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Rear Strut Clunk Log

185K views 881 replies 355 participants last post by  Lycopsis 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
So, I believe my STi has joined the rear strut clunk club.

For several days I was trying to figure out what was rolling around in the trunk, or back seat, or somewhere. A dissettling feeling that occurs when stopping or accelerating.

Then I started to suspect the suspension. I can reproduce the clunk sound by pushing the the driver side rear of the car up/down.

Push push push = clunk clunk clunk

I read several posts at this site, as well as the 22 pager on NASIOC regarding the topic. My symptoms appear consistent with a right rear strut problem. I will be taking the car into the dealer next week, and post their diagnosis. :(


EDIT:

Read an easy temporary fix for the strut clunk

Read the strut clunk fix
 
#329 · (Edited)
MacPherson is the strut design/type, not the brand. MacPherson struts and Chapman struts, there may be other designs out there. You still have MacPherson struts - name of the suspension design - like multilink, double wishbone, or upper/lower A-arm. Evo's don't have Mitsubishi-link in the rear, still Multilink.

'04 and (presumably) 05 STi struts are manufactured by KYB (look closely at your struts), henceforth the quality control issues (for those who have ever purchased other KYB products).

Also, I too have had strut clunking issues. I lubed them up with some Valvoline penentrating white lithium grease spray which isn't quite like the regular thick lithium grease. Works real good but seems to wear off after a thousand miles or so. I'll be trying out some other lubricants in the near future. Thought about trying gun lube like CLP or LAW but I don't know how those will react with rubber seals and gaskets.
 
#330 ·
Dealer told me no more replacements too !!

The Big Valley Dodge and Subaru Dealer told me on 1/04/06 that they are not replacing the clunking struts under warranty because it will eventually start making the same noise. They said Subaru is working on a fix and when the improved struts come out they would do the warranty work.
But they didn't know how long we'd have to wait for the fix to come out...
 
#331 ·
Benton- Thanks for the info about the MacPherson design struts. I always thought that it was a brand name, not a design type!
As far as your situation, Mandingo; I think that is a poor excuse the dealer is giving you. That sound drove me crazy; it was a constant reminder that my awesome perfect STi had something wrong with it. The dealer had been telling me that Subaru was looking into the problem the first and second time I had my struts replaced, and that started in 2004!!! If I were you, I would contact someone here in Cherry Hill New Jersey at Subaru of America and explain your situation. In the meantime, you should put some lithium grease like Benton says to do; just to keep your nerves calm until you get Subaru to replace them.
 
#332 ·
Ive got a 03 sti with a rear clunk problem. I took mine to the subaru dealer and explained the issue and showed him the this forum. I asked about putting grease on the struts, and about how replacement struts didn't work, so he suggested both.

He called Subaru, and within 15 mins, had my car booked in for the replacement strut under warranty!? It will be done tomorrow so I'll let you know how it goes

However I am worried that my car has lowered springs, hopefully that wont void it
 
#333 ·
Since most dealers seem (or pretend?) to be oblivious of the rear strut problem, I'd like to know if anyone here has taken their car to either one of these two dealerships in Massachusetts:

Cityside Subaru
Village Subaru

I don't need any details -- just if I can expect the dealership to know what I'm talking about when I bring my car in...
 
#334 ·
matsgd said:
Since most dealers seem (or pretend?) to be oblivious of the rear strut problem, I'd like to know if anyone here has taken their car to either one of these two dealerships in Massachusetts:

Cityside Subaru
Village Subaru

I don't need any details -- just if I can expect the dealership to know what I'm talking about when I bring my car in...
I've taken my car to Planet and Clay Subaru in MA and both seemed to atleast know of the issue.
 
#341 ·
I've been getting irritating rattles that seem to be coming from both left and right rear of the car. It usually only happens at lower speeds and it kind of sounds like the exhaust banging against something. I checked the exhaust and it's pretty solid and not banging anything. I took everything out of the trunk - no change in sound.

Do you think this could be the infamous "strut clunk"?
 
#342 ·
ValvetrainEngineer said:
So far so good, over a month and quiet as can be. Glad I tried this, sure is cheaper than coilovers!!
Update: It's just starting to come back...so my Mobil 1 oil application lasted about 3 months of daily driving (didn't record miles). Once the clunking gets really loud like before I'll try taking it to the dealer. Not sure how much luck I'll have once they lift my car and see everything upgraded and modified but it's worth a shot. If they don't get replaced, I can handle applying a little oil once every 3 months.
 
#346 ·
I think I'm finally in this club, read alot about it. been hearing some major clunks lately from the rear...

So I can do the following:
-stop driving like a grandma, go for a romp and get the shocks to move into their travel, which will help lube things up.
-apply Mobil 1 lube to strut shafts
-install prodrive springs...which would again move the shock into its travel further. not sure about this one?
-go to dealer for them to diagnose and hopefully replace

all of the above is a temporary fix? I mean, it seems inevidable that this happens with the inverted design. SO, as you go down this list the reoccurance of this problem gets smaller? Or replacement struts = SOA has this problem fixed?
 
#347 · (Edited)
Thank you Rev - a big contributor once again! let me know if this is not correct - i want to make this post accurate. :D

everyone - after reading this thread, you can see that the clunk can be prevented/stopped by greasing up the struts with the red grease Rev listed above...

the information that follows was modified from Rev's posts in post number 138 and in post number 140:


Jack the car up

Take off your rear wheels

Inspect the strut and the strut seals (there should be some accumulation of debris on the seal)

Pull the accordion plastic sleeve that covers the piston up (not that it does a good job in keeping debris out of the piston)

Clean off the debris - the strut perch and the seal - (spray some WD-40 on the strut piston and wipe the seal clean)

You will want to apply generous amounts of the grease on the strut seal itself besides adding it to the piston.

Once the piston compresses, it will rub off the grease and some of it will be deposited in the internal grease reservoir of the strut.

Put the car down


(this is all done to the bottom of the strut - nothing is done on the top of the strut)

the "clunk" may/may not come back, but this should be a temporary solution for it.

it looks like there may be some "stiction" between the seal and the strut piston, when there is debris on top of the seal or something, or when the piston is not lubricated (probably dried out with salt from winter - or various other factors).

do this once every couple months ... doesn't hurt

(maybe every time you change your oil this should be done)
 
#348 ·
krees23 said:
I've been getting irritating rattles that seem to be coming from both left and right rear of the car. It usually only happens at lower speeds and it kind of sounds like the exhaust banging against something. I checked the exhaust and it's pretty solid and not banging anything. I took everything out of the trunk - no change in sound.

Do you think this could be the infamous "strut clunk"?
Two other possibilities (in addition to the "strut clunk" one):
- shot swaybar endlinks
- broken exhaust hangers

When I had a similar issue, at least in my case, the source of the noise were the rear swaybar endlinks.
 
#349 ·
Majin said:
Thank you Rev - a big contributor once again! let me know if this is not correct - i want to make this post accurate. :D

everyone - after reading this thread, you can see that the clunk can be prevented/stopped by greasing up the struts with the red grease Rev listed above...

the information that follows was modified from Rev's posts in post number 138 and in post number 140:

Jack the car up
Take off your rear wheels
Inspect the strut and the strut seals (there should be some accumulation of debris on the seal)
Pull the accordion plastic sleeve that covers the piston up (not that it does a good job in keeping debris out of the piston)
Clean off the debris - the strut perch and the seal - (spray some WD-40 on the strut piston and wipe the seal clean)
Put the car down

(this is all done to the bottom of the strut - nothing is done on the top of the strut)

the "clunk" may/may not come back, but this should be a temporary solution for it.

it looks like there may be some "stiction" between the seal and the strut piston, when there is debris on top of the seal or something, or when the piston is not lubricated (probably dried out with salt from winter - or various other factors).

do this once every couple months ... doesn't hurt

(maybe every time you change your oil this should be done)
I think this basically resumes it. :) One thing that I noticed too, is you want to generously apply the grease on the strut seal itself besides adding it to the piston. Once the piston compresses, it will rub off on the grease and some of it will be deposited in the internal grease reservoir of the strut.
 
#351 ·
well it looks like I have this problem too. I would try the relube but since I already have to go in for the synchros I might as well get some new shocks out of the trip as well. So for this weekend, time to unmod everything :( At least I haven't gone so far as to do a turbo upgrade yet
 
#352 ·
Strut Clunk-lubed-gone

Mine was clunking bad and I didn't want to deal with dropping car off at dealer (for now). I cleaned the strut seals (used a toothbrush then wipe) and lubed 'em up with Mobil 1 grease. Its 30 degrees out and clunk is gone. Thanks guys, we'll see how long its lasts.
 
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