4WS knocking - driving me nuts!

[Lude-dude]

no 5th gen 4ws information in the manual

never seen a 5th 4ws manual, but the 4th gen 4ws manual may be some help

[simonc]

Morning Gentlemen, it's not looking good I'm afraid from this end. My mechanic spent most of yesterday trying the shock knock modification and late last night he called to say that after taking out for a test spin it's still bloody there!
He did the whole "insert the shim" thing and sorry to say that, as far as it goes from here, I'm stuck.
Arrgghhhhhhhh, I'm so bloody annoyed with this.
I'm getting a desperate here and even last night I floated the thought of buying an entirely new ( second-hand obviously) 4WS steering rack from one of the Japanese Chop-Shops that seem to be everywhere round here.
I guess another option is to search t'internet and see if there's a specialist down in Singapore who may be able to help...but that'll be an expensive option. Still, if needs must eh?
Haven't done it yet and the mechanic kept the car last night so he'll be fiddling with it again today but it's not a good start to my day and I have a nasty feeling that it's going to be long faces from him and me when I get the car back later on.
Arrgghhhhhhhh, again!
I'll keep you guys posted but if there are any more thoughts from you guys - no matter how crazy or left-field they are then there's a frustrated Prelude owner here in hot and sweaty Malaysia that's always welcome to your bright ideas!
Thanks guys, Simon.

[h10ndr]

Have u considered to could be the shocks/dampers? Unless u can see when under the car where the noise/knocking is from then I would stop blaming the 4ws. Its suspension related but if not drop links, arb bushes, or shock knock, then it must be shocks/dampers themselves. ..

[h10ndr]

Or bushes in the control arms...

[h10ndr]

Or ball joints in upper arms...

[simonc]

Hi h10nder ( a fellow West Yorkshireman I see...!!!) . Thanks for that information. I've just called him and ran through all your list and he promises me that everything on your list has been checked and they're all ok.
I guess that means we've tried everything...dammit, I just don't know what to do now.
Ha ha ha, I wish I was back in Blighty then I'm sure I could find someone to get to the bottom of this damn thing.
Thanks anyway to you and each and everyone of you guys for their direction and willing assistance.
Arrgghhhhhhhhhhhh.
That bloody sound is going to drive me nuts - I mean really nuts now.
Have a great ( and knock free weekend everyone!) Regards, Simon.

[Thebusofwoe]

Are you sure your Mechanic has fully identified the fault. When he shakes the wheel where is the play? Side to side or left to right? The 4ws rack arms have ball joints at both ends you see, so could be play in either end of these. Its not common for the inner end joints to develop play but the outer ends do. There are a small handful of joint that can knock, as said by the fellow luder's . Your mechanic needs to give everything a good shake with someone else having a good feel on EVERYTHING. If he persists that the movement is still in the rack then id imagine it will be a failure of some kind inside the rack. Hope this helps

[simonc]

Hi Thebusofwoe and to be frank I don't know for sure if he has done this procedure you've mentioned. He says he has but of course, I'm at work while he's doing all says he's doing.
I'm not saying he's giving me the run around but I do have a feeling he's as frustrated as I am with this problem and perhaps he's got to the 'bollocks to this' stage and certain key points are being by passed to get my car out of his workshop. I just don't know I'm afraid.
What did come up in conversation on Saturday evening when he brought the car back is that we re-bush the entire back with good quality bushes that I will have to source from either the UK/Australia or the US.
Guys, I know you're probably fed up with my constant bleating but, in your opinion, is this a 'last chance saloon' option I could consider?
Thanks for your thoughts on this issue,
Simon.

[Donald]

That's gonna be an annoying and lengthy job, and if you're gonna go that way you may as well do the fronts too.

[h10ndr]

It would be pretty obvious if it was a bush causing the knocking though....when I had knocking it was the top rubber bush in the drop links which were worn out. Simple and cheap to replace.