New to me 2001 I30 - Questions...

[elav]

I just got a 2001 I30 with 92K miles and I have a few questions. The suspension on the car seems OK with a couple of exceptions. They are...

1. When I go over a speed bump I hear a dull clunk from the front suspension (both sides are doing it). I'm assuming it is either the struts or the strut mount. Is there an easy way to determine which it is? Does it make more sense to just replace both?

2. This car was previously rear ended and repaired by a dealership (a while ago). I noticed that the gas filler hose isn't lining up with the hole in the sheetmetal. I looked under the car and it looks like there are a few brackets on the filler tube but they aren't connected to anything and it doesn't look like there are any brackets to attach them to. Can someone post a picture of what their filler pipe looks like?

3. Is there a preferred vendor for genuine Infiniti parts?


Thanks in advance for any help on these issues.

 

[Montego Murph]

1. When I go over a speed bump I hear a dull clunk from the front suspension (both sides are doing it). I'm assuming it is either the struts or the strut mount. Is there an easy way to determine which it is? Does it make more sense to just replace both?

It might be the sway arm links. Those tend to go bad before anything else and make a hollow "thoonk" noise on bumps. Replace them both, usually it's like $20 for the parts, or $100 per side to have a shop do them. One thing I learned the hard way is to have the car jacked up evenly in the center when doing them, not just the one wheel you're working on. Makes things a lot easier without pressure on one side or the other.