Hey guys - Iv continued to have a clunk noise come from the front but have been unable to determine where it is coming from . he noise itself is more of a double clunk when the wheel is compressed and then released. The clunk is noticable when the front right wheel dips down in a pothole etc but also If im turning left onto a hill you can hear the clunk when pressure is relieved from that side. Im certain the sound is towards the front rigth but sometimes it also sounds like its coming from the middle of the car.

so far i have replaced the shocks and sway bar links in the front but the "clunk" remains . I have checked all bushing including the sway bar bushing and made sure everything is tight but still unable to find the source :(

one note however is that i did notice the motor mount on that side is leaking but i doubt it would be making that much noise - am i wrong?

 

It sounds like your sway bar end links are loose. You need a thin box end wrench to hold them from turning when you tighten them. Holding them with an Allen key is not sufficient, and they need to be very very tight.

 

i thought that as well thats why i replaced them - they should be tight enough i can double check

 

Check that your front swaybar bushings are still good and that the nut holding the strut top bearing to your shock is tightened all the way.

 

Sorry, I have an R55. I didn't realize we're in the R50/R53 section. I'll keep my mouth shut.

 

It's your strut mount. Replace it and your clunking woes will disappear. It's actually a pretty simple DIY.

 

Well...
A blown motor mount can clunk...and you have that!!
Ignore it long enough...and you WILL have a clutch issue too...

 

+1
The reason I lean more towards the strut mount is because the passenger side on both of mine were blown when I bought them. It's a VERY loud and noticeable clunk.

 

The front clunk can be from the outer tie rods to the inner ball joints. I would also check those upper strut mounts for cracking. They will tend to get circular small crack that open up.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-toy-ever.html






For the tie rods and ball joints. Some hints and trick on the ball joints and tie rods.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ll-joints.html





Good luck.

 

Strut mounts were replaced at the time of the shock replacement . Thanks for all advice and balljoint info . Ill check in when a fix has been found !

 

You are welcome.

 

Have you raised the car up and given the front end a shake down? Feel for any slop or looseness to the steering/suspension, if you're getting a clunk there is evident play somewhere.

As Zippy said, I would look into replacing that motor mount sooner than later.

 

i have done that and did not notice any noticable play in anything which is why its so frustrating ! I will be doing the motor mount either way,

 

Check the strut mounts again, if they were replaced with the crappy Monroe strut mounts they often don't last more than 1000 miles (or ~6 bumps, whichever comes first). Between my daughter and I we went through 3 of these within 1000 miles, and they were definitely installed correctly and not driven poorly.

 

Good advice ! I dont see any cracks on the top -_- I plan on upgrading to Megan Coils by the end of the month anyway. Trust me the nosie is noticable enough to make me not want to drive the car and POST about it .

 

OK, be careful with this but this worked for me finding a clunk that I traced to a swaybar bushing gone south:

Put the car securely on jackstands with the front wheels 2-3" off the floor.
Slip an 8' 2x4 under one front wheel, and use it as a lever to GENTLY raise the front wheel (compress the spring a bit). See if you hear anything. You'll get a "feel" for whether you're raising the car off the jackstands - you do NOT want to topple the car so don't raise it (you've got a long lever arm there!)! You can actually apply quite a lot of force this way so be careful, you can even jostle the suspension a bit (raise/lower quickly) to see where the clunk may be coming from. May help to have a friend nearby to either listen or jostle, but BE CAREFUL PLEASE. You're of course responsible for your own safety, and take all internet advice with a degree of self-preservation and a grain of salt!

Clunk areas I've experienced:
- Check your lugs and re-torque to 88 ft-lbs. They can loosen over time, or may have not been adequately tightened. Hey, it happens to all of us.
- Inner balljoints (inner tie rods): Replacement requires re-alignment. Sometimes even "new" ones can be loose.
- A-arm bushings gone South (plan on a new OE set very 50-60k, or go poly), should re-align
- Strut bearing/bushing (mentioned above, no re-alignment needed)
- Swaybar bushing or the bushing "strap" bolt being loose (BTDT, check torque), no re-align
- Swaybar endlinks themselves can clunk quite a bit as they wear out, they're a cheap fix and even new ones can come a bit "loose" (not fixable, must replace). FWIW, Moog makes one that's greasable with a metal spherical bearing, and it's thicker than OE. Considering my OE ones lasted 90k, that may be overkill! no re-align
-

Some long-shots:
- Axle nut loose?
- Strut mounting bolt loose/broken?
- Brake hose (or ABS wiring/brake pad sensor) not secure in its mount?
- Pads not seated in the brake caliper? Loose caliper mounting bolts? Of you've gone Big Brake, are the mounting bolts too small for the caliper holes? (BTDT)
- Spring silencers (those rubber/plastic pads) gone south? Springs properly oriented in their seats? Springs broken?

Same things around the back suspension, also check the swaybar mounting bolts/brackets (PITA to get at, 13mm I believe, may be 10), as well as the strut mounting bolts (2 x 13mm, torque to 56 ft-lb I believe).

Oh - and let us all know what it was!

 

Hey I am experiencing the same thing on my '05 MCS. I would like to know what you found out. It is my daily driver and it sounds like something serious. Let me know asap if you found/fixed the issue!

 

How many miles on your MINI? Have you inspected what you suspect it to be? Have you replaced anything yet to remedy your clunk? Only reason I ask is because not every clunk is the same. His may be something totally different than yours.

 

Any luck?