groaning sway bar bushings??

[zoomzoomV]

Went for a 1.5 hour road trip yesterday...i always drive but this time wife drove and I sat in the back with kids. I noticed everytime we went over a bump or a dip, there is very clunk?rubbing noise? coming from the rear right wheel/suspension? it is very annoying. do i need new shocks,struts?

i looked it up online, and i got some info about sway bar bushings???

i'm a noob but i know this i have not heard before. anyone have a clue??

2006 mazda 5 with like 46k on it.

thanks

 

[coolmazda5]

There've been several posts with similar symptoms, the only thing I can tell is that the bushings don't make a clunk noise but rather a squeaking one (when cold), so that leaves it to the struts. Check if it's not leaking, it seems that the many of 06s got a defective batch of struts...

I hear a clunk on my 06 when it gets warm (75-90F, left rear strut) but it does not leak, so the dealer is like (dunno).

I just hope it does not blow after the warranty is up

 

[schokie]

Same here on an 08. Clunking sound from right rear when 2 adults in 3rd row. Had dealer look at it once and they tightened sway bar bushings. Did nothing. Will have the dealer look at it again when I take it back to a dealer for major service. Seems like no one really has a good fix for this one...

 

[diogenes]

Same experience here with my '06 -- the dealer tightened a loose bolt (tie rod end, if I remember correctly), but the clunk at the right rear is still there. It sounds just like the noise from an old VW GTI I had when the struts/shocks were worn out, so I still suspect the shock at that position, but the dealer says it is not leaking.

 

[Junr]

My 08 had the same problem, it was the right rear spring making contact with the crossmember, if you look with a flashlight you will see paint marks were it is making contact, they did grind down something on the spring mount and the noise is gone...

 

[Katner]

My 08 had the same problem, it was the right rear spring making contact with the crossmember, if you look with a flashlight you will see paint marks were it is making contact, they did grind down something on the spring mount and the noise is gone...

I've posted about the same problem coming from the front drivers side. In time it began to get worse and make the noise on smaller and smaller bumps. The ride also felt softer and softer too. They replaced all four bushings with their latest design (4th generation apparently) and the problem persisted. Then they replaced the entire strut mount - did nothing. I was about to bring it back in but then we got in a crash and the entire front end is being replaced including suspension so I'm guessing things will be back to normal.

This is one reason why I hesitate to get new springs right now. I want to make sure that these issues are ironed out before I void my suspension warranty.

 

[tillyspeed81]

I noticed my rear end clunking as well and the dealership couldn't find out the problem...they said everything is in place. A few weeks later out of desperation I checked under myself and noticed my sway bar had a bolt loose. I don't know what the part is, but it's at the very end of the rear swaybar and has a 5mm (4?) allen wrench screw and 14mm bolt attached to some kind of joint looking thing. Anyways it was loose for I don't know how long, and now the screw has been damaged by the sway bar grinding on it. I was stupid and tried to tighten it myself. Now it looks like I messed with it. I hope the dealership will fix it for me under warranty..

Anyone know where I can get one of these besides the dealer?

 

[red headz]

I'm guessing one of three things:

Sway bar bushings -
Faulty shock -
Sway bar end links -

The bushings wrap around the sway bar which are wrapped by the brackets that hold the sway bar in place. At each end of the sway bar are end links, and finally the end links connect to the trailing arm/spring perch.

Of those three things, bushing are cheap and pretty easy to replace, next in line are the end links, and finally (and probably most expensive) is the rear shock.

My wife and I had a funny noise after installing the MS3 springs, but we found the spring actually binding inside the upper mount as the rubber footing had folded over. This caused the spring to sit uneven and rub against the upper mount. It was an easy fix once we knew what it was.

I'd suggest poking around under there. When my wife and I had the spring issue, we just jacked up the car and watch the compression/decompression of the spring - it was obvious. I hope you can find a quick/easy solution as well.

Go ahead - take a peek.
michael.

 

[diogenes]

I finally got my 2006 Mz5 into the dealer on the suspension noise complaint and they ended up doing the service bulletin issues -- sway bar bushings and grinding down weld on right rear spring seat -- plus replacing a leaking right rear shock. Everything seems better now, but of course I don't know which issue of the three was the worst culprit.

 

[rodslinger]

My 06 has been having the squeaking and knocking issues since we bought it. They replaced the sway bar bushings under warranty in December with 54k miles on it and tightened/lubed them again last month with 59k miles on it.

The noises are back AGAIN. I just sent Mazda a certified letter with a demand for repair as it is wearing me out. It has been in probably 7 to 10 times for these issues. I really don't care what their response is. All I know is I'm not paying someone to fix it when they should have done it already. I'm honestly hoping they'll just blow me off on the letter. I'd much rather spend $90 filing in State Court for costs of repairs to a third party. I don't think my servicing dealer is capable of fixing anything properly.

 

[nvanvlymen]

its funny, i just posted a new thread about this same noise issue im having... its my drivers side rear... with ms3 springs.

Red_headz points out that its probably the spring binding... im going to jack it up and see if its the problem... i hope so, very annoying.

 

[rodslinger]

Still squeaking

My 5 has 62,000 miles on it. I've been having the squeaking issues since it had 17,000 miles on it. Dealer has "fixed" it probably six or seven times. Last time it had 59,000 miles and they did it as a "courtesy" since it was out of warranty. The problem came back so I sent a proper letter to Mazda via certified mail. They of course tried to blow it off but offered to check it out as a courtesy after a follow up with them.

Dealer has it now and is fixing it again. Here's the kicker. It's the SAME problem it has always had. This time the dealer is trying to say the CV axle is causing the squeak when going over bumps. Now I've changed a lot of bad axles in my life. They click, pop and crunch when bad but never in my life had one or even heard of one squeaking. Squeaking in the suspension is almost universally a bad or improperly lubed ball joint, tie rod end strut bearing or bushing. Are they making this claim to make it easier to get Mazda to pay for it? I can't see them getting reimbursed for a fifth return repair 12,000 miles out of warranty.

At least they are covering it. But what gets me is why do I have to go back this many times for something that SHOULD have been done right the first or definately second time. My 08 model with 30k miles doesn't and never has made a peep out of the suspension.

 

[rodslinger]

And four days later the squeak is back....

They are either using the wrong lube or something has impregnated the swaybar/bushings from using the incorrect lube in the past. They need to take the damn thing apart, clean it thoroughly then apply the proper lubricants or just replace everything and be done with it.

 

[doctorz]

Haven't checked this thread for a while. We had the clunk in the left rear and it took three visits for the dealer to replace the strut, which finally made the noise go away. The strut was not leaking, which is why they tried replacing the sway bar bushings first. Dealer shrugged but they did fix the noise, so I give 'em credit for that.