General Help please - Low speed clonking & knocking

[Shepherd]

I was out tonight and the knocking and clonking from under the front somewhere has all of a sudden got worse. This happens mostly at low speed and is worse when cold but still noticeable when hot. I thought it was the drop link bushes which I think need replacing again but wasn't sure if they could make such a loud noise. I have had a quick look underneath with a torch and all seems intact including springs etc. The top engine mounting is ok but I was wondering if the lower one could be the problem as I can hear it clonking when in first gear I take my foot off the accelerator and put it back on again quickly??

Any ideas guys to get me looking in the right direction would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Shepherd]

Here is an update on the situation.

While coming home from dropping my son off at St Andrews University last night the knocking got so bad that the steering went wobbly so I stopped and had to call my recovery service to take me home.

Answer to the problem - one of the front wishbone rubber bushes came out and fell onto the road leaving just one end of the wishbone clonking inside the metal part of the bush with lots of play.

I have now posted a new thread to ask how easy/difficult this is to replace. Please respond to that thread if you know. It actually looks quite strait- forward but I need confirmation.

 

[joipalli]

Hi,

With basic tools you can change the wishbone. It's quite tedious getting the inner screws in when fitting the new wishbone, when the car is only on a jack.

I've replaced both wishbones at front with no problem.

Here you can find info about changing the wishbone:
https://sites.google.com/site/fiatmultipla/Home/repairs

The job took about 1-2 hours, my first time wishbone replacement.
I recommend to change the bolt holding the ball joint together, mine was pretty worn out.

Spray WD40 on the inner bolts, remove them slowly don't sheer them apart !
But you need some force to get them started, if they're stuck after you get them going, screw them back in a bit, spray some more WD40 and try loosen them again after few minutes.

I didn't remove the anti-roll bar bracket at step 8.