Hi everyone,

Have a 1988 745 tic, stock setup, more than 250,000 miles. Outer tie rods, ball joints, and sway bar bushings have been replaced under my ownership. The rest is of the front end is of unknown miles, the strut bellows are ripped apart, and the bump stop looks pretty bad.

I have a front end noise and I would like to more accurately diagnose the problem. The problem happens when the weather is cold, is the worst first thing in the morning, and after about an hour or less of driving it goes away.

When I hit a dip in the road or go over a speed bump the front end will growl when the strut is most compressed and maybe a little after it starts to decompress. The sound is almost like a cardboard box being stepped or jumped on, but more crunchy sounding. Almost sounds like a scaled down version of a modern car being hit, all the plastic being crumpled.

I'm thinking it's the struts but am not sure as the car rebounds just fine when I quickly press a front corner of the car down. I'm hoping it's not the strut mounts since there seems to be a quality concern with even the Volvo ones.

Hopefully someone has had a similar experience and can help me pinpoint the problem area.

Thanks for any input

Hi all,

Thought I would give an update:

I recently replaced my motor mounts and I haven't experienced the crunchy sounding noise that I origanlly posted about since. The passenger side mount was completely wasted and that is the side that always made the noise before. I will probably have to wait until next winter to be sure as the noise was always the worst when it was cold outside, but I'm pretty confident that the tired motor mounts was the cause of the noise.

I will soon be replacing the struts so I'll let y'all know if anything was off with the strut mounts.

Thanks again for the help everyone

Well...for what it is worth, my 88 765 wagon had a clunking noise in one strut. It turned out to be a worn spring seat below the strut mount. However I replaced everything and used Sachs top strut mounts, they were reviewed to be pretty good.

From your description I can't really tell what is wrong with your car. My guesses are control arm bushings, strut mounts or the struts themselves. With your car's age and mileage it could be any of the above if they are original.

I know this not what you want to hear but here are some indicators of bad strut mounts...

Did you check out the condition of the strut mount rubber? Look for cracks and tears. Put a large wrench on the upper strut nut and turn. If it turns easily then the strut mounts are toast.

Another indicator of bad mounts is a squeaking sound when hitting bumps (my 850 made that noise). My 240's strut mounts would groan when turning from a lower level level at low speeds onto a much higher road.

The best way to check the bushings is to jack up (be careful!) the car and look for damaged or cracked rubber.

Just because the struts rebound when pushed on doesn't mean they are still good. Could be noise emanating from somewhere on the inside. Try a stethoscope or hose to your ear to help locate the noise.

Hi jwalker,

Thank you for the great information and suggestions. I will further inspect the car this weekend.

A better description of the sound is the front end plastic scraping along a parking block or curb when you've pulled up too far. Almost the same sound.

Thanks again and I will post back with what I find

This link should help. Good luck!

https://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/FrontSuspension.htm#BushingInspectionNotes