When I am driving and hit a slight bump, I can hear a clunk or thud like something in the front of my car is loose... I have checked what I can on the top end of the car... when I push down on the corners, no noise at all and it rebounds like it should. Steering is not off, does not shake or vibrate. What could this be? Its pretty un-nerving as the rest of the car is rock solid and this has just started to happen... no change in the way the car feels... just that sound that bothers me.
Any ideas or should I just make an appt and have it checked?
have the front end checked out at a pro shop. Goodyear stores around my neighborhood are able to do alignment. It could be ball joints or tie rod ends. Best to check without a load on the wheels.
Does the sound come from one side of the car more than the other? I had a sound in my car that sounded like it came from the passenger side of the car. I really couldn't tell whether or not it was coming from the top or bottom of the suspension. Long story short, it was the idler arm that needed to be rebuilt. Cheap parts and an hour later and the car was quiet.
Yeah it does sound like its coming from the passengers side more... and the sound is almost like a rattling thick plastic part when going over bumpy pavement.
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2000 C230K -- Travertine Beige Metallic
2002 ML320 -- Alabaster White
2002 ML320 -- Brilliant Silver - Dad's
1991 300CE -- Blue Black Metallic -- 129,000 miles -- Sold
1981 300SD -- Classic White -- 190,000 miles -- Sold
1977 240D -- Over 300k miles (Wrecked) -- My 1st car
Yeah it does sound like its coming from the passengers side more... and the sound is almost like a rattling thick plastic part when going over bumpy pavement.
This is a link to the idler arm parts just as a reference.
You can nail the diagnosis if you have a helper rock the steering back and forth slightly as you inspect the idler - you can do this from above the car peering into the engine bay. The idler assembly consists of a tube welded to the frame, through which a large bolt holds two bushings in place.
Do this with the engine off and you might get lucky and hear a knocking sound from the idler as the steering is rocked back and forth.
The only "dirty" part of the job is that you have to drop one of the exhaust down pipes from the header to get the room to completely withdraw the long bolt. There is no gasket at this joint in the exhaust and the hardware usually isn't rusted together so it sounds worse than it will be if you tackle the job yourself. But as you can see, the parts are cheap. Good luck.
OK... I tried the suggestion of rocking the steering back and forth... no sound what-so-ever... its as tight as it should be...
BUT, upon checking fluid levels... I did notice that my coolant tank is loose and bounces... I think that may be the culprit of my thumping sound... which would explain my comment above "the sound is almost like a rattling thick plastic part when going over bumpy pavement." if it is... I am going to be so relieved yet irritated at the same time... LOL... I will let you know once I tie it down if the noise stops...
BTW... the tank is not supposed to be free to bounce for some odd reason, is it? I wouldn't think so... but then again... those Germans
Last edited by '91 300CE : 08-22-2006 at 09:30 AM.
Bringing this one back... it was not the tank making the noise.
Now, Idler Arm... what does this do? Reason I ask, is when I am idleing and turn the wheel it squeals... like a bad PS pump... but I just had that checked for leaks and there were none and they said it was fine... this started happening after I had that checked out.
Does the idler arm have anything to do with steering when idling?
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