[OSH]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Did you get a breakup of what this cost is amounting to? Did he not mention about what exactly needs to be replaced.

No, the breakup was not provided to me because he was not certain as to what parts needed to be changed. He said that he would need to take apart the entire assembly to find the cause of that noise, then according to that, the price would depend. I forgot to mention that he even suspected the steering-rack making the noise as he felt the noise was more from the front-right side.

This is when I was given the rough estimate of 30000 rupees excluding the steering-rack work if any. I am still studying, so was not very comfortable spending so much in one shot.

Can you please tell me in detail how your problem was rectified, 150 rupees per bushing seems good if the problem gets solved.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by OSH

Can you please tell me in detail how your problem was rectified, 150 rupees per bushing seems good if the problem gets solved.

I too do not have a great idea on this, and like you, still researching.

Regarding the bush:-

When I had this problem (a thud sound when falling into potholes), I first went to MASS, where they said that the lower arm has to be replaced, which was costing 4K per side (Will need to replace both sides). And then I took the car to a local mechanic back in native who said that the entire lower arm need not be replaced, but just replacing the bush in it should be good enough; This is that rubber bush inside the lower arm. It was pretty cheap, like I said earlier, 150/-



And replacing that had indeed fixed the problem.

Now after 3 years, I have the similar problem and the same mechanic says it is the shock absorber that is weak now, and no other way than to replace it; either with a SGP or a local one.

[OSH]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

I too do not have a great idea on this, and like you, still researching.

Even I did a lot of searching on the net to ascertain the solution to this problem, but have not been able to find anything worth trying.

I will try getting these bushings changed as soon as I get some time to spare, for 600 bucks it is worth trying out. Will update the thread with the results.

To all the Mumbai TeamBHPians can you please let me know of some reliable place to get this job done, Sunil Uncle(Select Auto) will not have time for such minor stuff.

[Swapnil4585]

In a Corolla Altis, how does one ascertain whether the problem of play in a steering is a problem within the steering column itself, or is it related to the suspension?

The symptoms faced are -

1. The steering feels somewhat loose and disconnected when driven roughly over bad roads.

2. Vibrations can be experienced on the wheel at times when driving on bad roads. Not so, on smooth roads.

3. The car does not hold a straight line and drifts towards left / right.

Certain facts / checks done -

1. The car is 1 lac kilometres old.

2. There are no screeching / squealing sounds heard when the steering is turned either ways. It turns freely after warm up and a little less freely just after start up. The power steering fluid level is okay, and has not depleted a bit since it was refilled last. There are no leaks or fluid stains anywhere inside the engine bay.

3. A mechanic test drove the car and diagnosed the problem inside the steering column. As per him, the suspension components are fine. The mechanic drove the car and came to the conclusion. He did not inspect the under sides of the car.

4. I think the problem is worn ball joints, tie rods and related parts.

What do you guys think?

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Swapnil4585

The symptoms faced are -

1. The steering feels somewhat loose and disconnected when driven roughly over bad roads.

2. Vibrations can be experienced on the wheel at times when driving on bad roads. Not so, on smooth roads.

3. The car does not hold a straight line and drifts towards left / right.

Can you get the Wheel alignment and balancing done at a reputed store and see if there is any difference?!

I suspect lower arm, ball joint and link rod to be on the end of life.

[MinivanDriver]

I concur with @a4anurag. I would additionally recommend to save the alignment report after doing wheel alignment and balancing from a reputed shop (typically outside shops are way better than authorized car service centers at wheel alignment and balancing). Drive it for a significant distance (~1000 Kms) over the course of a few weeks to a month. Then repeat the alignment procedure and compare the reports. A significant departure in any of the alignment parameters over the course of a few weeks or a month would point to a problem with the suspension.

[halfbytecode]

Cross-posting about a strange problem I faced. One of the rear coil springs shifted from the top, causing it to rest tilted rather than being perpendicular from the ground.

While driving, the car began to sag at the rear, at the affected side. A clunking noise was also there, while driving through potholes and over speedbumps.

I should emphasize that having it fixed on time was important, as it could have potentially killed me had the coil spring popped out while driving at highway speeds or in some other situations too.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...ml#post4209398