Anyone recognize this 'noise' coming from suspension of honda accord 2004--'sproing' when bump in ro

a noise i’m trying to locate and diagnose, comes from under this 2004 Accord DX, 5 spd. i can’t locate ‘where’ precisely. it occurs intermittently, seems correlated with suspension parts’ responding to load and forces (for instance, turning into a parking lot, where there’s a slight dip at the paved curb skirt entering the lot, or when there’s a modest bounce as car travels along the highway–when the stable momentum of travel is interrupted, making for a “bounce” or some force transferred into suspension, e.g.).
—The sound is low in register, not loud, and best i can do is ‘imagine’ what assembly (assemblage, or rigging, or set-up, or contraption) could produce such a sound.
the sound–to my experience and auditory senses is like, of a torsion bar, maybe a 3/4-inch steel rod, as might be fitted transverse somewhere at rear axle area, that would serve to stabilize the sway of the vehicle, under turning conditions;
(i’m only guessing here, cause my pod-nur says, or ‘hears’, the sound’s coming from front suspension area, like when load is taken at front strut, going over the slight dip when turning from road to parking lot).
so what i hear, i imagine to be
a point on the rod coming sudden contact with another metal part enough that the strike produces a tuned “sproing” sound, the kind of sound i imagine a spring-tensioned rod would make, or like a staccato bass note, as piano bass string could make–my bad on the metaphor here–yet, the aproximate pitch of this pernicious occasional noise is near the A or the B, in the octave below middle C–i just now tested those notes, trying to be sure i’m ‘in the ball park’ in reporting and elaborating symptoms, all of which have to do with ‘sounds’ thus far.
There doesn’t seem to be any other evidence of frailty, or deterioration of handling, or efficiency of the vehicle. But my concern is that maybe some rubber grommet, or shock-absorbing hard rubber part, is allowing a loss of tolerances that will develop into some dangerous driving performance–a line of concern that one would take if one heard the clicking of a CV joint, tho my case had nothing to do with that realm i believe.
any help, anyone else hearing these things?

It sounds like you are describing a resonant tone, I can’t think of anything in the suspension of a car that would resonate except the springs, and they won’t usually resonate when in their mounts.

Now if the noise is not resonating, but making a sound more like a bell with a crack in it, then there are a lot of things that could be the cause. A worn out or missing sway bar bushing comes to mind first, but so could the exhaust pipe. If the pipe some how got bent and had little clearance with another components, it could make a dull tone.

well, if i used an ordinary body hammer to give a blow to a (three-quarter inch diameter) steel rod of three or four foot length, that was suspended firmly at its ends, i think the ringing sound it would make is about like what i hear under this accord–i would not call the sound “dull”
-it isn’t a “sproing” of long duration, it’s not very loud, a thumping kind of thing it is, of a pure steel tone, a tone that is being transferred, or translated to something or part that the noise-maker is ‘attached’ to, the sound is maybe a little damped.

i’m near certain it has no relation to any exhaust parts; i wish someone who had the shop manual could point out such parts in the picture that could make the sound i hear.

indeed, i will suggest, for example, a coil spring-- which at some point on its arced edge is tapped firmly, and this set-up, i imagine, probably would produce the sound i am describing.

i haven’t had the car on a lift to perhaps see anything tell-tale.


thanks for replying to >> [anyone recognize this ‘noise’ coming from suspension of honda accord 2004–‘sproing’ when bump in ro]

It sounds like you are describing a resonant tone, I can’t think of anything in the suspension of a car that would resonate except the springs, and they won’t usually resonate when in their mounts.

Now if the noise is not resonating, but making a sound more like a bell with a crack in it, then there are a lot of things that could be the cause. A worn out or missing sway bar bushing comes to mind first, but so could the exhaust pipe. If the pipe some how got bent and had little clearance with another components, it could make a dull tone.

keithkeith 1:07PM
It took me a minute to understand your PM. You can post additional comments to your post by using the add message box and hitting the post comment box to post it, just as if you were answering someone else’s thread.

A or B note under C…lemme get Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion” out and listen to the intro…

okay, i think it’s your sway bar. :slight_smile: my first guess anyway.

have you tried a “for sale” sign. those work everytime. jk. :slight_smile:

Time to take it to an alignment shop. Sway bar link, upper spring mount, ball joint, etc. I’ve had enough sway bar links rust and break that I can spot the noise immediately. Also ball joint noise can make sweat appear on your brow if you know what it is. Just have someone look at it and try to duplicate the noise.

Have someone check for a broken bottom coil on one of the strut springs. Common problem on these vehicles.

When the wheel is turned the strut spring is supposed to rotate with the strut. If the bottom coil is broken, the spring will rotate so far until is slips off the bottom broken coil at the bottom and then it makes the sproing sound.

Sometimes you can reach in with your fingers to feel if the bottom coil is broken. And sometimes it requires the strut assembly be removed to determine if the bottom coil is broken.

Tester

thanks for your note here. i wonder if i ‘overdescribed’ this problem tho. the sound i went to such troubles to ‘duplicate’ makes all helpful answers specific to the couple of guesses i had.
maybe the problem, then, has to be one of these items.
interesting about the possibility of a broken coil.
but, the sound comes and goes, doesn’t seem to get worse, and i’d think an actually broken spring as described would stop making the intermittant sound. no?