I bought a work car, it's a 2001 Honda Civic Sedan EX, with a 5 speed (not bragging, just sayin'). It has just under 200,000 miles.
The car has an obvious lean to the right side, parked on level ground with front tires pointing straight forward. When going around corners, it has a loud clunk/pop noise coming from the front right side. Also, it gets wobbly during gear shifts, even at low RPM's. However, just moving in straight line, it seems to handle just fine.
I just haven't had time, but this week I plan on really inspecting it to figure out what is wrong with it. What would you suggest looking at (besides a new car) to fix these problems?
I suspect that maybe I have a broken strut, or strut mount. I looked at the spring, and visually, it doesn't appear to be broken. It looks like both sway bar links are bad, but I wouldn't think that would cause the leaning issue.
Would a bad ball joint allow the car to lean to one side?
I'm asking for your opinion on what may cause the leaning, popping during turns, and wobbling during shifts.