2001 Sunfire

It's probably the rear strut upper mounts. Very common problem on the J-body vehicles. Sometimes it can be the struts themselves, but it's far more common for the problem to be the upper mounts. I would say that at least 50% of the J-body cars that I drive in the shop that are over the warranty mileage have this problem. Most people just seem to live with the noise instead of paying for new mounts and/or struts. By the way, if anyone you know is even slightly mechanically inclined, replacing these upper mounts is a piece of cake. The spring tension is so low on these rear struts that you can compress them easily with your body weight..no special tools required. And they are quite simple to remove from the car.

Ian

Ian

Thanks so much!

By the way, if you want to doublecheck this, stick your niece's boyfriend in the trunk and get him to feel the upper strut mount area while you get the noise to happen. Might as well put him to good use.

Ian

"Jan11" wrote: > Hi Guys - my 01 Sunfire is making a noise. It sounds like > something > rattling around underneath (hard to pinpoint exactly where but > seems to > come from the rear of the car) and is most noticeable when the > car is > cold and seems to be not as noticeable after driving for a > awhile. My > niece's boyfriend says he thinks it is a wheel bearing. Being > a girl I > don't want to just take it in without having some clues about > whether it > is likely a wheel bearing, or the muffler, or whatever. Any > advice? TIA. > -- > > Cheers! > > Jan

My wifes had the sound. Replaced the strut and took care of it