Rear end noise?

[tom5170]

02 gp gt 200k miles

Car has a noise coming from the passenger side rear. Almost sounds like it's inside the trunk. Every time I hit a bump it makes a noise. It almost sounds like it's a hollow clunk. It's not a sharp popping type clunk like a front broken stabilizer bar makes. Car has been making this noise ever since I bought it a year ago. It's not a very loud noise but it's enough to wonder what's causing it. I never picked up on the sound until a month after I bought the car.

I checked rear seats, trunk, spare tire area. Strut towers look normal and there's no rust on them. Car drives straight down the road. No wobbles. The springs do sag a bit in the rear.

I'm aiming towards a possible bad strut mount. Are these hard to change out? I have all the tools except a spring compressor which I can probably rent. Autozone sells the mounts for $22 each.

[WarStryker13]

rear sway end links?

[SomeDudeAtHome]

rear sway end links?

I second this. 99% guarantee

[ItHurtz]

end links ftw

[tom5170]

any way to check them? do I need to jack up the entire back end at once? or can I just do one wheel at a time?

where's the best place to jack it up at? I live in the rust belt so my pinch welds are a little weak.

[WarStryker13]

Best way is just to climb under the back and try to wiggle them with your hands. If they move, they're bad.

Try a block of wood with a groove that the pinch welds fit into, at least 12 inches long to spread the load...

[rickisrad]

Or a rusted out strut tower.

Never lift up by the pinch welds. lift on the molded frame rail. (runs next to the fuel filter)

[WarStryker13]

Or a rusted out strut tower.

Never lift up by the pinch welds. lift on the molded frame rail. (runs next to the fuel filter)

Uhm... What frame rail? We drive a unibody design car. Lol

And I'm pretty sure that pinch weld, where the factory marks the lift point on the side skirt, is the factory designed strongest point to lift from.

[mguzzo]

exhaust banging underneath? look on the passenger side where it bends around the gas tank. if you have a bent hangar or bad rubber mount it can rub / bang into the frame.

[rickisrad]

Uhm... What frame rail? We drive a unibody design car. Lol

And I'm pretty sure that pinch weld, where the factory marks the lift point on the side skirt, is the factory designed strongest point to lift from.

if you lift by the pinch weld in any rust state your going to collapse the rocker. ill attach pics to show what i mean

[rickisrad]

Lift here. Not sure what to call it so I called it a molded frame rail.


Not Here!! This is the result of Firestone lifting at the pinch weld.

[WarStryker13]

That's some pretty nasty rot you got going there...but I see what you're saying.

In the case of rust like that, I would not lift by the pinch weld. But a block of wood will prevent you from collapsing that moulded rail looking piece, like I've seen happen on completely rust free cars. I.E. mine. Lol

I can upload pics later, but mine are almost minty compared to that, and I'll show where my moulded rail started to collapse because of previous idiot owners.

[rickisrad]

Yeah they use a ton of salt here!! It was made in 2002 and from car fax says its been here all its life. I'm the third owner, it was a little too late once I got it 6 years ago. and yes I definitely use a block of wood to disperse the pressure.

[WarStryker13]

The car fax on mine says it was in Maine for 5 years, then shipped overseas to Germany for 4, then I got it and shipped it back overseas to AK. The trip back from Germany took almost 4 months, 3 of those months was on the boat, ocean spray was so bad it coated the interior completely with a layer of salt over everything... But no rot.

Those moulded rails look factory new still on mine, same with the strut towers. The only things with anything deeper than surface rust is stuff like the old control arms and the battery tray, things that can be replaced....

I've been saying mine's a weird one since the start. Lol

[rickisrad]

That's great you avoided the rot!! Unfortunately mine is about the norm here, unless it was really taken care of from the start. This one is way worse than my previous Prixs The previous owners must have never washed the underside.

[ItHurtz]

put the jack in the middle of the rear subframe and lift, not that hard. war likes to talk so dismiss her.

[tom5170]

Are the threaded end parts of the end links where the nuts go supposed to rotate? The passenger side rear where the noise is coming from rotates. I took it off and found this out. Maybe it's part of the design lol but I thought those bolt/threaded looking things are supposed to be solid inside the rubber and not move

[ItHurtz]

new ones wont rotate just replace them

[WarStryker13]

That's what happens when you listen to a corey...

[tom5170]

I think tomorrow I'll remove the strut and check the mount out. Is there a way to physically tell if it's bad?

Also, should I remove the nuts on the strut tower first, then jack it up?