[ZX3Zetecwhitey]

I'm pulling my damn hair out...

Bone stock, 04 Focuz ZX3... Noise when stopping, or accelerating from a stop, and when turning corners, moving or not.

I've removed the strut from the vehicle, and eliminated ball joint noise, tie-rod noise, and sway bar link noise. The noise is in the upper mount\bearing area, but the mount is new, and all contact points in that area have been greased. Any ideas??? Maybe the actual strut rod making noise\seizing?

Thanks guys.

 

[OandAWOW]

Have you tried loading the suspension while parked? I.E. bounce the car with your hands? Auto or manual? Sure it's not trans? Wheel bearing? CV Joint? Just trying to throw things out for you.

 

[ZX3Zetecwhitey]

We're going in the wrong direction... I'll give you more info...

I've got the strut out, and latched into my compressor. I can grab the top mount and turn it with my hand in the compressor. It squeaks from the upper bearing. But it is brand new... could it be the strut itself?? I greased all of the contact areas... The parts left on the car are eliminated.

 

[bluefront]

Are you certain it was assembled correctly? Maybe the upper strut bearing is out of place, maybe upside-down? The bearings I've seen lately are plastic and sometimes make noise.

And it could be the strut itself. The shaft stays motionless as you turn the wheels.....the lower part of the strut turns on the shaft. So you could get noises there. I've replaced plenty of struts for noise problems......usually used the old upper bearing, since a new strut usually doesn't come with a new bearing.

 

[ZX3Zetecwhitey]

Yeah, it's assembled correctly. And Yes, they are plastic bearings... however, it's making an IDENTICAL noise to the old bearing. I'm starting to think it is the strut. I've replaced a bunch of struts and more bearings to remedy noises. I'm a licencsed technician in Ontario, Canada. I just don't want to spend the money on a strut if that's not going to fix the problem. I was hoping someone had a sure bet on what the noise was.

 

[dyn2liv]

Use coilovers, w/ pillow mounts. It solves all the noise issues. Though it is decidely more expensive than a new strut.