so i ran my car this weekend at autox, first time with my new cat back

when shifting wieght in turns hard, i would hear a metal on metal sound, almost like a loud clank. i couldnt exactly figure out where it was coming from cause i was in the middle of my run. no sound under normal driving

my guess is its my exhaust piping swinging on the hangers and hitting the rear tie (the clearance isnt that great). does that sound right or any one have other ideas?


oh yeah, in terms of oil 5W30 for daily driver/weekend autocrosser enough protection? Thanks guys

 

I'd start with the exhaust - make sure all the bolts are fastened down properly and all the exhaust hangers are back on.

If the loud clank had come from your engine - your car would be on a flatbed to the dealer by now.

 

yeah i know that was my thinking when i started hearing it, that if it was that bad i would REALLY know by having my car on a flatbed hahaha

so i pressed on, forgot about it, and wound up with 3rd in my class. now the search begins....

 

On my car the bolts holding the brace that is just under the exhaust near the center of the car were loose as well as two of the bolts holding the plastic piece under the front of the car which caused clanking going over bumps. Also, are you sure everything is tight in your suspension? Does it clank only in right or left turns or both?

 

suspension?

are your shocks done? it could be the coils hitting each other.

 

im running stock suspension, i have no reason to believe anythings wrong with it because i never touched anything, unless something broke. i have the sports suspension in the GT package.

how likely is it that im compressing the stock springs sooo much that the adjacent coils are slamming into eachother? is this an issues on stock components?

it actually makes sounds turning both left and right, and now that i think of it it seemed like it was from the front of the car more than where id be thinking the exhaust was hitting

what do you guys think? is it possible? and if so, should i be worried lol

 

If the only thing you have touched on the car since the sound started is the exhaust, that sounds like the place to start.

If you think it is on the front make sure the swaybar endlinks are tight, as well as all of the cam bolts on the lower control arms.

 

i just checked the exhaust, and at the suspected part, there are no scratches or marks on the stainless steel finish as there would be if these parts were coming in contact. i believe that its got to be something else.

i checked the bolts on the sways and control arms too

Ullose / anyone else, is it possible for the front springs to compress so much that the adjacent coils hit each other under load? this is getting fustrating

 

I doubt it with stock springs and shocks. Bad motor mount? No idea how you check them, but at one point there was a TSB/updated part.

 

Check your front swaybar stops, if you are still using the stock front bar. They are just clamped on and can slide, this will allow the bar to move side to side and maybe far enough to hit something.

The part that has "8210" on it is the thing to check.

 

yeah because the tire itself would be rubbing in the wheel well, way before the spring compresses that much.

maybe ill see if i can take the car out on some back roads and get the sound to reoccur, so i can isolate its location more accurately

i honeslty cant think of anything else, so if anyone wants to think outside the box its much appreciated lol

 

The bump stop should kick in before any of that happens.

 

wow great pic, i was checking those out earier but will def give em another look, thanks alot!

 

Was the sound just when transitioning or was it when transitioning and getting on the gas hard? How loud and where did you feel it (like, through your feet, though the seat of your pants etc.)? The reason I ask is because if it happens whenever you load up the suspension, it is probably suspension related and you'll feel it through your butt and hands, but if it happens when the suspension is loaded and you are torquing the drivetrain (on the gas), it is more likely to be drivetrain related, specifically a motor or transmission mount, u-joint or cv joint and you'll feel it through your butt and your throttle foot...if that makes sense.

It's hard to diagnose something you can't hear and feel, yourself, though...you sure it isn't your lug wrench bouncing around in the trunk?

 

it was just in the transitioning, it happened through the slalom and i wasnt on the gas hard at all, i felt it through my hands, but barely at that. the more that i think of it i believe it was coming from the front of the car, and it sounded like the THUMP of ABS kicking it, but i wasnt on the brakes and my DSC and traction control were off soo...its hard for me even to describe as you know a million things are going on during a run, and the tires on a hard transition dont exactly help the cause

yeah i tore everything out of my car hoping it was just that, but no dice

i just got back in from driving it attempting to recreate the sound, but i could not safely corner as hard as i would on the autox course for obvious reason, so no sound at all. idk if i should be worried?

 

I've heard similar sounds before all sway bar related one time I broke a bracket; see picture:
https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...6&d=1201487787

The next time I snapped an endlink.

The last time I didn't tighten the endlink down enough so the nut on the end worked its way loose at which point there was a gap between the sway bar the nut and the endlink which the sway would bounce around in. It wore down the threads on the endlink and i had to replace it.

The latter is what I would suggest you check the gap may not be totally visible unless you really stick your head in there.

 

http://www.finishlineperformance.com...05-08-1948.pdf

one more idea.

beers

 

Posted elsewhere, same noise:
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-wheels-tires-brakes-suspension-55/advice-noisy-rear-suspension-right-side-81968/

I get a clank in the rear (not a dull clunk) when the spring unloads and forces the wheel down after a bump. it's like something falling after the spring action and then hitting. More like a metal sheet than a thick rod.

Koni's but otherwise stock AT Touring