Clunking noise driving me crazy!!!!!!

[Howie]

Lately I have been hearing a strange noise come out of the front of my car. It only occurs after i have driven for about 20 minutes, and especially after I drive on the freeway.

You know how if you have something in your trunk, and you drive hard you will hear it bumpity bump and clunk as it slides around? Well, this is the same noise, but a little softer, and it sounds like it is coming from the front bottom part of my car near the firewall. Almost as if it were coming from the front right damper. If my car is cold, I will not hear it at all, but once i get about 15 miles into the trip, I will hear it everytime i hit a bump, and sometimes even on smooth roads. Today i slammed on my brakes a few times (cause they were squeaking) and i heard the clunk too.

Does anybody know what this noise might be? Suspension? Front diff? The car doesn't feel any different, but I just want to figure out what this damn noise is.

[Gear Grinder]

and it sounds like it is coming from the front bottom part of my car near the firewall. Almost as if it were coming from the front right damper. If my car is cold, I will not hear it at all Have you checked that some of the plastic shrowding hasen't come loose? When your car is cold you probably don't drive as fast? That might explain this.

[rino]

check the endlinks

[ovenmit331]

if its a bump thing it sounds suspension to me. still have your warranty by any REMOTE chance?

[Absinthe]

chek EvoM there were some threads about this issue way back in the day, I think it turned out to be the fron right strut assembly.

[redvolution]

If you mostly hear it when the strut is unloaded then it could be the right-front strut issue. I have this problem and I don't really care because it's just the spring rubbing itself. Eventually the rubbing will allow the spring to rust but I'm planning to replace the springs or drop in coilovers when that happens.

[ovenmit331]

or drop in coilovers when that happens.

i kinda like that approach. "But honey, it broke, I HAVE to fix it." I think i may just start breaking shit all over the place :)

[Tarmac02]

Yup... I have the right front strut issue... but I'm just waiting til I change my suspension. It's annoying I know... but whatever.

[Howie]

hmm... i swapped out my stock suspension looooooong ago for JIC's. I wonder what the heck it could be... Any other ideas?! thx.

[d3wu]

its your JIC's..

i have RRE's setup with the JICs and at one point it clunked like crazy. it seriously sounds and feels like something is loose right? i say feel, because you can feel something hitting the dead pedal (well mine did when it got really bad when clunking in the front left).

people say its because there's no rubber padding on the front struts. apparently, for me, its the lubrication on the struts. the rain must have washed it away - it kept clunking all the time during that period of raining in socal.

this sounds like bs but clean up your strut, spray it with wd-40 and wipe it down. another evo owner with JICs had the same clunking problem - after he lubed the struts up, his sound went away.

i just did it 5 hrs ago and now the sound is gone..this is my second time doing it, meaning this is a temporary fix. how many times do you have to do this? no idea..im still in the middle of dealing with it..hopefully it wont come back..

anyone with any permanent fix please let us know because it seriously drove me crazy..

let me know if this helped the sound go away..

[ovenmit331]

wd-40 is an amazing product, but really just attracts more dirt. you should try using a dry lubricant since it doesn;t rain much in cali. something teflon based maybe? well thats what i've learned from lubing bike parts (wd-40 is BAD news on bikes)

[Blaze]

I had a clunk every once in a while when I'd hit a small bump. Not certain what it was.

Is it possible you left a tool somewhere in your engine bay? A few members have found wrenches or sockets to be the culprit of mystery clunks....

[ovenmit331]

I had a clunk every once in a while when I'd hit a small bump. Not certain what it was.

Is it possible you left a tool somewhere in your engine bay? A few members have found wrenches or sockets to be the culprit of mystery clunks....

found a socket wrench in my engine bay the other day while installing my shifter cable bushings. blew my mind.

[Howie]

its your JIC's..

i have RRE's setup with the JICs and at one point it clunked like crazy. it seriously sounds and feels like something is loose right? i say feel, because you can feel something hitting the dead pedal (well mine did when it got really bad when clunking in the front left).

people say its because there's no rubber padding on the front struts. apparently, for me, its the lubrication on the struts. the rain must have washed it away - it kept clunking all the time during that period of raining in socal.

this sounds like bs but clean up your strut, spray it with wd-40 and wipe it down. another evo owner with JICs had the same clunking problem - after he lubed the struts up, his sound went away.

i just did it 5 hrs ago and now the sound is gone..this is my second time doing it, meaning this is a temporary fix. how many times do you have to do this? no idea..im still in the middle of dealing with it..hopefully it wont come back..

anyone with any permanent fix please let us know because it seriously drove me crazy..

let me know if this helped the sound go away..


This sounds like it might be it. It's coming from my front right strut, and my passengers say they can sort of feel something clunking against the floorboard. I'll try lubing her up and we'll see if it goes away.

The thought also crossed my mind to check for any loose tools in my engine bay.. hehe..

[trannb]

If it's not that try putting a couple of wrenches onto the swaybar endlinks. I had a loose nut on my rear one and got a bad clunking noise.

[ovenmit331]

any update on this?

[Howie]

any update on this?

Haven't gotten a chance yet... but the clunking noise seems to have quieted down. I'll probably try fixing it this weekend...

[ovenmit331]

well keep us updated...

[EvoPwr]

well keep us updated...

[Howie]

Last night i finally got a chance to get under my car. I rotated the tires, checked all bolts and verified everything was tight. Then i wiped down the front right damper to clean it up a bit. Next I took a brake dust cleaner / cv joint lubricator type thing that my friend had in his garage, and sprayed down the spring, damper, joints, and bolts.

This morning on the way to work I turned off the radio as I got off the freeway, becaues the noise usually comes after I exit the freeway...... what do I hear? Nothing! Just sound of my clutch making its usual whining nosie... YES! clunking noise is gone... for now...

I'll try to pay attention to it the next few days and see if this really was the fix. I'll keep everyone updated. Thanks for the help.

[d3wu]

since i replied to this thread till today, the noise for mine has still been gone - about 6 days so far.. glad to hear its working for you too howie..hopefully the sound wont come back for a while.. :D

[Howie]

The clunking is BACK... with a VENGENCE! Not only does it clunk still, at low low speeds, i can hear a weird noise coming out of my rear suspension area. It sounds as if something is scraping along the floor pretty loudly. I checked, and there was nothing loose back there or hanging down either. Anybody familiar with this issue?

[d3wu]

today the clunking finally came back...was good since april 12th till today, may 3rd... i guess more wd-40.. :(

[Howie]

Ok.. all of the issues have been resolved. Here is what happened:

Apparently, the shock that i checked was ok, but the OTHER 3 had a slight problem. After a year of driving with the JIC's, the springs settled in a bit, but the preload setting was still the same. This caused about a 1/2 inch gap of free play between the spring and the spring perch. THUS the weird clunking noise.

Jeff was helping me change my brake pads (which was the cause of the scraping noise) and we noticed the spring problem. Everything is ok now.