03 ION Lower Control Arm Bushing Problem

[Red_Forman]

More bad news from the guy in Korea...

I've been hearing a lot of noise coming from the front left suspension while going over bumps or through dips, so I took the car down to a mechanic. Turns out the bushing in the lower control arm is separated (or some other technical term for not doing what it's supposed to do), so the lower control arm is resting on the chassis. Comparing it to the passenger side lower control arm makes it clear that the problem is in the bushing.

I was wondering if anyone out there knows if I can just order a new bushing and have the mechanic pop it in, or am I going to have to order a new lower control arm... The Korean mechanic didn't know, since he's not used to working on Saturns. I will be calling Saturn of Honolulu in the morning to talk to their service dept.

Once again, my still under warranty ION is costing me money.

[sattech]

The bushings can be purchased separately. They are pressed in. the part #is 22688205

[nz3rkh]

I ordered a set of aftermarket rear lower control arm bushings today for my '03 Ion.

[dave380]

I had the infamous clunk going on in my 03 ion on the driver's side. The bushing was bad and the control arm was resting on the frame just as you describe, so I had the bushing replaced last week. It helped the clunk a lot, but didn't completely fix it. Now I'll have to look into the sway links and bushings. My point is that depending on what kind of noises you're hearing, be prepared for the bushing to not completely solve it.

[johnk]

If you are doing the LCA bushings, do the sway bar bushings as well. I had to replace all the bushings in the front end of my 05 ION before the clunking would stop. This includes the bushings at the top of my struts. My struts were starting to leak as well.