Drive front rattle--video included

Been hearing a rattle on the drive front for a while. Mostly over rough roads and would sometimes be more pronounced on really bumpy roads. I thought maybe a splash guard was rattling but that wasn't it.

 

Today I was doing my lowering springs and lifted the car front the center with the hood up and heard the Damn rattle as the car was going up! It's from the driver front hood shock. It looks like there's play between the ball and socket. It doesn't do it on the passenger side. Forgive the video but I was trying to duplicate the sound and record by myself.

 

 

 

When I apply pressure to the driver hood strut the noise goes away.the solution seems to be having the dealer warranty the hood strut but I feel like they're going to want to take the whole car apart rather than just changing the part. I might just buy a replacement and replace it myself. What do u guys think?

Let the dealer see what you've found and let them cover it. If you get the run around, then you always have a Plan "B".

Wow. Great video! The good news is its not a safety concern. Its just annoying until you figure it out. I would go to the dealer if its close and convenient. If not, I would just grab one at the auto parts store.

Sounds like one of the welds broke off and making the hood flap when hitting rough road

Wow that’s a lot of rattle. I’m having the same issues, gonna check mine out later.

Sounds like one of the welds broke off and making the hood flap when hitting rough road

 

Kinda seems like the hole on the strut itself might be too large..maybe it wore out or something. It's weird because the rattle wasn't always there. It just started maybe 3 months ago and i only have 11k miles on my 2016.

 

I'm going to remove the strut on the driver side and confirm that 100% that the noise goes away.

Kinda seems like the hole on the strut itself might be too large..maybe it wore out or something. It's weird because the rattle wasn't always there. It just started maybe 3 months ago and i only have 11k miles on my 2016.

 

I'm going to remove the strut on the driver side and confirm that 100% that the noise goes away.

 

I might have to check mine too,I kinda hearing the same noise at times,but also seems like it’s my front struts ever I installed my H&R springs

Yup mine does the same thing when I opened hood and tap on it it would make that noise,and it’s sound like it the hood strut doing it.

I'm going to disconnect that one side either tonight or tomorrow and see if the noise goes away completely.

Been hearing a rattle on the drive front for a while. Mostly over rough roads and would sometimes be more pronounced on really bumpy roads. I thought maybe a splash guard was rattling but that wasn't it.

 

Today I was doing my lowering springs and lifted the car front the center with the hood up and heard the Damn rattle as the car was going up! It's from the driver front hood shock. It looks like there's play between the ball and socket. It doesn't do it on the passenger side. Forgive the video but I was trying to duplicate the sound and record by myself.

 

 

 

When I apply pressure to the driver hood strut the noise goes away.the solution seems to be having the dealer warranty the hood strut but I feel like they're going to want to take the whole car apart rather than just changing the part. I might just buy a replacement and replace it myself. What do u guys think?

 

My hood started developing the same rattles as of late and it’s as bad as op.

I'm going to disconnect that one side either tonight or tomorrow and see if the noise goes away completely.

 

Did you find a Fix?

OMG, THANK YOU! This has been driving me nuts!!!! I thought it was the steering or some steering component, but I couldnt feel anything on the steering wheel, then I though uugh the damn electric steering wont allow me to feel it. It only happened on continuously rough surfaces. You rock dude lol

Who the hell is on duty on that side of the assembly line??!! Fire that person Subaru lol

OMG, THANK YOU! This has been driving me nuts!!!! I thought it was the steering or some steering component, but I couldnt feel anything on the steering wheel, then I though uugh the damn electric steering wont allow me to feel it. It only happened on continuously rough surfaces. You rock dude lol

Who the hell is on duty on that side of the assembly line??!! Fire that person Subaru lol

 

Holy moly my friend you can say that again, because I have a 2018 Canadian Legacy (assembled in Indiana, USA) and I have the exact same issue. The worst part is the dealership don't think its abnormal...

Been hearing a rattle on the drive front for a while. Mostly over rough roads and would sometimes be more pronounced on really bumpy roads. I thought maybe a splash guard was rattling but that wasn't it.

 

Today I was doing my lowering springs and lifted the car front the center with the hood up and heard the Damn rattle as the car was going up! It's from the driver front hood shock. It looks like there's play between the ball and socket. It doesn't do it on the passenger side. Forgive the video but I was trying to duplicate the sound and record by myself.

 

 

 

When I apply pressure to the driver hood strut the noise goes away.the solution seems to be having the dealer warranty the hood strut but I feel like they're going to want to take the whole car apart rather than just changing the part. I might just buy a replacement and replace it myself. What do u guys think?

 

 

I've not heard any rattle while driving. But when I checked earlier, I do see some play on the drivers side strut. Not like in your video hitting on the top of the hood, but when the hood is up and I push up on it, there is may be a 1mm play where the metal nut/screw that bolts into the hood attaches to the back portion of the strut.

 

I don't see any damage from the outside, but like everyone else has noted, its only on the driver side strut. Which is a bit odd that if it is a component that failed/broke, that all of the defective ones are on the drivers side

... It's from the driver front hood shock. It looks like there's play between the ball and socket. It doesn't do it on the passenger side. ...

 

Nicely picked up.

 

I decided to check the bonnet struts on our Australian spec 2016 Liberty 3.6R. Even though our cars are built in Japan & ours are RHD, the passenger side bonnet strut top ball/socket could be made to rattle by tapping on the bonnet (this would be the driver’s side on the US vehicles). However, the driver’s side (passenger side on US vehicles) couldn’t be made to rattle.

 

When I disconnected the rattly strut at the bottom socket I could see the play at the top ball when trying to move the top socket back & forth on the top ball. Yet the bottom socket/ball was quite a firm fit when only it was fitted (top socket disconnected), there wasn’t any play.

 

After removing the complete strut I could see clearly that the metal clip that retains the strut socket to the top ball had expanded out when compared to the bottom metal clip. This caused the strut socket to be loose on the ball.

 

The fix:

 

A 4.5mm (3/16”) wide flat blade screwdriver fits in the slot under the retaining clip. Remove the complete strut by prising each metal retaining clip out & towards the end of the socket assembly with the screwdriver just enough so that the socket can be pulled out from the ball. Do the top socket first. The bonnet can fall down once one strut has been removed so an adjustable broom handle is handy to prop it up.

 

The end of a 10mm (3/8”) pin punch is a good fit inside the socket area where the ball fits. Rest the top back part of the strut (opposite side to the socket where the ball fits) on a block of timber. Hold the pin punch against the metal retaining clip with it back in its normal position, then tap the pin punch with a hammer. The retaining clip can be bent back to its correct size/shape after a few taps with the hammer. Be careful not to hit it too hard. Compare it to the opposite end.

 

Apply grease to each ball & in each strut socket before fitting the strut back on the vehicle. Job complete ... no more rattles.

 

So why is the left side strut (marked ‘L’) top metal retaining clip looser than the bottom retaining clip? And why on both the Japan built Australian spec cars & the US built cars? The only thing I can think of is the struts all come out of the same factory & the top retaining clip on that left side strut (marked ‘L’) all haven’t been squeezed in enough. It would be interesting to know if a new vehicle is like this.

 

The bonnet struts on our Liberty are marked L & R (for left & right) & have Japanese writing on them.

Absolutely brilliant XT-sub. So its a manufacturing defect as opposed to an installation snafu. Well done mate

Thank you my Aussie friend. It’s interesting to see this is an international issue rather than an issue at the plant in Indiana that affects only us Canadians and Americans. It seems more like an engineering flaw with Subaru than anything else. I just hope they don’t engineer their transmissions the same way they do their hood struts...

Thank you my Aussie friend. It’s interesting to see this is an international issue rather than an issue at the plant in Indiana that affects only us Canadians and Americans. It seems more like an engineering flaw with Subaru than anything else. I just hope they don’t engineer their transmissions the same way they do their hood struts...

 

I don't want to throw a spanner in the works here, but I have the same model and year vehicle (and country) as my friend XT-sub, and I have spent a bit of time this morning trying to replicate the rattle as he so clearly described, and I came up "rattleless." Due to XT's extensive examination of the problem, I have no doubt he has hit on something (and I didn't take anything apart) but in my case there was no rattles despite tapping both struts from outside, inside and top to bottom. I wonder if the problem (which is obviously real in some vehicles) is dependent on local road conditions and the way the vehicle is driven over bumps, and therefore over time results in the sort of condition of the metal clips that XT describes ???

 

It would be interesting if all forum members took 5 minutes to test for rattles to see what they come up with.

I already have and mine rattles but not from the strut fasteners. On my car, the insulating cover on the underside of the hood is a little loose and rattles when the hood is struck from the top when it's open. It just isn't secured tightly. I don't know if the cover rests on the top of the engine cover when the hood is closed. If it did, there would be no issue but I didn't take the time to figure out if the hood is that close to the engine when it's closed. The struts show no sign of the described problem.

... and I have spent a bit of time this morning trying to replicate the rattle as he so clearly described, and I came up "rattleless."

...

but in my case there was no rattles despite tapping both struts from outside, inside and top to bottom.

 

That’s interesting. And I think our Libertys have travelled similar kms from memory, mine has done just under 30,000kms.

 

Your point about local road conditions is a good one. Some of the local pothole repaired bitumen paved streets & roads that I regularly travel on would have to be the worst in Australia.

 

But based on what has been posted by the members experiencing this issue & from what I have found, why would that only affect that left side top ball/socket? I would expect to see movement in all ball/sockets, not just that particular one.

 

Did you try holding the left strut near the top then try to move it back and forth to see if there was any movement? I could see a slight movement on mine when I did this but it was more obvious when I disconnected the bottom socket from the ball. With both socket/balls connected the strut is under some tension keeping the bonnet open so it is a bit harder to make the movement apparent. Also, if there is a lot of grease in between the ball & socket it can take up a bit of the movement.

 

After re-adjusting the socket retaining clip on my Liberty I thought perhaps it was only certain left strut batches & the person who assembled the retaining clip to the top left side strut has been corrected in their ways. But my Liberty is a 2016 model & iyalla’s Legacy is a 2018 model, so that theory is unlikely.

 

I was a bit surprised how easy it was to re-adjust the retaining clip by the method I used. I expected it to have more spring tension than it had.

It looks like those struts are made by Stabilus: http://www.stabilus.com

 

The markings on the left side strut on my Liberty are:

 

http://www.stabilus.com

57251AL031

675434 0185N 099/16 A29

Subaru

L

 

One of those numbers could possibly be a batch number.

On my car, the insulating cover on the underside of the hood is a little loose and rattles when the hood is struck from the top when it's open. It just isn't secured tightly.

 

Those plastic push buttons used to hold that cover leave a bit to be desired. One of those buttons is a bit loose on my car & I’ve been tempted to remove all those & put some thin foam washers under the head of each button to apply more tension.

 

I did this with the plastic cover underneath the engine bay, but they had the better plastic clips. It is easy to make the foam washers with a couple of different size wad punches. However, the heads can be easily broken on the type used to retain the under bonnet insulating cover when trying to remove them.

 

If anyone knows a reliable way to remove the type used to retain the under bonnet insulating cover without breaking the heads I would be interested how to do this.

 

I hate how all these bits of plastic & plastic covers rattle when banged with my hand.

It looks like those struts are made by Stabilus: http://www.stabilus.com

 

The markings on the left side strut on my Liberty are:

 

http://www.stabilus.com

57251AL031

675434 0185N 099/16 A29

Subaru

L

 

One of those numbers could possibly be a batch number.

 

I checked mine and it would appear to me, that my batch number is different. I'm guessing that in your case the 099/16 possibly refers to the 99th production run or day of 2016 and maybe the "A" 29 refers to Australia ??

 

I checked with the dealer and as you will be already aware, the part number is 57251AL031.

 

My markings are as follows

 

57251AL031

675434 0185N 021/16 A29

Subaru L

 

I tried as you suggested .... holding the left strut near the top then tried to move it back and forth to see if there was any movement, and it was very stable and I could not detect the slightest movement. (and you are correct that our Kms are pretty similar. )

Good information, thanks.

 

I’ll keep an eye on mine & see if any movement comes back in that left side top ball/socket. If it does it will shoot my theory down in flames.

Thank you so much for this posting. A local shop had told me that one of the struts was the cause, which of course would be very expensive. I checked my Legacy and sure enough, the left hood keeper has play at the upper end socket fitting and makes the observed clunking rattle. I filled it with grease and tightened the clamp, though the problem appears to be fore and aft play not affected by the clamp. So strange, somehow that part was not made to spec! I have ordered a replacement; I hope the replacement will do better.