A knock in the front suspension of Kalina requires a complete diagnosis of the car's chassis. It is on the suspension that road surface defects, various pits and dents have a particular negative effect. A squeak or knock of the suspension is any of the breakdowns of the undercarriage mechanism that needs to be repaired.
Features of the viburnum suspension
Upon a detailed examination of the Kalina's suspension, one can see the hydraulic shock-absorbing struts, which are attached to the swivel knuckle in the lower part, being the basis of the entire structure of the assembly. The bolt located in the upper part of the steering knuckle allows adjusting the camber element.
In the assembly, the top goes through a hole in the existing bracket. The body part is equipped with a mudguard, to which the top of the pillar is fixed with three nuts. Due to the existing elasticity of this unit, high-frequency vibrations are excellently damped. In this case, a characteristic sway occurs during the implementation of the working stroke.
The front suspension of the Lada Kalina car is telescopic, with full independence.
The Kalina suspension, which is characterized by the presence of conical or coil springs, provides a special smoothness of the machine due to the presence of a stabilizer. This allows you not to violate the lateral stability of the car. This function is also performed by levers, which are referred to as cross braces. The bearing for pivoting the rack must be able to turn the wheels.
Construction characteristics
An important technical characteristic of the Kalina front suspension is the presence of shock absorber elements in the rack. In the design of the car, the lower arm and the steering knuckle in a pair are fastened simultaneously to the cross member related to the front suspension, which is carried out in the presence of a ball joint. Similarly, due to the silent blocks, the brake pads are docked with the suspension.
To adjust the angle of the pivot, the suspension uses washers, which are located in the connection formed by the lever and the brace. The angular contact bearing can be fixed to the wheel drive with a nut. When making repairs to the front suspension of Kalina, it is imperative to take into account the extent to which the process of adjusting units and structural details is possible.
The Lada Kalina hubs are characterized by the presence of fastening nuts, which are interchangeable. They can only have a right-hand thread. The presence of a bar, which is a stabilizer, ensures the stability of the transverse, being responsible for it. Her knee, which has rubber hinges, must be fixed to the suspension when using bushings with struts. Fastening with the torsion part to the body is provided with brackets.
It should be borne in mind that for the design of the suspension, the driver is sometimes required to carry out certain measures that are aimed at the process of strengthening the elements of the struts (glasses). This allows for more mileage without fear of suspension knocking.
Improved suspension scheme
Kalina is equipped with an SSAZ suspension. At the same time, the installation of the cc20 or KAYABA models on a car is associated with their best characteristics, while the first is guaranteed inaudible operation, which is combined with high reliability.
The reasons for the squeak and knock of the car suspension
The front suspension consists of: 1 - nut for fastening the upper strut support; 2 - bolt; 3 - the upper support of the front suspension strut; 4 - bearing of the upper support of the rack; 5 - upper insulating spring gasket; 6 - front suspension spring; 7 - protective casing; 8 - telescopic stand assembly; 9, 10 - nuts for fastening the rack to the steering knuckle; 11 - a bolt with an eccentric; 12 - bolt; 13 - steering fist; 14 - front wheel drive shaft; 15 - stabilizer bar; 16 - stretching; 17 - lever; 18 - ball bearing; 19 - hub; 20 - hub fastening nut; 21 - brake disc; 22 - buffer of compression of the front suspension; 23 - upper spring cup; 24 - stop for the compression stroke of the upper strut support; 25 - travel stop of the upper support of the rack; 26 - stabilizer strut mounting nut; H - control dimension
It is possible to eliminate various malfunctions that arise in the front suspension of the Lada Kalina car if their cause is known. If there are faulty front suspension struts that can knock, they should be replaced. In some cases, they can be repaired.
If during the diagnostics it was revealed that the bolts that fix the stabilizer bar, which ensure lateral stability, to the car body are loosened, then they must be tightened. Worn rubber bands or rods are replaced.
If the fastening of the upper support of the Lada Kalina suspension strut is loosened, then it is necessary to tighten the nuts securing this unit. If the front suspension shows destruction of the rubber support of the strut, then it must be replaced. If the rubber-metal hinges (silent blocks) are worn out, new ones should be installed.
The presence of a malfunction of the stabilizer bar struts requires replacement. In case of upsetting with a breakage of the front suspension spring, it should be replaced. When the compression stroke buffer is destroyed, it is dismantled with the subsequent installation of a new one. With an increased imbalance of the wheels, you should contact a tire workshop for specialists to eliminate the detected malfunction.
Often, after operation for 2 years, there are dull knocks on the side of the doors, especially those that are often opened. Most likely, this is due to the weakening of the hinge axis, behind which the bolt protrudes in the viburnum. Checking for the presence of backlash in the hinges is simple, you need to open the door and shake it up and down, if there are small knocks and a noticeable backlash, then the matter is in the bolts. The bottom bolts are loosened the most, but the top bolts must be checked as well.
Upper door hinge, bolt enters from below.
Bottom door hinge, bolt comes in from above.
To solve this problem, you only need a 13 key, you need to turn the bolts clockwise, strong efforts are applied, but without fanaticism. If you are afraid to rip off the bolt, then it is better to first unscrew it a little counterclockwise.
Until 2008, old bolts were installed on viburnums, which instead of the usual 13 head had an asterisk. If tightening the bolts does not help to eliminate the backlash, then we buy bolts of a new modification with a tapered working area and grooves for lubrication. The picture on the left shows the new bolt type and the old one on the right.
When replacing old bolts with new ones, it is better to do it one at a time, that is, first we change the upper one, and only then the lower one. The door is not easy. If you do not have helpers to hold the door, then you can fix the door with something, my friend got out of the situation like this.
When tightening new bolts, I advise you to lubricate them with lithol and drip onto the threads with a weak thread lock. Good luck.
I decided to update an already existing article that was written over a year ago. In that case, the rattling of the gearshift lever was not very strong and was eliminated quite simply, which will be written about at the very bottom.
In the meantime, I want to give a small instruction on how to eliminate the bounce of the lever on Kalina. For this I needed the following accessories:
- Open-end or ring spanner 13
- Pliers
- Electric sharpener
Why is the gearshift lever rattling on Kalina?
The main reason for this problem is the very design of the arm-to-rod attachment. To put it mildly, it is not perfect, but it can be easily corrected with minimal costs and in just a few minutes.
So, first you need to lift the lever cover up, and then unscrew the fastening nut, which is already shown in the photo below, almost complete:
When the bolt has been removed, we also remove all the washers and the metal bushing. And all this pancake in parts looks like this:
So, the reason for bouncing is that when connecting this entire structure, a small gap appears between the parts, which is the source of strong vibration.
To achieve a smaller gap, it is necessary to slightly grind off the metal sleeve, which just does not allow the washers to be squeezed more tightly. I want to warn you that you need to grind very carefully and very little, literally 1 mm. If you overdo it, then the lever will move with great effort.
As a result, after connecting the sleeve with washers into a single structure, as shown at first, we get a picture when this gap has decreased:
I screwed up a little and grinded off a little more than necessary (as I warned about above). As a result, when the fastening nut is tightened firmly, the lever moves tight when shifting. But I slightly loosened this nut, literally half a turn - it should not be unscrewed!
When he had done everything, he started the car and gave good revs, and there were no sounds from the lever. But to be sure, I decided to take a ride. I accelerated to about 70 km / h in third gear and dropped the gas pedal. Previously, in this situation, the bounce was just awful, and the only salvation from this was a hand on the lever! Now there is not a single hint of extraneous sounds and vibration.
Who has not yet eliminated a similar defect on their Kalina, you can use this advice, just grind the sleeve minimally. It is better to modify it a second time than to screw it up the first time!
Below is the material of an old article that talks about a similar problem, but it is easily solvable and has long been in the past!
Many owners of Lada Kalina very often have the following problem: during acceleration, as well as when braking by the engine, the gear lever begins to rattle. A similar problem arose with my Kalina after about 15,000 km of operation.
At first, these extraneous sounds did not irritate me much, but every day the rattling of the gearshift lever became stronger, and to be honest, it’s not very pleasant to listen to this every day. I decided to tackle this issue. So, elimination of the cause can occur in different ways, depending on the complexity of the problem.
Fortunately, in my case, it was enough to pry off and remove the upper arm pad, on which the gearbox diagram was squeezed out. Better to pry off this cover with a thin screwdriver to avoid damaging the plastic parts. After we managed to take it out, we wrap its inner circle with a thin strip of electrical tape and insert it back. After that, this lid sits much tighter and does not rattle.
Of course, there are other sources of extraneous sounds, but everything worked out for me as simply and quickly as possible. The picture above shows what exactly needs to be wrapped with electrical tape.
Having traveled for some time in a VAZ-1118 car, many owners of this car noticed that the Kalina gearbox lever rattles. Moreover, this rattling resembles the sound that was present in earlier cars of this plant (from VAZ-2108 to VAZ-2110). The fact is that the mechanical transmission is structurally controlled according to the same type.
It is not very pleasant to drive a car when it is noisy in the cabin. Therefore, it is better to get rid of this problem, since the experience of many drivers shows that rattling does not go away by itself. On the contrary, as the mileage increases, it becomes louder and louder. Ordinary driving turns into a real torture for people sitting in Kalina, causing special discomfort.
The main reason for this problem is the impeccably executed system for attaching the gear lever to the traction. The car owner can go two ways to correct the situation: fix the problem on his own or send the car for repair at a service station.
How can the chatter be eliminated?
In the place where the gearshift lever and the gearbox control rod are connected, there is a small gap (backlash). This is the reason for the rattling. At the manufacturing plant, it was reinforced with special damping bushings in order to dampen vibration. This is how it happens. But over time, the bushings wear out, the substances that lubricate them dry out, so the noise begins in Kalina.
There are several options to address this issue. Here's one of the most common ways. You can eliminate the bounce of the gearshift lever yourself without spending a lot of time on it. The tools require a 13 mm wrench, pliers and a sharpener. Repairs are carried out in accordance with the following points:
- Remove the cover from the gear lever and lift it up. Unscrew the fastening nut, which is very tightly tightened (it is protected from self-loosening). Remove carefully.
- Remove the bolt. Remove the bushing and washers.
- After that, the technological gap becomes visible, which is the cause of vibration. This is the connection in Kalina, due to which the bounce occurs.
- It is necessary to make sure that the gap is minimized. To do this, gently grind the metal sleeve slightly, by about 1 mm. It is she who does not allow the washers to snuggle more tightly. Do not overdo it, or the shift lever will become very tight.
- Assemble the entire structure in reverse order. Start the car, take a ride, switching the gearbox to different gears, thereby checking how correctly the repair was made.
If the grinding is not enough, then you can disassemble everything and sharpen the sleeve a little more. It is better not to grind enough the first time than to grind too much.
How to fix breakage with an aluminum can?
The second possible way to eliminate rattle starts like the first. The Lada Kalina gearbox is disassembled: the cover is removed, the nut is unscrewed. Then it is necessary to eliminate the backlashes between the bushings and the gearshift lever (they are glued together with the help of a sealant). It is necessary to remember how all the nodes are removed, so that later everything can be assembled without problems.
The next step is to cut a strip out of any aluminum can (from under any drink). Wrap the sleeve with this strip, making sure that the edges of the strip and the sleeve are joined. Elimination of the axial clearance is done as follows: cut a washer from the same can and insert it between the sleeve that was glued to the sealant and the ring. Lubricate everything with special grease and assemble into the original structure, which was on Kalina before parsing.
Coat the cut strip and washer with the same grease. Put everything together, tighten the nut. At the same time, do not make such efforts that can break the thread. If you have a lock nut handy, use it. This will help avoid loosening in the event of possible vibration. The repair can be considered complete.
The sleeve with the foil strip fits into place without gaps, but there is no interference either. If everything is done correctly, then the gearshift lever should move in the same way as it was before the procedure, that is, gear shifting in Kalina should not become harder. The final stage can be a check of all the actions performed. Start the car, drive through, switching between first or second gear, then check others.
Having tested the car a little, we can draw conclusions: is it noisy in the cabin or not? If everything is done correctly, then the noise is excluded.
Owners often complain about the chirping of "grasshoppers" somewhere in the area of the steering column, but it is difficult for someone to find the culprit, but someone is lazy. I will try to help both. Having lowered the steering column to the lower position, unscrew the two screws securing the instrument panel and remove it (do not be confused by the slight resistance of the two metal latches in the lower corners). Now you need to unscrew the four screws and remove the upper casing of the steering shaft. The white block of the wiring harness extending from the LCD display of the instrument cluster will open to your eyes. Often this block touches the casing, and it chirps in motion! The standard plastic harness holder does not save you from this. I put a piece of rubber hose cut lengthwise over the block, but you can use foam rubber or other suitable material.
But somewhere lurked another source of chatter, and a lower tone. Having listened, I realized that it was the lower cladding that was "talking" when it was disturbed by the steering column adjustment lever. I got rid of the annoying sound quite easily: I lowered the lever and bent it a little.
The doors can rattle quite loudly at the "Kalin" - any play in the hinges is given by a knock on the bumps. On "Kalina" the hinge axis is removable, screwed into the body on the thread. If the tightening is loose, the knot will begin to tap harder and harder. Pull up the axle - you need a TORX T-40 head. But it happens that the tightening of the axle weakens again. Then we turn it out completely (the assistant supports the door), clean the thread and, applying a glue-retainer, wrap it in place. As a rule, this is enough for a long time, but still we will paint a mark on the axis of each hinge and the body. Such a beacon in the future will allow you to keep an eye on the state of the loop, without bringing it to knocks.
I will conclude the story with some advice for those who are just going to buy Kalina. If I adjust the front seat for myself (my height is 174 cm), then it is impossible to unfold the rear seat for cargo transportation. Front seat adjustment range is 168 mm, and the raised rear cushion eats up a good 90 mm. If you are going to transport the goods, it is better to remove the pillows in advance and leave them at home (in the garage) or reserve a place for them in the cabin.
