Front passenger side sqeak, two mechanic's opinions (pics included)
 

Hello all! (first post) I hope to become a great enthusiest like you all :p

the car in question : 1994 Acura Integra LS

Alright, ive probably visited every forum and enthusiest site there is on the integra, but i still dont have a solid answer, even after going to two mechanics (one a local family mechanic, the other a chain, gregs japense auto)

Lets start with the story (links to pics as follows)

For the past few months, my front right passenger side has sqeaked, getting worse in cold weather, not so much in hot (warm weather is so so)
Now, i took it into a honda dealership (renton honda, they did my cv joints) and they said they found nothing wrong (worst $100 dollars ever spent) at the time i took it to the dealership, it did not sqeak at all (which pissed me off alot). I finally got hold of my local family mechanic (hes a trucker, so hard to get ahold of him) and he said it was the bushings that are going out, he lifted the car, sprayed an area (the last picture) and the sqeaking had stopped. A week later, it start up again, some what more worse than before. I lifted the car, but i forgot the area he sprayed, lowered, and the sound went away! Mistified, i continued to drive on. Another week later the sound starts up again, and its to late to call my local mechanic (road trip with a semi). He did tell me the area that he sprayed, and i remembered it. I sprayed some of my own silicon lube, while the car was down, and the sqeak didnt exactly go away (it quited down alittle). I decided to bring it to another mechanic, this time a chain shop called gregs japanese auto repair. I take it in, they lift and inspect (for free. DAMN YOU DEALERSHIP!!) and say that my lower ball joints are about to go.

NOW! I am super confused, i looked all over the web for sqeaking ball joints and bushings, and to no avail to find a real answer to my situation (probably not looking hard enough, but around 100 google link clicks is alot)

Now, i just ordered from oemacuraparts.com some new lower ball joints, but is this the real problem? opinions? Now some pics!

The car
http://home.comcast.net/~mario.aviado/thecar.jpg

The front right passenger under side of hub

http://home.comcast.net/~mario.aviado/fullpic.jpg

Lower ball joint (kinda fuzzy)

http://home.comcast.net/~mario.aviado/lbj.jpg

CV Joint Axel

http://home.comcast.net/~mario.aviado/lca.jpg

Possible squeaking bushing?

http://home.comcast.net/~mario.aviado/bush1.jpg

And this last picture is what the local family mechanic sprayed with silicone lube. What is that part?

http://home.comcast.net/~mario.aviado/mechsp.jpg

forgot to add a few more tid bits

148,000mi
the car is lowered

k with my non-pro input i had an annoying ass sqeak left wheel area took it to a mechanic and he said it was break pads put new ones in and it was fixed and he THOUGHT it was the joint u got replaced but wasnt and i didnt lose the 100 neways if that think he sprayed stopped it why dont u just take off the bolts and lube it up really good it might just have no grease on it the ppl might just want a sale for the bearings or w/e they say it is

ill try removing the bolt tomarrow, but i would i need to keep greasing it? does it mean the part is going out?

not to sure it prolly came greased and over the years it just got shitty lol..cuz it u think of it logically if thats where ur spraying lube and it stops then it needs to be lubed

tried getting the bolt out, but the dang thing wont budge. i sprayed more silicone lube all over the thing before putting it back down.

any more opinions? anyone know what the part is in the last picture is?

If your worried about a sqeak, just a itty bitty squeak, then go through and replace all the bushings w/ a new ones. If you hate squeaks, don't do urathane. They squeak. lol Unless you lube em proper during the install. Also, if you've got the car apart, might as well do the ball joints to save money. Plus, yes, those endlinks bushings look bad. When you have a car with over 100k miles, your gonna get squeaking, but those are some options.

F'n a, forgot to answer this one. :D That part there is a radius arm, if i read my manual correctly. It won't come out unless you unbolt it from the LCA. If you are going to go that far, you will probably need to pull aparts the front suspsension to make it easier to get to. The parts above that pic is the end link.

plus you've lowered the car, that will cause alot of odd behavoir with bushings that have been sitting a certian way for 100k miles.

the sqeaks definitly get louder, especially when its colder. people can notice the noise probably half ablock away.

quick question about the bushings. i was thinking of the ES bushing set, but other than that, since my ride is lowered, is there any other bushings other than stock that i can go with? will also getting a camber kit keep the strain off my bushings?

I'd be willing to bet it's the balljoints on the upper control arm.