I want to start off with giving some background to my issue.
I have a 2005 Honda Civic that was making noise on the front passenger side wheel and what sounded like the front driver side strut clanging (bottoming out) when I hit a bump, sharp right turn heading down hill, or hit a pot hole (small or large). I brought it in to a mechanic to diagnose the issue. They told me I had a bad wheel bearing and also needed new struts. They quoted me a price on parts and labor that I thought was too high, so I checked a few other mechanics to make sure that I needed the work and try to get a better quote. All said the same work needed to be done, so I eventually had them repaired.
My car seems to ride better and I don’t hear the noise from the front passenger side wheel anymore or the noise from the front driver side strut, however, there is now a clunking like sound coming from the front suspension (left and right sides). It sounds kind of like something might be loose. I can hear it over slight bumps, and when turning whether I’m going slow or even coming out of a parked spot.
Is there something else that may need repair after having all this other work done? Have I caused a “needed repair chain reaction” or something?
Thank you in advance for any assistance on this issue.
It’s likely that something wasn’t fastened enough after the repairs. First thing I would do is take it back to the shop who did the repairs and have them look at it.
Drive it onto a ramp and look under the car. It could be a loose heat shield or like Vhyle said: something they forgot to tighten. You could get a large dead blow rubber mallet and bang on structural parts to coax the car into making the noise you hear while you’re driving.
They could have tightened the hardware with the car in the air. That’s always a no-no. All bolts should be torqued with the rubber on the ground.
It’s one of three things, in order of likelihood : (1) Spring retaining nut on the top of the strut is not tight enough, (2) upper strut mount is bad (mechanics often replace the strut while ignoring the bearing and bushing strut mount), (3) one or more of the 3 upper mounting nuts is not tight enough. I had the same thing happen to me on a Camry about 10 years ago. I was able to get a wrench on the (1) spring retaining nut without removing the strut to tighten it, though I think I remember that the metal rod had to be held in order to tighten up the spring retaining nut without the rod just twisting. The mechanic owes you a fix if any of these situations, IMO–even if it’s the mount because he should have checked it. It’s reasonable to pay for the mount but expect the labor to remove the strut for free. Remember, if it comes out he’s gonna have to re-align the front end, too. Good luck.