sudden onset of a front suspension clunk

M

monaco_blue

Member
I was driving home yesterday evening and when going through a 40mph sweeping left-hander there was a small bang from somewhere. I couldn't see anything in the road that I might have struck so didn't think too much more about it. But now when I hit a sharp edged bump, a dropped kerb or a frost heave there's a noisy clunk seemingly from the front suspension, perhaps worse when the left wheel hits it than the right. I checked for the obvious like broken springs or broken anti roll bar links at all 4 corners but can find nothing wrong. Any ideas where else to look?
 
Feck... How many miles ? I am totally paranoid about this... Will be on my list of things to check at my insp2.
 
Lower rear snapped and by sheer luck caught in the metal undertray. I can see that the mount is no longer sitting flush with the block so need to remove the metal undertray to try to figure out what the state of play of the mount and the rest of the bolts is
 
Not good.....

Bolt replacement is easy enough,the snapped bit left in maybe a bit of a bugger... :thumbsdown:
 
they don't just snap OP....

they back out slowly over time then snap, you this would have been happening for some time. Really sorry to hear about the drama ur clearly going through right now.... i check mine regularly, you can clearly see when they are backing out.
 
34.5K miles so quite young, all things considered.

Thanks the insight beedub - had not realized that checking the bolts is regular maintenance task.

Front bolt is missing as well - can't tell if there's anything left in the block through. Rear one snapped flush - lovely. :headbang:
 
apparently some of the batch we over exposed to heat during assembly which causes them to back out with actually use, once one of them or a few has loosened enough your then going to have actually movement which causes the remaining ones to actually snap, it shouldn't be a maintenance task at all, but unless you replace those bolts for the new release ones your always going to have this worry. i replaced them and still check them occasionally. While your their throw in some VT engine mounts! be happy this didn't totally fail leaving your engine resting on those expensive manifolds.
 
Sorry to hear this OP.

Daft question but what does it look like & where should I be looking / checking?

I'm hoping it is just increased awareness having purchased (like seeing more of your car model once you are subconsciously aware, but these do seem to be getting more than their fair share of challenges recently. Given I have a gentle motorway drive daily, I'm considering saving it for sunny days at this rate.

Worse was I heard a noise pulling into my drive this evening after a joyous 16hrs at work that could be described exactly as this :headbang: Would be felt when changing gear? Every gear change this evening felt clunky when the engine was cold, almost overly jerky. Might have been me being shattered though & just below par - in gear accelerating / decelerating didn't seem to make any noise.

And before PVR jumps in, yes I've gone all Andysat :D
 
Here's what it looks like when the metal undertray is removed.

P1000767_zpsl1bknz01.jpg

Front lower bolt looks to be completely missing so only the lower rear one has sheared.
 
Thanks, so do I need to remove the tray to see? Was hoping for more of a bonnet up peek :roll:

Hope you get it sorted soon, and without too much cost :thumbsup:
 
OK, 3 bolts replaced - the broken one will have to wait until I get a bit more time. Upper rear bolt is the bent one in the piccie below. Upper front bolt is the longer one - still straight but the threads are slightly flattened where the bolt goes through the mounting bracket. Broken on came from the lower rear. Lower front bolt has probably taken out someone's windscreen but no idea when that might have happened! :oops:

Used an engine hoist to lift the engine - gave me more room to work under the car without a trolley jock in the way.

Curious to see how the car now shifts with rather less movement of the engine and gearbox.

P1000769_zps7xc0rtqf.jpg
 
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