Front suspension popping. Replaced strut. Noise still present.

Is it popping when you turn the wheel? Does it happen at low speed while you are turning the wheel quite a bit (e.g. maneuvering in a parking lot, into a garage)? If so, I think you are hearing "spring bind." It's fairly typical on coilovers, but I also heard it on my car when I had the factory springs on as well.

 

Last time I had a popping sound in the front end you could only hear it when turning. Turned out they had to replace left front axle assembly because the boot got knocked off , leaked all the oil out and ruined the bearing. Thank God for extended warranty .

 

Yes, CV joint would be my other guess. Probably not tie rods or ball joints as you would probably feel more vibration as you are driving.

 

how many miles?

Did you only do the one side?

 

at 200K + ... they can't have much life in them.

 

When replacing struts it's recommended to replace the strut mounts, too. That's the top part where the strut mounts to the engine bay. Also you're supposed to replace struts and shocks in pairs. Left and right at the same time.

 

99% of coil over popping is usually spring bind. Where the spring is not seated properly on the strut mount. The spring may be worn out and not seating properly. Try spraying some lubrication where the spring sits in the lower mount.

How did you get the spring on the strut when you replaced it? Its pretty hard to diy that and get the spring on correctly. And like the other poster said the top bearing assy is just as important as the strut. You won't believe how much harder it is to turn with a 200K mile bearing assy. Really hard on the rack.

But its a moot point anyway as at 200K + miles the whole front suspension is pretty whipped.

 

Its a real pain and very unsafe to compress the spring yourself. Tough job. Most auto parts stores have a service to do that now.
Its hard to get the spring seated in the perches correctly when your diy as there's no fixture to hold the whole assy while compressing the spring.

 

Sway bar end links are common, especially given the mileage on the car.

SM-G900V ?