Wanting a little direction here. My wife's 2001 s40 has over the last year developed every clunk and rattle I have ever read about on this forum. The front clunking is down low, like under my feet. The rear clunk is also down low. It is not associated with acceleration or braking, only going over bumps, so the engine mounts are probably not the problem.


I've replaced the sway bar links and tie rod ends, I'll tell you they were definitely shot and their drives straight and tight now. But the clunk is still there, and getting worse.

I'm pretty sure it's not the spring seat/strut mount because the noises are coming from low under the car. I'm ordering control arms front and rear so I'll have new bushings and ball joints. This seems like the logical next step. If this doesn't fix it I guess I'll have to look more closely at the sway bar bushings which have been reported to go out as well. How would I diagnose that?

The car drives straight and the steering is tight. Just those awful clunks which, if someone else is riding in the car, are downright embarrassing.

This car only has 99,000 miles on it and I'm pretty disappointed, I've had American cars that went 250k with none of these problems.

Anyone have any other ideas for what to do next?

Thanks for any help!

 

Jack up the front and remove the front wheels. Get a good light and look where the sway bar goes up under the body. This is where the sway bar mounts are located. If either or both mounts are broken the sway bar lifts up off the front suspension mounting area when the wheel is hanging down at full droop. When there is weight on the wheel the sway bar is down low close to the suspension mounting area. When you hit a bump the now loose sway bar hits the suspension mounting area making your banging noise down by your feet. (I've yet to find a good name for this area. It's the engine cradle, suspension mounting frame thingy. What everything bolts to up front)

The hard part is recognizing the sway bar mounts are gone if you have never noticed them before. If you are lucky one is just broken and is still hanging on or seriously bent. There is one on each side. Replacements are about $25 from the dealer last I checked. Replacing them can be tough if you have big hands. The space to reach that one 10mm bolt is quite small.