Hey guys, Picked up a '92 Mk3 Golf 1.8 GL a couple of years ago and back then in my infantile naievety, took it to my local main VW dealer for a service. Among a list of things that "needed doing" which was as long as my arm, was listed "Strut Top Mount replacement". They quoted me what seemed a hell of a lot of cash for the work although as I don't really know what's involved it was difficult for me to judge whether their quoted price was a rip-off! In the end, I was told by a local back-street mechanic that this was unnecessary as the Golf was designed so that it just sits on top of the struts and that if you jack the car up off the ground they will appear lose and can be moved around a bit. Following his advice I decided not to bother getting the work done and saved my cash. Anyway, now (3 years later) the back end has started to make an occasional knocking sound, usually when turning at low speed and sometimes when driving on bumpy surfaces, speed bumps etc. It sounds to me almost as if the suspension is bottoming out when riding over bumps but I Don't tend to hear it at speed or on smooth surfaces. Not sure if this is a significant problem but anyway my question is, is this due to me not having had the strut top mounts replaced??? Also, how much work is involved in this job and can I do it easily myself with standard parts??? Do the struts have to be removed from the car to change their top mounts or can you access them from beneath the plastic caps in the boot/trunk??? Also are there any other parts that should be replaced at the same time???
- posted
19 years ago