I just thought i'd give you all an update on what's going on with my car, especially since most of you have donated your time and advice to my cause. I took the steering knuckle to a foreign car mechanic to have the new joints pressed in, and then set off to work fixing the front end. All went relatively smooth except a puzzling experiane with the front wheel bearings, and a pesky upper control arm on the left side. Everything is now back together and is working great with the exception of two things. first, is there is still a small(very small, have to listening carefully, windows up, a/c off, radio off) squeak from the right front. It did not make any noise at all without the wheel on the car, and there is no noticable play in anything else up there, so i'm stumped. Second, is now my brakes are funky. I didn't let out any fluid, but i did use a c-clamp to compress the piston to allow the pads to go on, and i forgot to take off the master cylinder cap when i did this. Now the brakes feel soft. Other than that, i just need to get it aligned, and i'll be happy. I did all the work for under 100 bucks including labor to press in new joints(30 bucks, took em 5 minutes!!) and parts. I dont know if i still have a vibration at speed, but if i do, anyone have any ideas of where to look next?(i'm keeping my fingers crossed, if the interstate werent so darn far away......) Thanks for all your help, and i'm glad the pecimists that said i should take it to a pro were wrong thanks again
Ryan

__________________
83 300SD.......sold
96 integra SE....sold
99 a4 quattro....sold
2001 IS300.......sold
2002 330i.........current.
2004 highlander limited....current.

I would flush the entire brake system and fill with new fluid. Insure then that all air is out of the lines. Pretty cheap bit of maintenance (your time and a couple of bottles of fluid).

got another problem, dang this is frusterating as hell! the car now appears to be slightly overheating. The temp is 95* w/out a/c on and 100 with. aux fan is working, the car did not behave like this at all before it was parked for a week and a half. Could it just be some stuck crap somewhere that will work it's way out? car has never been overheated(came close once when rad blew but i shut it down before it went to the red zone). AHHHH this is driving me nuts!!!
Ryan

__________________
83 300SD.......sold
96 integra SE....sold
99 a4 quattro....sold
2001 IS300.......sold
2002 330i.........current.
2004 highlander limited....current.

Ryan,
It has been HOT this week. My car has been running about 90 to close to 100 when sitting at a light in traffic. I don't see any way that front end work could cause it to run hot.
Brakes will be soft till you use them a few times and the fluid is pumped back to where it was and the pads get seated to where they were. I feel this after replacing my pads for the first few stops. You should flush the system when you get a chance. I have a power bleeder if you want to use it. Glad you got it all back together, best $100 you will spend.

Ryan:

If your brakes are soft, you either have air in the lines or the pads are sticking from rust or crud on the edges. The squeal could be a dragging pad, too, again from rust or crud. Will also tend make the engine temp go up.

I'd jack her back up, pull the pads and clean the slots, paying particular attention to the areas where the pads ride when the brakes are applied. Check for misplaced anti-squeal shims (I'm not sure if there are supposed to be any, but check). Also check for rust or crud on the backs of the pads where the piston goes.

Bleed the brakes until fresh fluid comes out, making sure you don't run the master cylinder dry.

It is normal for the engine temp to go up to 100 C or so in traffic -- the visco clutch should lock up then (you will hear it) and the aux fan should run at high speed if the temp goes up much more. You will only see 85 C on the highway in Florida in the summer. If the visco clutch doesn't work, replace it.

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

thanks guys i do feel better now , rebootit, if i decide to flush the entire system i may take you up on your power bleeder offer. That breaker bar came into use once again when prying the upper control arm up-god bless that thing! thanks
Ryan

__________________
83 300SD.......sold
96 integra SE....sold
99 a4 quattro....sold
2001 IS300.......sold
2002 330i.........current.
2004 highlander limited....current.

Ryan, take some good penetrating fluid like Kroil oil or PB Blaster and lube up the sway bar bushings where they penetrate the inner fender and run across the inside of the firewall. You'll see the bushings under the plastic cover that keeps the crud out of the inner fender. Have someone rock the car up and down hard while you spray those sway bar bushings and the other bushings. You'll probably cure the problem. At least temporarily. Don't use WD-40. It's useless.

__________________
Orland Park, IL
1985 300SD 215,000 miles

well i'll be da*#ed if the ONE immediate steering part that i didn't replace is the one that's squeaking. The upper ball joint is perfectly fine, no play etc, but boy is it noisy. I sprayed some WD-40 and it shut up-for a minute or two anyway. I plan on re-greasing it and then getting creative with some flexible sealent or ????. Not sure what my POA is on that one yet, but i'ts gonna shut up soon if i have anything to say about it! BTW, tonight the overheating problem has seemed to cure itself, go figure. A/c on full, ambient temp about 88, car stayed rock solid at 82, stop or go. I still think i have the vibration at above 65, as i can feel it start at 60 lightly. ANY suggestions? this is really, REALLY irritating me after all the time/labor i've put into this thing to STILL have that blasted vibration. Thanks
Ryan

__________________
83 300SD.......sold
96 integra SE....sold
99 a4 quattro....sold
2001 IS300.......sold
2002 330i.........current.
2004 highlander limited....current.

txbill, i'm hoping you are correct. I just had them put on in december or so, and immediately after there was a vibration still, the same vibration as the old tires had, and then i had them reballenced again and the vibration was still there. Very dissapointed both times. I could have it done again, but with them being new tires and already reballenced twice i see it as a waste of money. Are there any other things that could cause this?? BTW, it makes a thumping sound as well, like a "thumpthumpthumpthumpthump" real real quick.
thanks
Ryan

__________________
83 300SD.......sold
96 integra SE....sold
99 a4 quattro....sold
2001 IS300.......sold
2002 330i.........current.
2004 highlander limited....current.

Have you tried switching the tires from from front to read and from rear to front? Do it one side at a time and it you might find a bad tire.

P E H

"thump thump thump" sounds like tread separation to me. On a truck with big tires it's usually "thump thump thump wapity wapity wap BANG" when the cap comes off and the tire blows out. I would take it back in and have them check for a bad tire. You also should not (I would not) have to pay for this service. I know you don't have recaps but car tires still can be defective and have tread separation.

Fl is like south Tx in the summer. Super hot roads, lots of tire "gators" which is what the truckers call the chunks of tread in the road because they seem to always "bite" the air brake lines giving you about 30 seconds to get off the road before the things lock up. retreads are bad for this in the summer but new tires will do it as well. And as Bill said they will cause lots of damage to fenders when they go, not to mention loss of control if on a front wheel.

You never forget your first one
I have had several of the thumpthumpthump, wapity wap wap BANG blow outs on rears, never hurt anything except parts bins full of neon transformers which the shop would either knock out or build a new one. Sure will wake you up when it happens. Seemed that it was always at the end of the day on the long drive home about the time you started to get into that "wish I was home already" state of mind. Then KA-Boom
The only time I had a front come apart was driving a service rig with the old style split ring type of rims. Total failure and instant flat with a week old tire. we never did find the split ring, last I saw it was going across the grass on 275.
I bet we have Ryan so freaked now he will end towing the car to the shop

Ryan:

Just had an interesting discussion with Hans about tire vibration today -- had a customer come in with a vibration complaint, drove the car and never found anything except a slight "shimmy" type vibration at speeds greater than 55 mph. Couldn't find anything wrong, so sent it off to the alignment shop.

They looked and couldn't find anything, so drove it hard, and discovered that the "vibration" was triggered by hitting a bump and was as severe as a real "shimmy" -- the old guys on the list will understand, as this was found mostly on old, kingpin solid axle front suspensions -- the tires wobble back and forth badly enough to make you think the car will shake to bits.

The vibration would persist until the car slowed to less than 45 mph, then would vanish.

Turned out to be the steering dampner -- at close to center travel it acted like a spring rather than a shock and would bounce the drag link around until the car slowed. Only bound like that in the exact center of travel, for some reason. You might try a new one, they aren't expensive and are easy to replace.

I doubt you have bad tires right off the bat unless you only paid 30 bucks or less apiece! Even most cheap tires will last at least a couple thousand miles before they go.


Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

thanks but.....already been replaced, along with both tie rods, drag link, and both ball joints. thanks though
Ryan

__________________
83 300SD.......sold
96 integra SE....sold
99 a4 quattro....sold
2001 IS300.......sold
2002 330i.........current.
2004 highlander limited....current.