Yes, they are Monroe. What specifically is the known problem with them? Do you know what the symptoms are?

 

Specifically?...............the mounts are junk.

 

There is a bearing in the top mount. The shaft where that top nut is, the bearing is right under it. It allows the strut to turn while the wheel is turning.

Any power steering rack or old recirculating ball type steering box will shudder when it reaches it limits. Saturn made the limits wider than the range of motion for the steering knuckles, it was the first car to do that so the steering doesn't shudder when the wheel is turned to its limit.

When you disconnect the tie rods, you can then exceed the limits of the steering knuckle and get it to shudder. Don't do that, its not good for the power steering pump or the rack.

The creaking that you are hearing could be from the spring seats. There should be a polyethylene pad under each spring, but sometimes that wears through. Spray a little oil on the tops and bottoms of the springs and see if the sound goes away.

I don't have an opinion on Monroe struts, I never use them so I can't say whether they are good or bad. I prefer KYB but they are just starting to make the all in one package. I do have a spring compressor so changing the spring is not an issue with me.

However, if you get the urge to change the struts for any reason, I would recommend these

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/more...425&cc=1317293

 

There is nothing wrong with Monroe struts, yet it has been reported over and over and over on every forum I've ever used that the Monroe mounts have problems with making noise and falling apart. It's not an "opinion" when derf, Rube, Rj, or myself say Monroe mounts are junk, it's just a simple fact.

I've had three sets. I bought one two replaced via warranty before I got my money back and bought a set of factory mounts and KYB struts. Had I known at the time I would have never dropped the factory mounts in the dumpster they were making no noise and may have outlasted the replacement kyb's.

Now if three out of ten people have problems with monroe and zero out of ten have problems with factory why would I buy monroe mounts. But it seems it's more like six out of ten have problems with monroe mounts. How many need to have a problem with them to keep you from buying them?

 

"How many need to have a problem with them to keep you from buying them?" -- Not sure what elicited that response.

Monroe is a good manufacturer of quality shocks and struts and I have used them for too many years to count and have had no issues. Now, having said that, I don't know that I have ever had to replace the mounts so the only experience I have with their mounts is this time.

I have a very specific sound that occurs only when the car is turning and the wheels are turned to their maximum turn position. The possibility that that sound might be being caused by the top strut mounts is certainly worth pursuing. But to do so it would be helpful if I got some information that would help to correllate these symptoms with the ones experienced by those saying they've had top mount problems.

So far the only specifics I've gotten is "they're junk" and "make sounds and fall apart" -- both of which could probably be said about me -- but neither of which I can correlate to the metallic click-click-click I get in hard turns which may be transaxle, may be CV joints or may be strut mounts.

I disconnected the tie rods and took the struts off last night. Both [new] CV driveshafts feel good and turn smoothly even in the most extreme flex position. The rack & pinion turns smooth and quiet from limit to limit. The strut assemblies look good -- the assembly is tight, all the rubber looks fine -- they are only a year old.

I don't know how tight the top mount should be. When removed from the car t is very difficult to turn by hand and you can hear the plastic making sounds as you do turn it -- the same sounds they make when installed and the wheels are turned.

However, the sound I have been asking about occurs only when the struts would have already turned to their stop position and would no longer be turning. Given that scenario, how would you explain the top mounts making noise?

I hate the sound -- if everything is in good repair and working properly you wouldn't expect to hear things like this -- and always want to fix things that my kids drive. But like you folks, I have no interest in just shotgunning replacements -- too much time and cost.

If you can describe the sounds, and situations in which you experienced them, that turned out to be caused by the top mounts -- any brand -- then that would be very helpful to me in terms of being able to relate them to this particular situation.

 

Monroe makes great struts and shocks. They have had problems with their mounts making noise. They have had problems with their mounts failing. I'll guess they did not make the same noise every time they went bad for every person that a had a problem with them. I'll guess that in some case they make noise only when turning right, and some times only when turning left. I'll guess some only made noise when going full lock one way or the other. I'll make that guess because like most all mounts they are full of bearings, and not every bearing that fails will make the same sound.

I think the point of sw2cam's post was to let you know to check and see if the noise is coming from your strut mounts. I also believe he's letting you know if you have monroe strut mounts it might be a good idea to buy another brand such as KYB or Factory that we do not see or read about having a problem. When I had noise from my Monroe mounts, I did not take them apart to find just what one of the many bearings or it's placement in the mount was bad. I took them back to the store intact so they would be covered under warranty.

Remember sw didn't tell you that your mounts were bad, but to check with a warning of the monroe brand.

 

Thanks rjion. I understood sw2cam's point to check them. I have explained how I removed them and checked them along with what I found. So when told [again] that I should check them, what am I checking for? I don't have another assembly that I can compare to.

How hard should it be to turn the top mount when the complete assembly is out of the car? Should it be easy, smooth and quiet? Have you ever heard of the mounts making a continuous metallic clicking sound -- at the same frequency as axle rotation -- when going full lock either direction?

They probably make better top mounts than what came with these assemblies but it appears that the ones I have are working and are not the source of the noise I'm hearing.

Noises are hard enough to describe and troubleshoot in person but much harder online.

For now it appears that the top mounts are fine and there is no reasonable hypothesis explaining how a mount could create the sounds I'm hearing. I think I'll move on to other possibilities.

I have appreciated all the responses. Thanks all.

 

Howard, I don't think its your struts that are making the noise, I think it is your outer CV joints. They can make a clicking sound even though they feel solid to you. But they will only make the sound if the car is moving, not if it is standing still. If it is only happening at the extreme positions of the steering wheel, I would not worry about it for now.

If the struts are still under warrantee and are remans, I would take them back. If you bought them at an Advance Auto Parts store, they have new axle options, not EMPI, but I have heard that they are good axles as long as you don't have ABS. Apparently some have had issues mounting the reluctor ring on them. The other parts houses may also have new options, just check with the store you bought them at.

Could be your wheel bearing too, but the way to check them is while driving, in a safe place, oscillate the steering wheel back and forth like you see race cars do when they are under the yellow flag. If you hear a slight roar that changes pitch and volume as you move the steering wheel back and forth, you probably have a bad bearing. If the sounds don't change, they are good.

 

Thanks Keith. I'm now pretty sure as well that its the CVs. The only question is the likelihood that both newly remanufactured ones would have the same issue and [apparently] to the same degree.

I'm gonna call down to the NAPA store tomorrow and see what my options are.

Thanks again.

 

NAPA is gonna replace both of the reman axles with new ones for no charge. I'll go down and pick them up this morning and put them on today.