88 Camry stabilizer mount problem.....

The car makes metallic popping noises from the left front. The struts/springs are good, have both been recently replaced without stopping the popping noises. From a stand-still, if you hit the accelerator just a little, when the car starts to roll, it makes a pop sound or two. When you are rolling and let off the gas, it will also make a pop. If you just push down on the front of car and release, letting it come back up....no matter how hard you do it....there is no noise. Seems to be a fore/aft thing, not up/down, on the suspension.

I found that the left stabilizer bar mount bolts won't tighten up all the way. So I tried to remove the mount bolts....they won't UN-screw either. So apparently this nut plate that is supposed to be welded in place is spinning, and of course there is no access to the nutplate, as it is inside of a hollow chassis part cavity. Both ends of the stabilizer where it connects to the lower control arms are OK, not loose. I have a suspicion that the mount is moving very slightly fore and aft causing the popping sounds...it drives me up the wall as it sounds like something major is wrong. If I have the mount arc-welded to secure it, then I cannot replace the mount rubber, which doesn't look too good. Migh be possible to arc-weld it....ox-acetylene torch would surely melt the rubber. I depend on this car, so I don't want to die-grind the heads off, replace the rubber, and then find that I am foo-barred...maybe it is not driveable with the stabilizer mount not bolted on at all? Any ideas what can be done about it? (no, the junkyard is not an option right now! ;-)

Reply to
geronimo
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If the bracket that holds the sway bar bushing is loose enough, can you push the bushing sideways to get it out and replace it? If not, then I would grind off the bolt head, replace the bushing, and arc-weld the bolt bracket. It doesn't go through that much stress, so a tack in 1 spot should be enough.

The car is drivable without the sway bar bushing mount attached but it may handle a little differently and be noisy.

Reply to
Ray O

No, theres really no play in it at all by hand....the bolts are snug, but won't ever really lock the mount in place against the forces of the wheel and suspension in motion. The one thing I can't do is the arc-welding once the bushing is replaced and stabilizer bar reinstalled. I would have to drive it a few miles to a garage to have this done. Do you know if the car would be drivable for this distance with one stabilizer mount completely loose? I guess this would let the wheel move fore and aft a lot more than it should.

Reply to
geronimo

Just to be clear, there is no part called a "stabilizer" bar in the car, so I am assuming that you are talking about the sway bar. Yes, you can drive for a few miles with one of the sway bar bushing mounts removed.

Reply to
Ray O

Besides ball joints also check the inner CV or even the outer CV joint:

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Reply to
johngdole

Ok....sorry SWAY BAR. its the two SWAY BAR mounts that are supposed to have nuts or nut plates welded in place inside the chassis frame. Its not the motor mounts I am taikng about. Its nothing to do with CV joints....they along with the struts were recently replaced with new ones. I think I will probably get the local muffler shop to just tack- weld it in place so that it positively cannot move, and see if the poppoling goes away. They are expert enough to do it in such a way that I can grind off the welds later if I need to replace the mount rubber. regards, Geronimo

Reply to
geronimo

The sway bar bushings on the OP's car are basically thick rubber tubes that wrap around the sway bar and are held in place with a metal piece that looks like the letter Omega. One side has a tab that fits in a hole and the other side has a hole that a bolt passes through, making the bushings very easy to service or replace.

The front suspension on the Camry does not have track bars.

Reply to
Ray O

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