Steering/front suspension noises/clunks thread.

[archery20]

So far it seems to be fine. They replaced the intermediate steering shaft. Time will tell. It is very cold here. Down to 11 degrees last night, so we will see if anything is amplified with the cold weather.

archery20

[angeredsmile]

Originally Posted by archery20

So far it seems to be fine. They replaced the intermediate steering shaft. Time will tell. It is very cold here. Down to 11 degrees last night, so we will see if anything is amplified with the cold weather.

archery20

So is it still ok?

I just got a call tonight frome the BBB that said they are going to do the lemon replacement for us. We have had problems since day 1 off the lot brand new with 4 miles on it. I hope they will be flexible with mileage because by my calculations we may have to pay GM anywhere from $1100-$3700 for "use'. This has been one of the worst experiences ever with a car. This is our first NEW American made vehicle by the way. It has really soured our first experience with a car made in America.

[mali]

I would take the heat sheild off the exhaust manifold. I had 6 inch crack. Smelled fumes on start up

[tregojoe]

I'm new here and joined after spending several hours reading this thread. Our '09 2LT BU @ 63,000 miles has been making the infamous front end rattle on not-so perfect road surfaces for a year or more. It's much more noticeable now that it's below zero here. It sounds like there are a whole bunch of front end components that are getting loose or wearing out and rattling around when driving under about 30mph.
In some ways I wish I hadn't found this thread cuz we were pretty happy with the car. But now we're reading so many horror stories about multiple problems...
Anyway, we DON'T have the STEERING PROBLEMS / NOISES...yet.
From what I've read it would seem that there is no real consensus as to what the fix is for the rattle other than MAYBE it's the struts/mounts/bushings or MAYBE it's the lower control arms/ball joint assemblies or MAYBE it's the sway bar/bushings/bar-end links. Or MAYBE it's one of at least a half dozen more suggested fixes.
Most of which are not cheap.
My car is out of warranty so any repairs it needs I get to do and pay for as well. Very sad for what should be a quality product. And I've had to fix some things already.
How is it possible such a common problem/complaint has not been definitively addressed by GM?
Thanks for listening.

[tregojoe]

I forgot to mention that it occurred to me that even though this thread is 2 or 3 years old that no one ever took a video of the various components in question while in motion. A small helmet cam and L.E.D. light source pointed at suspect components while driving could be very revealing.

[hjlint]

So for the famous rattle in the right front. At this ytime there seems to be NO FIX. My dealer service said this is normal for this Malibu. Also told( It is only a cheap Chev)
There is a design flaw were the top strut mount sits. ( not even) causing the strut to be pulled at an angle. Founf tis when trying to replace the strout mount. When fastened at the top (seat) strut needs to be pulled(forced ) to line up with the spindle. Plus cheap china components. A new mount was installed, great for about 100 miles. Back to the rattles. So much for GM Quality.

[tregojoe]

OK, I just got done crawling around under the car for a couple hours. Anyone recall several comments about how the symptoms sometimes seemed to disappear after the car warmed up a bit? More on that later. I jacked up the front, grabbed the tires top and bottom and tried to find any play in the ball joints or bearings but it was nice and tight. I pulled the wheels off and I took several pry bars and tried to find any play at all in any of the suspension or steering components or joints but basically found none. The only exception was where the bottom u-joint control arm pivots. It looks like there are rubber bushings where the control arm is bolted to the car and if I tried hard enough I could get just a wee bit of play there but maybe that is normal.
I remembered a comment here about the catalytic converter hanger so I took a look and found there was lots of play. I could easily move everything side to side and up/down and make noise doing it. The hanger is designed with an 'L' shaped rod on each side supporting a heavy rubber damper. I found that by squeezing the rubber parts towards each other I could nearly eliminate the play in the system.
To make a permanent fix I made two straps out of some scrap steel about 1 1/4" wide by 3" long. I bored a 17mm hole towards one end of each (to slip over the bottom leg of the 'L' rod) and a 1/4" hole toward the other end of each strap. I hung one strap on each side of the cat. Then I took a long 1/4" bolt and put it thru the 1/4" holes in the straps and used some nuts and washers to draw it all tight, squeezing the rubber hangers parts together.
It took 90% of the play out of the system. I took the car for a ride not really expecting a free fix to work but it did. I'll know for sure when I go home but so far so good. So maybe the comments about less noise as the car warmed up were because the exhaust heated up the rubber exhaust hangers making them just a little tighter and reducing the noise???
Fingers crossed.

[DrivenDaily]

Sounds like an interesting fix! Got pics?

And yes, stop back and update, please.

[tregojoe]

Never mind. Tightening the exhaust hanger assembly didn't change a thing. I figured it was too good to be true. When we got close to home on the gravel wash board road it was just as bad as before and the car had been running for an hour. I think I'm going to order some Monroe Quick-strut assemblies at about $190 each and install them and see if the rattling stops. Hopefully it's a project I can handle.

[White Diamond]

I have been having the same clunk in cold weather as you since the day I got my 2010 2LT with 18" wheels. Frontend wise, the struts have been changed 4 times, steering rack, and intermediate shaft to no avail. Dealer and I have concluded it is an inherent design/component problem. Here in Toronto temps have been around -12C for 4 days. My ears are being assaulted by a cacophony of clunks. On a sidenote my car has been in the shop 20 times mostly for the frontend and other gremlins such as 2 door strikers, blower motor, wiper switch, seat sticthing separating, a rear shock, etc. I am anxious to hear if moving to another brand of struts will solve this issue. I know for sure I will be moving to another brand of vehicle.