Very loud BANG!!

[newprot5fan]

Well, I was pulling into my gf's place and was just about to stop completely, when BANG!!!!! It came from my back right rear. I didn't hit anything and nothing hit me - It scared the absolute crap out of me. My gf actually heard it from inside the house.

Any idea what that could be? I have a 2002 P5 (manual)..67,000KM on it.

I highly doubt this has happened to anyone else, but I thought I'd give it a try.

Oh, one more thing, is it normal to have a strong smell of gas in your exhaust when revving the car? I am pretty sure I have no leak, but I have been getting poorer gas mileage for no apparent reason.

Thanks a lot!

 

[RacerXGirl]

Maybe your car just backfired?

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

do you have an aftermarket exhaust?

 

[Space_Rooster]

Could have been a Back fire and if your smelling gas and getting crapy milage check you air filter and plugs you may be running a little rich, witch also my be the reson for the Bang.

A little more info could help

 

[djarkitek]

if you're running a catless exhaust, you're going to smell the gas on high revving and you're going to get backfires, sometimes big ones...you prob got backfire when you revved up to go up the driveway and let go really quick to brake...is the driveway steep? this seems like all the signs of that.

 

[newprot5fan]

hey,

It wasn't a backfire. It was more metallic. THe driveway was completely level, so there wouldn;t have been much revving.

My car isn;t modified at all. I changed the spark plugs in April and cleaned my air filter then as well (NGK)...

Could it be possible that a suspension spring was caught on something and it let go..I have no idea

 

[aMaff]

catastrophic gas filled strut failure? Is the ride any different?

 

[SixStep]

must be the muffler bearing...

 

[pasadena_commut]

It wasn't a backfire. It was more metallic.

The crows around here break open walnuts by carrying them up about 50 feet and dropping them in the street. When the walnut hits it can make a very loud noise when it bounces off the roof or the side of the car.

Check for bullet or bb holes. About 20 years ago I was in a car that was hit in the back tail light by one or the other and it made a heck of a loud noise. We think it was probably only a bb since it only shattered the lens and didn't destroy the reflector. Anyway, if somebody shot at you there should be a hole or at least a very deep ding somewhere.

 

[James79s]

Yeah, I once heard a loud bang like that while I was stopped at a traffic light, scared the hell out of me. I pulled over, looked around, and nothing was wrong so I kept going. A couple of weeks later I noticed a big dent in the frame above the passenger side front door, so I assume something from the road, or the sky, hit my car as I was going by, thats all.

Have a look around for any damage.

 

[newprot5fan]

well, it's been a bit since that BANG, and now I am getting a lot of creaking/clunking in the rear of the car. Sometimes even when there are no bumps on the road, all I hear are clunking noises.

I mentioned it to a mechanic who works on mazdas and he said:

"The rear suspension will likely require new rear strut mounts which usually requires new
stabilizer links during removal because they sieze and need to be cut off, also due to
age I would reccomend new struts while it is apart and new sway bar bushings. Total job
should run about 750.00 plus tax"

Does that sounds about right? AM I being hosed?

Again, all this seemed to happen right after a HUGE BANG one day in my car..No idea why it happened.

Any thoughts would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[aMaff]

Did he actually look at it, or did he just pull that out of his ass?

 

[newprot5fan]

Did he actually look at it, or did he just pull that out of his ass?

He hasn't looked at it yet.....but that was what he thought it might be.

See, the problem is I don't know enough about cars and I can get ***** on the price. Seems there wasn't anything in the wheel wells, so nothing leaked. But the noise makes me just want to keep the car in the driveway. The ride doesn't appear any different.

Any thoughts? Lubrication needed somewhere maybe?

 

[aMaff]

could be as simple as an endlink...

 

[Purrfectangel]

that sounds about right for the price with what he mentioned with labour in but if you buy refurbished parts and get someone to give you a hand you can do it for half that price, it's not hard and doesn't take too long.

On these cars end links and bushings are common things to go, usually one of the first because of her suspension. and...it is a grey area as far as safety inspection goes and often times they are overlooked. It is a good idea to replace them when they go but not a lifethreatening thing if you don't fix it for awhile, there's just a little rattle. Mine went in Feb and I still haven't gotten around to fixing them, been too busy but I will before winter.

Don't worry about driving it either, if nothing else this car is reliable. A get in and go trooper. If you don't hear a rattle in the back end or haven't noticed a difference in her handling chances are it was a backfire or a link snapping off like AMaff said. You can check that easily though, block the wheels, jack up the car, put some jack stands underneath and have a look. They are clearly visable. You should be able to tell, just give em a good pull.