I gave my mother my Lexus and now her old car has became my work car to keep miles/wear down on my Benz.

Its a 1997 Oldsmobile Achieva SL sedan with the 2.4L I4and suprisingly its been a good car for a 90s American car. My grandpa bought it nearly new, then my mother inherited it. It has about 175K and has never had a major problem except a water pump replacement and a starter solenoid replaced. The only other problem that has gotten worse is that when the A/C compressor is not engaged the compressor is making a horrible scraping sound when the temp outside is below 60°. I guess the compressor is going out.

Lately though the front suspension is making a horrible clunking over bumps... it started out lightly, but its getting worse. Sounds like its coming from the right front area. I am guessing its a bad strut. We had $450 tires put on this car about 2 months ago before it started. We were supposed to take it back within the month to have it aligned, but it started that noise, so we have delayed. I do not want to have it aligned, then have to have new struts installed, because wont it have to be re-aligned again?

The steering is still very tight, no looseness. SO... with that said, does this sound like simply a worn bushing on the RF strut?

Thanks for any info.

i'd check the sway bar bushings.

Thanks.

Yes, you'd need an alignment following strut replacement.

I've had a couple of hi mileage H body GM cars. The suspension parts (aftermarket) we're big $$$, IMO. Are you doing the work on this car or farming it out? I'd service the transmission if it hasn't been done.

When these old GM cars are running right and in decent condition, they're as close to driving for "free" as any car could ever be. I got rid of my recent car this past summer. It had 175k on it and the 3.8L and trans worked flawlessly. However, being a resident of the Northeast its entire life, rust was becoming an issue in some areas I'd consider safety related. Cosemetically, the car still looked great (as long as you didn't approach closer than 10' )

Thats a lot of miles for a car like that, so the front end is probably pretty tired. Jack it up and start pushing and prying on stuff to figure out whats clunking.

It could be the shock, my sisters last Olds Cutless started to make a nice clunk in the rear. Luckly since it was a GM we got some cheap Monro shocks for like $20 each from NAPA and changed them out, fixed it. I really like how GM parts are dirt cheap!

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Thanks... well, I will probably check that out and see if its a strut before I have the alignment done.

Yes, thankfully, this is a local southern car and even the undercarriage is void of even surface rust. Looks like new underneath.

Even though I am in the southeast, I am familiar with "northern" cars. I ended up with a 1994 Lumina that was originally from northeastern Ohio back in 2001. I had no idea when I bought it, but the undercarriage was very rusty. Heavy rust scale. I had never seen an undercarriage like that... especially on a 1994 car.

Yes, it is alot of miles for a 90s GM car, but it has suprised me. I am not sure if the front end is "worn out", because the steering is still very tight without any slack, play or looseness. I am hoping its just the strut.

Thanks.