Hey guys,

I am wondering how I can access the nut in on top of the strut tower, the one that's covered by a plastic piece. There's been some noise coming from that area lately when I make turns or go over bumps. Seemed like some people has had some luck tightening the nuts.

Mike

 

If you have never done anything to your struts prior I doubt tightening the nut would accomplish anything. Usually when you hear of something odd and someone tightens the strut nut it was due to lack of proper retightening from prior suspension work.

In order to access that bolt you need to completley remove the rear strut assembly. This will involve gutting the rear hatch floor to get to the mounting bolts. Then you must jack up the care and do a strut removal. Once the strut is out you can pop off the plastic cap.

Me personally....I removed the cap so if I ever need to access it again I can just do it while it is on the car. Hope this helps!

 

Remove the Wiper arms first..then take the plastic cowl piece off...Ta-Daaa...

 

If you are talking about the fronts there is a rubber "plug" in the middle of the strut hat that has the curved cuts in it. Don't stick a screwdriver in the curved holes thinking it will pop out. lol. Its the piece inside of that. It was hard to tell at first that there were 2 parts there but if you look and poke at it long enough you should be able to figure it out.

 

Almost ashamed to admit I did exactly this! Was mad & cussing and actually bent the top plate a tiny bit (which isn't that easy to do) before I noticed the little rubber plug in the middle.

 

well, I have never done anything to the suspension, so I I think andrew might be right, it's probably not the nut. By the way, I am refering to the front struts.

I am refering to specifically how would I remove the that plastic/rubber piece on the top?

 

SSQ -

Okay I thought you were referring to the rear struts.

To take off the plastic cowel off you need to look closely and remove several black plastic clips. Be careful not to break them or lose them. Also pop off (gently) the plastic nut covers on your windshield wipers to expose the nut. Remove the nuts....have a frosty beverage and remove the plastic cowel and set it aside.

Now carefully pop off the rubber strut tower plugs to expose the nut.

Honestly I do not think though that tightening the nut is the problem.

How many miles are on your car? What kind of noise are you hearing? Can you be more specific?

 

Thanks for being willing to help andrew.

I have about 7500 miles on my car, it's an 06. The noise occurs when I do two things:
1. when I take turns at very slow speeds, like under 25. Seems like the slower it is when I turn, the better I can hear it.
2. when I drive slow, probably under 35, and go over small bumps and dips.

It's a popping sound, but doesn't sound like metal. sounds a little more plastic because there's no metallic resonance. I am pretty sure it's from around the top of the front passemger side.

It might also be from the lower windshield.

 

My windshield does this. It seems to be mostly during cold snaps though. I saw attempted fixes here somewhere for others with the same problem but i am way too lazy for that.Good luck!

 

SSQ, have you taken it in to the dealer? Your car's still under warranty. If you haven't already, let them take a look at it - won't cost you anything.

 

well, I did consider doing that, but the last time I mentioned this to them, they pretty much told me it's normal. Plus I don't know if I want to trust them.....

should I?

 

It's NOT normal. Since you're not sure yet exactly what's wrong I wouldn't start tearing the car apart and risk voiding the warranty. I recommend you take the car back and have them write up a repair order under warranty for this popping noise. If they won't/can't fix it after that you have options after that, such as calling Scion headquarters and filing a formal complaint.

If you don't trust this dealer maybe there's another one in your area you could try.

 

ok, I will call them up tomorrow.

Thanks for the advice.

 

SSQ-

You're welcome..I am always willing to help. I agree with the others. Since your car is still under warranty go ahead and take it to the dealer. Ask if you can have a service tech ride with you to duplicate the noise.

More often than not techs get lazy and when the can't find a solution to an odd noise or problem they say one of 2 things.

1) couldn't duplicate the problem.
2) it's normal.

Go ahead and take it in to a Scion dealer you trust. If you are not happy with them take it to 1 more. Still not happy call Scion.

Good luck to you! Keep us posted!

 

See, the reason I am hestating to take it in is that I had two cars, 2002 Jetta and 2005 Accord coupe, both bought brand new, rattles like a can of peanuts. For both of them, I take into the local VW and Honda dealers, and all they do is abuse the car, and tell me nothing can be done about it.

In the case of the VW, they made more rattles for me. I am just afraid it'll be the same for this car.

I did fine a few threads citing the same issue, I think I might start a new thread and ask those that have had the problem to see if they ever got it fixed. If someone has gotten it fixed before and is willing to share the solution, it'll probably make the tech's day easier too.

 

I posted in the other thread too, if you have a ratcheting open-ended wrench, it makes that last bolt a piece of cake



taking off the windshield cowl sure does make it easier though, and it only takes 10 minutes, if that.

just get it as hand-tight as you can with a standard open ended wrench, and if it doesn't solve the problem, bring it to the dealer and tell them you want to ride with a tech to SHOW them the problem.

Good Luck.[/img]

 

i just tightened my passenger side today. I loosed the cowl but i didnt pull it off completely mainly because i couldnt get the wiper off. It was very loose and i think the knocking is greatly reduced if not gone altogether.

 

Are you running on stock setup? and are you talking about the nut in the middle or the 3 around it?

 

Your bolt that attaches the strut to the body was loose? I take it you did strut or suspension work? If so did you torque using a torque wrenchy or just hand tighten as far as you could?

 

actually i had my trd springs installed at a shop, i just head other people were doing this and it worked. Its actually very easy, it took me a while to find the right thing but i got it. I use d a torque wrench to get it as tight as possible. I did it to the drivers side too but it was tight already