rotaryhardcore

I've noticed the sound before, but now it's bothering me.

There is a clunking sound in the rear (seems to be on passenger side), that occurs at low speeds over small bumps. At least, that's when I hear it. It sounds as if something is loose.

My rear hatch seems to be tight, and I've had the suspension checked.

If anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate it.

-C

P.S. If anyone is having problems with creaking plastic in their doors, I may be able to offer a little help. I've eliminated the creaking in my driver side door with some repairs.

DaedelGT

Post a writeup on that door thing. I know I'm not the only one interested in hearing that.

InsaneGideon

How thoroughly was the susp. checked? Worn toe link bushings are a common cause of this. This is 2nd hand info, but I hear diff mounts can cause these sort of gremlins as well.

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

I think the most common problem of noise in the rear suspension were the pillow-ball bushings. Since your discription of the noise is similar to what I had, you may want to double check these. The noisy ones can be tough to find at first. On my car, the only way I was able to identify the bad one(s) was by having a friend push/pull/shake the back wheels while I was under the car holding the various parts. It was easier to feel the slop, then see it or hear it.
I'm also interested in your door squeak fix. Good luck.

rotaryhardcore

Thanks guys,

Anyone know where I can get an suspension assembly diagram?

I'll post on the door fix later today or tomorrow; I'll include some photos.

-C

rotaryhardcore

Also,

Does anyone have any more information on the rear diff mount problem?

I know the car has been in an accident at some point, so I'm inclined to check this first.

-C

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/
Check this site out for suspension diagrams and ALOT of how-to stuff. Should help out.

rotaryhardcore

Thanks Sgtblue

-C

rotaryhardcore

More on my clunking...

Seems to during braking, again at low speeds...and it particularly frequent in a turn.

And I haven't forgot about the door

-C

OneBadRx7

Be ready to replace the 6 rear pillow ball bushings and possibly your toe links and trailing arms. Of course you may not have to replace all of them but if you have a good amount of miles on your car I would suspect pillow ball bushings and when you replace those I would replace all 6 at a time not a pair here and there. If you take your rear wheels off and push, pull, jerk on the suspension parts you should be able to hear where the clunks are coming from. good luck.

OneBadRx7

Oh and if you go to get new pillow ball bushings call Ray at Malloy Mazda, chances are he is a whole lot cheaper than your local Mazda dealership.

rotaryhardcore

Thanks OneBadRx7!

-C

rybrx7

pls post your solution to the plastic creaking

rybrx7

rotaryhardcore: you going to let us know about how to stop those squeaking plastic bits?

shawnk

Mine does the same exact thing. Passenger side at slow speeds when going over a bump while turning to the left. I did the pillowball mounts and it made no change at all. ($160 (i think) and a half of a day wasted). I ignored it for a while but now it is coming back up on the list.

The sound almost sounds like it is above the wheel well to me - like up in the rear "pilar" behind passenger window. Clunks like 3 times in those turns.

I've said it before and I'll say it again..

The Clunk is a punk!

Let me know if someone fixes this.

Shawn

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

[QUOTE]Originally posted by shawnk
[B]The sound almost sounds like it is above the wheel well to me - like up in the rear "pilar" behind passenger window. Clunks like 3 times in those turns.

You might want to check your upper 'A' arm bushings. Mine had a little (very little) slop in them and produced a sound similar to the pillow-ball bushings. But the sound came from higher on the car for obvious reasons. As I said before, the only way I was able to finally locate the offending bits was not by sight, but by feel. I put the car up on stands and had a friend push/pull/wiggle the wheel. While he did that, I was underneath feeling the various suspension pieces. Since the sound seems to be amplified by the car's body, it takes very little wear on these components to produce noise. I could feel the slop way easier than I could see it. I'm not an authority, but this is what worked for me. Good luck.

ooEfiniRx7oo

hold up on that thought about the pillow bushings in
the rear.
I've read it on the japanese rx7 mag. and got some info.
Check the sway bar pillows first. and the sway bar links. spray some WD-40 and see what happens. I had the same problem and resolved the problem with $3 can of WD-40.

rotaryhardcore

Shawn,

I hope you're still following this thread.

It sounds like we have the same problem. The noise seems to come almost from inside the cabin.

Let me know if you get any more information on this; sorry you ended up replacing something you didn't need to.

-C

shawnk

It will be a month or 2 until I look at this again...I still have 2 weeks til I get my car back from being painted and then I have like 10 things in my garage to be installed once I get it back. But if I beat you to it I will definately let you know.

What part of NC are you in?

Shawn

1 2 NV

i got a silly question. i got a clunk too. do they make poly bushings for the RX7 at all???

rotaryhardcore

Shawn,

I'm right around Raleigh, RTP.

-C

Initial FD

I Believe it is the passenger side toe-link, due to the fact that i had that problem last week.