I have a 2002 Focus with 90,000 miles. It makes kind of a squeeking noise when car goes over bumps. Squeeking grinding noise. Is that the struts? How much do struts cost so I can save up?
2007-04-06 09:34:54 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
No, it most likely isn't the struts themselves. Bad struts will show up as an excessive bounce up and down after hitting bumbs.
Your problem is very common. The two most common causes for this are sway bar bushings and upper strut bushings. The fact that you hear a grinding noise lends itself more toward the idea of strut bushings.
Open your hood and push the car up and down, recreating the noise. You should hear it from one of these two areas. If not, begin inspecting other bushings/mounts around the suspension.
2007-04-06 09:41:43 · answer #1 · answered by Pyro 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Wow, that's a lot of miles for the year of your car.
Anyway, it could be the struts. I would say a new set of struts may run you anywhere from $300 - $500. One thing I like to suggest to anyone who has the time and is low on money is go to about 3 or 4 mechanics and see what they're going to charge you for the job. By doing this, you'll benefit in two ways; 1st - if 4 mechanics look at your car and two of them tell you one thing and the another one tells you one thing and the last tells you it's a different thing, then the consensus will usually be what is actually wrong with your car, 2nd - a mechanic's prices are very arbitrary, the price for the parts is fixed but the price for labor and the amount of labor is adjustable so your price ranges may go from $400-$500. Now, you took an hour or two out of your day to go to a few mechanics and it ended up saving you $100.
Another piece of advice is if you ever find a good mechanic, stick with them. A good mechanic is very hard to find. My piece of crap breaks down regularly and I finally found a mechanic I trust; it's more expensive than most places but I know they'll always tell me what's wrong and not go into stuff I didn't go in for and they'll always do a quality job, they also gaurantee their work for 1 year. A good mechanic is probably harder to find than a good spouse.
2007-04-06 16:47:57 · answer #2 · answered by Phat Kidd 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Squeaking and grinding means you may have a brake pad and rotor problem. Struts are silent. If struts are bad test by standing or put weight on the front or rear and suddenly release the car. If the car immediately returns to it's original ride height and stays there your struts are fine. If the car bounces back down figure on replacing them. Listen for scrapes or squeaks as you bounce your suspension. Every sales person on earth says replace your struts @ 40 - 50,000 miles. Heavy front wheel drive cars maybe, but not every car.
2007-04-06 17:27:35 · answer #3 · answered by Country Boy 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It could very well be the struts and I would also suspect the springs. The best way to know for sure, and to be able to save up, would be to take it to an auto shop (or two). Call first and see if they will check it out and give you an estimate for free. Many will. If you go to more than one, you can shop for a good price.
2007-04-06 16:58:03 · answer #4 · answered by Hawk 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The car will set low, bottom out when you hit medium size bumps, and have uneven tire wear. If you push down hard on the bumper, it will bounce instead of just returning to the same level.
ballpark $65.00 each plus installation.
90,000 miles - just about right for struts.
2007-04-06 16:47:49 · answer #5 · answered by jomcgre3 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋