1badmkIrocco Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Ok, I've done a bunch of searching but I can't find anyone that's had a similar problem. The car is a 1994 Subaru Legacy Wagon 2.2 AWD 5spd manual, that sometimes has a weird steady state clunking noise that sounds like it's coming from the front end on the passenger side of the car. My initial thought was that it was an inner CV Joint as initially I only heard the noise when I was slowing down. But then I started hearing it under steady driving as well at lower speeds 35-45mph. I replaced both front axles anyway,(and yes they're OEM Green Subaru). I saw that the sway bar end links were worn and loose so I replaced those. Probelm not resolved. Then it was on to the struts, I replaced those and the "hats", aka "strut mounts" aka "strut bearings" as well. Still the noise persists. Checked for loose brake pads as well, but they have the anti rattle clips in place and are solid. I can't shake any of the control arms or sway bars either and ball joints and TREs are tight as well with no play. The noise only occurs after the car has been driven for 15-20 mins and sometimes I can drive for hours or a couple days and not hear it. The clunking seems to be steady state it won't increase or decrease with vehicle speed or engine RPM. It either goes away at highway speed or just becomes inaudible due to road/wind/engine noise. Sometimes the clunk/knocking is worse than others and can even continue for a couple seconds after I come to a complete stop. The only 2 areas that I haven't really dove into yet are the drive shaft or engine mounts. I don't really think it could be the drive shaft as the noise seems to come from in front of the fire wall. But noises can be hard to track down... Has anyone else ever experienced anything like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 so, it isn't random, but it doesn't correlate with engine rpms or tire rotations? I think it's gonna be a bushing, or balljoint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 If t continues making noise after stopping I think that rules out anything suspension related. Have you checked in the glove box? Is the blower fan full of dead mice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 (edited) ^^^blower fan worth checking, good idea. fender liner flopping? while sitting still, can you bounce the car at the corners and create the noise? Edited March 5, 2014 by 1 Lucky Texan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1badmkIrocco Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 ^^^blower fan worth checking, good idea. fender liner flopping? while sitting still, can you bounce the car at the corners and create the noise? Nope, can't bounce it to make a noise. I will check the fender liner though. I didn't think it could be the blower fan because the noise is present with the heater off or on. For a few days I actually thought it was the heater because I drove around for a day or 2 when it was warm and didn't hear the sound. Then on a 3rd warm day the noise cam back with the heater still off. The Bushing thing you first brought up got me thinking, to check the bushings on the steering rack. Everything else Suspension related is TIGHT or brand new. Thanks for all the suggestions and keep 'em coming. I'm going to get the car up in the air at some point this weekend and see if I can track down everything loose. Might even pull the blower fan for $hits and grins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1badmkIrocco Posted March 10, 2014 Author Share Posted March 10, 2014 Well I got the subie up in the air yesterday and the only thing that has any slop or play is the new axle I put in there (fender liner good, didn't pull the fan motor, all bushes and linkages had zero play). The odd thing is the noise was the same with the old chinese axle and this new remanned axle from FW Enterpirses (Formally MWE); which is why I had been ruling out the axle. The noise does seem to come from that general vicinity (passenger side in the engine compartment) I'll swap that axle out with another I have, in the next week or so, just to verify whether it's the axle or not. When I bought the axle I was told normally only Automatics will hear the noise when stopped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 You said in the first post that the noise doesn't change with engine or vehicle speed, which to me would rule out axles. They typically make more noise (louder) when under load, and will change with vehicle speed. Did you check the transverse bushings for grease leaking out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1badmkIrocco Posted March 11, 2014 Author Share Posted March 11, 2014 You said in the first post that the noise doesn't change with engine or vehicle speed, which to me would rule out axles. They typically make more noise (louder) when under load, and will change with vehicle speed. Did you check the transverse bushings for grease leaking out? Yes! and they actually looked really clean (I didn't know they were called "transverse bushings" I just thought it was part of the lower control arm), I could not get any movement at all by shaking the control arm or trying to move the wheel. I was secretly hoping that I would discover those loose as that is still in the vicinity of where the noise seems to be coming from. After replacing the axles and still hearing the noise my 2nd thought was possibly in the drive shaft but the noise isn't coming from anywhere near where the driveshaft meest the trans or the first u-joint. The noise sounds like it's coming from forward of the firewall on the passengers side of the car. It's a deep steady clunk, clunk, clunk noise and it's only audible at lower speeds, and by the sound of it, it'd have to be a piece with some mass behind it to make this noise. The sounds reminds me of taking a 16oz Ball Peen hammer and repeatedly hitting a steel table from 4" away once every second (but muffled since it's in the engine compartment). I'll see if I can record the noise and upload a .wav file. The trouble is this car has so much wind and road noise it might be hard to make out. I appreciate all the input so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 check the axle nut? even though they are OEM, might be an axle - swap sides and see if the problem moves to the driver's side? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1badmkIrocco Posted March 11, 2014 Author Share Posted March 11, 2014 check the axle nut? even though they are OEM, might be an axle - swap sides and see if the problem moves to the driver's side? This will be my next move if I can't pin point the noise. When I put the Driver's axle on I did retorque the pass side to 140 ft/lbs though and staked the nut (even torqued the lug nuts to 85ft/lbs), but it's worth swapping if I can get rid of this annoying noise. Other than this friggin noise, I have this car pretty well sorted out, runs great and now rides great that I put 4 new KYB struts on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roopilot Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Don't forget to rule out simple things like wheels, tires, wheel covers, belts. It's usually the simple things I overlook that fool me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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