Need help finding clunk noise, possibly in suspension

[stephenkirsh]

I have a clunk noise that I believe is coming from the front passenger area, under the hood. It only happens when I go over pretty hard bumps.

Originally I thought it was my broken power steering feeder hose. It was flopping around and could clunk into the sway bar and made a sound pretty close to what I was hearing from inside the car. But, that's been fixed and the sound is still there.

I've checked LCAB, sway bar and links, struts, shocks.

I'm wondering if something is loose but I can't discover that with my whimpy hands (that's why I only hear it on bad bumps).

Any ideas, guys?

[Just_George]

Strut bearing?
Sway bar links and/or bushings??

[stephenkirsh]

Yup checked the sway bar links.

What's the strut bearing?

[Just_George]

Front struts have a bearing on the top, bolted to the top of the strut tower (strut is fastened to the inside of the bearing). When they get old, they get loose and clunk. Easiest way I can think of to check it is get that corner of the car off the ground so the tire is hanging free. Then, put a jack under the tire (or better yet, the rotor with the tire off) and lift slightly while watching the strut bearing from the top - if you see any slop at all, that's likely your problem.

[stephenkirsh]

Ok I'll give that a try.

[Just_George]

Stephen, see if this helps clear up a bit what you're looking at and looking for. Good luck!

http://www.kyb.com/knowledge-center/shocks-101/what-strut-mounts-do/

[stephenkirsh]

Yup I knew it as a mount, just not as a bearing.

So I went out and did some tests. Didn't find much. Took the wheel off and wiggled/pushed up the strut with my hands (I don't have a 2nd jack to use). I was able to get it to compress about 1/2 inch...not much. Either way, there didn't seem to be any play on the top or bottom of the strut mount. Double checked the sway bar mounts/links.

I did find some things that looked...interesting.

This is the driver's side. The rubber at the top of the strut mount looks pretty darn new.
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This is the passenger's side. The rubber at the top of the strut mount...doesn't look new. Am I reading too much into this, or does anybody else come to the same conclusion?
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Also, any idea what this little knob thing is? It's present on the passenger side, but not driver side.
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[Vas]

Does it sound like it's coming from the top or the bottom ?

Top would be the strut mounts and bottom could be balljoints.

The pins are for alignment purposes. When they are knocked out, the mount can be moved to give the car more negative camber.

[stephenkirsh]

I wanna guess the bottom, but I really can't say for sure.

[Just_George]

If not the strut mounts, I'm still gonna go with sway bar bushings or maybe ball joints...

[stephenkirsh]

Ball joints on ...the control arm?

[Just_George]

Yes, ball joints on control arms. Come to think of it, it could potentially be the bushings on the control arms as well... I'd have to do some research to see how to check the ball joints, bushings should show up as play in the control arm when wiggled with the tire off.

[CarbonZHP]

Seems a little weird that one side is new, and its missing the camber pin. I recently took my pins out too. Since mine was recently clunking, make sure the reinforcement plate is tight. Ps, my power steering hose bushing is broken too lol

[stephenkirsh]

Yes, ball joints on control arms. Come to think of it, it could potentially be the bushings on the control arms as well... I'd have to do some research to see how to check the ball joints, bushings should show up as play in the control arm when wiggled with the tire off.

My LCAB have less than 5k miles on them.

[stephenkirsh]

Seems a little weird that one side is new, and its missing the camber pin. I recently took my pins out too. Since mine was recently clunking, make sure the reinforcement plate is tight. Ps, my power steering hose bushing is broken too lol

Yes I'm wondering if it's just extra dirty or it really is older than the driver's side.

[stephenkirsh]

LivesNearCostco and I poked around the suspension today. Couldn't find much. All bushings and ball joints look solid as best we can tell.

He agreed the rubber around the strut mount looked older on the passenger side.

We jacked up the wheel and let it drop. Did the same to driver side. I thought the driver side moved up and down less, implying the passenger side has failed. We didn't really come to a firm conclusion.

[Johal E32]

Checking in. I have the same issue, at least I think I do.

New struts, new springs, new sway bar bushings, new say bar endlinks. New Fcabs and new strut mounts. I reckon its my ball joints, time for new control arms. I think.

[stephenkirsh]

What about strut mounts? Did you change those out too?

[Johal E32]

What about strut mounts? Did you change those out too?

Yep, I think I mentioned in my other post!

It might be issues on your car.. I have all the symptoms of worn endlinks or strut mounts. But, both are brand new.. Its like a rattling noise, as if something is loose and then clunk over bumps. I will poke around and inspect next weekend maybe..

[stephenkirsh]

Bummer. It just started for me about 3-4 months ago.

[3ZHP]

I took this video of my bad Ball Joint a few years ago, it may help to see what a bad one looks like.

http://youtu.be/kuOvH4Z6mDY


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Johal E32]

Bummer. It just started for me about 3-4 months ago.

Same started a few months ago. I wss positive it was my end links OR strut mounts. No difference what so ever with new parts..

[jakksfor20]

Try a 1/8 to 1/4 turn on your sway bar end links where they attach to the strut. Had a clunk that was very noticeable on concrete expansion joints and small bumps. Did the 1/8 to 1/4 turn on the end link and no issues since.

Mine appeared tight, but that little bit made all the difference.

[LivesNearCostco]

Yeah, nothing obvious in there, and no clunks when we raise and lower the wheel with a jack. One end link ball joint boot is torn, but the ball joint still seems solid. Same for strut mount (just as Stephen says, right side might be moving up and down more than left side). So I would guess 10% chance it's swaybar link, 20% chance it's strut mount, 10% chance bump stop has failed (it's hidden under the dust boot), 20% chance the right strut has failed internally (since it only makes the clunk when the suspension drops into a pothole).

So just replace it all--strut, bumpstop, strut mount, swaybar link--and you have a 60% chance of eliminating the clunk!

Edit: We didn't try tightening the nuts on the swaybar link.


LivesNearCostco and I poked around the suspension today. Couldn't find much. All bushings and ball joints look solid as best we can tell.

He agreed the rubber around the strut mount looked older on the passenger side.

We jacked up the wheel and let it drop. Did the same to driver side. I thought the driver side moved up and down less, implying the passenger side has failed. We didn't really come to a firm conclusion.

[stephenkirsh]

I'll attempt a 1/4 turn on the sway links this weekend. Thanks guys.

[slater]

Yeah, nothing obvious in there, and no clunks when we raise and lower the wheel with a jack. One end link ball joint boot is torn, but the ball joint still seems solid. Same for strut mount (just as Stephen says, right side might be moving up and down more than left side). So I would guess 10% chance it's swaybar link, 20% chance it's strut mount, 10% chance bump stop has failed (it's hidden under the dust boot), 20% chance the right strut has failed internally (since it only makes the clunk when the suspension drops into a pothole).

So just replace it all--strut, bumpstop, strut mount, swaybar link--and you have a 60% chance of eliminating the clunk!

Edit: We didn't try tightening the nuts on the swaybar link.

what about a ball joint on the LCA?

[stephenkirsh]

Possible. How would you check it without taking off the control arm?

[Johal E32]

Possible. How would you check it without taking off the control arm?

How to check the ball joint?

Jack up the car. Shake the wheel pretty hard and look for movement

[slater]

How to check the ball joint?

Jack up the car. Shake the wheel pretty hard and look for movement

yep, or you can use a big set of channel locks - one jaw above the ball joint bolt/nut and the other below the ball joint, and squeeze - this displays vertical play in the joints.

peter

[stephenkirsh]

John and I did that. Nothing unusual was noticed at any connecting point.

[LivesNearCostco]

I tried hard to shake the wheel and as Stephen said, no visible movement in ball joints. However we didn't try the big channel locks test. (Anyway I only have small and medium channel locks, don't have a truly bit set of those pliers.)