K11 creaking and knocking from front end

Hi Everyone

My name is George and I have a 2002 K11 on 45k miles. It has a problem which I'm looking for some advice on.

There's a horrible creak from the suspension at low speeds particularly if I turn right and then brake. The front suspension is actually pretty noisy in general and I would normally suspect drop links but this car doesn't have an ARB.

A clicking sound which sounds exactly like you would expect a knackered CV joint to sound like but it only happens on a partial lock. I've been in car parks driving round on a hard lock in all directions but no noise.

The car has power steering but in my opinion it's still pretty heavy for a car of this size with PAS which makes me think there must be a problem somewhere. The first time I drove this car I assumed it had no power steering.

So far I've had the car jacked up to check for play in the ball joints etc and what I've found is that both front springs are jumping in their seats when the steering is turned. The springs have the plastic insulation on the top and bottom but the top bit looks to be torn. I can't see if the springs are broken or fractured at the top under the insulation.

Given the heavyish steering and the springs moving in the seats I suspect seized top strut bearings but I've done a lot of searching around and that doesn't seem to be a common micra fault.

I'll make a start stripping it down tomorrow but I can't afford to have it off the road for long so I would be very grateful for any advice you can give.

Sorry for the long and boring first post:blush:

Cheers

George
 
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