HELP: Tein SS Rattle / Noise / Clicking
 

Well, we've finally finished the install of the Tein SS Coilovers using the stock mounts and the result is great! The coilovers handle very well on the road.

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Only one problem since getting them installed! They're making this awful clicking rattling noise that sounds as if there's metal clanking together......not really sure WTF it is but it's really beginning to piss me off!! We checked every bolt on the suspension and torqued everything up to spec, but still get this damn noise. We tried to tighten the top nut but any tighter and the rod will start to turn in place because it would have eaten through the cheap Mazda metal washers that we had to use.

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

We've run out of ideas, so anyone who has installed the Tein SS coilovers on their car, speak up and let me know whether you too are getting this noise. If you did and were able to fix it, please post that up here too so that we can try your suggestions.

do you have aftermarket sway bar on there? its possible the
endlink is now too short... you probably setup the
ride height about -2inches right?... check your endlinks.

teins will usually have some clunking noise when going over
rough roads, but thats not a problem. my HA's do it, not my
NA's though.

no aftermarket sway bar yet.......but the noise isn't the sound of the endlink hitting (i'll double check over the weekend), it's more like the clunking noise but over exaggerated......like when you take a corner @ slow speeds, you'll get about 5-10 clicks until you're finally done.......

hummm...hard to say. how firm do you have the dampness
set to?

count clicks counter clockwise from full hard (full clockwise).

usually for street 12 clicks from full hard is enough. first
couple hundred miles you need to breakin the dampers to
use 13clicks from full hard to get some of that air out of the
gas (from shipping).

well, i tried your suggestion this morning of putting the damper setting to about 12-13 clicks from full hard and it actually made the matters worse. Now the car seems to be making the clicking / rattling / noise more frequently.......it's really becoming an annoying thing.

i found some information on the ClubRSX board discussing this because it seems that people on this board either don't have the tein SS coilovers or they just don't care enough about the noise..........but i need to get more info about this with people that own protege's cause their suggestions are sometimes too specific to the RSX :mad: ........this noise is making me very frustrated and feeling like teins are not the "bomb" product they seem to be.......

worse, huh....then you probably dont have a typical tein issue.
its probably coming from the car.

how low did you set the height? try 2 finger gaps all around
and see. you're right, i dont have the teins on my Pro5 (on WRX and a 98 prelude) so i cant be exact...

is that coming from the front or rear or both?

reading the RSX posts, i think it may have something to do with the top plate sitting on the springs that maybe be slightly off which could be causing my noise......i think i'll have to look at it this weekend and see what it is........i don't think it's the car that's making the noise cause it seems like it's more in the suspension itself.........the ride height is set to the specifications provided by the tein install guide..........thanks for the help kenchan, kept them thoughts rolling... :D

the sound is coming more from the front cause when you go over a dip, the front tends to bounce more so makes more noise......back will happen every now and again......

You kinda brushed this off earlier, but have you thoroughly checked the clearance between the front swaybar and the front tie rods with the car sitting on the ground at normal ride height? (You might need to put the car up on some wood blocks to get under it to measure.) There should be several inches of clearance.

There have been tie rod clearance problems documented on this list that were caused by mixing and matching struts and endlinks from the later long-endlink and the early short-endlink suspension setups on cars that have been lowered. I'm not sure which setup the Tein coilovers use. Since the problem seems to happen only when the car is turning, this seems likely to me. Good luck! :D

teins are known to make audible clunk noises from the rear
when you use pillow mounts, but not from the front.

plus, i dont think its any plate on the top of the strut because
if you were to soften damp seetings (especially to 12clicks)
the piston will give away rather than the strut top making MORE
noise.

yep, as above, i suggest you recheck the endlinks of the
front swaybar on ramps. compress the arm to make sure
you have clearance throughout the stroke of the arm.

Still having problems? I just put a set of Matrix coilovers on my PR5 this morning & I had to replace the aluminum top hat with a $5 rubber gasket, top hat looking thingie....no rattles or noises at speed, just a little squeaking in slow turns, but, I havent cambered yet or gotten an allignment. hope this helps.

same problem
 

i havent been on this forum in awhile but i have the same damn problem with my MP5 with the clicking on the front driver side coilover, let me know if you figure anything out to fix it.

man, im glad i didnt get the ss this time and just went prokit on this car. :D hahaha absolutely no noise from the springs.

well i'm absolutely stumped with this........but i'm gonna take it to the mazda mechanic (not your typical mechanic, works on race cars), and give him a ride in it and pick his brain to see what he thinks it could possibly be...........then from there i'll see what can be done, and then take it to the place i bought it and see what they think since they've installed tons like this.........

i know that most ppl w/ the Teins have been having similar problems, but when you dish out that much cash, you kinda want something of a little better quality....... :D ...........if all else fails i'll look into the $5 gasket and see whether they help.......

ooooo...u didnt do the install yourself, huh? :(

yah, they are pretty expensive so hope you get it to a point
you can enjoy it. some noise is normal, but not sure wat your
noise is like, so...

nah man.....did the install myself........just having them do a once over quickly to see whether they know cause those mazda guys run race coils on their project p5.......no worries about cost :D

well, i finally figured out what was making my rattling noise......it's probably the last thing i thought it would be........

the teins come with a dust cover for the front suspensions that sit on top of your springs below the aluminum cover.....when the springs compress and decompress the plastic dust cover seems to hit the gaps, thus making the noise.......it's kinda like when you were kids all those years ago and used to put those baseball cards on your wheel spokes so that it made those flicking noise......

anyways found this out when i had my two mechanic friends take a look at the suspension........they bounced my car like madmen while looking at the suspension setup.......as the car bounced we saw the spring hit the plastic dust cover as it made the noise.......further inspection of the cover led to damage on the dust cover.......i will be contacting tein to send me replacements for their defectively designed dust cover...... :D