[09Speed]

OK fellas,

I recently started hearing a Creaking sound coming from the front of my car. Noise only happen once my car was warm. I finally got the chance to jack the car up and the creaking sound is coming from the Top of both my struts... do the mazdaspeeds have bearings up top? I haven't had this car long so i don't know much about it.

Any help is appreciated

Video i took of it below

http://youtu.be/yHbOTzG9m5M

 

[warlord]

The upper strut mounts are plastic an eventually the bearing races deform or run out of grease and wear out. They are replaceable. Onlinemazdaparts.com sells the oem upper strut mounts pretty cheap. You can replace them yourself or take the mounts to a mechanic and have him do it. The stealership charges a lot. Search any of the spring or coilover install threads and you'll get an idea of what it entails. If you have metric sockets and a spring compressor you can do it.

 

[09Speed]

The upper strut mounts are plastic an eventually the bearing races deform or run out of grease and wear out. They are replaceable. Onlinemazdaparts.com sells the oem upper strut mounts pretty cheap. You can replace them yourself or take the mounts to a mechanic and have him do it. The stealership charges a lot. Search any of the spring or coilover install threads and you'll get an idea of what it entails. If you have metric sockets and a spring compressor you can do it.

Thanks for the advice Warlord. I posted a link on my first post so that you can hear the sound. see what you'll think.

 

[warlord]

Ok, so that sounds like a classic case of the bearings in the upper mounts being dry which causes the springs to bind. If you have a grease gun you can try forcing a bit of grease into the upper mounts (from the top through the two little square holes) while someone turns the wheels side to side. A medium weight marine type grease would work. If that doesn't work then the upper mounts will need to be disassembled and re-greased. It looks like your upper mounts are in decent shape I don't see much rust so you probably live in a mild climate with a minimum of potholes and corrosion. So you can most likely get away with dis assembling and re-greasing rather than purchasing new ones.

I'm not 100% sure forcing grease in through the top will lub the bearings and solve the problem. Dis-assembling and re-greasing is the proper way to make the fix last.

Some good links to get you familiarized.
www.mazda3forums.com/showthread.php?t=325680
http://onlinemazdaparts.com/media/images/oe/collision/5/5417370.gif

 

[09Speed]

Ok, so that sounds like a classic case of the bearings in the upper mounts being dry which causes the springs to bind. If you have a grease gun you can try forcing a bit of grease into the upper mounts (from the top through the two little square holes) while someone turns the wheels side to side. A medium weight marine type grease would work. If that doesn't work then the upper mounts will need to be disassembled and re-greased. It looks like your upper mounts are in decent shape I don't see much rust so you probably live in a mild climate with a minimum of potholes and corrosion. So you can most likely get away with dis assembling and re-greasing rather than purchasing new ones.

I'm not 100% sure forcing grease in through the top will lub the bearings and solve the problem. Dis-assembling and re-greasing is the proper way to make the fix last.

Some good links to get you familiarized.
How to clean a disassembled upper strut mount *Pics included* - Mazda3 Forums : The #1 Mazda 3 Forum
http://onlinemazdaparts.com/media/images/oe/collision/5/5417370.gif

Warlord...Thanks for the info...The noise is getting worse and it's kind of starting to worry me. The car itself is in excellent condition so i think your right on the regreasing part. I have no idea how to disassemble them though lol but im sure its online somewhere. I won't be able to do it untill this weekend which worries me since this is my daily driver. Today the front end of my car
felt kind of heavy. dont know if it was becuase of the same thing though. :001_huh 1:

 

[09Speed]

Well took off suspension and regreased the strut mounts and it quieted the squeak a tad but sqeak is still there. I'm thinking it maybe the bushings or the strings themselves.

 

[09Speed]

Well if anyone ever runs into this problem. my fix was installing a Cobb Rear Mount lol. I had regreased strut mounts and still had squeek. I had just order the Cobb Mount because I wanted it and not because I thought it was the fix lol. After i installed the Cobb mount the noise went away and I haven't heard it since. Been about a week now lol.

Weird fix but I'll take it lol