My car has a "knocking" sound when I drive it over bumps etc. What could be the cause of this. Our local FIAT dealership had a look and they suspect it could be the shock mountings, however they are not 100% sure! My car only has 39000km's on the clock so still relatively new. A person wont expect problems with such low mileage. Anyone with a similar problem out there, with a solution???
General 2011 Fiat Panda 1.2 Dynamic - Knocking sound when driving
- Thread starter tanyat
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General 2011 Fiat Panda 1.2 Dynamic - Knocking sound when driving
Not sure what the roads are like down there, but we have lots of road humps and potholes. The rear shock-absorber top bushes were dead on my 100hp at 20000 miles. They were knocking just as you describe. I replaced the shocks.
Our Dynamic only has 9500 miles and so far is ok, but I expect these will also wear down as you can go faster over the bumps in the Dynamic (30mph versus 3mph in the 100hp).
notsmartcars
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Is the knocking front or rear ,,are you saying a fiat main dealer carnt diagnose the fault??
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The rear shock mounts are a common enough problem on these.
They will give a "double knock" over bumps.
It will be very clear it's coming from the rear end.
Often you can see the offending bush by getting someone to vigorously bounce the rear end up and down while you peer under the rear arches and watch the top shock mounts.
If the rubbers are perished, the metal shock eye will move up and down around the bolt head rather than the lot moving up and down together.
If the knocks and rattles are coming from the front, it's a little harder to diagnose, but it's very common these days for the anti roll bar end links (drop links) to wear loose and rattle about.
These tend to give a rather pronouced, worryingly loud or loose type rattle, often felt/heard when steering over rough roads.
These are hard to diagnose, best way I've found is to reach around and grip them with wheels on the ground and try rattling them up and down, but as they are cheap and easy to replace, it's a no brainer to replace them if suspect, but use quality ones, the little rubber covers on the joints are MOTable these days and cheap ones rot away.
It's not uncommon either for the rubber bushes in the wishbones to wear out either on these, particularly with the heavier diesel engine up front.
This will often show as uneven tyre wear first, then a nasty clonk as they become well shot.
There are a few other items down the front that can give issues, but they haven't been reported on here too often, top shock mounts/bearings seem pretty sturdy as do the track rod ends.
I've replaced a few rusty shocks (bodies and rods) and coil springs soon rust up once the coating has flaked off, but the rest of it seems solid enough.
It's not too surprising garages have trouble identifying suspension trouble without some dedicated pulling and prying, as it's either compressed with a ton or so weight on it masking the play, or hanging (when jacked up) with the weight of the suspension/wheels/tyres, pulling the play out of it!
They will give a "double knock" over bumps.
It will be very clear it's coming from the rear end.
Often you can see the offending bush by getting someone to vigorously bounce the rear end up and down while you peer under the rear arches and watch the top shock mounts.
If the rubbers are perished, the metal shock eye will move up and down around the bolt head rather than the lot moving up and down together.
If the knocks and rattles are coming from the front, it's a little harder to diagnose, but it's very common these days for the anti roll bar end links (drop links) to wear loose and rattle about.
These tend to give a rather pronouced, worryingly loud or loose type rattle, often felt/heard when steering over rough roads.
These are hard to diagnose, best way I've found is to reach around and grip them with wheels on the ground and try rattling them up and down, but as they are cheap and easy to replace, it's a no brainer to replace them if suspect, but use quality ones, the little rubber covers on the joints are MOTable these days and cheap ones rot away.
It's not uncommon either for the rubber bushes in the wishbones to wear out either on these, particularly with the heavier diesel engine up front.
This will often show as uneven tyre wear first, then a nasty clonk as they become well shot.
There are a few other items down the front that can give issues, but they haven't been reported on here too often, top shock mounts/bearings seem pretty sturdy as do the track rod ends.
I've replaced a few rusty shocks (bodies and rods) and coil springs soon rust up once the coating has flaked off, but the rest of it seems solid enough.
It's not too surprising garages have trouble identifying suspension trouble without some dedicated pulling and prying, as it's either compressed with a ton or so weight on it masking the play, or hanging (when jacked up) with the weight of the suspension/wheels/tyres, pulling the play out of it!
GeorgeDamper
Established member
I had a knocking from the rear recently and it was the exhaust. Have a look at the rubber hanger in the centre of the car and make sure the exhaust hasn't worked loose. Aftermarket exhausts often don't have a large enough 'knob' at the end of the rod to keep them in place on the hanger. I used a cable tie to secure it and it has been ok since.
Cable ties eh? Are you the famous Ichyban Moto?
Anyone who likes to get their hands dirty really should watch this guy's amazing and clever technical tips.........Yep, our cousins do have a sense of humour.
agavins
New member
Just replaced both top shock mounts on a 2008 jtd. The only real noise indicator that they needed replacing was when stationary and turning the steering wheel, the two coil springs would clonk at intervals as they tried to move around the shock. The bearing was gone on the mounts. That was at 56000 miles.
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