Loud clunk and banging over bumps from front end.

Superorb

Member
Hey all. My wife just bought a 2014 CX-5 Touring FWD with 142k miles on it. While hitting a bump in a parking lot yesterday I heard a loud clunk and could feel it in my left foot resting on the dead pedal. We've had broken tie rod endlinks on other cars and this was much louder and on those other cars I could never feel this.

Any idea what this could be? The car has a bunch of rust since it was a FL beach car so it could be something that has rusted and broke.
 
Could be a lot of things. Needs to be put on a lift and inspected.
Check the radiator mounts, you can just pop the hood and try to move the radiator. Don't do it until the motor cools down.
 
Could be a lot of things. Needs to be put on a lift and inspected.
Check the radiator mounts, you can just pop the hood and try to move the radiator. Don't do it until the motor cools down.

I'm changing the oil tomorrow so I'll inspect things then. Radiator mount would cause this clunk and feeling it in the cabin on bumps? I figured it would be a suspension part closer to the cabin.
 
I'm changing the oil tomorrow so I'll inspect things then. Radiator mount would cause this clunk and feeling it in the cabin on bumps? I figured it would be a suspension part closer to the cabin.
Yes, most likely its from your front lower control arm bushing and therere several TSBs for the problem.
 
My 2017 GT (13,000 miles) has developed a loud clank when driving over a minor road bump. It sounds as if it is coming from overhead, to my left when in the driver seat. I slightly opened the moonroof thinking it was that mechanism but it made no difference. The clank just recently appeared.

I'm well within my 36 month warranty.
 
Changed the oil and got under the car. I banged everything with a rubber mallet and no odd sounds or clunks. Usually this would reveal a bad ball joint and they all seemed fine. Couldn't budge the sway bar and the mount bushings looked fine. Strut top nuts were all tight.*

After lowering the car from stands and backing out of the garage it did the clunk again over the small ~1" garage lip. Felt like someone hit the car with a small hammer right behind where my left foot was on the dead pedal. That's right where the sway bar mount is but I couldn't budge it grabbing onto it.

For the LCA TSB, will the dealer replace that for free out of warranty? I see them telling me they'll charge $175 just to diagnose the problem. Car has 142k miles on it. The TSB I found seems to only deal with a creaking from the LCA but mine is a clank.

Ideas?
 
Ideas below - but if you can't find the source then please take the car to any competent mechanic. Concern is that a loud banging means something in the suspension is very loose and needs repair to be a safe vehicle. This is not a dealer-only problem. And, diagnostic charge will often be waved if they quickly find the issue and you have the shop do the repair.
- Broken strut spring can make this noise and sometimes be harder than you think to see because the crack is often near the very top or bottom
- Lower control arm bushings - also hard for you to test because they are hard to see and you need near to full car weight to load them. A shop with a lift, experience and possibly a long pry bar will be able to confirm the issue.
- Lower control arm has a ball joint that could be loose enough to clank. This you should be able to test with the car supported by jack stands and a long pry bar
- Steering rack has both inner and outer tie rods each with a ball joint that can become worn out and loose - unusual to be a large clunk, but possible
- Sway bar bushings and sway bar end links - though it sounds like you know what these are and have confirmed they are not loose

Just my opinion: Diagnostic fees are fair. A professional shop needs to protect itself from customers who use them exclusively to diagnose but drive the car away to fix it themselves or have a friend do the repair. We all deserve to be paid for our time and expertise.
 
Ideas below - but if you can't find the source then please take the car to any competent mechanic. Concern is that a loud banging means something in the suspension is very loose and needs repair to be a safe vehicle. This is not a dealer-only problem. And, diagnostic charge will often be waved if they quickly find the issue and you have the shop do the repair.
- Broken strut spring can make this noise and sometimes be harder than you think to see because the crack is often near the very top or bottom
- Lower control arm bushings - also hard for you to test because they are hard to see and you need near to full car weight to load them. A shop with a lift, experience and possibly a long pry bar will be able to confirm the issue.
- Lower control arm has a ball joint that could be loose enough to clank. This you should be able to test with the car supported by jack stands and a long pry bar
- Steering rack has both inner and outer tie rods each with a ball joint that can become worn out and loose - unusual to be a large clunk, but possible
- Sway bar bushings and sway bar end links - though it sounds like you know what these are and have confirmed they are not loose

Just my opinion: Diagnostic fees are fair. A professional shop needs to protect itself from customers who use them exclusively to diagnose but drive the car away to fix it themselves or have a friend do the repair. We all deserve to be paid for our time and expertise.

Thanks for your suggestions. I've had some bad luck in the family when taking their car into a shop that I'd like to avoid, but I will definitely go to a shop if I'm not able to diagnose myself so I'd like to go that route first.

How can I diagnose your suggestion if possible at all? Is a pry bar going to replicate the same scenario when the clank is heard and felt when driving? Just pry on items and look for deflection? Is there a way to test ball joints that have intact boots other than a mallet blow?

The TSBs seem to deal with LCA creaking and not clanking or banging.

I've been wrenching on cars for over 20 years now but I'm at my parents' house and don't have all my tools with me.
 
Thanks for your suggestions. I've had some bad luck in the family when taking their car into a shop that I'd like to avoid, but I will definitely go to a shop if I'm not able to diagnose myself so I'd like to go that route first.

How can I diagnose your suggestion if possible at all? Is a pry bar going to replicate the same scenario when the clank is heard and felt when driving? Just pry on items and look for deflection? Is there a way to test ball joints that have intact boots other than a mallet blow?

The TSBs seem to deal with LCA creaking and not clanking or banging.

I've been wrenching on cars for over 20 years now but I'm at my parents' house and don't have all my tools with me.

Sway bar bushings are my suggestion. However, the sway bar bushings are like the end links, They cannot be properly inspected until the sway bar and end links are separated from each other. The end links on average last 2x longer than the sway bushings.

When road testing for the sway bushings failure, find yourself the speedbump or driveway lip that activates your noise. Does the noise thunk occur when both tires reach the bump at the same time, or does it only occur when you go over the speedbump diagonally / when one tire is at a different plane then the opposite tire?

Of course I must mention all the other "doh" things like to confirm / tighten all the usual suspects under the hood on the front upper cowl, front struts, etc. Confirm battery is held down firmly, and hood prop rod is stored in its holder.
 
Checked those "doh" things all fine. It has happened now both on a diagonal bump and while pulling out of the garage so the lip was for both wheels at the same time.

Sway bar mounts on my WRX were both easy to get to and hung low. CX-5 are above the bottom of the car and behind the steering rack which makes things much more difficult. Looks like I may be able to unbold the sway mounts from below?

I need to find a place to recreate the clank and then unhook the swaybar endlinks.
 
So the car is no longer making the noise. I unhooked the swaybar endlinks and the clanking stopped. I also tightened the bolt above the strut tower that holds down the thin sheet metal. Drove around and no sound at all. Reconnected the swaybar endlinks BUT without those stupid dampeners. Not sure which fixed this issue but it's great now.
 
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