Scotty Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 Well it been some time now and still have not been able to figure out where or what is making this sound. Went to the stealership and drove around with a car full of people listening for this sound and of course we could not hear anything, I felt like a fool. They did address an issue I had with the A/C, ended up replacing the blower motor. One week later noticed fluid driping from under the front of the car, replaced water pump, went to pick up the car and when I started it, noticed code "battery no charge", replaced alternator. I have since replaced the rotors and pads on the front, pulsing is gone and she stops straight and true. This sound I can't figure out though, I do know it sounds as if it's coming from under or around front drivers side, it now sounds like some kind of a rattle from vibration of the movement of the car driving down the road. I'm wondering about the stablizer bar bushings or tie rod ends maybe? It is mostly noticeable when on the brakes, when the weight of the car shifts to the front. I can feel it with my feet on the floor baord or even through the pedals. Tie rod ends, if were the concern would or could be felt through the steering wheel right? Stabilizer bar bushings will show they are worn over bumps. Strut rod bushings will show wear getting on and off the brakes as the wheel/control arm assembly moves fore and aft with a thump. Directional stability will be poor also if the strut rod bushings are worn. It sounds to me like your stabilizer bar bushings could be worn out HOWEVER your stabilizer link could be worn out at its pivot points and cause the noise you speak of. I would just replace the stabilizer bar bushings (approximately $15 parts) as your car will handle better for it and inspect the links when I did that job replacing any worn link as necessary. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfoo Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 Know where I could get poly bushings for the suspension? nobody makes a kit for anything but really old cadillacs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronson Posted July 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 Are the strut rod bushings same as "strut mounts" ? I've had the struts out several times, once when they were replaced, when I had the springs installed, and when the strut mounts were replaced. Wouldn't that be something that would be visually noticed when removing/replacing the struts? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 it now sounds like some kind of a rattle from vibration of the movement of the car driving down the road Bronson, what if it is your exhaustt system grounds somehow? When you move down a hill the engine and whole exhaust system will move a little bit forward relative to the car's body. That "little bit may be enough to touch something and cause terrible rattle difficult to find the origine. I had ssimilar problem for two years while taking off from complete stop or moving up a hill. Bbobinsky advised to pwer brake on the hoist. The prblem was solved in 5 seconds. The exhaust line moved about 3/8 of an inch backword during powerbraking and touched a braket. I saw the braket many times before and it seemed to be too far from the pipe to cause problem... The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronson Posted July 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 Poly bushings? try this site www.energysuspension.com. I just googled bushings and found this site but there are many listed. I don't really have access to a lift and most of the shops here won't let you in the bays when they are working on your car to inspect. Where can I find a diagram of the Stablizer bar and links for a 96 sts. I see you guys post diagrams all the time, is there somewhere on-line that I can find these? Thanks for help and information, by the way I installed powerstop rotors up front, kept the other rotors as they only had a few thousand miles on them. I'll have them re-serfaced and keep as a back up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 Are the strut rod bushings same as "strut mounts" ? I've had the struts out several times, once when they were replaced, when I had the springs installed, and when the strut mounts were replaced. Wouldn't that be something that would be visually noticed when removing/replacing the struts? Thanks No the strut rod bushings are not the same as the strut mount bushings. Here is a view of the front end, the strut rod bushing is the large bushing (#4 in the pic) at the front of the strut rod, I WAS able to replace that bushing with a POLY bushing on my 91. The lower control arm must come off to replace the strut rod bushing. I dont think however that I got a lot of noise out of THAT bushing, most if not ALL bump induced noise came from the stabilizer bar bushings which are very easy to replace. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 Poly bushings? try this site www.energysuspension.com. I just googled bushings and found this site but there are many listed. I don't really have access to a lift and most of the shops here won't let you in the bays when they are working on your car to inspect. Where can I find a diagram of the Stablizer bar and links for a 96 sts. I see you guys post diagrams all the time, is there somewhere on-line that I can find these? Thanks for help and information, by the way I installed powerstop rotors up front, kept the other rotors as they only had a few thousand miles on them. I'll have them re-serfaced and keep as a back up. Bronson, I will post a diagram for the stabilizer bar later, its 9 AM I have to go to the gym, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronson Posted July 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 Thanks Mike I appreciate your time with this. I had the stablizer bushings replaced at the stealership when I was trying to figure out issues with the struts, that was almost a year ago tho. I going to try to get the car up on a rack and see, now I have a better idea of what I'm looking for. It seems as though that in this climate the bushings and mounts and anything rubber doesn't last as long. THe dogbones I replaced on my 97 Deville crumbled in my hand when I removed them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 Thanks Mike I appreciate your time with this. I had the stablizer bushings replaced at the stealership when I was trying to figure out issues with the struts, that was almost a year ago tho. I going to try to get the car up on a rack and see, now I have a better idea of what I'm looking for. It seems as though that in this climate the bushings and mounts and anything rubber doesn't last as long. THe dogbones I replaced on my 97 Deville crumbled in my hand when I removed them. If they were replaced a year ago I would have a look at the links. They would create a bump induced noise. Mike (do you still need the diagram for the stabilizer bar bushings??) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronson Posted July 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 I think I'm ok for now, thanks. I'm going to take a close look at all of the bushings on the driver's side specially the strut rod bushing and stablizer bar links, I had them replaced at the stealership but that doesn't mean that they are not suspect. I do know this that something is not right, there is something that is loose enough to vibrate and rattle that I can feel through the pedals and floor board at times. Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 I think I'm ok for now, thanks. I'm going to take a close look at all of the bushings on the driver's side specially the strut rod bushing and stablizer bar links, I had them replaced at the stealership but that doesn't mean that they are not suspect. I do know this that something is not right, there is something that is loose enough to vibrate and rattle that I can feel through the pedals and floor board at times. Thanks again Also check your hub bearing... Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronson Posted July 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 The hub bearing was what I suspected at first and thats why I brought it to the stealership to have it replaced, rode around with a car full of folks listening and couldn't hear anything. I just want to get everything working properly, plan on trying keeping the car forever. Service contract will pay for it all except wear and tear items so I'm trying to get it all done now. Will check it too, I'll post findings Thanks Bronson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronson Posted July 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 Last Saturday was able to inspect the bushings on STS from up on the rack and could not see or find anything that looked suspect, service techs couldn't see anything either, everythings new with exception of ball joints and the strut rod bushings. Frustrated I drove to the shop where I had the Eibach springs and strut mounts installed and took the Manager on a test ride. The only way I was able to duplicate the sound issue was by hitting the lane reflectors in the road compairing the sound differences between the left and right sides. Left the car with them Monday morning and picked it up late Tues. evening, Manager said he had found the problem, had to disassemble front suspension on driver's side, inspected everything(manager suspected bad strut). Could not find anything wrong or out of the ordinary so reassembled everything doublechecking that it was all torqued to spec. also torqued down the subframe mounts, re-aligned the front end and it is much tighter than before and finally no noise. In having front end apart several times overlooking the torqing down of certain parts can cause issues, I often wish I was able to do these things myself, I just don't have the time, tools and in some cases the knowledge. Thanks Mike for helping me figure this one out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted July 28, 2004 Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 Bronson, I am glad that you got it figured out! Thanks for reporting your experience. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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