I have a 1999 saturn sl2 that has a broken strut on the passenger side front tire.The top of the strut has actually left marks on the inside of the hood. I have a 2000 saturn sl2 that I kept for parts that's exact match. Can I remove the entire strut, spring, and casing from the junk car and put it on the one that's broken? If so where do I go to find out how?

SOURCE: How to remove the inside left side front door

Snap out two door pull strap retaining screw covers. Remove screws.
Remove screws on front, rear and center of front door trim panel.
Using the Trim Pad Removing Tool or equivalent, pry the trim panel retaining clips from the door inner panel.
These are plastic so be careful you can use a pair of needle nose pliers if you don't have a trim tool.Just start at bottom of door panel and work your way around and up.

SOURCE: coil spring

If your car has over 75K miles on and the struts are original, I'd have the struts replaced. As for the coil spring, you can probably find a repair manual at your local library. You can get loaner spring and strut compressor tools at most auto parts stores (loaners are free, just have to leave a deposit for the price of the tool).

Repair cost will vary from place to place, but I'd say coil and strut replacement is about 4-5 hours labor. I'd guess a $300-$450 for parts and labor (coil - $100, pair struts - $140)

SOURCE: replace front strut

You will need a strut spring compressor. You can probably buy a cheap one for about as much as a shop would charge you to install a new spring on your strut.

Sometimes you can even "borrow" these from your local parts store with a deposit.

It is probably faster to do it yourself than bring it to a shop.

You need to compress the spring before you put it in the strut housing. Directions should be included with the spring compressor kit.

Here's the general directions:

Take the two bolts on the bottom off

There may be a bolt holding the brake line in place (remove it)

Take the three bolts on the top off

The strut assembly should be free now.

Pull strut assembly out and set it on the floor

The top nut holds the top bearing plate and that holds the spring in place.

Remove the top nut

Remove old broken spring

Compress new spring and put it in place on the strut

Put strut top plate on and secure locknut

Release spring compressor.

Reinstall strut assembly in car.


Good Luck!

SOURCE: 2000 Lexus ES300 - 45K

Are you sure this is a rattle or is it more of a creaking noise? I have a 2000 ES300 and had an issue when I would go over speed bumps and the noise would drive me nuts! However replacing the bushing in the top of the strut mount is expensive due to the labor involved.. Replacement of the strut or the bushing isn't necessary. Just open the hood, locate the strut housing and you ll be able to see the black rubber bushing in the middle. Obtain a can of Heavy Duty silicone aerosol spray and attach a straw to the spray tip. Using a flathead screwdriver wedge the screwdriver between the top of the bushing and the metal pushing the screwdriver all the way to the edge of the metal underneath the roof of the metal housing. Then pry the edge of the bushing away from the metal housing so that the top of the edge of the bushing exposed and stick the straw end of the silicone into the spot and spray generously. Only slight bushing movement will be obtained as the bushing is pretty stiff but it will be enough. Work your way around using this technique until you get the spray fully around the bushing 360 degrees getting it into the area between the edge of the bushing and the metal. Then spray the silicone onto the top of the bushing filling it all the way up until it spills over the metal. After it drains down, repeat again making sure you fill it above the rim of the bushing so it seeps into the area between the bushing and he metal housing (or frame) because this is where the rubbing is taking place that is creating that awful noise. Repeat on the other side and your done. The main goal is to get the silicone into the area between the metal and the bushing along the edge. This happens to be the way I was able to do it. This totally solved my problem and now the car is so quiet there aren't any knocking, creaking or rattling noises. This was a hard solution to explain without visuals, hope you can follow. This will work for sure. The Heavy Duty Silicone spray I used was manufactured by CRC and I bought it from Walmart.

SOURCE: how to remove passenger side mirror

You'll need to remove screws that are by the door handle, arm rest, under door and side of door and then gently pull back on the panel as there will also be retaining clips attached and you don't want to break them. Then pull off the cover adjacent to the mirror and remove the bolts holding the mirror on. Once the mirror's off, you should see the harness / plug