Help please, that clunk-lunk is driving me nuts!
 

Hi folks,

Anyone got some ideas on this for me?

I've got a 99 Pro ES, 1.6L, 5 spd, that makes a "clunk-lunk" like sound going over every crack or seam in the pavement around here, not to mention the potholes. Sounds like it's coming from the area of the rear window package tray, or suspension. the car has 185,000 km/115,000 miles on it, some of it rather hard use, but still works well, and aside from this irritation, it needs only a set of front rotors and a thorough cleaning. Now that the kids are away at college again, and the thing actually stands still occasionally, I'll get at those things real soon.

So far I've pried and prodded on everything on the rear suspension, replaced the rear sway bar links, (front ones a year ago, they're still tight). The noise is similar to the sound the loose ball joints made before I changed them, but comes from the rear instead of the front. I've removed the interior, and found a 'AAA' battery rolling around on the floor under the rear seat. (If it had been a 'C' or 'D' size, I'd be sure I'd found the cause) I've removed the spare, the jack, wheel wrench, jack handle, and spare tire cover, still no progress. I found some small, loose rocks lying on top of an exhaust shield, and on top of a shield covering some kind of vapor cannister connected to the fuel system, but removing them didn't help. (i wasn't optimistic about that anyway.) I found a penny lying beside the strut mount when I looked under the rear window package shelf, but that wasn't it. I tightened up the cable release for the fuel filler door, and adjusted the trunk lid catch tighter. I checked, and the rear license plate is secure, (I'd read about bracket that rattled on some Mazdas). The exhaust system is solid, and I've shaken the crap out of it, but no rattles there.

I can't make the noise happen by rocking or shaking the car while in the garage.

I've read in other places about rear coil springs, especially aftermarket ones, causing noises, so I plan to pull out the rear struts next to see if there's anything going on there that I can't see with them on the car. I've got a 5 day weekend coming up, starting Thursday, Oct 6, I might be able to check out any other ideas then too.

Thoughts, anyone?

I dunno, but mine just started doin the same thing yesterday when I took my coilover springs off the car, so I'm interested in seeing where this leads to.

Where you hear the noise is right where the top of the suspension is.

Something like this is really hard to diagnose across the internet but I would check several things.

1. The strut isnt mounted firmly to the chasis... this will make noise over bumps but not when the car is sitting still...jack up that corner of the car and grab the strut and see if you can wiggle it by hand once the weight of the car is off it.

2. The spring isn't seated correctly in the strut seat. This happens from time to time.

Check those things first and see what you find out.

Thanks Roddimus,
I've tried wiggling/shaking the struts with the weight off the rear wheels, but no noise. If I lift the LEFT rear drum/hub a half inch or so and drop it quickly, (it's heavy, it's going down quickly!) it makes a noise SIMILAR to, but not the same as the noise I'm hearing on the road. It would be hard to spend the money for new struts for only this noise, the car handles ok still, so I'd like to avoid that if possible. I'll post when I've had a chance to work on it again.

Roddimus is spot-on--right under the rear shelf is the top of the strut.
I'd do what he suggested plus remove the seat back, remove the shelf and check the top strut bolts as well. EIther your strut/spring is loose or it's not seated correctly. The noise as you describe it doesn't sound like the strut is worn...