Clanking Noise Front Right - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

scribby · 08-31-2007, 09:21 AM

Ive been trying to fix this problem for a few days now. When ever I accelerate and brake I get this clanking noise, it seems to quieten down after driving around for 20 minutes or so.

Its a hard noise to describe, but it would be best described as a metal crunching sound, or two metal pieces pressed together moving.

I've jacked the car up and spun the tires while on full lock both ways and no sounds, so don't think its the CV Joints. I've replaced my rear/font engine mounts and the other rear engine mount had only one bolt and it was lose but I've fixed that up now and it made no difference. I've also tightned up the lower control arm, and replaced both the bushes on the lower control arm. I've also checked the brake calliper mounting bolts and there tight.

The sound only comes from the drivers side, and so far I've only been able to make it do the sound while driving.

Also I have a question..
Is it possible that the lower control arm bushing is too tight? Could this make the sound?

wiccanferret · 08-31-2007, 09:53 AM

Geez, you seem to have covered all the bases that I would. The only other thing I would check is the strut mount, which you can check by having someone push that side of the car down while you rest your hand on the strut mount. If you feel vibration then that's the cause.

scribby · 08-31-2007, 10:09 AM

Ill try that tommorow, how would I go about fixing that also? Would the strut mount need replacing?

Another thing I just thought of was the wheel bearings? Could it be them?

wiccanferret · 08-31-2007, 10:32 AM

Nah wheel bearings make a fairly loud whirring noise, not a clanking noise. You would have to replace the strut mount, yes, which means I would just ignore it until you need struts as you would have to replace the mount and get it re-aligned.

scribby · 08-31-2007, 10:42 AM

Well guess ill just have to try what you suggested and see if it is the mounts.
Only other thing I can think of is the ball joint?

I'm at the point where I'm deciding if I should keep the camry for another year or so, or sell it and buy a new car.
So if I decide to keep it I will most likely replace the front mounts anyways.

wiccanferret · 08-31-2007, 01:12 PM

Nah, ball joint won't clank either I don't think. You can check for wheel bearing/ball joint issues by jacking only the affected corner of the car up by that steering knuckle and grabbing the tire with your hands at 9 and 3 and seeing if you can get it to move. It should have VERY little movement. If I remember correctly, left-right play is wheel bearing and up-down play is balljoint, but I may have it backwards.

monito · 08-31-2007, 01:56 PM

I'm not exactly sure what the "clanking" noise sounds like, and it looks like you have a lot of the bases covered. But, just to rule it out, check your sway bar brackets/bracket bushings.

back in my high school days, i had a '79 Buick Regal that made a 'clanking' noise during hard braking, acceleration and over hard bumps. The problem was the bracket that holds the sway bar bushing snapped, and a lot of up and down motion caused the Sway bar to move freely and hit against the chassis.

However, i think i may have a similar problem w/ my Camry. during hard braking i hear a sort of popping sound [not clanking], and another when accelerating after hard braking. the sound is also coming from the front right side. my camry has original shocks, so i wouldn't be surprised if it's just time to replace the struts and mounts.

scribby · 09-01-2007, 03:48 AM

I got my girlfriend to push the car up and down while I had my hand on the strut mount, and all I could feel was a slight up and down movement.

I will jack the car up tommorow and try moving the wheel around.

Also I've checked the sway bar brackets and the bushes don't look too bad.

jamiec · 09-01-2007, 10:14 AM

Hey i had a simalar problem with a toyota tercel.
turned out to be a loose shock absorber nut.
there is a big nut that holds down the shock inside
the strut it sits inside the spring area at the top of
the metal tube.if its loose it can let the shock move
inside the tube and makes a load clonking sound
as it hits the inside of the tube, manly under cornering.
check the nut and give it a turn to tighten it up.

Kep · 09-01-2007, 01:38 PM

On the long axle (passenger side I believe) there is a small brace (kind of semi-circular looking running fore to aft, about 1/2" wide) supporting the middle of the axle. When my exmechanic replaced my CVC & axle he didn't tighten this up. It made a wierd noise (don't remember if it was a clanking). Easy to check, just look along the axle for supports and make sure that they are tightened.

Kep

scribby · 09-03-2007, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamiec

Hey i had a simalar problem with a toyota tercel.
turned out to be a loose shock absorber nut.
there is a big nut that holds down the shock inside
the strut it sits inside the spring area at the top of
the metal tube.if its loose it can let the shock move
inside the tube and makes a load clonking sound
as it hits the inside of the tube, manly under cornering.
check the nut and give it a turn to tighten it up.

I checked both nuts on both sides of the car and they both seem to be in the same amount so I imagine there fine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kep

On the long axle (passenger side I believe) there is a small brace (kind of semi-circular looking running fore to aft, about 1/2" wide) supporting the middle of the axle. When my exmechanic replaced my CVC & axle he didn't tighten this up. It made a wierd noise (don't remember if it was a clanking). Easy to check, just look along the axle for supports and make sure that they are tightened.

Kep

Had a look under the car and couldnt really find what you were explaining however I went along and made sure there were no lose bolts anywhere along the axle.

I'm starting to think its deffently the strut or strut mount on the drivers side because I get the same sorta sound when I go over a bump on that side now.

wiccanferret · 09-03-2007, 10:04 AM

On my Celica it kept making weird shifting-clunk noises from the front end. I got rid of a lot of them by systematically tightening the bolts on the subframe (trying to do cross patterns). Just by looking you couldn't tell any of them were loose, but a lot of them were.

scribby · 09-06-2007, 03:55 AM

I was bouncing the car up and down and trying to find where the sound was coming from, and after 15mins or so I've found its coming from the lower control arm ball joint, I'm not sure if the clanking is coming from the balljoint but theres deffently something wrong with it because I can feel it sorta vibrate as I move the car up and down.

What sucks even more is that I just replaced all the lower control arm bushings and didn't think to check the balljoint, I did notice it was a bit hard to move when the LCA was out.

So whats the best way to fix this? I also noticed there is a ring of wire around the top of the boot which has been tightened to keep the grease in, could I undo that wire and put new grease in to see if it has any positive effect?