Sqeaky Suspension Options

[TomC]

So lately my car has been on a bit of a downhill slope in terms of health and it seems like everything is needing attention.

Right now my main concern is a weird noise that's coming from the front end of my car.
I don't know much about how everything works in my car so I'll just try to describe it as best I can.

Problem: The noise that comes from the front of the car is like the sound of a spring being compressed. ( Imagine the sound of a squeaky bed, but slower ) It happens when I go over rolling bumps and dips in the road and sometimes even when I release the accelerator and the car steadies out. If I go to the front of the car and push down (bounce it) you can also hear it.

Initial thoughts is that it is something to do with the sway bar bushings? However like I said, I know next to nothing about cars.

Some notes to take in:
- The roads I drive around are terrible (pot-holed, uneven, regular roadworks - - - all due to a big earthquake)
- I have superstrut suspension
- CVs are on their way out

Any help regarding this would be much appreciated, I will probably end up taking it to the mechanics anyway but would like to hear some view points first.

Cheers,

[toyota123]

Sounds like struts to me could be the insulators the bump stops or they could just be dead. If they are old I'd start there

[Langing]

Sounds like struts to me also. How many miles are on your car? I think struts (shock absorbers at each wheel, surrounded by a hefty coil spring) should last around 90,000 miles. I had a similar sound in my 94 Celica a few years ago, coming from the rear when I was rolling over "slow humps" and other kinds of road bumps. I had gotten used to the sound and it took someone else to point it out to me and say "strut problem."

Some unsolicited advice:

My 94 Celica just crossed 300,000 miles, and replacing the struts was one of my first efforts at doing my own car repairs, and though somewhat difficult, it made me feel proud to have done all four by myself (with a little help from friends ), and it felt so nice driving with those things doing their job correctly. Made the car handle so much better. If you have a buddy that is mechanically inclined, you might attempt the job yourself as a way to begin to learn how your car works as well as how to take care of it. Just plan on how you will get around during the time you are doing the job.

6g Celicas are getting old, and that means their parts are wearing and the weakest will be failing soon. If you really feel that you want to stick with your Celica, you probably would be doing yourself a great favor learning how to do your own repairs, otherwise it is going to begin to cost you big bucks taking it to be serviced going forward. I'm talking about the basic car, not the "builds" (add-ons, improvements, renovations and complete rebuilds) you read about on this website, where guys go to extremes to enhance, beautify, and otherwise make their Celicas their own.

Just a thought about saving money, building confidence, making sure repair jobs are done correctly, knowing how your car actually works, and being able to know what is wrong with your car when it experiences problems in the future. It's also about a kind of 'being in love' with your car. Sick, huh?

Cheers!

[TomC]

Sounds like struts to me also. How many miles are on your car? I think struts (shock absorbers at each wheel, surrounded by a hefty coil spring) should last around 90,000 miles. I had a similar sound in my 94 Celica a few years ago, coming from the rear when I was rolling over "slow humps" and other kinds of road bumps. I had gotten used to the sound and it took someone else to point it out to me and say "strut problem."

Some unsolicited advice:

My 94 Celica just crossed 300,000 miles, and replacing the struts was one of my first efforts at doing my own car repairs, and though somewhat difficult, it made me feel proud to have done all four by myself (with a little help from friends ), and it felt so nice driving with those things doing their job correctly. Made the car handle so much better. If you have a buddy that is mechanically inclined, you might attempt the job yourself as a way to begin to learn how your car works as well as how to take care of it. Just plan on how you will get around during the time you are doing the job.

6g Celicas are getting old, and that means their parts are wearing and the weakest will be failing soon. If you really feel that you want to stick with your Celica, you probably would be doing yourself a great favor learning how to do your own repairs, otherwise it is going to begin to cost you big bucks taking it to be serviced going forward. I'm talking about the basic car, not the "builds" (add-ons, improvements, renovations and complete rebuilds) you read about on this website, where guys go to extremes to enhance, beautify, and otherwise make their Celicas their own.

Just a thought about saving money, building confidence, making sure repair jobs are done correctly, knowing how your car actually works, and being able to know what is wrong with your car when it experiences problems in the future. It's also about a kind of 'being in love' with your car. Sick, huh?

Cheers!

First of all nicely written response, I appreciate the time you put into the reply and feel it's sadly wasted on my issue
Anyway, I've just clocked over 220,000kms. I got the car at 180,000km and haven't replaced the front struts myself. Unsure if they've ever been replaced from previous owners. Have had work done on the rare ones.
There was a point in the past week where the sound was gone all together, however that was short lived and now it is back and as aggressive as ever.
I think I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and take it to the mechanics. They're generally pretty good to me and will hopefully sort me out but last time I went they talked about one of my strut arms that will need to be refurbished as they can't order any in.

I'd love to be able to fix the car myself. I love seeing how everything works and getting my head around what is happening when I drive. However only a handful of my friends would have a slight clue in what they're doing and I'd hate to make my problem worse. I rely on my car for a lot of things and can't really go without it at the moment

My car runs nicely engine-wise, it's just sh*tting itself on suspension handling/problems :c
Again though, thanks for your help

[Galcobar]

All of the above is good advice. That said, I'd check the anti-sway bar bushings, because it's an easy thing to test and a cheap fix.

Simply disconnect the brackets holding the bushings to the chassis, and then bounce the suspension. If the noise is gone, head to your dealer and spend the $20 to get new bushings. If not, then add $20 to your budget when you replace the struts/dampners to also replace the bushings, because after 220,000 kms they'll be in need of replacement.

[TomC]

All of the above is good advice. That said, I'd check the anti-sway bar bushings, because it's an easy thing to test and a cheap fix.

Simply disconnect the brackets holding the bushings to the chassis, and then bounce the suspension. If the noise is gone, head to your dealer and spend the $20 to get new bushings. If not, then add $20 to your budget when you replace the struts/dampners to also replace the bushings, because after 220,000 kms they'll be in need of replacement.

Awesome thank you, will give that a try when I have any free time (: