Front lower control arm ball joint

[Olde English 5]

My 5 has been making a pretty bad clunking noise for a while on all but the smoothest roads. The noise has gotten worse over time. I'm pretty sure it's because the rubber boot over the ball joint on the front driver's side lower control arm is torn up.

Would this require the whole control arm to be replaced since the ball joint is part of the arm? Or can just the boot that goes over the joint be replaced?

I was able to look at the Mazda service manual and it says there's a special service tool for pressing the boot onto the ball joint. Is anyone familiar with this and know if a special tool is really needed?

I appreciate everyone's help!

 

[leeharvey418]

A torn up boot wouldn't cause clunking... but the crap that it would let into the ball joint could.

If there's a special tool, then it tells me that Mazda has planned for this contingency, and that there's a fix that doesn't involve total LCA replacement.

 

[Secondtyme]

God forbid a failed ball joint should mean LCA replacement! The ball joint is a wear item and should be replaceable, probably for relatively cheap in fact. You may buy yourself a little time by replacing the boot and repacking it with fresh grease, but at that point you are 9/10 of the way to replacement, labor wise.

 

[Olde English 5]

Replaced the lower control arm today and it didn't fix the noise. Lots of threads on here about clunking noises so there's no shortage of ideas for things to try next

 

[mazdadude]

Replaced the lower control arm today and it didn't fix the noise. Lots of threads on here about clunking noises so there's no shortage of ideas for things to try next

If you have not changed the sway bar bushings, that is the most common source of the front end clunk noises I have seen. The bushings seem to last about 50k miles...

 

[Secondtyme]

Does it seem as though the noise is coming from the strut tower or near the top of the strut tower? If it does, take a look at the top of your struts from under the hood and look at the gap between the top of the strut and the underside of the sheetmetal of the strut tower. It could be the strut bearings are worn or are wearing out. When I did my own struts I got the wrong strut bearings (meant for a Mazda3) and they were just too short enough to give the strut room to rattle on the strut tower. It drove me NUCKING FUTS for about three months before i figured it out and replaced the bearings. And mine rattled on all sorts of pavement, except glassy smooth surfaces...

 

[Olde English 5]

Does it seem as though the noise is coming from the strut tower or near the top of the strut tower? If it does, take a look at the top of your struts from under the hood and look at the gap between the top of the strut and the underside of the sheetmetal of the strut tower. It could be the strut bearings are worn or are wearing out. When I did my own struts I got the wrong strut bearings (meant for a Mazda3) and they were just too short enough to give the strut room to rattle on the strut tower. It drove me NUCKING FUTS for about three months before i figured it out and replaced the bearings. And mine rattled on all sorts of pavement, except glassy smooth surfaces...

I just went out to the garage to check that but I can't tell if it's the source of the noise. I replaced my front shock absorbers about a year ago but I reused the springs, mounts, and everything. I'm fairly sure the clunking noise is coming from the front but I need to have someone drive it while I climb around and listen for exactly where it's coming from.

I'm at 96000 miles now and the sway bar bushings front and rear are original so I might try those next. The fronts look like they're in a spot where they won't be much fun trying to get to

 

[mazdadude]

Those front sway bar bushing are a very common problem, between 2 different Mazda5's in our family, we have had them changed 4 times.

All 4 times we had the dealer replace them. 2x under warranty, and 2x had to pay. The parts and labor were around $130.

After, the horrible clunking is gone, the front end feels a lot more supple and rubber insulated.

 

[Secondtyme]

x2 on the front sway bar bushings. BUT, if you are at 96K on OE strut mounts, and they have been removed and reinstalled within the last year, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that is your trouble right there. If you can, try to remember if you ever heard the noise before you did the strut swap out. You can also take the end links completely off the front sway bar and test drive it to see if the noise persists, thats one way to avoid spending money to NOT fix your noise. I've been down that road believe me....

 

[Olde English 5]

x2 on the front sway bar bushings. BUT, if you are at 96K on OE strut mounts, and they have been removed and reinstalled within the last year, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that is your trouble right there. If you can, try to remember if you ever heard the noise before you did the strut swap out. You can also take the end links completely off the front sway bar and test drive it to see if the noise persists, thats one way to avoid spending money to NOT fix your noise. I've been down that road believe me....

Disconnecting the end links from the sway bar sounds easy enough so I'll try it as soon as I can. But if the sway bar bushings are worn I would think the bar could still move and make noise?

For the struts do you mean check the bearings, mounting rubber, or both? I want to make sure which part you're talking about. By strut mounts are you talking about the triangular shaped part with the 3 bolt holes? Bearing is the part that looks like a cup that sits under the mounting rubber?

 

[loosenut]

Disconnecting the end links from the sway bar sounds easy enough so I'll try it as soon as I can. But if the sway bar bushings are worn I would think the bar could still move and make noise?

For the struts do you mean check the bearings, mounting rubber, or both? I want to make sure which part you're talking about. By strut mounts are you talking about the triangular shaped part with the 3 bolt holes? Bearing is the part that looks like a cup that sits under the mounting rubber?

Before disconnecting the end links try reaching down the backside of the passenger side of the engine (cold engine) and grabbing the sway bar. I could jerk the sway bar back and forth inside the bushing and recreate the noise when mine went. Also after doing that push up and down on the front of the car and watch the upper strut mount washers under strut retaining nut in the opening of the strut tower. There should be minimal to no movement there. If there is the strut mounts are shot. I just had to replace the aftermarket mounts I'd installed a little over a year ago as the were completely shot and were actually hitting the bottom of the strut tower.

 

[mazdadude]

I like the ideas suggested...

Here is what I can suggest...

If the strut bearing was at fault, the noise would be reproduced with every stroke of the strut.

If the sway bar bushing is at fault the noise is reproduced only when one wheel is doing something the opposite wheel is not.

I have experienced the bad upper strut bearings/ bushings on other cars, and it is a similar feeling and sound, however the amount of noises are much higher with the strut bearing, it almost can become "chattering".

 

[Olde English 5]

This has really got me wondering now. I tried to bounce the front end of the car up and down but that didn't cause the noise. I didn't see what looked like any excess movement from the strut mounts. I reached through the wheel wells on both sides and pushed and pulled on the sway bar. It felt solid, no movement or noise.

I guess next step will be to have someone drive around while I listen to see exactly where the noise is coming from

 

[Secondtyme]

Mine was a "chattering" as both strut bearings (the rubber cup thing) were bad. Mine also had REALLY bad sway bar bushings (I could move the bar with everything attached) My poor old van was making an anvil chorus of noises going down the road. If your FSB bushings are bad you can cover the symptoms with new end links, so if you have replaced those recently you may have thought it was fixed (been there, done that as well) Mazdadude is spot on about the sway bar, the impact has to be a non-symetrical one in order for the noise to get made, something like a pothole, versus an expansion joint. The strut bearings are much more difficult to diagnose by sight, if you can SEE that they are shot, the noise when you drive should be driving you to distraction. HTH

 

[BigFish246]

Hi, I have the same problem. I have replaced both lower controls arms - that didn't resolve the problem.
When you guys say "strut bearing" what does that mean? In the below diagram, which part is strut bearing?

Also, you guys think it's ok to use aftermarket Sway Bar bushings or they must be Mazda?

 

[Secondtyme]

The bearing is part # 34-381 in that diagram, the strut mount is 34-380 and 390A. That bearing, or more accurately the rubber in that bearing is what isolates the motion of the strut from the sheetmetal of the body it is bolted to. If it is failing or has failed every little motion of the strut will be telegraphed through the strut tower and into the cabin. You can use any sway bar bushings you choose, you don't HAVE to use Mazda stuff, just be aware that the aftermarket bushings are often made of stiffer material for improved "performance"

 

[BigFish246]

Secondtyme, thank you for the info.

 

[Secondtyme]

No problem, hoping someone will benefit from my doing the things the "hard way"

 

[BigFish246]

I did put in the new sway bar bushings. It is much harder than it looks since there is very limited space to work in. That fixed the low tone banging/thud sound. Definitely, sway arm bushings were worn out. Very surprised they would wear out so soon! This MZ5 only has 31,000 miles.

There is still some type of loud thud when hitting a big bump or pot hole, but now I can tell it is on the rebound stroke of the strut. I'll have to really focus on it for the next few days.

 

[Wishmaster]

If you haven't replaced your bushings yet... from my experience there is virtually no way to tell when they are worn (except for the clunking sound), without removing them. They won't look worn from a visual inspection. There will be no movement when physically inspected either. I've had a couple mechanics tell me they didn't think they needed replacement and the clunking must be coming from somewhere else. I just tell them to do it and the clunking is gone. You can do the rears yourself fairly simply... but I've always had a shop do the fronts.