on the left front brake caliper, which caused the whole thing to seize and make bad noises when turning left, but nothing like that sound this time. The current noise occurs once every revolution of the wheel, as if something were rubbing on the wheel/caliper/something. It doesn't sound like the metal on metal grinding of a brake pad on the rotor, but I suppose it could be; in any case it definitely sounds different than the left front brake issue I had before. Sorry if I'm giving too much detail here, but I'm not sure how much of it is relevant.

Anyway, I took a close look under the car today while doing normal maintenance, and noticed that a joint of some sort (not sure exactly what it is) around the right front wheel was exposed, but not on the left. I've attached some pictures that hopefully will help (#72 and 76 are from the right; #73a and 79 from the left). So the questions are as follows:

1. Is the exposed whatever-it-is an issue (do I need to take it back to get it covered)?

2. Is this likely the cause of the rubbing I'm hearing?

3. If not, is there anything I can do short of taking it back to determine and/or fix what the problem is?

Thanks for your help!!

 
Rep Power: 313

Ok, hopefully this will help. What you have photographed there is your sway bar endlink. The one on the right side is not a factory end link. The one on the left side (that is still covered) is a factory end link.

What you need to do is put the car up on jacks. Spin the tire that you hear the noise from. It looks to me like that end link is rubbing against the axle boot. If so, thats your noise. Also, get rid of that end link and get a factory one....those are whats called zirk fittings that you see exposed there. You need to put the factory one back on so it wont rub against the boot if that is indeed the issue.

Let me know if that is the problem....if not, maybe I can walk you through some other possibilities.

 
Rep Power: 313

it would be #8 for you.

 
Rep Power: 253

as spoonEM has said replace that non factory endlink. I've read alot about endlinks with exposeds joints so to speak making lots of noise when the sythenthic grease wears off over time. I replace things in twos and they are fairly cheap so purchase to factory endlinks and nuts and you should see an improvement

 
Rep Power: 253

Another thing to do is check and make sure all bolts are tight under there, you wont believe the types of noises loose bolts and screws would give off.

 
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Thanks for the tips, I'll see if I find anything loose down there. Is replacing the endlinks something I can do by myself or will I have to take it in? From the drawing it looks like it would be pretty simple, but I'd hate to have the whole thing fall off if I take something off without proper support...

 
Rep Power: 313

dont stress it...its REAL simple to replace those.