noise when deaccelerating - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

onavi · 03-20-2009, 05:29 AM

On my 2003 Camry, when I am slowing down, at around 15-16mph I hear a thunking sound comming from underneath the car. Sometimes it doesnt happen, other times I hear it just a little bit. Other times its loud and sometimes I will feel from the steering wheel or on the brake.

At first I thought it was the transmission, took it into the dealer back in Sept. before the warranty ended they stated there was nothing wrong with the car. The last couple of weeks the transmission started not to shift, than it got progessivly worse over a week where the car was lacking acceleration. I ended up having the transmission replaced last week. They replaced the transmission and torque converter along with 1 of the motor mounts which was worn.

Now that I have the car back it still is making noise. They did tell me the passenger side strut mount is pretty worn, but I cant imagine that it would be making the noise expecially since it always happens while the car is deaccerlting at 15 mph. Yea the car does have some rattles in it when going over bumpy roads.

I am at a loss on what could be causing the noise. I thought maybe suspension parts, but why would it only happen at 15mph? Could it be the front struts? They only have 47k on them. The noise definatly comes from the under the front of the car.

ToyotaToday · 03-20-2009, 10:13 AM

Is the thunking sound continuous? In other words, if you speed up the frequency of the thunking sound speed up as well? If yes, then most likely a bearing. I had that problem with my old Passat, but just my two cents worth.

onavi · 03-20-2009, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ToyotaToday

Is the thunking sound continuous? In other words, if you speed up the frequency of the thunking sound speed up as well? If yes, then most likely a bearing. I had that problem with my old Passat, but just my two cents worth.

nope only when the spedo says 15 mph

gdanaher · 03-21-2009, 07:31 AM

An educated guess is that the strut caps are worn and need replacement. Memory tells me that some years had an issue and the design was changed.

onavi · 03-21-2009, 09:26 PM

i guess thats where I will start at, i'll have to replace the strut assemblies. I havent pulled the wheels off, but from looking under the car, it looks like the sway bar link on the drivers side is slightly bent. I am assuming that they arent naturally bent cause the passenger side one looks straight. This week I will have to pull the wheels and look and see if they are bent, or if one of the bushing on the sway bar is bad.

how hard is it to change the struts? I have no problem taking the assembly out of the car, its compressing the spring. if I buy a spring compressor is that all that is needed?