1997 upper strut mounts

Ha, I have the 97 also and it's beginning to get on my nerves too. Sounds like loose bones. Hope somebody has some info.

mike

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Scott C wrote:

I am in the same boat one of mine is fine the other has made noise from day one, worse when weather is cold. Toyota tried to fix it years ago(1997) and failed. The corrected latest part has been out for a while but not available until long after my warranty ran out.. Toyota refused to fix it with the correct part since my warranty was over...

Sad to say - but this one little issue is why I will never buy another toyota. 100K warranty that excludes this?

Robmurr,

What is the "corrected latest part"? I have a '99 Solara and sometimes hear odd noises coming from the front right strut when going over mild bumps. Maybe a related problem.

Derek

It is called front strut mount tower (I think)... I cant lay my hands on the part number right now but if your dealer has it, it will be the correct one.

My 99 Camry had the same problem at 31,000 miles. But, I was fortunate, after seeing the TSB mentioned here, in getting it repaired under the warranty. I don't know how tough the job is but will share this observation: it took Toyota almost four hours to do the job; they replaced ALL of the front suspension parts; and from the parts list and labor time my guess was about $900 - $1,200 dollars. Again, I am not a technician and don't know what it really cost them or how difficult it is. I am glad they finally did it as it was very annoying and continued to get worse! And, it was/is the car my wife drove to work on pretty good city streets.

The part that causes all the trouble I think is the shock tower which has been redesigned a couple times and costs about $75 or so...

Ya know they put all this money into ads and then you let an anoying problem be driven around by how maby primary and secondary owners? Is that a toilet bowl I hear flushing??? Nope just the heaaad of marketing bang his head against the wall.

Sorry couldn't resist Lee

$56 each - but I was most interested in how many people have personally done the fix. I can order the parts but if it is too much of a pain I don't want to start. I have spring compressors, have done stuff like this many times, but have learned to ask before starting in case there are any gotchas.

For example, changing the water pump in the same car is a real pain in the neck. I would not do that again.

I would get the Haynes manual and try it since you have the tools. There are a couple pieces that have to line up that might not be obvious...

I replaced the front and rear struts and strut mounts on my 98 Avalon, and it was easy and straightforward. Just compress the springs, and remove the strut and mount together with the spring as a unit, replace the mount, and reinstall. They recommend an alignment after doing this, but I never had one done, as I didn't notice anything different or odd in the handling or alignment after doing it (other than the noise was gone).

Good Luck,

Scott

Thanks much - ordering now ;)