So I've been trying to diagnose this clunking sounds coming from the front end somewhere. I've visually checked all of the suspension components, all bushings and balljoints, and they all seam good. The strange thing is the car only makes the clunk when u first take off, going forward or backwards. But the weird thing is, you have to go forward and backwards to repeatedly to get it to keep making the sound. It won't make a clunking sound going forward, stop, and then go forward. You have to go forward, stop, and then go backwards and it will make the clunk each way. If anyone has any kind of idea I would greatly appreciate it.
-Jason

 

I'd jack the front end up and try wiggling your wheels left to right, than top to bottom. If theres any play report back.

Thats a wierd one though. I'd almost say the issue is in the tranny.

My car sort of makes a clunk noise when I first start reversing. Ie. Ill park in my garage, than in the morning, Ill start it up, put it in reverse, and the second I begin moving backwords I hear a single mild "clunk" It usually doesn't happen though, only once and a blue moon, and come to think of it I havn't had it happen in the spring as of yet.

I wonder if a wheel bearing would do that???

Good luck either way man!

 

Thanks for the reply. Yeah the wheels don't have any play in them, checked the bearings they seam good. Yeah It's a single Clunk sound when eather in 1st or reverse. I really hope it's not an issue with the tranny. The only thing I notice is that the inner cv join on my drivers side has a bit of play in it, lots more than my passengers side, though I don't know how much play is normal.

 

Could be worn out bushings. It is very hard, just by looking at the OE bushings, to tell if they are worn out. But it sounds like a lower ball joint to me. Take it to an alignment shop that you trust and have them check the front end out for you. Most will do it free of charge.

 

Hmm, but there's no excessive play in either of the ball joints and it doesn't make any noise when I go over bumps. Just when I take off from a stop. Could it be a problem with the differential?

 

soulds like radius rod is loose or has a bad bushing.

 

Checked both front radius rods and bushings and theres very little play inbetween the bushings.

 

What do your engine mounts look like? Does this happen if you get on the throttle hard, then lift throttle while the clutch is still engaged?

 

The engine mounts look spotless and I pried on the engine/tranny it really doesn't move much. The weird thing about it is I can only seam to hear it when I first take off. Although sometimes I hear a slight knocking coming from the front suspension when I give it full throttle but not the clunk sounding when I first take off, it might be related somehow though I still don't know how.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 577HondaPrelude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">soulds like radius rod is loose or has a bad bushing.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You beat me to it. Mine just failed last week. Walt McKinney to the rescue!

The clunk when starting/stopping is because the radius rod takes a ton of force in the forward and backward directions when starting and stopping. Well, maybe not an actual ton, but maybe half of a ton. It's the only thing really holding the front suspension from moving forward and backward under the stress.

-Chris

 

Jason- One more thing to note, if you can feel the "clunk" in the steering wheel at all, it's 99% a radius rod. Motor mount is also a good idea and if you don't think it's suspension it could be this.

-Chris

 

Thanks for the help, well when I get a change I'll look underneath the car again and double check the radius rods. I'll let ya know.

 

just start throwing money into parts and you will eventually find the problem

 

I bet it's the tranny mount.

 

So I put my car back on the lift today and thoroughly checked the radius rod bushings, and every other bushing including motor mounts and they all seam fine. Pried on every joint and bushing and everything seams fine so I'm really stumped still. If anyone else has any ideas that would be great cause I'm all out.

 

Chock the wheels and put the e-brake on, see if you can make it happen letting out the clutch standing still. Could be a motor mount. Could be exhaust hangers allowing the exhaust to bang against the body. Etc.

-Chris

 

Could be brake pad knocking if it only happens when you go from forward to backwards. Get a friend to watch the brake pads when you go forward/backward.

 

K thanks for the ideas. I'll check it out tomorrow!

 

Have you actually pulled the radius rods out and checked the bushings? I just replaced mine yesterday in about an 45 minutes, and that was with beer breaks and cig breaks included. I couldn't tell by looking at them that they were bad but once i got them off the car you could for sure tell. Its only two bolts and one nut per side, not including lug nuts.

 

Well ok so yesterday I finally figured out what it was with the help of a friend. So apparently my shifter cable housing, the one on the transmission that controls side to side movement is hitting my tranny mount bracket everytime the car lurches forward and that's what the sound is caused by. Now the clearances are tighter since my h22 is in a teg but this never used to be a problem. So somehow my motor has shifter forward just a tad to cause this problem, and from what I can tell the mounts are still good. So if anyone has any useful input i'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks for the help so far!