allerton

Noise looks like from the spring coil or strut. When driving on wet road, no noise. So I'm thinking a simple lubricate somewhere might kill the noise. Anyone same experience? Are there any places really need periodic lubricate around the shock area? Thanks for your input.

Tammy

I would suspect the upper suspension support as noted in attachment.

allerton

Thanks for the info. Do you think this is somehow related to humidity/raining day? The noise is obvious
in dry/sunning days , but I can hardly feel it in raining days. Can I buy a can of silicon spray and lubricate
those parts including the upper suspension support mentioned in the tech. report you attached?

Tammy

With the understanding it will be a temporary fix, I don't see any harm. I would take each front wheel off, so you can see and get up into the top of the strut. Place a jackstand next to the jack for safety.

Suggest using the spray tube for close up work. A little at the top of the mount where you can see it under the hood may not hurt. Look for cracked rubber at the upper mount from under the fender with a good flashlight or drop light.

While there, grab and inspect the swaybar link ends for no play. Also, the steering tie rods for play at the spindle and the rack. Check the condiction of the rubber spring seat between the spring and the strut. This may also be a source of noise. Since the wheel is off, the spring will be extended. Vacuum out any dirt in the spring base where it fits into the strut.

Lastly, obtain a bottle of "Vinylex" (Pep Boys) or Areospace 303 (Ace Hardware) rubber/plastic preservative and spray down all the rubber in the suspension, including steering rack boots, both inner and outer axle shaft CV boots. Wipe any excess.

You can also preserve the plastic inner fenders for a little detailing touch.

allerton

OK, I took off the left front wheel, and did a lubricate spray over all rubber bushing/joints, including the strut, no any help. It's still making noise. So I drove to my local tire shop and had the mechanic checked for me. It turned out that the left sway bar link was bad and need replacement. He also pointed out that the right link was not good.

My question:

Do I need to replace both links, even though the right one is not making any noise for now?
And it looks like an easy job, just remove old link, and bolt on new one, am I right? I'm going to order the parts from internet. I checked my local dealer's price, it's arount 80 bucks plus tax. I could get one for $50 online including shipping. If do both links, I'm looking at $100 plus maybe half an hour working underneath the car. I've got a very nice creeper from my local harborfreight store already

Tammy

Good to hear you've located the problem. If the link pivits are worn, as suggested, do order and replace them. One contributed to wearing the other, since both are attached to the same anti-sway bar. Additionally, pick up a small amount of "Locktite" (blue or red) to place on the stud prior to replacing the fasteners.

allerton

Final report:

I ended up buying a pair of sway bar links from my local advanceautoparts for $26 a piece with life time warranty. The parts are actually exactly the same brand ( made in Japan ) as the old parts installed on my es300. My local dealer wants $80 a piece.

It took me some time to remove the old links. And when install, I found that there was no way for me to torque the nuts to 29 ft-lb because I need to use a hexagon wrench to hold the stud so I just used a regular 14mm wrench to hand tighten the nut. Don't know how much torque I actually put on... anyway, car drives super quiet now. yeah, I killed the noise finally...