[97CobraNow]

maybe sway bar bushings ??? should i check to see if the are tight.. the endlinks are tight....

[1rnkpny]

To me it sounds like your front struts have ridges inside along the pistons. If you place your hand or a stethescope would be better, on top of the strut mount and press down on the fender to simulate kind of a smooth road do you feel the pop noise?

[97CobraNow]

it sounds like exhaust pop but i can distinguish between the exhaust and the problem easily but thats what the sound resembles

[97CobraNow]

im running outside to test what you said be back in 2 sec

[1rnkpny]

Sway bar bushings when worn out can cause a "thunk" kind of noise. Stabilizer links are more of a crack type noise, but noticed more when cornering or shifting from reverse to drive and vise versa.

[97CobraNow]

sounded quiet for the most part but i did hear a slight something on the drivers side .. if im standing over the fender looking down between the engine and car, sounds like its comin from down there

[97CobraNow]

definately a "thunk"

[97CobraNow]

could possibly be the play of the sway bar inside the bushing and/or the bracket that holds it to the frame is lose ??

[97CobraNow]

*loose

[1rnkpny]

Sometimes it is hard to do that with one person, cause you have to really push on the fender kinda rapid to simulate it. That noise totally sounds like a worn strut. Do you have access to chassis ears?

[1rnkpny]

A dry stabilizer bushing could mimic that noise as well. But that would be more noticeable with larger bumps not smooth roads.

[97CobraNow]

say i go over a big bump though, or something like that, the car seems fine, i mean the prob is still there, but the road quality does not affect the problem... would a worn strut cause noticeable sounds/feelings on bumps ?

[97CobraNow]

the car rides great... the problem does not affect ride quality except that i can feel the popping resonating through the car and hear it

[97CobraNow]

what are chassis ears ?

[1rnkpny]

A large bump causes more stroke inside the strut which would cause it to pretty much bypass the worn part. The reason why I suspect the strut is that you say it is quite noticeable on smooth roads. Well if that is where your strut is used to being it would etch the inside piston wall. With slight movement (eg. smooth roads) it moves out of that pocket then back in causing a pop noise.

[97CobraNow]

i really appreciate your help by the way....

[97CobraNow]

that makes sense........ would that affect ride quality at all ? or only cause the pop ?

[97CobraNow]

because on rougher roads, on the way to work the freeway is bad, on the way home its smoooooth... so on the way to work i dont notice the problem really... but on the way home i do a lot...

[97CobraNow]

could the strut have a possible bind or something that an alignment would correct ?

[1rnkpny]

" Chassis Ears " is a set of alligator clips (typically 6) wired to a small amplifier with headphones. It has 6 different channels (1/clip) so you can attach them to a problem area to pinpoint an issue like the one you're having. You can move them around to narrow the area most suspect.

The noise doesn't sound like it will compromise the operation of the strut, but just have an annoying pop noise.