I just noticed this noise this morning while driving to work. In the past my car had made a rattle noise and vibrated a little while applying medium brake pressure at about 45 mph. It also made this sound while cornering and driving over bumps from time to time as well. I had taken it to the dealership and they had to replace some sort of bearing or bushing; cant remember what it was. When they replaced it the noise went away for maybe a day and then came and went. It only happens on the drivers side and I just noticed this morning that it has begun to make the same sound constantly while at highway speed of 60mph or faster but stops when i hit about 45 mph. Any suggestions on what may need to be replaced? I doubt my extended warranty will cover it due to the fact that the suspension has been lowered and has a koni setup installed.

 

did you ever think of the cbc shafts???

 

No the noise isnt loud enough to be caused by that. I think it may just be a loose nut or bolt somewhere or a bad bushing. The best way I can describe the noise is that it sounds like a ball bearing ting noise hitting metal

EDITED: Changed sound description

 

Did you remember to put the bearings back/in properly when you did the Konis? (white round greasy plastic part on top of spring plate)

 

Yes the bearings were reinstalled the same way they were taken off and were marked prior to taking the struts apart for alignment as well.

Also note the edit to prior post. Its more of a ball bearing ting noise hitting metal

 

I took the left side apart tonight after work. I made sure all the strut bolts were tight as well as the sway bar linkage. I then also put a different tire on thinking the one I had on may have lost balance weights or a belt might have broke internally. I put everything back together and took it for a drive. The sound is not as bad now but it still exists. The sound is probably 1/2 as loud as it was before and only occurs around 55 mph to 70 mph. While driving I also noted that the car is pulling a little to the left side. Also if I take my hand off the wheel it gets louder. If I try to correct the alignment issue by steering right it starts to go away. At this point I think it may be an alignment issue. Does this sound like a possibility to anyone

 

soundslike the top spring plate is misalinged and the large washer in the top strut mount may have fallenn out....good luck

 

That washer is actually a bearing and it is installed. The spring plate is something i will look into if I don't correct the issue before this weekend when I will have more time to take everything apart

 

Let me explain. there is a large washer imbedded in the top mount plate; it can fall out on disassembly. the strut can reassemble without it, the nut will tighten on the shaft, but will allow play and you may not notice that....

 

So i took the car to the shop after work today to have them do a front end alignment and to see if they could figure out what was causing the rattling noise. After about 20 minutes they told me that they could not align the car because the one tire was a different size (had one stock tire and rest are 215/40/17) and that they had to all be within 7mm of each other to be able to align it and the odd ball tire could be causing the pull problem. The overall size between the stock tire and the others is 11.18mm so I missed being able to get it aligned by 4.18mm. I asked them to still check the front end to try and find what the cause of the rattling could be. After about an hour they told me they couldn't find anything wrong with the front end. Their best guess was that the bottom bolt in the strut is loose and claimed that the dust boot was installed improperly. After getting the car home i tried to compare the dust boots on both sides without jacking it up or anything and the driver side was is definitely looser than the passenger side. I could not tell however if the driver side was possibly installed upside down which I highly doubt I did. Im wondering if it possibly fell off of the top spring plate and is now bouncing around while driving causing the noise.

Is the washer your talking about on the inside of the plate or on top of the plate where the nut goes onto the shaft

 

it is on the bottom side (strut rod side) and serves as a spacer between the top mount plate and the end of the threads on the strut rod and the shoulder of the chromed strut shaft

 

I have a similar problem, my mechanic looked up the description and said it was the fuse box to the computer? he fixed that but I still have the noise...very annoying

 

Ok so reassembling it you would have spring, top mount plate, washer, nut correct? If so then I do have that washer in place. A new lock washer was provided with the koni struts

Think i may have found the problem:

TSB Number:050232005 NHTSA Number:10017497 TSB Date:September 1, 2007 Date Added to File:November 9, 2005
Failing Component:
Steering
Summary:
Ei05093 - clunk noise in steering system at slow speeds while turning and/or driving over bumps. (replace intermediate shaft). Updated 10/05/07. Updated 11/02/07

 

Fixed it for the most part. The top plate of the strut doesnt want to align properly. I got it aligned the best i could and the rattle has almost disappeared completely. I hear it a little from time to time but its rarely and not nearly as loud.

 

thats good when you get a chance take it apart and find out whats stopping it from alinging properly . good luck

 

I did take it completely apart and i can not figure it out. The best i can tell is that it has something to have to do with the spring.

 

I had the same problem after installing my Sportline 3 inch lowering kit on my 05. I found that the rear spring was tapping on the top of my muffler... It looked like there was enough room for it not to interfere but put alittle weight on it and it would hit. Just a thought.

 

How did he fix the fuse box under the hood? Mine is loose as h*ll.

 

ive heard this sound time and time again about other balts and my car, at least while braking around 50-30 mph mostly.

its the steering column or rack, theres threads on this everywhere, look into it.