Please read my original post; https://acurazine.com/forums/1g-cl-problems-fixes-71/help-lowest-miles-99-cl-2-3-road-today-855608/

Since my last post I changed the front passenger wheel bearing and later in the day I heard the same continuous noise coming front the front wheels that caused my mechanic to believe that specific bearing was bad. Since then I have made a number of discoveries about the car thanks to your suggestions.

1. I looked more closely at the outer tie rods that we replaced and noticed that between the inner and outer tie rod on the pass. side there were a couple of in. of thread next to the nut in the middle whereas on the driver side in the same location theres no thread left at all. My mechanic said when we replaced the outer tie rods we marked their exact position which tells me the originals were out of place when I bought the car.




Thats what area im referring to and this is what the pass side actually looks like




2. this is how the ends of my steering rack look





3. I checked the dust shields behind the rotors and only the driver side was bent and even after bending it back in place I still hear brake parts,touching, grinding, swiveling as my front wheels turn whithout braking or even turning in any direction. I made no adjustments to the front brakes because I was told that even if they are sitting tight after this past week they should have self adjusted by now which they havent.



4. Today I took the car to get a front end diagnosis at the most trusted local bigo tire location to see what would keep me from getting an alignment done. They said my sway bar is bent and that my rack and pinion is not centered relating to the steering coupler. And most importantly they said my unibody may also bent.

I bought this car from a private seller as-is with a clean title at full kbb value. I have spent almost another grand on it. I have no idea what to do anymore, im now afraid to even drive the car. My only plan is to take the car to a body shop first thing monday morning where I know the owner and can seek further advice on what to do with the car at this point before I take it around to more specialists on tuesday for more estimates on the steering and suspension work.

Now I ask you, my fellow cl owners, wtf do I do??
The car is at 101k now with a decent body and interior. Engine is fine and tranny is showing symptoms of our commen 2nd gear clutch pack problem. Shock/struts original never been changed much like everything else on the vehicle.

Please reply with any ideas at all on what steps I should take next before I spend another dollar. Thank you very much acurazine community I hope this wont have to be my last post.

 

I should mention the sway bar along with most of the other critical big components behind the front wheels were not original at had been replaced prior to me buying the car. This indicates a front end collision and the fact that alot had been reassembled.

 

lol, sorry to laugh but i had a similar problem once so i feel the pain.
anyway, as for the tie rod threads, 2 of the same part should be the same so the so the fact that you say it was a great differance could be one was different and shorter than the other so it had to be turned in more, this is common and is probably whats up but because you said front end damage and the rack was changed and unibody might be out could be the problem i had, car was in an accident that bent the steering rack mount (part of the unibody)out of line.

the sway bar end links look like they were replaced recently but show wear, almost like one is loose and one is tight, or some1 was cornering the shit out of the car,.. just kinda looks that way in the pic. but without being there to grab and tug on stuff im just guessing.

the brake noise can happen when new pads are installed, if the caliper pistons wernt fully dipressed (even if they were sometimes) you can hear them rub, you can try (did you try??) seating the brakes.
get up to 30kmph. and brake hard enough that the brakes fully grab the disks but not so hard you lock them up and skid them, then do this at 50kmph,70kmph and 100kmph, this seats new pads to rotors so they are the same surface area.

as for the unibody, ask the old owner if tey can tell you what happened to the car, if it was something horrible they probably wont but if the car needs safty you could find a shop that will look past the unibody bend,.. just sayin. if its already registered, you can try to get it bent back but you gotta find were its out first and use a frame puller and shit, i know a guy that has done this to cars (i will leave him and his business nameless) but he said its a bitch to do. otherwise just try not to care if it pulls a little.

and finnaly, as for the km's,.. it could be that when it was in the massive accident and the front end was worked on the guages were replaced or rolled, probably not but again, just thowing it out their, othewise low km's are nice but 100,000 bagge km's are wores than 300,000 babied km's., again just sayin.,

so, what would i do if i were you
(if registered) id crash the poor cl and get a good 1
(in not registered) id find a shop to register it and crash that bitch,... sad i know but it sounds like it wight already be on pallitive care so putting it out of its missery might be a good thing...???...???

 

Pitbulllover I never got a chance to adjust the brakes to depress the pistons back any further cause of everyone telling me there would be no use to do that now. But I never heard of seating the brakes and your process is now my only hope to get rid of this brake noise lol.

When you say register do you mean insured? I only bought liabilty insurance and the title pink slip and dmv registration has been in my name since I bought it. Theres no use in consulting the asshole I bought it from, and by crash do you mean sell? Im really not in any position to take a complete loss of 5 gs. If this unibody is actually screwed will it always lead to constant parts failure even after replacing everything or is it moreso like a permanent off alignment?


I spent almost 150 on guinine ngk platinum plugs and wires :-(

 

well, its never easy parting with money and its even harder when you get burned.
the seating the brake thing isnt a thing that every one does or even knows about, its not crucial cause most brake changes its none existant or goes away with a stop or two, but ive done a lot of disc brakes and on a couple i replaced the rotors and pads, natureal they are both not laser strait and at maximum tolerance cause new, when you drive they will rub (the pads on the rotors) and to get the surface of the pads and rotor to mach and to wear away a little slag (factory excess matirial) one can simply seat the brakes (as explained) if not it the rub should go away, unless your rotors are warped as fuck.

sorry i did meen insured, we register our autos here in sask., lol. and if talking to the old owner aint an option than you just gotta decide how much you like this individual car cause it could be a headache. cause by "crash" i meant take that bitch up to 35kmph, with seat belt on and swerve into something and total the poor girl off. just say a cat ruan out and you swerved, works everytime, you just pay the deductable, if you have recepts you get $$$$$....... or at least thats how it is here.

as for the wires & pluggs and the car and shit,... know when to hold em' know when to fold em'.
you might be out some $$$, ive lost $2300 on vehicals befor, its the nature of the beast when owning auto's.

if you are paitent you might fix it and it will be the best car you ever have, you will tell stories of it long after its gone,... or it will be a horrible mistake that drains money and your soul.

sorry mang, its vehicals.
if one thinks about the maintinance vs. flying hours on air plains, now get the owners manual for your cl and see how much and how offten you are supposed to maintain EVERYTHING,... now think about how little gets done ot cars and trucks and they have no maintainance for like 5 year intervals and its just an oil change ,... then they sell the car and some1 like you or mecome along and buy it and try our asses off to fix and maintain all the years of neglect..... its a loseing battle my friend.

 

This was the process of my front pads and rotors getting replaced;
After initially removin original old brake parts my mechanic said the old pads had alot left to go on them so we installed new basic rotors with the old pads which caused a terrible constant grinding noise very similar to what im experiencing now but even louder. I drove on the old pads for atleast 100 miles until my mechanic had time to take them off and put on the new pads I had all along. How can I do your seating the brakes process without causing the car to skid going that fast? I dont have the best tires and brakes on the rear lol and its been over a week since the new pads were installed.

I didnt bother paying double for full coverage insurance where can do that I got liability only now that I finally own a car and have the title. Im only 20 yrs old and prior to buying this cl a couple months ago I was driving and making payments on a 03 accord 7th gen coupe for almost a year until I crashed and totaled it in the manner you described but completely by accident on the way to work. I broke the a arm and tore the axle out the tranny without damaging the body or the engine. After that I got a check for 3 gs once the bank was payed off and I had to borrow 2 more gs just to be able to afford this cl and spend the other grand on 100k service which I already spent on half the other maintenance. Just because I was ignorant and close minded looking to buy a car similar to the $10k one I was used to and I looked past the tranny and steering for the vtec motor and body style.


I dont see the point in upgrading my insurance now, then waiting a certain amount of time to file a claim on it. So if the body and frame turns out to be fine after my visit to the body shop with the car tomorrow then is replacing the sway bar and adjusting centering the entire rack and pinion steering coupler and whatnot actually something practical worth doing an paying a real shop hours of labor for?


Or if the bodys fucked is there no use going that route?

 

thing that ive had make grinding noises after disc. install.
(1)cap was taken off the brake fluid reservoir but did not fully depress the piston with a c- clamp
(fix)took all apart and fully depressed piston.
(2)pad as incorrectly installed
(fix)took apart and clipped it in properly.
(3)capliper bolt had shims, i lost shims and installed, making a rattleing and grinding.
(fix)took bolt out and added small washer
(4)rock/debris got in between the pad and rotor, wore a grove in the pad so it wouldnt fall out and scraped the rotor
(fix)took apart, removed rock and cleaned rotor and pad.
(5)and new bearing,rotor and pads, depressed the piston as far as it would go but it was tight getting the caliper with pads on the rotors, they grinded
(fix)seated the brakes, 30kmph, stop, 50kmph, stop, 70kmph, stop, 100kmph, stop.

if you want to try to seat your brakes you do it so the pads bite enough to bring the car to a quick stop but dont lock the wheel's, its very doable even with shitty back brakes as properly adjusted brakes should sent 60% of theforce to the front and 40% the back. you gotta feel the brakes threw the pedal, do so on the highway.

as for crashing it and shit, lol, bad advice, kinda a joke but always an option to the desperate.
now you got the car we cant do the would a's or should a's, we just gotta get you rollin strait and tru brothah, so let me think,...

hay, fuck man did you check your C.V. joint, the boot could be bad and there could be dirt and no grease in it,...check that shit out.

you knda dont just want to replace stuff unless its the broken part otherwise it could get costly, lets try to fix it for sure but....no promisis

as for the 1997 - 1999 cl 3.0, they are a very very good car, ive owned lots of auto's, lol, i meen when i say that peeps are like "right dude ive owned like 20 cars dude", I VE HAD A LOT, im a ruff add'em at 45, 20 of witch were cars and my 1997 cl 3.0 is my fav. i love this thing, its luxurious as my 95 lexus LS 400 (witch is my second fav.), faster than my done 1979 cutlass 305HO. (she was fast) makes me smile more than my 1974 camaro RS with swivel buckets, dingo balls and suede (that car got me laid) its better on gas than my 1999 honda cr-v 2.0(current pitbull transporter), ive owned the cl for 5 years now, i sold a 1993 grand am GT with the 3.3 and a sterio that made long hair do fucked up shit to get the cl and im sooooo glad i did, it never brakes (knock on wood), and ive mildly tuned it, i maintain auto's stupid though (oil changes at 2500km's since i was 18 and that aint a lie. i dont think your choice of car purchase was off, just the car itself may be bad. hopefully with our,..(you, me and you mechanic cause nobody elce has piped up yet) you will love yours.

 

p.s- im very paranoid and dont know your mechanic but i never trust em' ive been ripped off, lots of peeps i know, hell i guarantee you already know this just...... thats how mechanics eat right , they need you comming back, most wont fuck shit up to get you back but if the know what the prob. is and could fix it in 1 trip but they can get you to come in 3 times they make 2 more bills up and your happy it works,

not tryin to make you paranoid like me, lol, just sayin....