1997 Honda Odyssey Logo
Suzie Posted on Jul 14, 2013
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What may be causing a clunk in the back of my van when I turn left?

I replaced the rear shocks last year. Was told I would need new brakes in the rear and rotors, soon. What else could be wrong and should I repair it? Husband says no. Mechanic/good friend, says not to ditch this vehicle as it runs really well and has 165 K on the engine with regular maintenance.

1 Answer

montehammons

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  • Honda Master 5,531 Answers
  • Posted on Jul 14, 2013
montehammons
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If it runs that good, I wouldn't sell it either. A little noise in the rear is small compared to engine or front end repairs. Have it checked, maybe the rear brakes are causing the noise.

Testimonial: "I will do just that. I thought possibly the brakes are connected somehow. it is a new England Car and there is quite a bit of old rust from years up there. Already had to get some scraped off. Just want to be sure I am safe in it. Hoping it won't be a huge expense. Thanks so much"

  • Suzie Jul 17, 2013

    WOW! Not only was there a problem with the sway bar up front which needed repair. The rear brakes needed rotors, pads and calipers. One caliper piston on the right was frozen open and could have caused serious danger and was creating drag on that side. I.E. engine, transmission or brake failure!

  • Suzie Jul 17, 2013

    $589 later.. :(

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5 Related Answers

Greg Mills

  • 497 Answers
  • Posted on Aug 09, 2009

SOURCE: Brakes on 2002 Honda CRV

It sounds like there is a problem with the current calipers, it would be cheaper to try replacing the current ones with a new one NOT FROM HONDA. buy an aftermarket caliper and try that. Dealerships will try to screw you over and take money from you when its not necessary.

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Anonymous

  • 1 Answer
  • Posted on Apr 10, 2009

SOURCE: right rear shock absorber detached from the top mounting point

Turns out that after 26 years and 233 thousand miles, the original strut gave up the ghost: Rust! I took the shock strut assembly out of a 'spare parts' Honda Accord I keep and replaced the broken one in the Honda I am now driving. Mechanically the car is still excellent, but the car is destined to dissolve around me! To remove the whole assembly required taking out one 14mm bolt at the bottom and three 12mm bolts at the top, some WD 40, several pieces of wood for leverage and a heavy mallet.. Since there is a heavy duty coil spring involved, one should take out the bottom bolt first and lift the bottom of the strut free from its position, ( this is where I used a long 2x4 and another piece of wood as the fulcrum point to pry the strut upward) Then undo the top 3 bolts and the whole unit falls out. You will also need to detach the brake fluid line that uses the strut itself as an anchor. The easiest way is to take the line off from the back of the brake drum housing ( 9mm nut) and remove the horseshoe clip and push the curved metal brake line through the small hole where the line is anchored to the strut. Use care as you will need to reattach the brake line again after installing the next shock strut. (Coil spring compression tool required) Needless to say, you will need to jack the car up and remove the rear tire first to access the whole thing.

Anonymous

  • 410 Answers
  • Posted on Jun 20, 2009

SOURCE: rotor button?

The rotor button is located under the distributor cap (what the other end of the spark plug wire plugs into).  It should be held on by one phillips head screw and take a couple minutes to change out.  As far as the wires go, I had the same problem with the aftermarket wires on my 89 honda.  I'm assuming you have aftermarkter wires by now too.  I would suggest trying Bosch OEM wireset if you don't already have them.  For some reason they don't fit very tight with the cheaper ones.  Let me know if you have any other questions.  Thanks for rating my response and for using FixYa!

airjoc

Rob Sinbad

  • 709 Answers
  • Posted on Jul 11, 2009

SOURCE: noise in rear brakes

I would remove the tires and see exactly what it is. Its good I dea to at least inspect to make sure everything in par, that way you can also inspect the rear pad, that may even causing the problems. Its hard to say and solved the problems not seeing the actual car. once you have the wheel off you can actually spin the rear wheel to see what causing that sound. There also a metal tab attach to your pad to give you a warning by rubbing to the rotor making squealing sound that the pad is getting low and need attention soon.

Anonymous

  • 105 Answers
  • Posted on Oct 26, 2009

SOURCE: Noise from rear suspension on 2003 Honda Odyssey.

a clunking clanging noise sounds very much like your stabilizer bar end links and bushings. you have a thin rear "sway" bar on the rear of your odyssey. this can cause a whole lot of noise. grab each side and pull/push. if it feals loose, replace the end links and bushings.

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