Clunking sound from front passengers side when hit

[James]

Hello all,
I have an 06 rsx that makes a terrible clunking sound every time I hit a bump. I’m pretty sure it’s my strut but I’d like to get a second opinion. Attached is a recording of the sound. You can hear it a 13 secs, 19-20 secs, and 33-37.

Thanks!

Topic

[zero]

Give this a read:

https://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/diagnosing-noises-in-your-car?start=5#SuspensionNoises

And this a watch:

[James]

I think that’s it. I noticed that the motor mount looked smashed and was thinking about replacing it. But I didn’t realize that could cause the noise. Thank you!!

[James]

Would a broken motor mount cause alot of vibration while driving? I just had all my tires changed and balanced but my driving vibration is still very bad. The guy at the tire shop said I have a bent tire but he said he balanced it to 0. But it still has vibration when driving.

[James]

So I just changed my motor mount and it didn’t fix the clunking sound. I checked all my parts and everything feels tight. The only thing I could think of are the struts but I tried to push down and it recoils just fine. I took it to a mechanic and they said it was loose bolts so I had them tighten them and it still didn’t fix anything. I’m very confused. Any help would be great!

[wk9k]

Sometimes its difficult to locate a clunking sound even if u do some of the tests and push down while the car is sitting it seems to only do it while the full weight is on the car and while driving hitting bumps. How many miles do the struts have on them?

[James]

The car has 140,000 miles on it but I just recently bought the car so i dont know if they’ve ever been replaced. It did have lowering springs on it when I bought it but I just took them off because they made the car ride terribly rough. When I was replacing the springs with the originals, I noticed that the strut on that side was a bit easier to press in than the other side. I also changed our the ball joint and the tie rod end within the past weeks. Every time I hit a bump it makes the noise. If I take the strut off, how should it react if I put pressure on it?

[wk9k]

Heh I had some of those off brand eBay coilover springs on my car. Was a bouncy ride, and u could feel every single small bump. I was using stock struts, they were old anyways. But anyways if the strut u say was easier to press in I’d say the strut is blown and u need to get a new one. It should have some good resistance. The strut bottomed out more than likely. That’s what all this sounds like. I have a lot of clunking noise in my eclipse like a rattling every time I go over bumps its an 01….it needs a lot of things replaced. Axle boot ripped, struts have gone out, ball joints and tie rod ends planning on doing all that when tax time comes( edit to add, what I do is lift the car on one side, take wheel off and jack up the lower control arm some. Then I will take a pry bar and wedge where there are rubber bushings in the suspension area all around there, if no bushings are worn and everything feels pretty good like u said everything feels tight, new struts.)

[James]

Ah that’s good to hear, I figured but none of the test would confirm that it was the strut. And I didn’t want to buy new ones and it not be the problem. I’ve tried using a pry bar to locate any rattles or loose bushings but everything feels good. After that I took it to a mechanic to see if they could find anything. They said loose bolts and tightened them up but it didn’t fix anything. So tomorrow I’m going to try hitting the tire with a hammer to simulate a pot hole. Though it doesn’t take much to make the sound. It happens on almost any bump.

[Author]

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