Hey guys,

So I have a rear clunk going on in my car -- and its driving me insane. It sounds a little like a marble being dropped repeatedly on a table.

I have read a few threads where people have posted various answers -- and I've tried the following:

New rear sway bar bushings -- now moved on to a 22mm sway bar
Rear upper strut mount bushing -- Lemfoerder, I had to reuse the stock "guide tube" as I have bilstein struts
Rear sway bar end links
Rear upper strut mount bolts

Whats next?

Rear upper strut mounts -- do these fail? Where do I even buy this? @ECS tuning
Rear trailing arm bushing and bracket?
Rear strut all together?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

@ECS -- you guys always bail me out -- HELP!!!!

 

Little ball on rear hatch area cover bouncing on the string and hitting something.

Seems like you checked the obvious problem areas. Try wiggling the struts to see you you can replicate the noise. I would also try wiggling the exhaust to see if it is hitting anything. If a hanger is weak or broken the exhaust can move around quite a bit.

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ts-of-toe.html

Happen on the Gen 1 and Gen 2 MINI in the rear the foam part overtime compresses and then clunk on the metal going over bumps. 33526754123 & 33526754124

The Rear strut mounts are the same on the Gen 1 MINI and Gen 2, we have them with just the inserts also. Had the same issue o my R52 , new mounts solved the issue. Do both side at the same time.

Edit* looks like you already did that. they fail that quick , It took about 80,000 miles till mine did it.


I would check the trunk and make sure the tool kit and parcel deck are in place. Some times junk in the back moves around. Then I would check behind the carpets in the trunk for something like a cable are harness that popped loose. Then Check to make sure the parcel deck sting weight is not knocking around.

Then check the rear sway bar links. Lift the MINI in the back and grab the link move it side to side and press on it with a bar to see it there is play.

You can jack the car up and let it down and listen for a noise. Watch your feet and make sure you dont have anything under there.

Last but not least, make sure the rear upper seat is latched all the way into the mount. Sometime the upper rear seat mount has some play in it and will rattle.

 

Hey ECS -- I did those foam upper mount bushings a few mos ago (less than 2,000 miles on them). They were loemfoerder brand. Also -- do you mean this mount:
http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/Site...aign=postreply

Happy to give it a try.

 

Yes, if it was replaced it should be fine, the only thing I can think of is when you reused that sleeve, the upper main strut nut might be not tight on the sleeve and rattling. But it should be ok. See above for other things to check.

 

Did you recently replace the rear shocks? If so, be sure to go over everything and make sure nothing is loose. Do you hear this clunk only on rough roads or when going over bumps? Can you maybe open the trunk while you're not moving and push down on the rear of the car to see if you can replicate the noise? Check all bushings and suspension components. The hangers is a good suggestion as well.

 

Thanks quikmini - how much play in the exhaust is normal? I actually have a few of the red oval hangers sitting around and would happily swap them - although I remember from when I replaced the top strap that getting them off was misery.

 

I'll give the whole car a once over. Only other thought is test control arms. I know the bushings can fail. Top ones are new. Bottom ones are 105k miles. Have a set of those sitting in garage too I have been meaning to do for maintenance sake.

 

Welcome. Tracing down noise in the rear is a little bit of a project, can be so many things.

 

For the exhaust, I suggest just grabbing the tips (when cool) and shaking them around to see if you can get the exhaust system to hit anything. You can also reach under and grab a pipe near the muffler cans and give it a good shake. If you cannot get the exhaust to hit anything, you are good. If it does hit something, you need to investigate (maybe the hit is responsible depending on how much you moved the exhaust around).

I have found that I have to replace the center/rear mount hangers, every once and a while, because the exhaust starts to move around a little too much and hit things, such as the shields, causing a rattle.

Here are the hangers I am talking about:
http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/..._pg1.htm#item1

 

On the rear, I have had the case where I did not get the top nut tight enough, after spring R&R, and it caused a knock. I was able to grab the spring and move the strut assembly around to recreate the noise. If a thread is a little damage on the strut the nut can seem tight but has not actually threaded all the way down but instead stopped at the damaged thread.

 

Hi Pelican,

I didn't do the shocks recently, but I took them out to do my rear sway bar -- I am pretty fast at it and am totally on board with pulling out the LR and double checking tightness of everything as well as retorquing all the bolts. sound is heard on un-even roads and bumps. Haven't tried pushing down on it with trunk open yet.. I don't really see the car (although its in the garage) for most of the week as I take our family hauler.

I will also be checking the rear strut to see if maybe it is messed up somehow.

 

Hey Quikmini -- thanks for the suggestions -- hopefully it warms up a little and I feel like getting down under the car... right now I don't :-(

 

Have someone sit in the back seat and listen, while you drive, that will help pinpoint it.

 

As quikmni said, I too have had a loose nut cause a clunk so just be sure to check over things and tighten them down. I was able to confirm while the car was on a lift. As we lifted it up slowly off the ground and put it back down I listened and saw the shock move slightly once the wheel touched back onto the ground. Also, I had a clunk once due to a loose sway bar end link. The nut had backed out because it wasn't tightened down enough. Go over everything under the car and make sure it's tight. Report back and let us know what you find.

 

Okay guys -- took up the rear side of the car tonight and played around -- I have the answer but it baffles me.

The second I got the lower shock bolt disconnected -- it was very clear that there was too much play on the shock mount. The bushing was pretty well squished and the whole shock body could rotate fairly easily. This item was replaced not longer than 2-5k miles ago....I have always made sure that the bolt is tight.

So -- I'm tempted to go to this kit: https://www.ecstuning.com/News/R52_R...008/ES2651636/ Does anyone have any feedback on it? Noisy? uncomfortable?

 

They should not have squished that fast, mine are still good since i changed them couple years ago. It you got them from us , you can return them. If you do the PF in the back you will never have to change them again. They will be a tad bit tighter in the back, you might not feel it daily but on the track you might feel it more, like over larger bumps or apex ridges on the corner of the track.

 

Thanks ECS - josh took care of me and issued a refund. I then quickly ordered the power flex bushings. While I was waiting for parts I installed the new style control arms I had sitting in the garage. Once the bushings arrived I had the car back on the ground in an hour or so after swapping both sides. The noises in the rear are 90% gone. I'm going to explore sound deadening etc in the rear when I have some free time - but for now it's good enough. Car is tucked in for a while anyhow as I no longer will be driving it to work.

Merry Christmas everyone

 

Welcome, glad we could help. Hope you had a great Christmas .

 

I have Gen 3 2016 MCS 24K miles and there is a thumping sound in the back when going over bumps, patched or uneven roads. Also noise is heard going into or from a driveway. My car is still under warranty and I drove with the tech 2 times within 10 days and the guy doesn't really hear anything abnormal but the sound is there for sure. I asked the tech to lift the car and check it out. He did and says nothing is loose or appears to be in need of a repair. I am leaning towards the rear strut mounts/rubber inserts being deformed. I don't think he would pull the rear strut to verify.

Here is the sound clip. Maybe someone can point me to the correct direction and what test I can do to show the tech.

 

Wrong forum.