knocks/noises play in struts

B-Hive · Post by **B-Hive** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 12:41 pm

Hello All

Chapter 64 in front end BX noise diagnosis. Drop liks all good..ball joints all sound, but still noisy knocks from the front end..
I discovered that there seems to be quite a deal of play in the RH front strut, as well as rubber deterioration. This play actually causes the shere to knock against an engine bay metal rib. I isolated this by packing some wading into the gap and it made a significant difference..Is it common for the front struts to wear in this manner ? Because I then set about looking at the one on the left hand side . It didnt have same unusual play but if you grabbed and wiggled the sphere sort of in an up and down motion there was a distinct knock in the lower part of the strut (where it bolts into the hub.) I have some (apparently) better struts ready to go in, but really just want to run it by everyone here whether or not i'd be wasting my time. Just hate to go to all that effort only to discover and get told that "you should never have to bother replacing the struts" . Also the manual descibes the seperation of the strut from the hub quite simply. Is is generally easy or difficult to lever open the clamp type arrangement that the strut sits in or am i better of taking them to an engineer?

Any feedback would be appreciated .

PS ..its a MK1 if that makes any difference

Thanks... and B good

Rob_e (UK) · Post by **Rob_e (UK)** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 1:19 pm

I would have thought that play or wear in the strut wouldn't have caused the sphere to be able to contact the side of the engine bay. It sounds more like the fixing/sphere support that is held on to the wheel arch by three bolts is either loose or worn. I seem to remember that these tended to break on Xantias and force the strut through the bonnet, but as far as I know this doesn't tend to happen on the BX.

I have only ever worked on a mkII so I am assuming there is not much difference in this area. In my experience it seems to vary as to how easy the struts are to remove from the bottom clamp. When I first removed struts they did come out without too much effort, but on more recent attempts they have been a bit more akward to get out. The clamp is open at the bottom end so I have managed to remove them by placing a piece of wood against the bottom of the strut and then hitting that with a hammer or putting a trolley jack under it and pushing the strut out. You will need to remove the clamp bolt completely as there is a lug on the back of the strut which slides through the open part of the clamp.

Rob

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:28 am

its wellknown that the complete sphere with mounting base ( "manifold" ) must be tucked into correct location to avoid the sphere contacting nearby chassis member pieces during suspension movements.

Tuck hard the sphere in the direction you want to gain better clearance. It usually moves (pivotes) around the strut cylinder top no problem.

Note that the hydraulic leakproofing does not relate to how hard the strut top nut is torqued down. There are seals in there to prevent leaking. The strut top nut does the same job as any shocker top nut do on a conventional car : fixating the strut.

As I see it there are no special problems related to the Mk1 model. Other than perhaps a somewhat unusual high wear in the strut itself because of age.

B-Hive · Post by **B-Hive** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 1:09 pm

THanks

Has yet another play today, and am now hoping that it is just the strut rubber mounts, (if you can change just these!!). When pressured up or down there is no/little knocking if you wrench the strut on the top, but at normal operating pressure, the knock that I thought was coming from inside and lower down in the strut may well be eminating from the top at the upper mounting point...hence rubbers.. That would be nice cos that job would be a whole lot easier.

Jaba · Post by **Jaba** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 9:43 am

These front end noises can be a pain to track down.
When all else fails it is probably coming from inside the strut.
The white collar ringed in the picture takes all the strain and wear of the supension movements on the outer case. It is quite thin and eventually wears almost through allowing metal to metal contact......

I also have a front suspension noise at the moment. Generally it is a single quite loud clonk when accelerating after breaking.
Everything is tight and there is no wear in the lower swivel joint.
I noticed a couple of days ago while investigating that I can move the sphere to the left and right easily. I am unable to do this on the other side so do not think that this is normal behaviour - although Anders says that they are able to pivot. So I am a bit puzzled.

I will have to get hold of a 35/6mm socket to see if the top nut can be tightened at all.

tim leech · Post by **tim leech** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:31 am

Thats the exact same symptoms I have on the GT Jaba, everything seems tight but the NSF does have a pronounced loud clonk when travelling over anything but smooth roads!