4WS knocking - driving me nuts!

Post by **simonc** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 4:46 am

Hi All, everything's been going so well but there's been an irritating knocking sound from the back of the car for a while now. My mechanic tells me it's the 4WS which is at fault so I've asked him to tell me exactly what it is so I can pass it on to you guys for your help if possible.
He says this, " the knocking is coming from the rear steering shaft which is loose and has quite a bit of free play"
I hear it when I'm tootling about, especially low speed and it's certainly louder driving over some of the bloody awful roads over here. If I'm on the motorway, eg blasting down to Singapore I can't hear it.
He tried to fix it by slotting in some type of plastic (to be honest, I don't know exactly what he did) but it hasn't worked and the knocking is still there.
I've asked him about a fix but he's told me that he's pretty spooked about taking off the assembly as he's never done it before and is worried that by doing that he may break something even bigger or make a real pigs breakfast of anything he tries.
I do sympathise with him (a bit!) and am grateful for his honesty but finding a reputable expert in Prelude 4WS here in Malaysia is not easy, perhaps even impossible.
Gentlemen, is there any advice you can give that I can pass on to him that can either silence the knocking as a rough and ready fix or point me in the direction of a step by step guide that I could pass onto him that would give him the confidence to tackle the 4WS repair.
As ever, I am really grateful for your generous advice and direction regarding my car.
Thanks very much in advance guys, regards, Simon.

BMCC · Post by **BMCC** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 8:17 am

I've got a 4WS service manual, might help your mechanic if he had this?

mills · Post by **mills** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 8:22 am

The only thing I can suggest is to download the 5th gen service manual from the wiki. Print off the relevant section for the 4WS and pass it to your mechanic. He can then see what's involved and decide to take the job on or not.

I'm not really clued up on 4WS as I never had any problems on my old vti lude. But omeone on here will be along shortly to offer some advice

h10ndr · Post by **h10ndr** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 8:34 am

The only knocking you can get from 4ws is the steering arm track rod ends. These wear and become loose but that is not something you would hear whilst driving...The likely cause is either the rear drop links or the shock knock in that order. Hope this helps.

Post by **Merlin** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 9:15 am

h10ndr wrote:The only knocking you can get from 4ws is the steering arm track rod ends.

This^^

Are you sure it is not knocking from the rear shocks?

89 UKDM BA4 4WS (resto job!) · Post by **wurlycorner** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 9:50 am

This is the 4ws unit;

It sit up inside the rear sub frame;

Where on it does your mechanic says it's knocking? Can you copy the image and add an arrow/circle etc. in paint and repost?

bb1boy · Post by **bb1boy** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 9:52 am

+1 for rear upper anti-roll bar drop links being worn, then shock-knock if drop links are ok. I'm sure there's a guide to fixing the shock-knock on here somewhere. ARB drop links is easy - unbolt and replace.

bb1boy · Post by **bb1boy** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 10:31 am

http://www.ludegeneration.co.uk/post7537.html#p7537 <--- shock-knock fix

mercutio · Post by **mercutio** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 7:51 pm

Merlin wrote:
h10ndr wrote:The only knocking you can get from 4ws is the steering arm track rod ends.
This^^

Are you sure it is not knocking from the rear shocks?

yep shock knock your mechanic doesn't know what he is talking about buddy

Post by **simonc** » Thu Sep 19, 2013 1:13 am

Gentlemen, good morning to you all and a big thank you for all this valuable info. My mechanic is coming round to my office today (as I need to show him where the supplier he uses to polish headlights has left a zillion swirl marks on them - Arrgghhhhhh!) so I'll plonk him down at my desk at let him look through this little lot and decide a course of action.
Thanks so much for all this guys - you really are a remarkably helpful group of people.
I'll keep you updated on progress and hopefully after seeing this, we can put this knocking problem to bed once for and for all.
Thanks guys, regards, Simon.