Fed up with clunks

[danix]

My 06 has me close to dumping it for something else, but there is nothing else like the 5 on the market.
So far I have:

• replaced front stabilizer bushings
• replaced front swaybar links
• replaced front and rear shocks and struts
• replaced rear stab bar links and bushings

I still have a clunk in the front, which is getting worse. I think when all done it was quiet for about 2 weeks.

Is there a larger front bar and bushings, or a retrofit from the newer models, that would solve this?
Short of that, I'm done with this thing. Otherwise it's been 55k miles of reliable fun.

 

[vprtal]

wow it only took two weeks for the noise to come back?

I just replaced my shocks and struts with KYB and sway bar bushings with original mazda ones as that is the only ones I could find online. I love how quiet it is right now and how solid it feels going thru any bumps. I hope it lasts a lot longer than just two weeks!

What did you replace yours with?

 

[danix]

2 weeks til I felt it, maybe 2 months until it got horrible again.
Bushings are from the dealer, latest version, greased properly.
End links are aftermarket and greasable (better than originals in that sense).

 

[mazdadude]

Can you tell the general area from where the noise is coming from?

Can you feel the clunk in the steering wheel or the pedals?

When does the clunk happen?

 

[danix]

Can you tell the general area from where the noise is coming from?

Can you feel the clunk in the steering wheel or the pedals?

When does the clunk happen?

It is 100% the bushings again. You feel it most over a speed bump when the wheels transition individually over the bump.
A driveway crack/dip entering a parking lot is the same.
I will double check my work (I installed everything myself except the front bushings) and make sure the end links are tight, but I really think the bushings are shot again.
Apparently the 2010+ cars have a larger front bar to address this issue?

 

[mazdadude]

Thanks for the reply. I hope this helps you a bit...

I had problems like you expressed, had the bushings changed at the MAZDA dealer, and it was quiet for a few weeks, then the clunking returned. I examined the bushings myself, and found that one of the bushing caps/holder was installed backwards... the ARROW on the BUSHING cap should point forward towards the front of the car. I went back to the dealer, and they removed and reinstalled the cap correctly, and it has been silent ever since...

The bushing caps not only hold the bushings to the chassis, they also "capture" the sway bar and keep the bar from shifting left to right. If one of the caps or both are installed incorrectly, it allows the swaybar to have play, and the bar will be allowed to slide until it clunks against one of the stops.

You can open the hood, and with a flashlight, look down between the rear of the engine and firewall at the bar and bushing caps.

Good luck!

 

[tech_az]

I hope Mazdadude's suggestion works out for you. I've had the parts you listed replaced +more and still don't like the feel of the suspension. But you might not want to take this into consideration though LOL... cuss it seems my situation is very rare compared to the other 5 owners here.

 

[danix]

I may give the dealer one last shot at fixing it. Last time they told me bushings were fine, it was the passenger motor mount (it wasn't).

 

[vprtal]

mazdadude,

I see you own the cx-5. I'm kinda interested with that car. How is it? Is the interior space almost the same as our M5?

 

[Robotazky]

Strut bearings if it's up high.

 

[tech_az]

I may give the dealer one last shot at fixing it. Last time they told me bushings were fine, it was the passenger motor mount (it wasn't).

Did they charge you for the motor mount replacement? Someone else on this forum got it done for free.

 

[danix]

Did they charge you for the motor mount replacement? Someone else on this forum got it done for free.

Not strut bearings, they looked fine when I replaced the struts, and the knock is down low. I know it's the stabilizer bar, you can feel it in the steering wheel.
Well yes, they would have charged me for the motor mount, but I did it myself. Their estimate was like 2 hours labor plus part, I did it in 20 minutes.

 

[qcoffey]

Just a thought. My buddy had the dealer installed a Pedders suspension on his Holden and it started to squeak a couple weeks later. I asked him if they torqued the bolts with the vehicle on the ground. He didn't know. So I put it up on the alignment rack and cracked the bolts loose, retightened them and then aligned it. The squeak was gone.

If it is not this bushing cap idea, then try the bolts. Good luck.