Suspension Noise

[James-Hilton]

I have Weitec coilovers fitted to my facelift 133 and recently they have been making pinging/clanging noises when turning at low speeds. I noticed as well that it tends not to do it if there is a lot of water on the roads. I took it into Renault Ness Motors in Elgin and was told by a Renault Sport Technician that a lot of cars on coilovers do this.

He suggested either going back to my standard cup set up (which I don't want to do). Or greasing/lubricating the hell out of the top of them?

Does this make any sense to any of you?

Cheers!

 

[oscar]

sounds about right to me james (dave backing up a renault tech? no way! ).

depending on what parts you re-used when installing the coilovers (spring top mount / bearing?) in certain conditions it will make noise as you turn as the rubber or metal top mount depending on what you did or didn't re-use will make noise. if you can / did re-use the bearing which allows the suspension strut so swivel on it's axis then you may need a new bearing perhaps or you may just have to lubricate the spring top mount (the big doughnut rubber thingy on top of the spring, not the strut top mounts.

did he actually inspect it properly with a diagnostic inspection or was this just his suspicion to save you some £$£ so that you didn't need to pay out your backside for a diagnostic fee?

 

[James-Hilton]

When they were installed I had all the top mounts replaced with uprated ones?

The car still drives and handles perfectly fine. Just sounds horrible and people always comment on it.

How long would lubricating the spring top mounts take roughly/cost of replacing the bearing?

When I spoke to him he said everything looks and feels like it should with no resistance in movement etc and I didn't have to pay for anything so I presume it was just a quick going over.

 

[oscar]

depends if you re-used the bearing when installing the coilovers? a lot of people don't unfortunately with the modification to your suspension, any suspension problems wouldn't be covered so it wouldn't be worth your while going to renault ....

for your own peace of mind, take it to a local mechanic / garage that you're happy enough with as it's just going to be a basic suspension diagnostic / removal to lubricate. a garage isn't going to say your coilovers are humped and try to get you to buy a new set. at most they'd advise on the problem found which will no doubt be the rubber spring mount requiring lubricated. realistically to lubricate anything on the top of the coilovers, it's going to be an hours labour each side and any lubrication required is just going to be a fiver on top for sundries. obviously this is going to work out much cheaper for you than going to renault where you'd be paying easily double to triple the amount to perform such a basic job!

if you're going to the french hot hatch day thingy what's it called at knockhill, i'll bring some tools along and do it for you for there and then for mates rates of £0

 

[MovingShadow]

When my Weitec's (they are Twingo RS coilovers) were installed, the guy who installed them greased all parts.

He said that if you don't do this, you'll get more problems with parts getting stuck due to rust & dirt.

 

[Spitfire1]

Sounds like spring binding (or slapping), I did get it with mine you need to check the position of the spring particularly the end of the coil, I think it should be at the back of the strut - difficult to explain over the net but basically you are re-positioning the coil to reflect the standard strut / spring position as that is fixed (the bottom spring mount is welded to the strut - whereas new coilovers can be positioned in any position so it can make the spring bind - you are looking for the optimum position - if that makes sense .

Tein manufacturer some plastic sleeves which go over the spring to stop them binding (or slapping as Tein put it), you would need to jack the car up to fit them but it's not to hard.

Here's a link https://www.tein.co.uk/product/silencer_rubber.html

 

[singlespeed]

If you open the bonnet and look at the nut right at the top of the damper piston rod, when turning the steering wheel, the nut (therefore the rest of the damper strut) should rotate the same as the wheel.

If the nut doesn't move, you end up with the piston assembly being at a different angle to the outer body and the piston seals acting as a rotational bearing... Being as the spring links the inner and outer parts of the strut, a twisting force there can cause the spring to slip in its seats.

 

[oscar]

If you open the bonnet and look at the nut right at the top of the damper piston rod, when turning the steering wheel, the nut (therefore the rest of the damper strut) should rotate the same as the wheel.

If the nut doesn't move, you end up with the piston assembly being at a different angle to the outer body and the piston seals acting as a rotational bearing... Being as the spring links the inner and outer parts of the strut, a twisting force there can cause the spring to slip in its seats.

lol you should have seen my trying to put that into words, so i didn't!