"Clunking" in Engine Bay

GalantHL · 11-13-2003, 09:41 AM

8th Gen owners, I need your help.

Lately, I've been noticing that there has been a noticable rattle/clunking coming from the engine bay...driver side. At low speeds going over several small pot holes, I notice a some bumping, "clunking" sounds if you will. The sound is almost like metal hitting metal. Sort of like a lose peice of metal, or something, hitting something secured onto the car itself. I wish I could describe it more but I'm at a lose of words. It almost sounded like an old problem with my Jetta. (exhaust was hitting the right rear suspension assembly) Does anyone know, or have any experience, what this problem is? Somehow I don't think it's a heat sheild...not tinny enough to sound like a heat sheild rattle.

Please help. Thanks all.

**Auto-9** · 11-13-2003, 10:28 AM

My sounds were because my suspension wasn't seated properly and it ruined my spring seat. Even with a new one it still clunked.

GalantHL · 11-13-2003, 10:36 AM

Could that be the problem? I'm not sure. I've got roughly 50K miles. I guess after some wear and tear the suspension could be worn to that extent. God, I hope that isn't the case. It's down right annoying! After I finally isolated some plastic rubbing on plastic noise in the interior of the car and "fixed" it, this sound happened to spring up without hesitation to take its place. Wonderful.

Gilhuly · 11-13-2003, 12:15 PM

Is your battery properly tied down?

GalantHL · 11-14-2003, 08:33 AM

Yep...checked all that stuff last night.

Let me ask you all a question...

Does every 8th Gen owner have some sort of interior noise buggin' the h*ll out of you? That annoying creaking sound is back in the left rear of the interior as well. I isolated it to be something in the ceiling of the left rear passenger area. It seemed WD40 fixed the problem for a couple of days, but now it's back. I sprayed it down in that whole area that I could get access into but that was a temp. fix to the problem. On top of that, now there's that annoying engine bay clunking/bumping sound. Could it be warped bushings? Suspension? Any help would be appreciated.

00GTZ00 · 11-14-2003, 09:00 AM

I have those noises but mine is because of blown motor mounts....sigh I still have to replce 2 more.....

GalantHL · 11-25-2003, 10:35 AM

Found out what the problem was.....blown/worn out bushings to the sway bar and linkage. Seems like the 1999-2001 models have this common problem...especially in areas where the temp. changes significantly over the year. Just talked to the dealership mechanics and they mentioned this is a all too common problem here in the midwest. $80 dollars later...problem fixed.

**CustomMotto** · 11-25-2003, 11:02 AM

Originally Posted by 00GTZ00

I have those noises but mine is because of blown motor mounts....sigh I still have to replce 2 more.....

Is that expensive ? I was thinking about replacing mine too.

GalantHL · 11-25-2003, 11:11 AM

Unfortunately yes...parts where cheap but labor killed me at the dealership. I could have put them in myself but it's too cold for me to sit on my a*s and do it in the garage. :? The parts were about 20-30 dollars. It was worth it for me to have the dealership to fix it.

NyGalant2000 · 11-27-2003, 08:53 PM

I had the same exact problem...if its what i had check your struts you may need new front struts

joeyjen · 12-01-2003, 03:36 PM

to start off i had it with this car lol. between the squeaking noise that comes from the inside of the car to the clunking noise, i can't take it lol. the clunking in my car started at about 30,000 miles, and right now i have 45,000, and it keeps progressively getting worse and it is driving me crazy... why should we have to pay mitsubishi the money to fix a problem that obviously a lot of their cars have... they should be responsible for their piece of crap cars. i have the ultimate lemon, within a year, i was in the dealership about 10-12 times for this car. ahhhhh it's so frustrating!!!!!! any advice on what these problems are? lol

**HondaKillerGTZ** · 12-01-2003, 09:30 PM

My car have the same annoying "cluk cluk" sound coming from the front left suspension, I replaced my shocks with AGX's some time ago and the sound was the same. My dealer recently replaced the tie rods and the Fuc**ng sound is still there, so, for those who fixed the problem, exactly what parts need to be replaced?? Everyday I get more upset with that sound, some1 please help me!!!

GalantHL · 12-02-2003, 10:13 AM

HondaKiller,

If it's the same problem as mine, you'll need to replace the linkage peices with your sway bar....the part(s) that link your sway bar to the suspension. You can't miss the bolted link when you take off your left front tire. You'll need to go to a Mitsu dealership and get the part...dealership part only provides the necessay bushings and bolts. The whole thing needed to be replaced for mine....bushings and all. For symetry, I replaced the same parts on the other side. (Note: Consumer Guide mentions that bushings were a significant problem for 8Gs) Anyways, it's a 45 min job. No biggie. Like I mentioned before, anyone can do it, but I had a local shop do it cause I'm not freezing my nuts off here in WI.

**HondaKillerGTZ** · 12-02-2003, 04:41 PM

Well Im gonna check it out and see if those links are my problem. Thanks!!!

**HondaKillerGTZ** · 12-02-2003, 06:23 PM

I just checked the links and the left side has the ball joints very loose, when I checked the right side the ball joint which connects to the stab. bar is almost destroyed, so this is a happy ending story and I will buy these fuckers tomorrow to finish with almost 3 years of hearing the cluk cluk sound