fredkhaz

Hello everyone,

I have a clunking sound in the rear passenger side wheel when i hit a pothole.

I bought the car at 30k miles and now over 110k miles.

I have it checked by dealer, they couldn't duplicate the problem.

The car is equip with::
"F" springs, shocks, under body brace and sway bars.

I just replaces the shocks and they clunk is still there and the installer could not find anything lose. Nothing lose in the car either unless its behind the seat. One of my speakers are out and looks like in need to take the seat out to get to the speaker, will be checking if there is anything lose behind the seat soon.

It sounds like it comes from the top part of rear passenger side seat or shock assembly , where the shock assembly connects to the car.

Any ideas ??

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Yes, actually this same noise popped up on another members 2IS and it ended up being a electronic control box that became loose that is attached to the upper inner structural fender area. Pull the carpet from inside the trunk on the passenger side and tighten the bolt holding up the box.

GL!

fredkhaz

Is that the blue box ?? if so that is not it, all bolt are tight.

Sceanzo

Tough call. You replaced the shocks already which was my first thought.

Try disconnecting the sway bar endlinks and driving around a short distance to see if the noise disappears.


It sounds similar to the issue people get when installing BC coilovers on their cars. A clunking comes. No real fix has been found other than replace the shock assembly and that seems to be a hit or miss.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Well, I guess you can scratch that off the list then. Perhaps you have a loose nut/bolt in the suspension on that side somewhere. I do remember reading of another member having had a loose nut on an end link helping cause some odd noises.

GL!

fredkhaz

appreciate it guys.

gdogie

Did you ever find the solution to this noise because I am getting the same noise in my car and I can't figure out what it is.

gdogie

I just recently replaced my shocks and I made sure all the nuts were tighten so I'm pretty sure its not the nut.

fredkhaz

No the clunking is still there but I found this,
I will look in to see if this is the problem on my IS.

This could be your problem, in fact almost all es300's around 2000 have this noise. The culprit is worn rubber bushings at the ends of the sway bar. In your case, you may have bent the sway bar by hitting a hole at high speed. Anyway, I just replaced my sway bar bushings with great success.

The best replacements are made by MOOG. A pair is under 20.00. You need two floor jacks, one to raise the rear of the car up enough to comfortably fit and see the bolts you need to remove.(the rear wheels do not need to be removed). there are two 10mm bolts per side. The bushing is split, for easy installation. Just open it up and pop it on. You will need a block of wood about 6.5 in. long to keep the sway bar up near its regular position after the bolts are removed. This is of course the reason for the second floor jack.

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

That is good to know.

I have a similar clunking noise too but it is very mild and doesn't really bother me much. My issue is not related to the sway bar bushing because I have installed brand new F Sport sway bar. What I find out is that it is related to F Sport lower springs. Because of it progressive design, on the very top, the coils stay very close together so they hit each other to make the noise when the car goes through bumps.
Fix: install the Tein silencer rubbers on the springs so now it will be rubber vs. rubber and not steel vs. steel.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

^^Are you talking about replacing the end links or the actual bushings (two) that the sway bar rests in?

DaXxJaPxX

I've had 2 2IS', and each time I had the f sport rear sway installed, a bushing slipped out. Just check to make sure

marinebob

I had posted a while ago but have been living with the clunk for a while ( 1 1/2 years) No worse, no better, in general comes and goes but mostly usually there. Shows up when you hit a bump-pothole etc. Got some time now to spend under the rear to look at things closely and I read all the notes here.

My list seems like: (1) re-check the shocks (noise is the driver side) and I swear I can feel a clunkish feel in the top of the shock tower when I remove the liner in the trunk and get at the attachment point for the shock etc. When you bounce the car, it sure feels like its something there, but I could be nuts. Not real pronounced. I want to see if there is any leakage in the shock
(2) The electronic box in the trunk under the lining (is that in a 2008 IS 250 AWD?)
(3) the suspension bushings

The car is lightly driven with only 24,000 miles so I can't imagine wear and tear. Don't think we ever hit anything of note. But I could imagine a leaky/bad shock

Any other things to look at that anybody stumbled on?

On another note, I am likely to keep this car 'forever' and looking at the spark plug changeout, I know its a long while mileage based, but I hate to think about (trying to) taking plugs out of aluminum heads after 10+ years of service. Is there anyway to get at the driver side plugs without removing the intake runners? The other plugs look not too bad.

Thanks

getafewliv

Have you checked the sway bar end links? Tighten them even if they don't seem loose.