Hey,

I have a 1979 Rx-7 that I recently purchased and after driving for a little while, I have noticed this noise that crops up whenever I go over bumps or over rough roads.

It sounds like a metal-to-metal noise, and appears over small bumps as well as large ones. I do not believe it is the shock bottoming out, and the screws under the hood all appear to be tight.

I was thinking that perhaps the steering arm could be out of grease, but I'm no suspension expert.

If you guys could give me some places to start looking, I would be your best friend for life :P

Thanks

 

Does it go away if you lightly apply the break pedal? i have the same noise but on the drivers side.....good luck,,,,,,

 

You might check the idler arm. They are notorious for the bushings going out on them. Not sure about a metal-to-metal show though, it usually makes a clonking type noise when going over bumps.

 

I have the same noise that DONNA is talking about... I have not torn into it yet to find it, but it is a clonk that sounds when you tap the brakes after the brakes have not been used in a few minutes (like cold in garage, or after getting off the freeway)

SOunds like coming from left rear brakes, anyone had experiance before I tear into this?

 

You may want to check your tie rods and ball joints.
how you ask?

To check the tie rods:
Grab the tire with both hands (while still on the ground and wheels straight) and try to move it side to side (same type of rotation as steering) and check for play. Should be pretty obvious. If there is any then you need to replace the tie rods (you should also always change both sides at the same time)

To check the ball joint:
Same sorta idea but the tire has to be jacked up and then check the tire for play in the up/down motion. Other then that usually you will know if the ball joint is gone when you are driving around a long turn (@ speed) on a hwy and the car all of a sudden starts to pull into the turn without steering input (usually hear a kinda clunk from the front as well).

Hope this helps. If you were near me, I could take you for a spin in mine and show you what a bad ball joint acts like.

Good Luck

 

tie rods ends shot using that diagnosis... i can make the clonk if I kick the rear tire (or grab with both hands as suggested) how big of a task it is to replece these?

 

except I'm stupid because this is a problem in the rear of the car not the front.. whoops.

 

Hmm... maybe my mechanical lingo isn't up-to-date, but you could describe the sound as a "clonk" I'll have to look into it, thanks for the info.