thejean

I have an 02 WRX with OEM suspension and just put some new struts on the front (installed myself). I am getting a clunking noise now fron the psgr side front. It is only pronounced when going over sharp dips and bumps.

I checked everything this AM and all is tight. Still clunking. Plus, everything looks exactly like the left side of the car. The spring seems a "bit" looser but for the most part I can't budge it. I can't imagine that the spring could be loose when the weight of the car is on it. I also can't imagine that the strut is bad because it is relatively new (bought them used) and the car is not bouncing like it would on it bad struts nor is it hitting hard on big bumps.

I reread the service manual and it mentions that you have to purge the air from the strut. Procedure says that if there is 10 mm of vertical play in the strut (or more) that the air needs to be purged. The purging procedure is very simple and it says not to lay the strut on its side because air can get back in (something everyone would probably do when installing springs or struts). Seems to make sense that it could cause clunking because if the strut can move freely 10 mm or more, it makes sense that it would clunk as well.

Could it be that all these clunking problems that people are having are simply from some air in the struts? The next chance I get, I am going to take my strut out and check for presence of air. Has anyone else had clunking problems that they were able to resolve by purging air?

Or, am I way off base here? Any thoughts on my theory?

JC