I recently had a friend's car while he was out of town to try and help him get rid of a suspension noise. Basically when pulling into the driveway that is when you would get one clunk/pop from something. Straight line normal driving you do not hear anything, it seem to be low speed usually tires turned at least somewhat to get it to make the noise.

Here is a list of mods from what I could tell:

Megan Racing Coilovers
Whiteline front and rear sway bars
Whiteline front adjustable end links
AFP?? Rear end links (had whiteline, but had me swap them off).
MazdaSpeed front strut tower brace

Here is what I did (but did not get rid of the noise:

1. Removed sway bar bushings and wiped off white lithium grease that was on them. Insides were not greased very well at all, seemed to be greased more/only on the outside of the bushing where the clamp goes. Regreased both front and rear bushings completely covering them both inside and out on any contact surface with Energy Suspension Formula Five suspension grease (dont get this on your hands it is a PAIN to get off... lol)

2. Springs on the coilovers could be moved/spun by hand. I tightened all four corners about 10 notches until you could no longer spin the springs while the car was jacked up (no weight on the suspension). Ride height seemed to remain basically the same, but figured this could only help.

3. Checked ball joints and tie rod ends. All boots looked good, no cracking or grease exposed... Looked just like I would expect.

4. Check every bolt to make sure everything was tight. This includes the endlink bolts, tie rod ends, ball joints, etc. If I could get to it and it was suspension related it was checked.

5. Swapped out Whiteline adjustable rear endlinks for AFP??? non-adjustable ones (was requested to). Made sure all of those bolts were tight.

6. One end of the MazdaSpeed STB had come "un-epoxied" from the cylinder that goes through the bar part. I reglued/expoxied this back together.

7. I had read on here that there is a Mazda TSB talking about noises and cleaning the back of the wheel and the rotor where they meet... Something about the paint/coating flaking... Did not think this was my problem, but I cleaned them off as good as I can and then spread a layer of anti-sieze on everything to ensure no binding. Figured this can only help to keep wheels from getting corroded to the hub/rotor anyway (one of the rear wheels took a bit of effort to break loose when I first tried to remove it, stuck to the hub).

8. When I had removed the wheels, they did not feel quite torqued to spec. When I put them back on I made sure they were torqued to 108 ft/lbs.

That is everything that I can remember doing. I did check the exhaust (MazdaSpeed) and it did not appear to have any clearance issues. I did find a spark plug COMPLETELY disconnected from the plug and one of the other plugs the boot was over the plug, but the metal clip inside was not clipped to the plug. This took care of his "hard start" problem and hesitation on acceleration.

Can anyone think of anything that might be causing a clunk/pop at slow speeds such as pulling into a driveway?

I know my wife's Grand Prix did something like this (but a lot louder) and it ended up being a defective wheel hub that I had just replaced, but a wheel hub is an expensive part to replace and not be the problem.

Any help is appreciated.

 

Like LINK???

 

No... Not that easy to replicate... The sound in the video almost seems to be related to the turning of the steering wheel. This clunk/pop is usually when the steering wheel is a stationary (but turned) position.

If I had a camera I would have him bring his car over and try and get video of it. But I dont.

Also, the video seems to show it happening about every time. In his car, it is hit or miss. Sometimes it does it, sometimes it doesnt.

 

Thats the thing. Try taking off the front wheels. When the car is up on jack stands and all is safe, try moving with your hand the rotor front and back or left and right. Do this on each side and see if that will duplicat the prob. I'll take more vid this weekend when I replace my brake pad anti shutter silver clips that go on the pads. Or what ever they are called.
-Gil

 

Is the driveway raise? ie are you going over a bump at the time?

 

Yeah, I get a clunk whenever I turn left at speed sometimes. Normal driving it's fine, but if I chuck it into a corner it sometimes makes a clunk or short boom noise (same noise, just trying to describe it). It sends feedback through my steering wheel as well.

 

I had a front susoension noise, car was still under warranty and they tried everything, replaced the shocks even. Turned out the noise was the brake pad, it is not oem and would rattle over sharp bumps

 

Yes, has a "lip" at the end of the driveway. 2-3" Maybe (fairly good size, but not that big because his lowered car with MazdaSpeed bumper did not rub once going in or out.)

 

This car does not do it at speed... Only while slow. I did not do any really spirited driving, but there is roads in the back of my neighborhood where they have not built houses yet and at normal speeds, it does not make the noise that I can tell.

 

Might tell him I will take a look at that then... He has some drilled rotors and aftermarket pads, but I do not know which ones... I actually thought about taking them apart and making sure the contact surfaces where lubed, but did not do it while the car was here.

 

Try going over the bump with brakes applied.

 

I had a very similar problem after installing my S-Techs. Turned out one of the driver's side end link bolts was not tightened down all the way. Tightened that and haven't heard a clunk since. Sounds like you already checked the endlink bolts, but I thought I'd share my story anyway. Good luck.

 

If you can, check between the rear spring coils to see if they have been touching. If the aftermarket springs are based on the stock RX-8 ones (length, coil spacing, etc) then they dont take well to being compressed. I had a similar problem where my car was lowered and the springs would bind, causing a clunk if I went over bumps. May not be this issue but worth looking at.

Cheers

Andrew

 

Brakes were applied both coming and and going out of the driveway (I was trying NOT to scrape the car and the best way to do that is to go slowly). I might try and pay more attention next time to see when I let off the brakes to start driving again and when the clunk occurs in relation to the release of the brake.

 

Thanks for the input... I did check the springs fairly well though when I tightened the up and everything. No coils appeared to have been rubbing.

I will try and look into the brake thing next... Although he said it did not do it until the coilovers were installed. I do not know what else he did at the same time... I think he had the sway bars already, by maybe not the endlinks??? I might double/triple check the endlinks again since some people mention those being their problem.

 

Not sure what type of car you are dealing with here, but I've been trying to find if I'm the only one with this same problem in my MazdaSpeed 3. My car has 4k miles and it has been making the noise as far as I can remember. Just as you say, slow speed, turning into a driveway or uneven ground where the driver front wheel can drop a little (or the compression from the weight of the car is slightly lifted). Also on bumpy surface when turning, such as an intersection. When it was new I thought it was some sort of artifact of a stiff suspension, and it was not severe. It is getting worse with time and is really starting to bother me. I took it into the dealer for inspection and they tell me that they have found nothing wrong. The test drives by the dealer are unable to duplicate the problem. I'm tempted to find a surface near the dealer that can reliably repeat the noise so I can drive with them. It is starting to make me feel like there could be a safety issue associated with the ultimate failure. Sorry I don't have any answers, but I thought I would share my similar experience and can keep you informed of my continuing saga.

Joe

 

have the same problem and just noticed that my swaybar end links are loose in the front and will not tighten anymore so the noise that i get is from the half an inch of space from were is loose. already got the new adjustable links in the mail from whiteline and im waiting to put them on.

 

I have resolved my front end clunking noise problem. It turns out that it was the engine mounts. Mazda Recall 4607F on some VIN's, the #4 bolt was originally replaced but after the engine started flopping around the dealer replaced both mounts (bolt, rubber and bracket). Everything is tight, no noises and it seems that there is more power available as well. Just thought I'd share my results.