CH 2.0L Rattling/squeaking sound when hitting bumps

prawnhub69

New Member
Hi everyone,

I've been experiencing a rattle/squeak sound whenever I hit some sort of bump in the road. If the road is bumpy enough the sound is pretty much constant. So far I have inspected (but don't really know what to look for) the front springs and shocks. I tried to recreate the sound by bouncing the car but no sound. I noticed that the rubbers for the stabiliser bar are pretty damaged. Haven't inspected the front drivers side yet but the sound comes from both sides of the car.

Was thinking that replacing the rubbers and the link might fix it but I could be completely wrong, still very new to this so any insight is appreciated.

IMG_0432.JPEG

Thank you in advance!
 
Hi everyone,

I've been experiencing a rattle/squeak sound whenever I hit some sort of bump in the road. If the road is bumpy enough the sound is pretty much constant. So far I have inspected (but don't really know what to look for) the front springs and shocks. I tried to recreate the sound by bouncing the car but no sound. I noticed that the rubbers for the stabiliser bar are pretty damaged. Haven't inspected the front drivers side yet but the sound comes from both sides of the car.

Was thinking that replacing the rubbers and the link might fix it but I could be completely wrong, still very new to this so any insight is appreciated.

View attachment 7792

Thank you in advance!

Hey mate. The sway bar end links are rooted. The rubber is totally spilt apart there. Start by replacing them on both sides. A kit should come with 8 bits of rubber, 2 metal tubes and 2 nuts. A gregory’s manual will have you replacing these in under half an hour.

you may find there are other issues and this may not be the cause of your noise but sure as hell I’d start with a worn suspension component when dealing with a suspension noise.

best of luck with it. I can take some photos of how it should look if you require
 
Hey mate. The sway bar end links are rooted. The rubber is totally spilt apart there. Start by replacing them on both sides. A kit should come with 8 bits of rubber, 2 metal tubes and 2 nuts. A gregory’s manual will have you replacing these in under half an hour.

you may find there are other issues and this may not be the cause of your noise but sure as hell I’d start with a worn suspension component when dealing with a suspension noise.

best of luck with it. I can take some photos of how it should look if you require

Thanks for the reply I've ordered a kit for both sides will report back when I've got it changed or if I get stuck.

Thanks again!
 
So the kits arrived yesterday and plan on installing them tomorrow, just looking at the Haynes manual on how to do it and just want to confirm my bushing/washer positioning is correct since the kit in the manual doesn't have washers. I plan on putting 1 bushing either side of the control arm and 1 each either side of the sway bar, picture below should explain what I mean.

IMG_0436.JPEG

Thanks in advance
 

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Just thought I'd post an update after successfully changing the sway bar links.

Some of the noise I was hearing has gone away but some noise still remains. Thinking it might be the lower control arm bushings as the invoice from my service last year said they're slightly worn but will have to have a closer look. Haven't checked the tightness of any of the bolts on the suspension unit yet so I guess that's the next step.

Don't know if this narrows it down but I've isolated the sound to only occurring when weight comes off the suspension. Example when jacking up the car or getting out of the car I can hear it. But getting into the car or lowering the jack I can't hear anything.

Overall, I'm not too concerned about the noises at the moment since the car handles perfectly and can't really hear it with music on at a fairly quiet level.
 
Glad to hear you got the links in okay. The rear control arm bushes are notorious in CH’s . Very cheap to buy the whole arm and it becomes a 20min job each side. The strut top mounts also wear and can cause some knocking in the front.

side note - see if your knocking goes away if youre braking. Shims and lubrication are crucial in the front brake calipers and noise will occur if it’s not right.
 
Another quick update.

Both control arms have been replaced and got a wheel alignment yesterday car is completely silent so far. Think it should be all good now.
 
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