2017 Mazda CX-9 front suspension clunking/knocking noise

I decided to pop my hood and noticed that two plastic piece were rubbing against each other on the driver side of the cowl area. I put a piece of sink rubber gasket in between the two plastic, I think that took care of my clunking issue, at least I hope so.

Sounds a lot harder than two plastic pieces under the hood coming together. Not sure what dB you used to record the video's audio, however. Seems really loud in there - like metal-on-metal contact with compression of the suspension or up/down movement of the chassis.

Good to hear you are no longer getting knock, though! Congrats - but please do report back if it emerges again. :)
 
Sounds a lot harder than two plastic pieces under the hood coming together. Not sure what dB you used to record the video's audio, however. Seems really loud in there - like metal-on-metal contact with compression of the suspension or up/down movement of the chassis.

Good to hear you are no longer getting knock, though! Congrats - but please do report back if it emerges again. :)

So far so good, but I will definitely do more speed bump testing whenever I can. I use iPhone 8plus to record the video audio. It is very loud in person. First time I took it to dealer, it was for clunking and popping noise. When I make a hard turn, (all.the way
Right or left) it would pop one time or two popping sound simultaneously. Popping sound is gone now that LCA was replaced. Second time took it to the dealer, they said it was because of loose windshield cowl. They kept my car at the dealership for quite a few days both times, they had to gave me rental both times. So, I would assumed that they had look at or tightened everything already. Like I said I will report back if anything comes up again.
 
Just inside each strut tower (the towers each have 3 silver bolts/nuts) there is a brace/bracket between the two towers (black horizontal bar in picture below). Each end of this bracket has 2 black bolts/screws that hold it in place and these are what need to be tightened. 12mm IIRC.

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I tightened both strut towers and that wasn't my issue. Gonna take it to a mechanic soon Thank you anyways. I'll keep you guys posted.
 
So far so good, but I will definitely do more speed bump testing whenever I can. I use iPhone 8plus to record the video audio. It is very loud in person. First time I took it to dealer, it was for clunking and popping noise. When I make a hard turn, (all.the way
Right or left) it would pop one time or two popping sound simultaneously.

I occasionally get the same thing but mine is not loud. Has the acoustical signature of that which would traditionally seem to come from the CV joint area - but I checked and there are no leaks, no cuts, no slits and no broken seals in the CV boots. Heard on the left front corner only on mine and typical with full lock-out turns to the right. Low OAT is a little louder than higher OAT instances. Barely audible. But, to someone like me - I'm going to hear and feel everything because I'm paying attention to such fine details where other might not. I don't like it, but I also don't like taking my vehicle to the dealer either. I'm going to try and troubleshoot it on my own when I get it back on the rack. Not getting any worse, but just hearing it on a brand new 2018 is highly irritating.


Popping sound is gone now that LCA was replaced.

Here we go. Just like "magic." Its gone! I'll start looking for TSBs on this. Thanks.


Second time took it to the dealer, they said it was because of loose windshield cowl.

And, this is exactly why I don't like taking my vehicles to the dealer for work. They rarely take matters seriously and they are all about Revenue Generation, not Quality Customer Service after the sale.


They kept my car at the dealership for quite a few days both times, they had to gave me rental both times.

They held your vehicle hostage and demanded ransom. Just kidding. No not really kidding at all. Nah, just kidding. Maybe not. Who knows. What does Automotive Ransom look like these days anyway. ;)


So, I would assumed that they had look at or tightened everything already. Like I said I will report back if anything comes up again.

Assuming that a dealer acts with common sense is not an assumption I would make, but I get your point. I would hope with my fingers crossed and a kneeling prayer, but I don't have enough confidence to assume any dealer would do the right thing or act with common sense on behalf of my satisfaction as a customer. I start from the 'assumption' that they simply do not care about me or my vehicle. I then work from that standpoint going forward. I'm very skeptical of Dealerships and they have lost the benefit of the doubt from me personally. Any dealership I visit must prove to me that they actually want my business and care about treating my vehicle with truth, honesty and integrity. Like finding a needle in a haystack.
 
I've had my 2016 in for suspension clanking noises 4-5 times. There should be a TSB on suspension tower issues. They have replaced by my front strut towers and I think both rears as well. I just called them to have them email me all my service records so I know what they have done.

I also get a fairly loud "click" or knock occasionally when applying the brakes as slow speed. It almost sounds like the brake pads are seating or something after the car has been in park. It's annoying, but my dealership can't seem to replicate it even though I've driven with a tech and we've both heard it.

Definitely annoying and Mazda's service isn't what I would call 5 star.
 
pad wear? i don't think so, it is getting progressively worse

I have a similar clicking/spring link noise for the past several months, and the lead Mazda tech says it's my brake calipers. As the pads wear, there is more of a gap and this the new gen CX9 is prone to this. There is no fix or TSB yet. He asked me to write an email about this issue to my sales guy and they will both submit to Mazda Corp to see what they can do for me.

In the past, this tech has been spot on with any issues I had with my 2011 CX9, and has gone to bat for me to get certain repairs covered by Mazda. So we'll see

I just got the same diagnosis and I'm not satisfied, did you write to Mazda? Any resolution?
 
Good suggestions, my local Mazda Dealership retorqued all the suspension bolts under the car and my clunk seemed to disappear for a short time. It's back and even worse. My neighborhood has several speed bumps and so does my work parking lot.

So the Mazda Dealership destroyed my killer looking Grand Touring rims and gave my a rental so they fix them. The rental is a 2018 Grand Touring CX-5 and has the same identical front clunky noise that my CX-9 suffers from. This is driving me nuts.

I'll look into the shock tower thing when I get my truck back from Mazda.
 
Update on my situation: Having fixed the "popping" sound myself by tightening the screws that hold the bracket/brace between the strut towers (see my prior post with picture), I was left with a metallic-sounding clunk/thud at low speeds when coming to a stop and sometimes when the wheels were turned. I brought it to my closest dealership earlier this week for an oil change & tire rotation and asked that they look into this noise/thud I've been hearing and feeling. I left detailed instructions of how to recreate the sound with the service rep. Of course, they call me later that morning and tell me that they can't replicate the issue (bang).

I go down to the dealership that afternoon and drive around the parking lot with a technician and we were able to recreate the sound and he actually heard/acknowledged it! (yippy) Now, I must say that the circumstances to recreate the noise were different than what I had experienced in the past. It would usually happen after backing/turning out of my driveway (down a slight incline), driving down the block approaching a stop sign, and then lightly applying the brakes. As soon as I touched the brakes, and I could have sworn sometimes when just coasting and the car downshifted from 3-2 or 2-1, I would hear/feel this metallic clunk that sounded like it was coming from the front of the car and underneath the back of the engine. In my mind I was convinced it was something to do with the transmission or drivetrain.

But in the parking lot with the technician I was able to get it to happen when pulling into or backing out of a parking spot, on relatively flat ground, with the steering wheel nearly turned all the way in either direction, and gently applying the brakes. Even moving just a few feet with the steering wheel turned and then applying the brakes would cause it to happen.

Well, the technician took the car back and he started looking into it right away. An hour later I got a call that the car was all set - the technician took apart the front brakes, cleaned, and reassembled everything. Apparently at least one of the brake pads was not seated correctly or perhaps it was something with the caliper movement - the technician was not positive. But whatever it was, the technician believed that something was essentially causing the front brakes to "stick" or get caught up and the noise/clunk was the brakes freeing themselves up. When I first heard this explanation I did not have high hopes that the situation was actually fixed.

But low and behold it's been a couple of days and the noise/clunk has not come back even once! The brakes feel like they grab a little better too (not sure if this is just from cleaning or if there really was something restricting the caliper/pad movement). I'm very happy with the service I received from the dealership and am glad they actually were able to hear/acknowledge the noise and actually fix it. I am self-admittedly very nit picky and often when I bring my cars in for something like this I'm told that they can't hear anything or that it's normal operation.

Anyway, I know this is a long post but hopefully someone finds it helpful! (thumb)


Oh, one more thing - when I was driving with the technician I mentioned to him about the "popping" noise coming from the brace between the two strut towers and he said he's had two CX-9s with that exact issue there this month. Officially, there was no known issue/bulletin from Mazda and so it took him over a week to finally find those loose bolts. Apparently they are coming directly from the factory this way: bolts that are only finger-tight, if that, and end up loosening more as the car is driven. He said one of the CX-9s he just had in was only a couple of weeks old. So this is still a problem on brand new 2018 models and has been for a while, seeing as how mine is a 2017.
 
In a parking, can you guys go full lock left and right of the steering wheel. It seems to produce the same sound.

I have the same sound, and I think it's the suspension bumpstops. And I think the suspension bump stop is made of the same hardness material as the bumpstop that limit the steering knuckle.

Let me know what you guys think after listening to full steering wheel lock.
 
In a parking, can you guys go full lock left and right of the steering wheel. It seems to produce the same sound.

I have the same sound, and I think it's the suspension bumpstops. And I think the suspension bump stop is made of the same hardness material as the bumpstop that limit the steering knuckle.

Let me know what you guys think after listening to full steering wheel lock.
Yes, I got a knock/bump sound on full lock when in Park. I seem to remember this occurring on the other CX-9 Touring that I test drove as well. The noise/clunk I had that was ultimately attributed to the brakes was definitely different.
 
If the steering knuckle bump stock is against at its limit, you have one part tight against another. Then any vertical movement will make a motion that isn't normal and a noise that isn't normal. If backing off the steering wheel a small amount eliminates this noise, that's it. A dab of lube on the bump stops will offer temporary relief.
 
I was suggesting the noise this thread is talking about is the bumpstops and is normal.
 
*****UPDATE***** Got my CX-9 back from the dealership. They had it for a month, had multiple mechanics look at it, thought it was the strut bearing, changed them, it wasn't the problem. They finally figured it out, It was the inner tie rods. They had to replace the whole rack and pinion because the tie rods and rack are one assembly. Cost me $1400 bucks. PROBLEM IS SOLVED! The clunking sound is gone!*
 
Hey everyone my 2017 cx9 has a clicking noise when I apply the brakes after going from drive to reverse or reverse to drive it sounds like something is loose in the front suspension i took it to the dealer but they are trying to tell me it is normal but when I bought the car brand new it never done it dose anyone else have this problem or even fixed it
 
The CX3,5, M3 had a spring protector TSB for the random intermittent clunk. The 9 came much later & may not be included in the dated advisory. Try asking your dealerships. The OEM protector is cheap.
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I'll ask them about it. But went back today to make sure they could hear the noise and now they're telling me that it is the wear in the calipers and it's normal. I don't know if that is a thing or they just don't know.
 
Hey everyone my 2017 cx9 has a clicking noise when I apply the brakes after going from drive to reverse or reverse to drive it sounds like something is loose in the front suspension i took it to the dealer but they are trying to tell me it is normal but when I bought the car brand new it never done it dose anyone else have this problem or even fixed it

I'm experiencing the same thing. My guess is there's a slight play between the pad and the bracket.
 
Hey everyone my 2017 cx9 has a clicking noise when I apply the brakes after going from drive to reverse or reverse to drive it sounds like something is loose in the front suspension i took it to the dealer but they are trying to tell me it is normal but when I bought the car brand new it never done it dose anyone else have this problem or even fixed it

See my post above for this exact issue:

Update on my situation: Having fixed the "popping" sound myself by tightening the screws that hold the bracket/brace between the strut towers (see my prior post with picture), I was left with a metallic-sounding clunk/thud at low speeds when coming to a stop and sometimes when the wheels were turned. I brought it to my closest dealership earlier this week for an oil change & tire rotation and asked that they look into this noise/thud I've been hearing and feeling. I left detailed instructions of how to recreate the sound with the service rep. Of course, they call me later that morning and tell me that they can't replicate the issue (bang).

I go down to the dealership that afternoon and drive around the parking lot with a technician and we were able to recreate the sound and he actually heard/acknowledged it! (yippy) Now, I must say that the circumstances to recreate the noise were different than what I had experienced in the past. It would usually happen after backing/turning out of my driveway (down a slight incline), driving down the block approaching a stop sign, and then lightly applying the brakes. As soon as I touched the brakes, and I could have sworn sometimes when just coasting and the car downshifted from 3-2 or 2-1, I would hear/feel this metallic clunk that sounded like it was coming from the front of the car and underneath the back of the engine. In my mind I was convinced it was something to do with the transmission or drivetrain.

But in the parking lot with the technician I was able to get it to happen when pulling into or backing out of a parking spot, on relatively flat ground, with the steering wheel nearly turned all the way in either direction, and gently applying the brakes. Even moving just a few feet with the steering wheel turned and then applying the brakes would cause it to happen.

Well, the technician took the car back and he started looking into it right away. An hour later I got a call that the car was all set - the technician took apart the front brakes, cleaned, and reassembled everything. Apparently at least one of the brake pads was not seated correctly or perhaps it was something with the caliper movement - the technician was not positive. But whatever it was, the technician believed that something was essentially causing the front brakes to "stick" or get caught up and the noise/clunk was the brakes freeing themselves up. When I first heard this explanation I did not have high hopes that the situation was actually fixed.

But low and behold it's been a couple of days and the noise/clunk has not come back even once! The brakes feel like they grab a little better too (not sure if this is just from cleaning or if there really was something restricting the caliper/pad movement).
I'm very happy with the service I received from the dealership and am glad they actually were able to hear/acknowledge the noise and actually fix it. I am self-admittedly very nit picky and often when I bring my cars in for something like this I'm told that they can't hear anything or that it's normal operation.

Anyway, I know this is a long post but hopefully someone finds it helpful! (thumb)


Oh, one more thing - when I was driving with the technician I mentioned to him about the "popping" noise coming from the brace between the two strut towers and he said he's had two CX-9s with that exact issue there this month. Officially, there was no known issue/bulletin from Mazda and so it took him over a week to finally find those loose bolts. Apparently they are coming directly from the factory this way: bolts that are only finger-tight, if that, and end up loosening more as the car is driven. He said one of the CX-9s he just had in was only a couple of weeks old. So this is still a problem on brand new 2018 models and has been for a while, seeing as how mine is a 2017.
 
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