I have had the right rear strut replaced three times in the last year and a half. The second time I also bought a new set of tires. It drove much smoother after that, however, it still has the following problem. When I’m driving on even a slightly bumpy street, it sounds like the right side of the backseat is loose. It rattles and squeaks. I’ve had the backseat removed each time I’ve replaced the strut and nothing is wrong there. Recently, I had some body damage repaired to the rear bumper and told the guy about this problem. He took out the backseat and found that with it removed and while being driven, it still made the same squeaky, rattly, loose sound and that the strut is still leaking. I have been avoiding bumpy roads and speed bumps.
So what makes you believe the rear strut has failed? Have you looked at it? What happens when you push the car down on each of the corners? Do you hear the noise and does it bounce a lot?
There’s a number of things that could cause a squeak in the right rear other than the strut. The strut mount if that was not replaced although these generally rattle, trailing arm, control arm, etc are some of the possibilities.
The odds of getting 3 squeaky struts in a row is impossible to fathom for me anyway.
+1 That’s what I was thinking too. That’s why I’m wondering why he thinks it is a strut.
Is the OP the first–and only–owner of this car?
I would be willing to bet a cup of coffee that this car sustained collision damage at some point prior to his ownership, and that collision damage is the source of his problems.
When a unitized body sustains damage, it is not always possible to stretch it back into shape properly.
Has anybody checked the rear sway bar links? I’ve worked on cars where worn links made horrendous noise. Replacing them made for a quiet ride again.
How many miles?
A leaking strut is bad and a certainly a failure. But Why? Sounds like there is a bad strut mount and/or jounce bumper on that corner. The mount is a rubber piece that quiets road noise and the jounce bumper is a foam part that keeps the strut from whacking the mount on really bouncy roads. If it whacks the mount, it can damage the seal and the oil will leak out. If the jounce bumper failed, fell apart and out onto the road, maybe the mechanic forgot to replace it causing the next 2 replacements to fail. If the mount fails, it can bend the strut rod back and forth while driving causing the leaks. Maybe you should take it to another mechanic for the next replacement.