Celica Forums General Discussion General Annoying noises post minor incident

Okay, so I'm right behind a kid in an old Volvo at a stop sign at the top of an off ramp, both of us turning right, two lanes going our direction on the street we're turning on to. One car is going by, nothing else coming. When that car gets about even with the Volvo, the kid in the Volvo takes off. I look to my left and start to go. Just as I'm turning my head back to the right, WHAM, WTF! The kid had decided to stop again, driving like an old lady. He said he decided to come to a full stop. Didn't hit him hard enough to deploy the air bags, but it sure felt lik a significant thump. We got out and checked for damage. None! Not even a scratch on my front bumper. Thank God they don't make 'em like they sued to. But the seam between the front edge of the hood and the bumper is about 1/16th of an inch tighter on the right side than the left. Anway, he called his daddy on the cell and we had to wait for a cop to come by, investigate, and tell us how to get a copy of the accident report. No ticket written, somehow I think I got off lucky. Now I have an annoying "clunk" or "tap" from the left side somewhere when I hit rough pavement and such. I've tried to find where it's coming from without any luck. The only thing I can see is maybe the rubber bump block in the spring was displaced. Is that possibly a cause of the noise? Does it matter exactly where that thing is positioned. I might have to get the jack out of the other car and try to get the suspension up to a normal level, with the car jacked up, to try to find the noise.
Anyone out there have any exerience or ideas about this?

damn. sorry bout that. kids

Is your suspension modified? If you hit him pretty hard then suddenly braked your alignment probably went off. It could've also caused your strut to get loose.

Make sure all your bolts on your suspension are tight. Here's a couple things you can do.

1. First put the car on jack stands with the wheel on. Pull the wheel up & down to see if anything is loose and if you hear the tap or clunk the strut is loose. If you hear a noise inspect the area's where it may be coming from. If you can't track it. Tighten the 3 black bolts 12mm (pic1) holding the strut tower in place. If they are already tight don't mess with them.

2. If that doesn't work and the noise is still their tighten the gold bolt, 19mm nut holding the struts piston rod. It is located in the engine bay. To access the gold bolt remove the rubber cap (pic1) protecting the bolt at the top of the strut tower. You may need to vice grip the rod from below wheel well then screw it in from the top since the rod will keep spinning. Once tightened check if the noise is still their.

3. Last the end links that hold your sway bar(pic2). Make sure they aren't loose tighten them if they are. Use a 14mm box-end wrench and 6mm hex(allen) key to tighten them. If they are already tight leave them alone. If you can't get them loose don't force and strip them.

Good luck.

Pic 1

Pic 2 Front end links tighten the one at the sway bar as well. Both sides.

The rubber shouldn't be the one making the clunking sound. Some other noise people have when the rubber tears is when they turn then hear clicking or a thumping noise only at turns. But in your case I guess those suspects since it only happens when you hit pavement hard. Sucks when suspension makes noise because of things getting loose. I learned the hard way when I bent my endlink since I did not tighten it enough. Heard a loud metal ringing noise banging on something and clunking everytime I hit a large dip. Found the cause which was the endlink swaying and banging in the tire well bending everytime I braked. Had to replace the endlinks with new ones aftermarket of course. The endlink was disconnected from the sway bar which made some pretty deep scratches in the rubber coating but nothing black touch up paint can't fix.

Anyway I use a thread locking sealant everytime I remove and re-install my suspension just to make sure nothing gets loose in the long run. You can always break the threads loose with a impact gun if you ever decide to remove again. Just keeps me assure that nothing will get loose.

good write up goldcelica!!

Often with these plastic bumpers there is no mark on the outside, but underneath there is bent metal. Check it all out, you probably have some plastic anchors busted & when you hit rough pavement the plastics bounces against the metal.

GOLDCELICA, you go way above and beyond. I appreciate your help. Details & pix, it's like having my own repair consultant. Tomorrow after work it's going back up on the jackstands.

Haulin_A_Doo, I'll get a bunch of those plastic fasteners that hold all the plastics on and replace any that don't seem tight. Thanks.

Have I said lately what a great site this is?

Good luck.