Any 06 owners with strut clunk????

Moderato · 04-10-2006, 03:35 PM

I was hearing a weird muffled kind of clunking coming from the right rear wheel area. It's kind of muffled and sounds like there's a wrench loose in the trunk or something but not that loud. You can really hear it when you go over bumps at low speeds and the windows are up & no radio. I did a search and I'm thinking It might be that strut clunk problem I was reading about. I can also reproduce the noise by pushing down on the trunk (I'm not pushing the wing don't worry

). It's only the rear passenger side. Do 06's have this problem too? Because most of the posts about this all seem to be 04 - 05's.

Moderato · 04-10-2006, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nhluhr

Why wasn't this posted in the Suspension forum? please post in the correct forum from now on.

Yeah I'm sorry about that. I wasn't sure if I should post it in the suspension forum or the warranty/service subforum under general.....so I just posted it up in general. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Moderato · 04-10-2006, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nhluhr

for future thread placement, if you have two likely candidates, please choose one of them instead of the third unlikely candidate

Yeah it was.... stupid....

polyol · 04-10-2006, 05:28 PM

Yep you have rear strut clunk...almost sure of it by the way you describe it (small bumps, low speeds). I have it...but I just buy a lithum spray greese, pull up the rear strut covers and spray them down, gets rid of the clunk for 4-6months.

Moderato · 04-11-2006, 04:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nhluhr

and no, i don't have any strut clunk at ~4500 miles.

You can help verify that you are experiencing strut clunk by going through the steps that one would normally take to eliminate it. Namely:

-jack up the rear of the car
-stick your hand between the coils of the spring and lift up the plastic dustboot
-spray some white lithium grease (liberally) around as much of the exposed shaft as you can.

On cars with strut clunk, this eliminates it. If it's not strut clunk, the noise will still be there. How many miles on your 06 now?

Thanks for the tip. I have about 5800 miles on the car now.

Moderato · 04-11-2006, 04:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by polyol

Yep you have rear strut clunk...almost sure of it by the way you describe it (small bumps, low speeds). I have it...but I just buy a lithum spray greese, pull up the rear strut covers and spray them down, gets rid of the clunk for 4-6months.

Are the struts defective or do they just need periodic maintenance? Is there any harm with just leaving it be? The sound doesn't bother me, but if it's a problem I want it fixed.

stretch · 04-11-2006, 04:49 AM

I thought Subaru revised the part in late 2005? Perhaps some 2006's didn't get the new part, or are the revised struts not really a fix?

Moderato · 04-11-2006, 04:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stretch

I thought Subaru revised the part in late 2005? Perhaps some 2006's didn't get the new part, or are the revised struts not really a fix?

Maybe what I have isn't strut clunk, maybe it's just something loose or I just got unlucky and got one defective strut, it could happen. That's why I was wondering if any 06 owners had this problem because I only remember seeing 04 - 05's mention it.

polyol · 04-11-2006, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moderato

Are the struts defective or do they just need periodic maintenance? Is there any harm with just leaving it be? The sound doesn't bother me, but if it's a problem I want it fixed.

They work great...they are not shot. I autox and I am sure that they work fine. From what I have read it is a inherent flaw with the inverted strut design...but there is nothing wrong with them. More of an annoyance than a real prob.

Moderato · 04-12-2006, 04:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nhluhr

Well, I would say that they just need periodic maintenance. Most would probably say that because they need maintenance, they are defective. Its' up to you. If you keep them lubed every couple months, you'll never have a problem with them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by polyol

They work great...they are not shot. I autox and I am sure that they work fine. From what I have read it is a inherent flaw with the inverted strut design...but there is nothing wrong with them. More of an annoyance than a real prob.

Thanks for the reply's. I'll swing by the dealer and see what they say about the periodic lithium grease. I just want to make sure I'm not voiding the warranty before I do that. You know how these dealers can be. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, when it comes to getting warranty work done. Thanks again for the help.

KenpoSTI · 04-18-2006, 10:06 AM

Hey guys, I've got an 06 STI and have the infamous strut clunk. This weekend, changing over the snows to summers I used the grease on the shaft and noise was gone immediately. I have a dirt driveway 500' long and the noise was driving me crazy. Now it's all gone. Dealer claims no one in this area has had a problem with this. (Only 3 06's around, though) I really appreciate whomever figured out the fix for this. Easy to do. Seing as I put about 50k a year on my car, I'll be doing this everytime I rotate tires. Thanks again to whomever!!!

Moderato · 04-18-2006, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KenpoSTI

Hey guys, I've got an 06 STI and have the infamous strut clunk. This weekend, changing over the snows to summers I used the grease on the shaft and noise was gone immediately. I have a dirt driveway 500' long and the noise was driving me crazy. Now it's all gone. Dealer claims no one in this area has had a problem with this. (Only 3 06's around, though) I really appreciate whomever figured out the fix for this. Easy to do. Seing as I put about 50k a year on my car, I'll be doing this everytime I rotate tires. Thanks again to whomever!!!

Does anyone have brand name they could recommend for this? Or do I just look for generic lithium grease? It's a spray can right?

polyol · 04-18-2006, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nhluhr

Any generic spray-can-based white lithium grease is fine.

Yeah anything will do...I used the first product I saw...

Moderato · 04-18-2006, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nhluhr

Any generic spray-can-based white lithium grease is fine.

Thanks. I have to get on this because the sound is getting more noticeable. I'm just so busy with work & the kids & what not. Do you regularly apply that to all 4 struts?

bluebaru02 · 04-20-2006, 10:31 AM

Strut Clunk on my '06 with 19,500 miles. Dealership replaced the left rear strut after calling SOA for a fix. Been good for the past couple weks.

04-10-2006, 03:35 PM	#1
Moderato Professional STI Driver Car: 06 M3 ZCP Fav Mod: Coming Soon Posts: 472 Join Date: Sep 2005 Trader Rating: (0)	Any 06 owners with strut clunk???? I was hearing a weird muffled kind of clunking coming from the right rear wheel area. It's kind of muffled and sounds like there's a wrench loose in the trunk or something but not that loud. You can really hear it when you go over bumps at low speeds and the windows are up & no radio. I did a search and I'm thinking It might be that strut clunk problem I was reading about. I can also reproduce the noise by pushing down on the trunk (I'm not pushing the wing don't worry ). It's only the rear passenger side. Do 06's have this problem too? Because most of the posts about this all seem to be 04 - 05's. This ad is not endorsed by this member. Please register or login to hide this ad.

04-18-2006, 10:06 AM	#11
KenpoSTI Amateur STI Driver Car: 06 Subaru WRX STI Location: Parish, NY Posts: 10 Join Date: Oct 2005 Trader Rating: (0)	I've caught strut clunk!!! Hey guys, I've got an 06 STI and have the infamous strut clunk. This weekend, changing over the snows to summers I used the grease on the shaft and noise was gone immediately. I have a dirt driveway 500' long and the noise was driving me crazy. Now it's all gone. Dealer claims no one in this area has had a problem with this. (Only 3 06's around, though) I really appreciate whomever figured out the fix for this. Easy to do. Seing as I put about 50k a year on my car, I'll be doing this everytime I rotate tires. Thanks again to whomever!!!

04-20-2006, 10:31 AM	#15
bluebaru02 Junior STI Driver Car: '06 STi WRC blue Fav Mod: Mines lip spoiler Location: Driving through your hous Posts: 196 Join Date: Jul 2005 Trader Rating: (0)	Strut Clunk on my '06 with 19,500 miles. Dealership replaced the left rear strut after calling SOA for a fix. Been good for the past couple weks. This ad is not endorsed by this member. Please register or login to hide this ad.

04-10-2006, 05:28 PM	#4
polyol Spec C Club Car: 04 STi Fav Mod: Motor Mounts Location: Eugene Posts: 2,266 Join Date: Oct 2004 Trader Rating: (0)	Yep you have rear strut clunk...almost sure of it by the way you describe it (small bumps, low speeds). I have it...but I just buy a lithum spray greese, pull up the rear strut covers and spray them down, gets rid of the clunk for 4-6months.

04-11-2006, 04:49 AM	#7
stretch Silver Member Car: Aspen 2005 STi Fav Mod: TurnInConcepts.com Coilovers Location: Silver Spring, MD Posts: 1,811 Join Date: Mar 2006 Trader Rating: (2)	I thought Subaru revised the part in late 2005? Perhaps some 2006's didn't get the new part, or are the revised struts not really a fix?