jalbert300

Update... The noise was 100% from the Strut Mounts. I took the Forester in to have all 4 struts and mounts replaced, but for some reason the Mechanic didn't replace the mounts. Oops... After driving away and still hearing the noise, I took it back and confirmed they didn't replace the mounts. They realized their mistake, put the new mounts in for cost of parts only, and the noise went away 100%!!! Total damage was $900 for everything. Happy Camper!

Not after lubing everything. Only noise I can hear bouncing it now is the air noise the struts make.

So here is a video of the Driver Side Rear Strut. Ton of noise from back there, does it sound like the strut, or strut mount? (At 1:43 it sounds like the world is caving in...) I lubed the hell out of everything in the back, and removed the sway bar links. Going to put new links in tomorrow, but they were not the culprit. I feel like an obsessed mad man, but having some fun and learning as well. I get the feeling I just need to get rear struts(at least) and move on with my life

No leaking... $150 now that's a deal

I didn't record the driver side strut, but the last video of sway bar link is the driver side. I assume the noise in that video is the sway bar link, and that seems to me like where the popping is coming from. I may be hearing with my eyes though...

cool, thanks for the info!

I agree the struts could probably use replacing, but the biggest thing annoying me is the dang noise back there. Going to try SOOBEROOs advice of unbolting the sway bar links and see what happens... With that said, anybody know what a fair price for replacing rear Struts and Mounts is?

K thanks for the help, if nothing else I've prevented someone from talking me into dumping money on struts when it may not be newscast.

If anyone is still listening to this, scratch everything I have said or shown... I now think the noise is from the "sway bar links...", see video below... I recently had the rear brake calipers replaced, and suppose the sway bar links were removed to do the job. Maybe they should have replaced those instead of putting the old ones back on, or greased them better??? Sounds reasonable?

Here is a video of the rear passenger side strut. It seems to be making some of the noise! And for good measure, here is a video of the U-Joint which seems to be fine... To much time on my hands... lol

One mechanic did mention u-joint as possible cause... I just took for a spin in FWD and nothing changed good or bad, same noise...

Damn spell checker... Lol

Never mind on permanent FWD, little bit of research tells me you to bad idea. I will just be sure the for diagnostic purposes.

Yes it is automatic. I didn't know you could switch to FWD, I will give that a shot and see how it sounds. Would be unfortunate, but is there anything wrong with leaving in FWD permanently to avoid spending money on repairs?

Thanks for the feedback, rear differintial I assume can get expensive. I will look into draining fluid. I have little to no work on my car myself, hopefully something I can handle. Sometimes the noise(s) make me feel like the whole rear end is falling apart, but have had the car looked at several times recently and nobody has showed any concern or displayed confidence in what the noise is. One thing I found interesting in the video is that immediately after going over man hole cover you can hear a single pop.

Hi, I have a 2001 Forester with 180K that recently starting making a popping noise in the rear. My impression is that the struts need to be replaced, but would like an opinion from this forum. I made a video and highlighted the noise in the first minute, but the noise can be heard through out the video, especially from 2:40 - 3:10. Here is the link to youtube video. If anyone can help with a diagnosis I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks, Jon