HELP..CLUNK NOISE, CANT FIND THE SOURCE

[tmac4t4]

i recently purchased a 94 mx3 GS with an automatic trans..the car is lowered, and has 17's..ive noticed a clunk noise from the front drivers side..it does it over bumps, sometimes when turning, and also clunks when the car is completley still and i shift from Drive to reverse, or vice versa..ive taken the wheel off, and everything looks fine? the ball joint seemed fine and i checked the rubber boots on the axles and they are still in tact...the tie rod and control arm also looks fine,,,my tire is also rubbing on the plastic liner inside the fender whenever i turn hard right,,its almost as if the spring has caught and pushed the plastic downwards, enough to catch the tire...is it possible the strut is shot and that could be the noise? please help as i do not wish to take my car to a shady mechanic whos looking to make an extra buck...also, i dont know if its related...but ive noticed when im takin left hand turns at a good bit of speed ((not unsafe kind of speed)) the car seems to want to steer alot with only a little movement of the wheel..its almost as if the steering wheel hits a certian spot and the tires turn left more than they should? im not sure, but it doesnt do it when im doin the same corner, but opposite direction

[zzzoomx3]

sounds like a broken strut

[tmac4t4]

the rubber boot on the strut is also out of place, still there just not protecting like it should..is there a way to know for sure its the strut?

[zzzoomx3]

you might be able to tell if you lift the car up, loosen the mount from the car and see what kind of play is in the strut. the best way is to remove the strut - but if its nothing else that you can find to be the problem - just replace them anyway - they probably need it anyway - ajusa.com - has KYBs for @ $50 bucks

[tmac4t4]

definatley not the strut,,has something to do with steering linkage,or something? mostly does it turning or goin from drive to reverse..IM AM SO CONFUSED...right now i wish my car wasnt so damn low to the ground

[wytbishop]

Lowering the car significantly changes the geometry of the suspension and effectively makes the drive axles too long. In my case the driver's side shaft was putting pressure on the spider gear in the diff. If you want to lower the car alot, you need custom axles. Custom axles can be had, but if the car's that low, there's a decent chance the struts are toast anyway. They don't last long at that height. I'd consider redoing the struts and springs with something less extreme. That will probably solve your clunking problem.

[zzzoomx3]

ahh - then check your bolts on the lower control arm - i've had that problem before. turned out the bolts on the lower control arm were coming loose!

[tmac4t4]

Lowering the car significantly changes the geometry of the suspension and effectively makes the drive axles too long. In my case the driver's side shaft was putting pressure on the spider gear in the diff. If you want to lower the car alot, you need custom axles. Custom axles can be had, but if the car's that low, there's a decent chance the struts are toast anyway. They don't last long at that height. I'd consider redoing the struts and springs with something less extreme. That will probably solve your clunking problem.

the struts were replaced last year, and the car isnt THAT low, been dropped MAYBE 2 inches, im 99% sure the clunk isnt the strut/spring, since i was just sitting at tim hortons drive thru, and was turning the wheel side to side, not much just enough to make the wheels move eithe direction, and if i moved the wheel quick enough it would clunk almost every time, and this is without the car moving..the whole driveshaft issue you mention has got me thinking, because after some close listening the clunk seems to be comming more from the driveshaft location as apose to the strut/spring assembly..as for the control arm bolts, i seen that mentioned on this site that they can come loose, i checked them and they seem fine..i think im going to just hafto bite the bullet and goto Mazda...

[wytbishop]

If it clunk when moving side to side at a stand still I would say 90% its a ball joint or outer tie rod end.

[tmac4t4]

hm..if only a bushing was gone would it cause the clunk, i know its not ball joint i even had somone else check,,but i did notice a tierod bushing looked prettttty worn, but its still there intact for the most part, so i shrugged it off

[solo_ryder]

My car does something similar.. I am not sure what it is, I assume it is tie rod related or strut bearing related

[wytbishop]

Strut bearing is also a good bet.

I say ball joint or tie rod end because of the rotation. Ball joint is more likely than tie rod. I've seen ones where the ball is broken inside the joint...causing very bad noises.

[tmac4t4]

okay so upon closer inspection, i noticed the cotter pin has broken off, on both the passenger and driver side tie rod end, it looks like the bolt has backed itself off which caused the pin to break, ive been waitin for the rain to stop so i can see if they just need to be tightened down

[tmac4t4]

okay, so i took the car to the shop today for free inspection, needed 2 outer tie rod ends and a passenger side lower balljoint...i told the mechanic i would buy the parts and asked if he could install for a price..of course, hes already way to wealthy to take my money, and wouldnt do it, so after getting him to write me up a bill for roughly $450, i hit up my parts dealer and got 2 tie rods for 19 dolars a peice..will do both drivers and passenger side balljoints next week since they are only $50 a side...after puttin on the new tie rod ends, and filling up a tire with air due to a screw i managed to actually get my steering wheel centered and the car drives way straighter than it did before..oh and the only clunk im hearing now is the passenger side ball joint..but at least i know what it is!

[tmac4t4]

so while doing drivers side balljoint, which im stil in process of doing since i managed to strip 2 bolts, i noticed the inner cv boot is torn in half...i read in my chiltons book that you need to undo a motor mount in order to access it???? does anybody kno if this is the case..i woudl really like to fix the boot while im already half way there, but am not about to undo engine mounts..