Trying to get rid of a knocking from front suspension. Ruled out wishbone bushes, arb&bushes and symptoms point to top mounts.

I'm guessing someone will have come across this before - can they be changed without completely removing the shock/spring assembly? Can it be done by removing the top nut and the three wishbone bolts?

Have spring compressors and I'm not afraid to use them!

Cheers

They shock and spring comes out a a whole unit with the top mount attached so you will need your spring compressors

check your radiator, the mounts go and causes it to be able to move and will make a knock.

Yes, its a full spring and shock out job, just had to do one of mine the other week, bit of a pain to do but worth it

There is a guide on R32OC.com on how to replace them without completely removing the strut.

http://www.r32oc.com/performance-technical/20735-diy-guide-replacing-mk-iv-strut-tops.html

cheers fellas, will be tackling these next week all being well.

Thanks for the advice.

An update on this-

Had the car up and poking about today, everything seems tight with the strut, spring, wishbone bushes etc. However the clunking/knocking is getting worse.

I did notice one of the driveshaft boots was leaking a tiny amount, with no clip around the end of it. Having searched on here and read a few posts I am wondering if this could cause a clunking or knocking sound, if there has been a loss of grease?

The noise is not noticeable on smooth roads but very evident on rough roads or when turning right at low speed where you can feel it too.

Any help greatly appreciated!

An update on this-

Had the car up and poking about today, everything seems tight with the strut, spring, wishbone bushes etc. However the clunking/knocking is getting worse.

I did notice one of the driveshaft boots was leaking a tiny amount, with no clip around the end of it. Having searched on here and read a few posts I am wondering if this could cause a clunking or knocking sound, if there has been a loss of grease?

The noise is not noticeable on smooth roads but very evident on rough roads or when turning right at low speed where you can feel it too.

Any help greatly appreciated!

Did you feel any dropping/play of the strut when you attempted to lift/push it up and down? That would be a clear sign of wear. You would typically feel this more when car is under load and you drive over dips, ruts in the road as the play in the top mount allows the car to clunk due to the extra travel the worn top mount gives. So still do not rule that out.

Also a very likely culprit is the ARB drop links as the ball joint in those wears and allows movement. You can check those by holding the drop link with car still on the ground and get someone to bounce the car up and down on the inner wing. You should be able to feel the excessive movement. This would give you very similar symptoms to what you describe and as above.

Also as you state your drive shaft gater has no clip and is leaking, then again a dry CV joint can cause knocking especially on turning as the joint is under more stress. So would be good idea to repack it with grease and replace clip or use cable tie. Check if that helps..

bowders, those symptoms ring a bell, those noise is terrible on rotten road surface and bumps.

Quickly jacked the car up tonight and there is noticeable play in the strut from side to side (as opposed to up and down a la a knackered bearing?).

Going to bite the bullet and have a bash at replacing top mounts. Not expensive parts and no record of them ever being done before! Will update!

Cheers

I've just bought some harder Cupra R oem top mounts to replace mine, must get around to doing them soon.

I have these:

Comprake top mounts

But One of my coilover springs isn't turning properly and makes pinging noises so I think I might need to strip that top mount bearing and lube it or something.

I have these:

Comprake top mounts

But One of my coilover springs isn't turing properly and makes pinging noises so I think I might need to strip that top mount bearing and lube it or something.

Bearing is on it's way out Rob, Replace it quick as it is putting stress on your coilovers and will break a spring eventually..

Std Top mounts don't last long with coilovers and when they start going they stress the bearing.

right, so its not the wishbone bushes (tt items fitted as i was down there anyway), not top mounts, not the radiator and as far as see the arb bushes are not loose on the bar - had a new bar and bushes fitted less than 1yr ago anyway.

Pretty much stumped, tempted to fit new droplinks but not convinced they are worn.

Am I missing something obvious or looking at something more serious?

Don't rule out the droplinks so soon.

I order to properly test them, you can either hold the links and get someone to bounce the car up and down, you should notice the play in them.

Or (What I did):

Get the car on ramps, and grab the links from underneath and try to push them up and down. I replicated the knocking noise by doing this. Whatever you do, the car needs to be dead level, otherwise the ARB will still be stressed, and take up any slack in the droplinks, so you can't check them by jacking up each wheel in turn, you need a ramp or a pit.

Rob, what are the solid top mounts like? I am thinking of changin mine, and saw them. I like the idea that they are properly fastened to the car, rather then using the weight of the car to hold them.

They feel fine - but I'm having problems with the springs sticking on the coilovers when I turn the wheel and making pinging noises as the spring shifts.

I'm in the process of putting the standard ones back in at the moment to see if it resolves it.

I've just bought some harder Cupra R oem top mounts to replace mine, must get around to doing them soon.

I must get round to fitting mine too...... These are supposed to be around 25% firmer from what I've read.

Part numbers:

Mounts: 1ML 412 331 (x2)

Bearings: 1J0 412 249 (x2)

Nuts: 1H0 412 365A (x2)

This is taken from Simon's (above) link to the R32OC website:

"Just bumping this for some updated information on the Cupra R top mount.

VW, Audi,SEAT and Skoda all use the same 1J0 412 331 C top strut mounts on all their "Mk IV" chassis cars.

The only other strut mount listed is one fitted on a 2002-2006 SEAT Cupra Leon R: 1ML 412 331

I have personally bought a set of these and personally took them to have a Durometer Hardness test on them comparing them to the stock VW mounts.

The stock VW mounts measured 50 -55 and the Cupra R mounts measured 80

Otherwise, they are completely dimensionally the same as the VW mounts and fully interchangeable with same.

If you order them you must say you want Cupra R mounts, otherwise you will get palmed off with the normal ones.

They are quite a bit more expensive than the normal mounts too (maybe 3x the price) but they look like they will last a lot longer on the .:R32"

HTH

Steve

update:

Turned out to be a ball joint. I had previously only noticed a bit of play when doing the wishbone bushes but barely noticeable, and only when tugging at the balljoint itself.

One new ball joint later and no more knocking, sursprised how such a small amount of wear could make the whole front end sound like it was falling apart.

Also threw on some new droplinks for good measure as the ones fitted looked original.

check your radiator, the mounts go and causes it to be able to move and will make a knock.

How exactly do you go about changing these, mine seem to be gone as there is way too much movement in the bottom of it.

From what I've heard there a PITA, so I have a bit of padding stuffed in there.

Get myself some of this high performance padding soon so .....