[chrisg05]

hi all

I have an 89 lebaron coupe and I am getting a rubbing/creaking noise as I drive down the road. it seems to happen when I go over bumps straight or turning. I am at a loss here because everything seems tight.

The struts are brand new less then a year old.
the tire rods, lower control arms, ball joints seem fine. There is no play in the steering or any play when you try to move the wheel 12/6 or 9/3 so that rules out wheel bearings.

what else could this be?

The rear has new shocks which are torqued down properly

 

[chrisg05]

the struts were replaced by midas and it does say that they replaced the upper hardware. when they did the alignment they forgot to torque down the lower strut bolts and that was fun believe me.

Is there a good way to change out the bushings on the sway bar with out having to remove the whole thing? For example can I just unbolt one side, change it out, and then rebolt it.. repeat for the other side or do I have to unbolt the whole thing?

As far as the daytona bar, will any year do or is there a specific year? I know in 1990 they changed the lebaron interior considerably..just wondering if they changed the mecanics..

 

[chrisg05]

ok it looks like I will have to bite the bullet and drop the bar to change out all the bushings. I got raybestos bushings from the local autopart store for bar. Hopefully it will stop this noise. damn things are cheep.

I am also having to replace brake lines since they are old and developing cracks. This thing has the easiest brake system to work on considering it is 4 wheel disc.

 

[chrisg05]

ok .. so I found the problem and yes it was the outer sway bar bushings.The driver side is actually broken causng the sway bar to "bang" against the control arm. it is physically touching. thanks to all that replied to me. now the question is how do I get at the nuts holding the sway bar to the control arm? I can get at one but the the other is sort of blocked by the CV axle.

How have others gotten that out?

 

[chrisg05]

b10alia. on my lower control arms there are two nuts that I have to hold in order to get the sway bar clamp loose. on the frame to bar there is only bolts on the bottom. They are 15 mm nuts. I bought a middle range socket just to see if I can get it to hold it while I spin off the bolts. I really really do not want to have to pull an axle

 

[chrisg05]

yeah it is a stupid and fustrating design.. it is driving me nuts because none of my sockets fit with the stupid axle in the way. I do not want to pull the axle because that will just be a royal pain in the [I should have my mouth washed out with soap for using such terms]. but hey it happens. just got to try to solve it

 

[chrisg05]

ok.. I managed to replace all 4 bushings .. and while it is alot quiter I still have a rub noise when I brake... the pads are good from what I can tell.. it still happens also when I turn too..I do not know what else to check

tire rods are good and stiff.. no play
wheel berings are good
shocks were replaced
struts were replaced

lower control arms look good

I am really at a loss

 

[chrisg05]

the noise over the bumps has stopped ...it is not a grind but the best way I can put it is it sounds like a bad drum.. this car has 4 wheel disc .. so that can not be it. I am going to get the struts checked by another mechanic.. I would do it myself but I dont have the right tools

 

[chrisg05]

I will try that when I get home and see if it is rubbing.. ..I actually experenced bucking last night again.. o2 sensor lasted 1 year.. ugghhh

 

[chrisg05]

I bought denso.. thought it was a good brand.. if I could get mopar I would. The funny thing is that it never throws a 51 or 52. It does not throw any codes. I know the computer on this car was replaced by the former owner. All I know is that it gets fustrating

 

[chrisg05]

well the symptions are stumbling and bucking while warmed up. When the engine is "cold" it is fine.. does not stumble much.. but after about 15 min of driving .. i feel like I am on a roller coaster with the bucking...gas millage has gone down considerably from 27mpg to like 13mpg. Switched the map sensor today just to see if it was that .. but the same with both of them. There is vaccum on the line..

I am really beginning to wonder if it is the computer. just to check I left the o2 sensor disconnected for 15 min while running it. There was no change in the way it ran but the computer never registered the code. I would assume it would by then.

 

[chrisg05]

john.. I appreciate your reply. I replaced the injector already last year but it does not hurt to take a look at it again. I disconnected the o2 sensor just to see if I can get the computer to throw the code 51. For some reason it will not throw that code.

I did however do a tune up on it about 3 weeks ago which consisted of the following replacements

1) air filter
2) oil change
3) new distributor cap
4) new rotor
5) new plugs
6) switched the wires around so the other side can be used

I used parts that I got out of advanced auto along with copper plugs as these engines do not like platnum. they were gapped properly and everything. I used autolites for the plugs

 

[chrisg05]

Bob I did.. and I reset the computer afterwards. There was no change in the running of the car

I thought about it and figured that maybe it was an electrical issue to the sensor. I pulled the air cleaner assembly and just traced out the harness. I saw that it went on the back of the valve cover and connected at another point into the main. I then unplugged it there, unplugged it at the sensor and noticed the ground to the block. I removed that bolt brought the harness inside and started testing the wires for breaks with a meter. All the wires checked out but the ground which I crimped down harder onto the eyelet connector. Tested and it worked.

Cleaned the surface and put it all together .. no more stumbling! ran it for aprox 10 min and no more stumbling.. I was thinking of dropping some soder on it .. but not sure if it would hold up to the heat in the bay.

Problem solved.

by the way .. I checked the clearence between the struts and the wheel well.. there is room but not alot. I dont see any scrapes or any obvious rubs. I am going to bring it to a good mechanic that a friend recommeded here in ny just to see what it could be..much quieter since I changed those bushings