Hei.

I have some strange clonks from the front somewhere. The clonk has been there for a while, and I have done several investigations under there.

Best example is if you imagine a manhole cover in the road. The cover is 2 inches lower than the asphalt surface. If I drive straight over it there is a little clonk, but if the manhole is in a right curve, I turn the steering wheel to the right (ofcourse), and drive over it with my LEFT front wheel there is a much harder CLONK.

The same thing happens if there is a left curve as well, but not has hard as when I do a right curve. I then drive over it with my RIGHT wheel.

Shocks are 3 years old. Springs are 2 years old. Upper "shock bearing" sets are 2 years old. The main wheel bearings are 2 years old.

What could be the problem? The bushes seems fine on both trailing arms (right part?) and on the anti-roll bar (fitted last year). Can´t wiggle any suspension parts - evrything seems tight. Are the shocks shot? How much play should there be on the engine mount on the beam under the car?

The tracking is still working fine, and the steering is good (except it has 4 turns, and not 3 - 3&1/2)

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Morten.

I had a similar problem recently and it was a loose engine mount. So maybe worth checking that out mate

F R O $ T Y

Hi Morten,

I had a worn front engine mount. The lower bump stop was free to move around. The symptoms were a little different though – I could here a ringing sound from the engine bay just above idol.

If it is an engine mount – don’t forget to replace the nylock nut with new.

That reminds me – Sam had work done on his suspension before he wrote off his Uno – they put the Clutch reservoir back the wrong side of the strut mount that caused knocking. Then again – you have a cable clutch.

Regards,

Well, there is some play at the lower engine mount. When I lie under the car and push the engine upwards the engine mount moves a bit. Maybe the bush has loosened? The engine mount I'm referring to is attached to some sort of beam (the front cross member?) from the gearbox. This might explain why the clonks are more apparent from the left side (where I sit and drive).

Still open for other suggestions.

Morten.

Morten,
There's usually movement up/down at that gearbox mounting - it's quite soft on the Uno.
Eventually they perish right through as Louie describe.

My money is on the lower-left bottom balljoint. I know I probably sound like a stuck record, but I have found in so many cases that it's the bottom balljoint (in the control arm) that causes the clonks, especially when you say it's related to the steering direction. When they get really bad, the steering changes as you corner and it's really frightening...

It is difficult to detect play in the bottom balljoint because the suspension tends to 'load' it at an angle when the car is raised and the struts fully extended. You might find if you jack the car up and support on an axle stand (on that square point behind the wheel), then have someone twist the wheel slightly while you watch underneath, you might see the movement. In at least two cases, though, I couldn't detect any movement yet when I took the balljoint off, the slackness was obvious.

I guess you already know how to remove the control arm
But just in case anyone else is reading this:
1. Try to obtain a balljoint extractor that looks like a large clothespeg.
2. If you can't, then get one that looks like a two-pronged fork.
3. If using extractor found in step 1., slacken driveshaft nut. Have someone stand on the brake pedal and use a long lever (the nut is TIGHT).
4. Jack up car and remove wheel.
5. Unbolt the bracket from the rear control arm bush (two bolts). It may be necessary to lift the front carpet inside and spray WD-40 on the rusted bolt-ends.
6. Remove nut from the front control arm bush through-bolt.

If using extractor found in step 1:
7. Take off steering rack-end balljoint from steering arm.
8. Remove two bolts holding hub carrier to suspension strut.
9. Swing the hub carrier out and around so that driveshaft can be pushed out.
10. Undo the nut from the balljoint pin.
11. Use the extractor to remove the balljoint pin from the hub carrier (remember to leave the nut on finger-tight before using the extractor)
12. Remove the through-bolt from the front bush and the arm should drop off.


If using the nasty pickle-fork thing:
7. Undo the nut from the balljoint pin. Take it right off.
8. Insert the fork between the control arm and the hub carrier.
9. Bash the hell out of the fork with a heavy steel mallet.
10. The arm should drop off once you take out the front bush through-bolt.
11. Find a replacement rubber boot for the balljoint if you want to refit it. And if the joint wasn't loose before, it will be wrecked now anyway

Bolting on the new control arm is many times easier...

-Alex

Thanks Alex for this elaborate solution. however i am not sure if the clonks on my 1400 are due to the left lower ball joint. I had the whole control arm on both sides replaced last year ans these came with neew balljoints. Also I replaced the rollbar bushes at the control arm but not the one on the lower body. I would like to suspect these ans or my lower mounting for the clonks.

One thing i noticed is that if for some reason the car is jucked up like to replace the tyre, the clonking goes away for some time a few kms and then starts again. The biggest sympton is what Morty describes the clonking is more noticable when turning to the right on a coble or stone paving.

Uno

Hello Uno (how did no-one get that name earlier, I wonder?),

It does sound like the anti-roll bar in that case, although another possibility is the strut top mountings.

I think you'll just have to crawl underneath and look for signs of metal-metal contact around the anti-roll bar mountings, where they strap onto the control bar brackets. From memory, there's not a lot of space there in the first place, and if something's bent, it's quite possible that the bar itself is interfering with the subframe mountings.

As for the strut tops, you should be able to detect any slackness here by twisting/pulling on the wheel with the car raised. The mounting has a roller bearing which may have come unseated for some reason.

-Alex

I guess you already know how to remove the control arm

Click to expand...

Well, no, but I think I can manage now with this excellent description...

This sounds like a more ambitious project than changing the engine mount. Also cheaper, so I´ll try that first.

I can understand the wear and tear of this balljoint. Something has to take the hits when the car is lowered.

Morten.