Strut noise?

Post by **hansenjg** » 02 Dec 2012, 09:29

I am at my wit's end. My wife's 2000 C70 ragtop was making a lot of clunking noises from under the hood when she went over bumps. Sounded like the clunks were near the wheels. Car has about 180K on it, and Struts had never been done. So I figured it was struts and/or upper spring seats. So I bought new struts and mounting brackets first. No help. Then I got new upper spring seats. No help. Still making the same noise. I'm pretty confident it's from the struts, but I don't know where to look now. Does the rubber bushing on top of the strut (up inside the engine compartment) have to be replaced? They don't look like they wear very much, but there is a gap between them and the strut mount. How thick are they supposed to be? I can't find pictures of them. Is there something else I should be looking for? I have just finished the job this weekend and haven't gotten it aligned yet, but that will happen this week. I just don't know what else to look for. Any advice will be much appreciated.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 02 Dec 2012, 09:39

I've never had to change the big washers, I think that is what you are calling the bushing - the ones just below the top of the upper strut nut that have a rubberized top - but it is actually a washer. A gap between those washers and the top of the strut bearing is normal. It is typically around 1/8" to 1/4".

It sounds like you have dealt with everything strut wise. The next place to look is at the ball joints and the sway bar end links. You would have removed at least the upper half of the sway bar end links when your struts came out but it is very easy to get the mounting bolts in a bind, particularly if you do the job with one wheel on the ground and the other jacked up.

...Lee

Post by **hansenjg** » 02 Dec 2012, 10:13

Thanks Lee. She just went out in the car, but when she gets back I'll check the sway bar and links. I did remove the upper link end and had both tires off the ground at the same time. It was making this noise before I did the struts so maybe it's the bottom of the link. I didn't inspect that. I'll let you know what I find.

Post by **hansenjg** » 30 Dec 2012, 14:15

OK. The holidays held me up, but today I finally got back to investigating this noise. The sway bar seems fine, although the mounts are dry and worn. The linkage arms are tight and swing the way they should. I drove it down my long and washboardy driveway and watched the top of the strut with the hood open. I could clearly see the strut moving up and down in unison with the clunking noise. So I asked my wife to drive the car while I sat on top of the engine and videoed it. (Kind of dangerous seeing as she is pretty fed up with my inability to resolve this noise!) Hopefully you can hear the clunking and see the movement I am referring to. Is this normal? When I did the struts I replaced the upper spring retainers, the upper spring mounts (with the built in bearing), and the struts themselves. The springs seemed fine when I compressed and removed them. They are seated properly in the retainers as far as I can tell. I did not replace the bellows or the bumpers that go on the shaft. Let me know if you can see the video and what you think I should do next. Maybe I just need to take the struts off again and make sure all is good. But the noise existed before replacing them, so I doubt that's the problem. Should I have done the bumpers? Thanks for all your help.

Here's the address of the youtube video:

anmartin44 · Post by **anmartin44** » 30 Dec 2012, 20:57

if you replaced the bearings, mounts and struts, then it is almost for sure your sway bar endlinks. they connect your sway bar to the struts. they can feel tight when u tug on them and still be toast. they certainly need to be replaced if they are original to the car.

Post by **hansenjg** » 31 Dec 2012, 04:00

Thanks Martin. It makes sense that any endlink noise would transfer up into the struts and that the noise would occur when the struts are moving up and down. I would agree that they are the only parts left to look at. Looks like a pretty easy job, just the two nuts, pull the links and reinstall I assume. If I can scrape together the pennies I'll do it next weekend.

anmartin44 · Post by **anmartin44** » 31 Dec 2012, 08:45

if you can, get the Meyle HD endlinks from FCPeuro(link at top of the page). They're about the same price as stock replacements but should hold up better ($20 each).

pnp97volvo · Post by **pnp97volvo** » 01 Jan 2013, 08:02

This is your noise. Just replaced mine on the wife's 960. "get the Meyle HD endlinks from FCPeuro(link at top of the page)."

Post by **hansenjg** » 01 Jan 2013, 11:15

Well, I just replaced the links with ones I bought at Advance Auto (got them because they were in stock and I could do the job today). Still making the exact same noise as the struts move up and down. Hmmmmmm. I think next I'm going to take the struts out again and make sure everything is tight and looks right. Starting to get kind of frustrating. The car is handling better, but still making this clunking noise. I won't do the removal for a week or two, so I'll update you then. Thanks for all your help and advice.

anmartin44 · Post by **anmartin44** » 01 Jan 2013, 13:07

odd indeed. did you put the cross shaped nut back on before you put the strut nut on top? the only thing i can think of is that the cross nut is loose or missing. it keeps the strut tight to the spring seat.