Any ideas on this, guys?

My driver's side front strut broke. I brought that in and had the front suspension replaced, costing about $1500. When I got the car back, the mech. told me he had bad news. Showed me the horrible clunking sound, that litterally shakes the car. He told me I needed to take it to a Transmission shop or just junk it (the car runs fine otherwise at 100k miles) because the car's not worth fixing the tranny.

It's the worst when I shift from park > reverse. From reverse > drive, it's not as bad. Also, when going from 1st > 2nd it seems to lurch a bit. There is something weird going on there, but hard to describe. But the very worst of it is going into reverse.

Brought it into the Honda dealer, hoping they could get to the bottom of it. They said they scanned it and the only error code was the rear speed sensor, which they wanted $710 to replace!

I took it to another mechanic, and they replaced the speed sensor for $270, but it didn't fix the horrible clunking. They also recommended a transmission shop.

I went to the tranny guys and after test driving and poking and prodding the bottom of the car with a crowbar, they said they're 99% sure it's not a transmission problem and to take it back to the guys who changed the suspension.

Any ideas? It seems odd that a transmission prob would occur directly after a suspension change. Also, I noticed slight knocking sound every now and then when I turn hard left. Also, slight clicking noises when driving slowly.

Reading around here, I'm tempted to think there's a problem with the axel or driveshaft (don't know much about them). I'm calling up the suspension guys tomorrow, but would love to hear any advice!

I'm just getting a little desperate because I've been dealing with this for 4 months and hardly driving the thing. Also promised my family I'd take them to the mountain for a weekend trip for Christmas, but can't get out of the city.

Ski season is almost over! Please help if you can.. thanks!

 

I would check the rear and transmission mounts, if they are broken or not attached they could produce the described symptoms. Clicking would be a bad axle. Its very hard to break these transmissions enough, suddenly, to produce what you are describing.

 

There's a problem with the axle!!

 

Yup. They stressed the axle(s) when they worked on the suspension.


Still, I'd check the trans /motor mounts too 'just because' they are prone to breakage. That's a visual. Likely suspect is the LF trans mount.

 

I'd take a look at the CV joints.. The steel balls in them can slip out of place and cause the noise you are describing.. You may be able to manipulate them back into place without removing the rubber boot.. I know that it can be done from years of owning FWD cars.. You can also easily remove the boots to inspect and lube the joints and replace them if they are damaged. Even if they appear to be ok, it might be a good idea do anyway.

 

1. Car had no noise before suspension work.
2. Car has bad noise after suspension work.
3. What changed. If its a tranny THEY BROKE IT.... (Did someone "test drive" the crap out of it?)
4. ANY good suspension guy knows about cv joints.
5. Run away and start with a new shop. it wont get better..

Good luck and I do believe the CV's could be your problem.
Support the car, use a couple small jacks to lift the suspension so its close to normal. Turn the axles with the wheels at different steering angles, if the cv's are not aligned there will be obvious clunking/binding. If it got drove that way the CV joints are likely trashed.

When I take a hot car to a shop for non engine work I put a 3K pill in the rev limiter and put a piece of security tape on it. For moving it around the shop thats all they need.I just tell them the car is locked in valet mode.

 

Wow, thanks for the responses guys. You know, that's exactly what I thought when I was leaving the shop with a crappy sounding car.

I brought it back to the same mechanic, and he's going to change the whole axel / CV joint assembly for $500. Hopefully that solves it. I'll report back once I get that replaced and take it for a spin...

 

So it was the upper CV joint that was borked. $500 for parts and labour seemed reasonable.

Car sounds really good now, but man was it ever nasty before. Thanks guys!

 

Yikes... $500 to replace one axle?! I'm glad to hear that it's fixed and done, but ouch. Did he use a new OEM axle?

 

I am sure they just snapped back the original that was not fully seated the first time Well, they probably painted it with Krylon high gloss black

 

I've seen this done on several cars , the CV seldom survives being driven when not seated correctly ,,, saw a kid at a track day do it to a Porsche 930.. (Borrowed dads car) It went to the dealer on a tow truck.. Broke the transmission side cover..

 

He did show me the messed up CV joint that was all loosey goosey. I asked him to take off the boot, but he said it would void something... It is possible that they messed something up during the installation, like when they replaced the suspension, they broke the sway bars and charged me for it.

$500 doesn't sound bad for Vancouver. Everything costs a fortune here. That being said, I can't go back there.

 

That's a load of BS. Most any CV boot can be easily removed and reinstalled, there should be just a boot clamp on either side that pops loose and the boot can then be pulled up the axle for inspection. Sure, it'll loose some of the grease if the axle is brand new, but that's irrelevant on a broken unit.

And they broke the sway bars and charged you for it?! Or they broke the sway bar end links? Either way, it all sounds fishy and like bad business. I think you were taken. Sorry.

 

No it was closing time and he was going to just cut the boot off with a knife but then said that might prevent them from selling it or whatever it is they do with used parts. After playing with it though, it did not seem fixable (or worth the time the $230 part was worth brand new). Also, the fact the whole car shaked when shifting, compared to now being perfectly quiet does not suggest it was simply a loose part.

I'm pretty cynical and question a lot of things, but to say that they purposefully jacked me is probably not accurate. On the other hand there were too many questionable issues, so I'll go elsewhere in the future.