Kia Front End Tech

[DanStokes]

My buddy Dick (the Volvo guy) has a 2010 Kia Soul for sale and it had a front end noise that needed fixing. It has what to me is an interesting design quirk so I thought I'd pass it along as an FYI.

It's McPherson strut (like almost everything these days) and the upper bearing mount doesn't screw down to the top of the shock tower! They just wedge it to the sheet metal as shown in the pics. Seems weird to me but it's held up for 190K miles so I guess you can't say it doesn't work. The top of the system was wiggling around when the car came to me but we replaced the strut and everything tightened down OK so evidently no harm no foul. I half expected the sheet metal to be beat up but it seems pristine. Here's the pics:

Top of the new strut. Note that there's just a rubberish cone with no bolt-down plate.





The upper mount hole along with the top washery thing that holds it all together.





And the whole deal back together. I still have a little noise up there like maybe a dust shield hitting or some such so I'll look at that this afternoon.

[Captain]

Kinda makes me think of the Dodge Durango Front Link collapse issues.

Oh ....it's just fine .....no reason to panic that it isn't really secured in there ....

[anotheridiot]

Just something you dont think alot about. I mean, they are more springs than shocks and you either have a rubber insulator on top of your usual coil spring or not, but nothing holds them to the chassis. But it sure looks like there is enough thread to throw on a nut just to keep the top dust cap in place.

[DanStokes]

Kinda makes me think of the Dodge Durango Front Link collapse issues.

Oh ....it's just fine .....no reason to panic that it isn't really secured in there ....

Like I said - I'd be super critical but it held up for 190K miles so I guess it can't be too bad of a design for what was always a cheap car.

As usual, this is turning into a bit more of a deal that expected and it's my fault. I nicked a CV joint boot when I was blowing it apart and now I have a half shaft on order. Grease coming out when rotating. Oh, well.......

[anotheridiot]

Like I said - I'd be super critical but it held up for 190K miles so I guess it can't be too bad of a design for what was always a cheap car.

As usual, this is turning into a bit more of a deal that expected and it's my fault. I nicked a CV joint boot when I was blowing it apart and now I have a half shaft on order. Grease coming out when rotating. Oh, well.......

That was my original thought, when you unbolted it at the bottom did it just fall?

Well, either way, probably about due for CV axles.

[DanStokes]

That was my original thought, when you unbolted it at the bottom did it just fall?

Well, either way, probably about due for CV axles.

No. It was in place but loose. If I was flipping one with this problem I'd probably just put a spacer between the upper washer thing and the nut to clamp everything in place but we didn't know quite what this looked like until we blew it apart. So we did it right instead.

[DanStokes]

Closing in on it. I have the half shaft in without drama but there's still a rattle on a sharp right turn though the new strut got rid of the hard clunk. It's weird and we really can't see a cause. Next time I get out there (this cold weather is sapping my will) I'll remove a rear brake dust shield which is clearly beat up and see if that might be it. Not sure on that but we're getting desperate.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Closing in on it. I have the half shaft in without drama but there's still a rattle on a sharp right turn though the new strut got rid of the hard clunk. It's weird and we really can't see a cause. Next time I get out there (this cold weather is sapping my will) I'll remove a rear brake dust shield which is clearly beat up and see if that might be it. Not sure on that but we're getting desperate.

usually those kinds of clunks come from motor mount issues.

[DanStokes]

usually those kinds of clunks come from motor mount issues.

Nope. It was motor mounts. (I'd put in a smily here but they're no longer available).

I still don't know why it was brought on by a sharp right turn but by accident I happened to be getting out of the car while it was idling and I could slightly hear "the noise". I found I could cause it by pulling up on the intake manifold which rocked the engine on the mounts - mounts, indeed. We ordered up a set including the torque strut (dog bone) and I finished up the installation today. Noise gone! The new mounts were about 3/8" taller than the old ones indicating that the mounts had settled over the years. I never was able to see what was hitting on what but problem solved.

Know anybody who needs a decent get-around kind of car? 'Tain't fancy but good transportation with cold AC and it looks decent.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Nope. It was motor mounts. (I'd put in a smily here but they're no longer available).

I still don't know why it was brought on by a sharp right turn but by accident I happened to be getting out of the car while it was idling and I could slightly hear "the noise". I found I could cause it by pulling up on the intake manifold which rocked the engine on the mounts - mounts, indeed. We ordered up a set including the torque strut (dog bone) and I finished up the installation today. Noise gone! The new mounts were about 3/8" taller than the old ones indicating that the mounts had settled over the years. I never was able to see what was hitting on what but problem solved.

Know anybody who needs a decent get-around kind of car? 'Tain't fancy but good transportation with cold AC and it looks decent.

my first real 'project' car was a 82 Chev 4x4 truck. I spent more money and time trying to find a vibration - it was the motor mounts, because it caused the motor to sit lower, that caused the vibration. My current daily clunks if in 4wd, especially if it's dry or dryish pavement (it has a limited slip t-case) - what that is is the differential rocking and causing the mounting bracket to hit the frame.... I'm well versed in the random clunks... wish I wasn't.