EM1 Civic Si Front End clunk

sonicc

New Member
Hello everyone,

I have a 2000 Civic Si with 183k miles that has sort of a pop or clunk noise coming from front end (right side). So far I've noticed it when backing out of a parking spot, turning the wheel all the way to the left, hard braking, and even from stop-and-go sometimes.

I have done/replaced the following:
- front upper control arms on both sides
- upper & lower ball joints on both sides
- sway bar links on both sides
- front lower engine/torque mounts
- inspected front upper engine mount (the one below airbox)
- new right cv axle
- visually inspected the right strut for damaged strut cap/bearing
- new sway bar bushings
- new tie rod ends
- inspected lower control arms and bushings
- checked the front right wheel for any free play

and the noise is still there.

At this point I'm just looking for some ideas what else to check.

Thanks.
 

CivicEx'00

New Member
Hello everyone,

I have a 2000 Civic Si with 183k miles that has sort of a pop or clunk noise coming from front end (right side). So far I've noticed it when backing out of a parking spot, turning the wheel all the way to the left, hard braking, and even from stop-and-go sometimes.

I have done/replaced the following:
- front upper control arms on both sides
- upper & lower ball joints on both sides
- sway bar links on both sides
- front lower engine/torque mounts
- inspected front upper engine mount (the one below airbox)
- new right cv axle
- visually inspected the right strut for damaged strut cap/bearing
- new sway bar bushings
- new tie rod ends
- inspected lower control arms and bushings
- checked the front right wheel for any free play

and the noise is still there.

At this point I'm just looking for some ideas what else to check.

Thanks.
Does it go faster at higher speeds? Ot could possibly be a warped brake rotor. It would sound like a bump or rattle depending on how warped it is, and would happen ad fast as the wheel is spinning.

I'd also check that all your wheel lugnuts are properly torqued down

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 


sonicc

New Member
It's not a continuous noise like for example when the CV axle goes bad and makes that clicking noise. If I'm pulling out of a parking spot, it will pop once and that's it until I come to a complete stop and then move again (usually).

Rotors are new, there's no vibration when braking. Wheel lugnuts are always torqued properly (double-check everytime).
 

sonicc

New Member
Why would you think caliper (not being smartass, seriously asking)?
 


sonicc

New Member
I would check rack and pinion
I'm not having any of the usual symptoms of a bad rack and pinion, but I think I'll definitely check it out today and make sure none of the bolts or steering rack brackets are loose. Might also have to check inner tie rod ends while at it. But as far as the steering goes it feels pretty normal, no tightness, squealing, or free-play.

On a related note, the noise seems to have started after I got an alignment - after replacing the parts mentioned in OP.


Noise seems to have link to braking.

Why do you think the idea of a brake problem is remote?
It doesn't only make the noise when braking. I'd think if a caliper was at the point where it was making that kind of noise that I'd definitely feel a difference when braking (like vibration, car pulling to one side, etc.).
 

MotorMo

Respected
Tough one to diagnose with out being there to experience it. Couple of things come to mind-
--Some times brake pads have extra space between the top and bottom resting point, thus the first engagement of the brakes in reverse of forward can cause a "clack" noise as the brake pad hits the upper or lower portion of the caliper bracket (mostly after market pads )
--Aftermarket axle quality seems to be going down hill lately in my experience, I wonder if you got a bum axle out of the box? The quality has got so bad lately, that we only use Honda OEM axles in our customers cars due to these kind of issues.
--If the noise started after the alignment, then I would check those nuts and bolts that they jacked with. Did they install the axle and/or brakes?
--You could also retorque everything- subframe bolts, brake caliper bolts, etc...
--Side note, I myself am chasing a similar noise. After install the Koni and GC combo, both my fronts pop during the initial engagement of first gear ( when things get loaded ). Its dumb and needs to be handled haha. Little things add to big things.
Keep us in the loop and good luck.
 

sonicc

New Member
Tough one to diagnose with out being there to experience it. Couple of things come to mind-
--Some times brake pads have extra space between the top and bottom resting point, thus the first engagement of the brakes in reverse of forward can cause a "clack" noise as the brake pad hits the upper or lower portion of the caliper bracket (mostly after market pads )
--Aftermarket axle quality seems to be going down hill lately in my experience, I wonder if you got a bum axle out of the box? The quality has got so bad lately, that we only use Honda OEM axles in our customers cars due to these kind of issues.
--If the noise started after the alignment, then I would check those nuts and bolts that they jacked with. Did they install the axle and/or brakes?
--You could also retorque everything- subframe bolts, brake caliper bolts, etc...
--Side note, I myself am chasing a similar noise. After install the Koni and GC combo, both my fronts pop during the initial engagement of first gear ( when things get loaded ). Its dumb and needs to be handled haha. Little things add to big things.
Keep us in the loop and good luck.
I've experienced the noise brake pads can cause by having some extra gap before and this is not it. This can be felt throughout the car.

The axle I bought was Duralast from AutoZone. It didn't make any difference when I installed it, the noise was still there, so I put the old one back.

I *think* it started some time after the alignment, I'm going to check steering stuff today hopefully and torque everything again. I installed all the stuff.

In your case, since you installed aftermarket shocks and springs, have you checked the strut mounts and made sure the spring is seated correctly?
 

sonicc

New Member
Yesterday I had a chance to check a few things:

- checked the tie rod lock nut made sure they're tight and secure
- inspected inner tie rod boots, they look good and no leaks around them
- made sure rack & pinion bolts are tight
- with car on jackstands, tried rocking and moving each one of the front wheels by hand, no free-play

I think I might end up replacing the strut mount anyway, just to rule that out.
 

Brak

Respected
5+ Year Member
have you thought about the motor mounts?
under initial acceleration, or when placing the car in reverse, the motor will shift, and cause a "Clunk"

easy way to check, is to pop the hood, and have someone place the car in reverse.
if you see the engine move, it's a good indicator that at least one of the mounts is bad.
 

MotorMo

Respected
In your case, since you installed aftermarket shocks and springs, have you checked the strut mounts and made sure the spring is seated correctly?
I have checked those things already, thank you. It feels like the spring is coming out of its seat- but with the Koni and GC set up there shouldn't be any "out of seat" possibility due to the spring design. Let me know if I'm missing something tho. I installed them with the supplied GC top hats and hardware as well.
I'll find it- I always get my fish. haha.

Thinking back, I had a pair of struts that failed in a set of Function and Form Type 2's. They too had a popping noise. Sounded just like a bad ball joint.... They never leaked oil and still worked well enough. I was chasing this noise for a months! lol. I replaced all sorts of stuff in the process. After replacing the Function and Form shock inserts, the noise disappeared. Are your shocks original? What is your suspension set up?
 

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Brak

Respected
5+ Year Member
over the years, i've adopted the philosophy, if after 2 days i can't locate a noise, that's just the sound it makes now. :mrgreen:
 

sonicc

New Member
have you thought about the motor mounts?
under initial acceleration, or when placing the car in reverse, the motor will shift, and cause a "Clunk"
I've replaced the front bottom torque mounts as soon as I bought the car, they were shot. Then I checked the top mounts (on each side) and they look fine. Only one I haven't checked is the rear mount, but the noise doesn't seem to be coming from that area.


Pinpointing noises can definitely be a b***h. Good luck.
It's very annoying. I've dealt with front end noises on other cars, but I was eventually able to pinpoint it to one of the things I already checked in OP.

over the years, i've adopted the philosophy, if after 2 days i can't locate a noise, that's just the sound it makes now. :mrgreen:

I forget about it until it's time to back out of the drive-way =)


Hopefully over the weekend I'll have some time to take out the strut and take it apart so I can inspect the strut mount and the shock itself. From what I can tell the shocks are still the originals with some 183k miles on them.
 

MotorMo

Respected
My shocks showed no signs of wear or other reason to make noise- but they definitely did. Didn't believe it until I replaced them.
On a side note, today I jacked up my car and rotated the upper spring perch bushing independent of the spring and top hat. Noticed an indention where the spring has sat, and signs that the spring has rotated. The noise was not present on the ride home. Something tells me the GC top hat polyurethane bushing are a part of the 'shifting spring' issue that makes the noise. Sooo, yup, as Brak said, "that's just the sound it makes now" lol. Until I fix it, of course haha.
Let us know how things turn out.
 

Thelocoman

New Member
Hello everyone,

I have a 2000 Civic Si with 183k miles that has sort of a pop or clunk noise coming from front end (right side). So far I've noticed it when backing out of a parking spot, turning the wheel all the way to the left, hard braking, and even from stop-and-go sometimes.

I have done/replaced the following:
- front upper control arms on both sides
- upper & lower ball joints on both sides
- sway bar links on both sides
- front lower engine/torque mounts
- inspected front upper engine mount (the one below airbox)
- new right cv axle
- visually inspected the right strut for damaged strut cap/bearing
- new sway bar bushings
- new tie rod ends
- inspected lower control arms and bushings
- checked the front right wheel for any free play

and the noise is still there.

At this point I'm just looking for some ideas what else to check.

Thanks.
 

Thelocoman

New Member
One thing you have not talked about checking. I have a 99 si with about the same miles having the same noises and squicks. The answer on my si was the hood latch had moved up. That let the hood loose at the front. Check for the bumpers. There are 4 of them. Two on the hood and two on the body. Loosen the three bolts on the hood latch. I used a 1/4 drive socket with a long extension through the grill. The extension through first then put the socket on from the inside next to the latch. These are 10 mm. A combination wrench will get the top bolts. When you have these loose use a hammer to move the latch down. It won't move much but helped a lot. Greese the bail on the hood and a little Greese on the latch eliminated the noise on my SI. Hope this helps you!
 

sonicc

New Member
I want to update this thread in case someone else comes across it with similar issue.

After checking everything I could think of (or find on forums) I decided to replace the rear engine mount.

New vs. old (I think you can figure which one is which)


I've heard the noise couple more times since replacing the motor mount, but is nowhere near as common any more.
 


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