I drove our 98 Civic today and when I went over a speed bump, the front suspension was making a loud clicking noise when i went up and again when i went down. Do i need new shocks or struts?

That's very possible! When you went over the speed bump, were you turning or driving straight? Does it happen when you turn?

This post has been edited by rubybeetle: Sep 18 2006, 10:24 AM

The same thing happened to me, I have 63k on mine. I noticed the oil leakage from the front struts when I changed to summer wheels last week. Acura's quote for replacing is in the $350 range. They were non-committal about whether Honda Canada would be willing to cover some of the bill. Regards, Desmond.

Thanks for the response. I guess you haven't replaced your struts yet? Is it a coincidence that the struts gave out right after the warranty expires??? Have you gotten other quotes for replacing the struts? I wonder if it's better to go to after-market (performance) shocks. Any suggestions? Ken

Spend the $1000 or so on the Extended Warranty (you can get it up to 80,000km on your car. Beyond that, and you can't purchase extended warranty.) It lasts up to 160,000km/7 yrs... If I find out mine are leaking, I'm doing just that. I had mine replaced once already under warranty, can't recall at what kms though.... Figure it this way.... If they gave out in the range of 30,000km - 63,000km, they'll give out again before you hit 160,000km... that'd be $350 x 2 or roughly what you'd pay for shocks twice...

I am going to bring it to Erin Mills Acura for them to look at my car tomorrow. I'll keep you guys posted. They want $42 just for the inspection. There's apparently a service bulletin out for ball joints/control arms(?). I also found this service bulletin on 7thgencivic.com for suspension noise. http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/showthread.php? s=185c034bd68dfbe8174bc6a0e3d02018&threadid=77009&highlight=TSB Ken

I had my car inspected today at Erin Mills Acura (EMA). The front struts are starting to leak and they need to be replaced. This is on a car that has 69 000 km and is 2.5 years old. This is outrageous. I was charged $42 + tax for the inspection. The shocks are $500 ($250 each x 2) + $168 labour for installation. Plus I'll need a wheel alignment after that which is another $50 - $80. This adds up to ~$700 - $800 at the dealer! Since my car is out of warranty. The best that EMA can do is bring this up with the district service manager (DSM). EMA will 'plead' my case with him and see if Honda will pick up the cost of the struts. In this case, I'll still have to pay for the installation and the alignment. This still sucks because the DSM only shows up every 2 weeks and there is apparently no way to contact him. So now I have to wait at least 2 weeks to have an answer from the Honda DSM regarding my struts. Even if they 'give' me new struts, it will still cost me ~$300 ($168 labour + alignment + taxes)! Are you guys feeling my pain? The service guy at EMA told me that there's no real concern regarding blown struts and that it's ok for me to keep driving around for another 2 weeks. The struts haven't totally gave out yet. They are just 'starting' to leak. He saids it's more of a 'noise' issue right now. Is that suppose to make me feel better? Anyway, I'm going to do some research on aftermarket performance shocks (e.g. Koni's). Why would I have OEM shocks install back in my car if they are just going to blow in another 60 000 km? I'll keep you guys posted.

And you think that's outrageous? I took my car in yesterday because my struts were acting weird, I hear ocassional noises but the ride is horrible at times. Anyway, my right front strut is leaking. I'm at 30 000km. My car is only reaching two years old. Good thing everything's under warranty. But still, I wonder what happens when I reach 60,000km.

I had mine in at Acura on Brant in Burlington today. They said, too bad. The replacement price they quoted me before ($350) is EACH not for the pair. And the struts are on back-order (surprise surprise). Replacement warranty is 20,000km. (yep, these suckers are guaranteed to fail). If you buy extended warranty, they inspect the struts first. So if they're already gone, they're not covered. Calling for assistance from the DSM like you said only covers the cost of parts, not the labour. And Acura on Brant said that they'd only consider it if there was a full service history with them. Well, I do all my own servicing. I bought a car that I believed was reliable and economical and easy to maintain. So I do what I can to ensure the maintenance is done RIGHT and saving $$$ by doing it myself. I guess there's a catch in everything... So. I'm interested in any after-market options too. Too bad I didn't take it in when I first heard the noise, at 59k. I'll look into what there is available, so far I heard that koni's are US$500 a pair, plus installation, which is a big deal because you have to butcher the old strut housings to get a special part from. A browse of 2k1civic.com showed that other after-market companies are "working on it" but nothing as of yet. Keep posting about any results with the after-market investigations. I think if everyone complains vigourously to Honda Canada there would at least be some kind of recognition of the problem, and perhaps a free replacement program? I'll try and see... Regards, Desmond.

The struts should be covered for 3yrs/60,000km whichever comes first. That's from my knowledge anyway. Yes extended warranty is useless. Struts are not covered under the extended warranty. When my new set of struts go, I'm gonna get Koni's + Coilovers, hopefully.

I went to a couple of places today (SpeedTech & BC AutoDesign) checking prices on struts and springs. SpeedTech verbally quoted me $560 for 4 Koni Red Struts + $120 for installation. (Recall that Erin Mills Acura quoted me $500 for 2 OEM front struts + $168 for installation). I forgot to ask explicitly but I am assuming that this includes tax. It's a 2 hour job but I don't think they will do the alignment there so I guess I still have to get a 4 wheel alignment elsewhere. The shop itself looked pretty clean and the I thought the pricing was OK. I then went to BC AutoDesign. These guys again quoted me verbally. They are asking for ~$200 per Koni Yellow. The guys there didn't sound too sure if they can get Koni Yellows for the EL though. I don't think I was being explicit enough with my questioning. They also quoted me $480 (all inclusive) for 4 Rennsport springs. These will drop the car by 1.5". I have to go back to SpeedTech and ask them how much they will charge me for springs too. I am tempted to get the springs and drop the car a bit too. So as of now, my options are: 4 Koni Red struts ($560 + $120) = $660 OR 2 OEM struts ($500 + $168) = $668 If I get the lowering springs, it will cost me another $500. The lowering springs are tempting. Anyway, I will think about this during this week. I got to figure out how I am going to pay for this. What do you guys think? I also got a couple of questions: (1) What are coil-overs? what's the difference between these and struts? (2) If I want to lower the car, then I have to buy springs? That's what I was told today. Ken

The prices from Speedtech, sound pretty good. Is this for a 1.6 or 1.7EL? Coil-over in a nutshell is a spring + shock combo unit, usually with adjustable spring height. If you want the car to sit lower, you need to do it by springs. Struts only control the motion of compression/rebound.

Questions to ask: - specific pricing - specific availability I phoned several other places today. Northern (Hamilton) koni yellow fronts *inserts only*: $290ea, 10 pairs in stock but all spoken for, expecting more at the end of the month. $140 installation for fronts only. Total price $720. I assume plus taxes. Performance Improvements on Queensway couldn't even figure out what I was asking about. Acura on Brant (Burlington) quoted $208ea and about $250 installation for stock replacements. Both of these would be plus alignment. Regards, Desmond.

My friend was able to get a set of four Koni Yellow (shocks) which are tunable (from stiff performance style to friendlier every- driving style). All in all, came to nearly 800 (He's got a 2001 Accord 4-dr.) Tornactive.com has them going for about $559US for our 2001-up application. As for dropping your car, you have to look at a few things first. Are you going to be the type who will want to have the flexibility of adjusting your ride height every so often? Or is one agood drop of about 1.5 to 1.75 inches good for you. As far as i'm concerned, for a good set of springs, Eibach only gives us the luxury of a 1.25/ 1.75 drop. As for other companies like Goldline and what not, which aren't as heralded as Eibach and Ground Control kits, can drop you about 1.75 inches. As for coil- overs, which are basically adjustable springs, you have the ability to drop your car anywhere between stock ride height and four inches, for those 'look-at-me' kind of afternoons. making the adjustment from one height to another takes my bud about an hour for the whole process. Personally, I'm gonna get a generic coil-over set. Heavier car drivers tend to lean away from them, and garage guys around my area told me likewise (GTR MTL AREA). I'm not exactly prepared to fork over 2 or three times the dolough from something by GC (although I was a sucker for an aem intake... damnit). Anywho, yup, you're gonna need springs to drop your ride and getting performance shocks for the same price as OEM shocks is a no-brainer. Here's something ugly: I got my brakes changed at Acura brossard here near my place for about 600 bucks... My good old buddy with the accord got performance brakes with cross-drilled rotors and carbon- fibre brake pads for about 100 bucks more... Grrr indeed. Anywho, goodluck with your decision! Peace.

Please can you describe this noise ? I comlained about a clunk - clunk noise that I hear occassionally on mine a while ago, but the dealer said he could not find anything wrong. Thanks. >

I had a 'popping' noise from my front left suspension when I had around 30k km. I noticed this when I was driving up a driveway that had a high curb. My wheel was turned at an angle going up the curb and the suspension made the 'popping' noise. It sounds like a large plastic garbage can lid being pushed in and out. I also noticed the noise a few other times going over large bumps. I told the dealer about this and they checked it out when I got my oil change but they couldn't find anything wrong. Now I notice the front suspension squeaking. It sounds like worn springs in an old couch or in an old mattress. It's particularly bad when going over speed bumps at a shopping mall. Especially malls that have speed bumps every 5 metres. I can duplicate the squeaking noise when I push down on the front of my car. I am not sure what causes this, is it a worn seal in the struts? Anyway, I don't mind a 1.5" drop. I probably wouldn't go more than that though. The guy at SpeedTech asked me why I want to change struts on a car that's so new. I couldn't tell him that my struts are blown. Otherwise he'd probably charge me more money?! I'm going to call him back over the next couple of days to confirm the pricing. I mentioned to him that it was for a '01 EL but it's still better to confirm. I also need to ask him how long it takes to get the parts. Ken

Just a reminder for all of you who are considering lowering springs, because our car is a sedan it has slightly different weight distribution than the Civic Coupe. There is more weight on the rear wheels for the sedan version of the Civic. Many aftermarket lowering springs are tuned for the Civic Coupe's weight distribution and will therefore sag in the rear for sedans. Because the parts are interchangeable between the sedan and coupe, you probably wouldn't know until the springs settle and you see that the rear has dropped more than the front. Also, many manufacturers/retailers will say that it is alright, but there really is a difference between the coupe and sedan. There are some manufacturers that differentiate the product with a sedan and coupe version that are slightly different in the rear. One that comes to mind is Neuspeed. The lightest lowering spring, Eibach Pro-Kit (approx. 1" or so), unfortunately does not have a sedan version. This is the ideal spring for many of us who may want a little lowering but want to retain some practicality.