4drviper

So, I have a very audible mystery clunk coming from (9 out of 10 times) passenger front side suspension. 1/10 times it comes from the driver side. It happens when I drive over asphalt patches that don't sit flush with the pavement, about 1inch thick or deep, at any speed. (imagine driving over a piece of lumber 12x12x1inches.) I can reproduce it better when I take the weight out of that corner (right turn, or accelerating) and go over the same kind of bump. Also please don' forget that it happens when the pavement dips about that much too. It clunks on compression, and also on rebound. So it goes like clun--clunk if i go slow enough. (comp-rebound)


I used to think it could be ball joint, busings, sway bar link, or tie rod end. But it's not. I've just finished 4th front end inspection by professional mechanics and they all verified everything is tight. (Engine mounts and shock absorbers should be okay since they've been in there for less than a year)


And today at parking lot, I heard it while i was turning the steering almost to the lock (it turns 1 3/8 turn each way. I turn 1 1/4) and it happened. So I had the car creeping uphill slowly and shaked steering wheel about 6inches left and right as fast as I can (the top of the wheel moved 3inches left and 3inches right from centerline) and I heard the clunks.


Since my old trusty goody dealership has gotten greedy(?), raising hourly labor by 30%, they didn't want to troubleshoot it for me(nor waive the diagnostics labor if i get the fixing done there) so I need your experiences and opinions on what this could be.


If the rack is bad, I'm switching it out for Type-S part heh


Thanks in advance.

4drviper

Luckily got an appointment with a friendly advisor and friendly and thorough mechanic. *checks bank account balance* argh

flyromeo3

im going to throw a couple things out there on what I might be.
btw...the clun-clunk descripton is right on the money based on the two noises I heard which were similar.


1. Going over bumps or dips would generate that noise. I solved that by replacing my lower control arms. There is a rubber mount towards the front of the LCA that wears out, I would say prematurely.


2. Recently, I started to hear the clun-clunk again going over bumps. It ended up being my passenger side engine mount.

4drviper

1. Two days ago, mechanic did point out LCA bushings were starting to crack. I'm thinking if I should replace bushings or get spherical bearing.

2. it also clunks when I shake my steering, so I do not think it's engine mount. subframe bolts are tight, and won't cause engine to move around by action-reaction of shaking steering.

Thanks. I'll see what I find tomorrow morning on test drive with the mechanic

4drviper

We test drove, heard the noise, tightened everything and pry barred everything attached on the car, but no definitive answer.
Side engine mount is good, front engine mount was bad but that was it. Not definitive answer to the mystery clunk. (God, I just replaced them last spring..)

He sprayed all the rubbery parts and told me to drive it for few days and see where it goes. He decided not to charge me anything because we couldn't find it. I guess I'm going back to Honda of Columbia for future OEM repairs lol,,, But the hourly rate going up from $80(ish?) to 116 kinda hurts (my wallet and feelings lol)

On my way home, I heard the same noise. Ugh.

What could be both related to steering and suspension stroke, but not tightened with bolt? All I can think of is defective shock absorber.

New find : clunk is easier to reproduce when suspension is cold..

flyromeo3

Here is one thing I did when I was chasing my LCA noise.


I jacked up the car from the front ( don't forget to place jack stands on it )
I removed the strut fork and end link which will basically allow the LCA to just hang there.
I then moved the LCA up and down as if to simulate the motions of it while on the road.
Low and behold, I was able to replicate the noise and narrow it down to those front LCA bushings.
At the end I bought new front LCA's and replaced them.


If your mechanically inclined give that a try.

4drviper

Thanks. I will probably the week after. Next week, I'm sorting out the crappily repaired quarter panel.


By the way, were your bushings VISIBLY bad? cuz mine aren't. and when pry barred, they don't budge much at all.

flyromeo3

by looking at then while on the car you really cannot tell.


Once removed,. I noticed they were shot to hell.
let me see if I can locate a picture I took of them

flyromeo3

IF you look around the circumference of bushing, you'll see that's cracked all the way around

The first picture is where the fork for the strut goes through.
The second one is the bushing that's in the front.

4drviper

Aaaahhh MAYBE IT'S THE FIRST ONE!! look at mine

Throttle037

Kind of random but I actually had a driver side clunk when going over bumps on one side & it turned out to be that I needed new brake hardware for my brembos (not enough tension left in metal or whatever, shit wears out). The pad would jiggle around and clunk. Doubt its that but it takes two minutes to rule out.

4drviper

My clunk is way too loud to be brake hardware, but since I do have spare set of retainers, I will check them. The week after i get my C pillar stuff sorted out

Throttle037

I thought the same thing buddy haha. Only realized it was brakes when i hit them going over a bump that would normally cause a clunk and there was nothing. worth a shot either way. Just see if you can wiggle the pad around.

4drviper

So after couple days of driving, I could summarize the clunk to
* easier to reproduce under 80F or haven't driven but still happens when hot.
* easier to reproduce when going under 20mph, still happens 40+
* easier to reproduce when steering is to the right
* when all conditions are met, I could reproduce with shaking the steering

* small bumps or dips
* clunks in the front when I go over those annoying, small but high speed bumps at 5mph. Weird thing is it clunks when both front and rear wheels go over it.

Sounds like something breaking or metal notch getting slammed and slipping out of place, doesn't sound very crisp, kinda feels like it's deadened by heavy stuff attached to it (duh it's a car)

Everyone thinks it's the upper strut bearing and when I tell them it's a double wishbone, nobody has a clue


What part is equivalent to upper strut bearing in our shock absorber assembly?

Could shaking steering cause (possibly) broken front engine mount to cause clunk?

vietxquangstah

iTrader: (7)

Does it sometimes make that noise when you come to a stop or accelerate from a stop?

4drviper

I don't think so. It's only when either bump or steering input(to the right).

But, when I went through a drive through and steered a full turn on steering, it did make the snapping sound, I thought the CV joint was bad but the snapping sound is gone now (or sounds more like muffled clunk)