Hi everyone, upon examining my suspension parts on my 1994 Accord EX I noticed some play, in and out, of my drive shafts both passenger and driver side.

Here is a video of how the passenger side driver shaft sounds when pulling on the shaft in and out. As said before, the driver side has the same amount of play and the same noise.

Let me know your thoughts!

 

The noise you describe and in the video sounds pretty much normal. However, in your video you describe a noise while cornering. In the future please place all pertinent information in the post.

As far as the brief mention of a clunk while corner and accelerating out of a corner it could be a CV from the aftermarket axel, it could be excess play in the carrier bearing, it could be a bad wheel bearing, it could be that one of the axel nuts was not torqued enough (181 ft lbs), or if it is a rubbing or grinding sound it could be that the backing plate was bent during the most recent replacement of the front rotors as shown in the video.

To answer the posted question, yes there should be a little play and you should here a clunking sound when pulling it out and pushing it in (that just sounds wrong). But in the video you mention another noise while driving that does not sound normal and you may want to post back with more details on that.

 

Thanks Turtlehead for the feedback! As for the "other" noise while driving, I apologize for not mentioning that in the write. I am usually more thorough. The faint popping noise ONLY happens when I am going into a left hand turn, at slow speeds or from a start. During this time the weight of the front end is placed on the right hand side and at that point I hear an odd noise. 2 weeks ago I installed new bj's (upper and lower) as well as new rotors and pads. Today I went back in and inspected everything to make sure it is tight and all checked out OK. I grabbed the wheel to see if there was any bearing play and it was solid. Also, when we did the rotors, I inspected the bearing and hub area and all looked good. You mentioned my carrier bearing could be pooping the bed, but I don't have any transmission leak from the drive shafts. I am leaning towards that it is a bad strut/strut bearing/strut mount. I am unsure of the mileage on the struts, the car has 210,000 miles. They could be factory parts sitting there. I bought the car with a blown motor at 179,000. My secondary thoughts of the problem could be a defective upper or lower BJ that didn't come with enough grease. Just my luck! I also should note that between 66mph and 73mph I get a very very slight vibration in the wheel. Keep in mind I just bought 4 new Dunlop tires and had them mounted balanced and the car aligned. The vibration could be from the aftermarket drive-shaft on the passenger side. These are the mysteries I hate of owning a high mileage car. I guess the proper thing to do is replace all the old parts and go from there. Would be nice to pinpoint this issue though.

 

Now don't get mad at the car....210K, heck it has another 100k left in it easy.

I have to admit I didn't watch the video. Just wanted to state that a "noise" in a car can travel in strange ways....trust me I have fallen for this before, I swore I had a noise in the front of the car, turns out it was in the rear

PS - hope everything else has been going good for you.

 

Hey Poorman! Things are going well for me! I recently inherited an '84 Mercedes-Benz 300SD and have been restoring that girl back to health. Have a peek...



As for the popping/clicking noise, I "think" it is coming from the front passenger. I can feel it in the floorboard when taking a left hand turn and the noise occurs on the right hand side. This is going to prove to be another gremlin I will have to track down! I do know the driver side axle is quite old and leaky so I am going to start by putting a new one of those in. I probably should also replace out the struts and associated mounting hardware. Can anyone point me in the right direction on a good suspension set up? Something that won't break my bank but is also of good quality?

 

Nice looking car ...that thing looks brand new.

Anyway, this is just my opinion. Monroe quick struts are a good replacement option. They can be found online for ~$90 each then add promo codes or other discounts.

Be sure to give the sway bar end links and the bushing (the ones where the bar meets the body) a good once over.

 

Don't forget to check the inboard pivots of the lower control arm.

I even heard of one (on a Saab 9.3 for Poorman's benefit) where the front subframe bolts were just beginning to get loose & the subframe was flexing & moving. These were the bolts holding the subframe onto the car structure itself.

I'm basing these suggestions on you feeling it in the floorboard.

There's a lot of force there when you turn a corner, so you might need a crowbar. Won't be loose-enough to move with your hands. Or just check the tightness of all the huge bolts down there.

 

Good post for other members with same problem to listen to and take note.!

WheelBrokerAng