Suspension (clanking sound)

[Erbal]

I had my suspension replaced with tokico struts and tein springs, and the first week of driving was really nice. After that, I have been getting a loud clanking coming from all 4 corners of my car which is especially noticeable when going over speed bumps and such.


Any ideas as to what it is?

thx

 

[99prolx]

If you take the single nut off the top of each strut (you don't have to lift the car) and place a thick washer under the nut and torque it back down it can fix the clunk noise. That is a very common problem with proteges and an easy fix. Id start there.

 

[Erbal]

Thanks man, I will try it tomorrow.

 

[eanthonyjones]

How thick should the washer be?

 

[Erbal]

Well, I have only been able to do it to one strut so far, because I don't have access to deep enough sockets to get the other three. Most of the noise was coming from the front right strut. The nut on top was very loose, and the threaded part of the top of the strut had banged back and forth so much that the threads are completely smashed in. So I put three thick washers, enough to keep the nut above the damaged threads, and torqued down pretty hard......and.....no noise from that corner!! The other ones don't make much noise at all, but I will do the same to them when I get home this weekend and have access to deep enough sockets.

Also happy to be replacing my busted valve cover gasket and hopefully track down the cause of the puddle of water under my passenger seat that forms every time it rains (thinking sunroof drain?) this weekend.

Thanks 99prolx

 

[Erbal]

How thick should the washer be?

I don't know how thick they should be, but I just picked up a little pack of 7/16 flat washers that are about a millimeter thick, and it did the trick for me.

This is what I used:
http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay...gId=10051&cmRelshp=sim&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

 

[99prolx]

That's great I'm happy I could help out.