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Thump from the Rear

S

Scorpion8

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Jul 10, 2008
Messages
1,620
Location
Juneau, AK
I realize that the rear ends of these cars are pretty simple, being FWD, so that's what makes this all the more perplexing. When I drive my Contour and hit potholes, I get a serious sharp thump from the rear end, completely different from the front end when it goes thru the potholes. At first I thought the spare was loose, or the jack, or something in the limited stuff in the trunk, but none of those proved to be the case.

Wasn't there a recall on these cars about broken or weak strut springs? The sound that the car makes sounds like some crossmember is loose or perhaps the struts are even bottoming out. I've put it up on ramps, and poked around underneath but nothing appears to be loose.

Any ideas?
 
Might need new struts...or end link bushings...one of my springs broke...and my end link bushings are gone as of right now lol.
 
I know Strut Tower Mounts are common on Contiques as well. Your Thunk could very well be that or even the sway bar shackle under the car, mine is loose as well and thunks on occasion but only over those small, can't see but can sure feel potholes. Hope this helps..
 
I crawled under the car yesterday with a pry bar and neither of the sway bar mounts is broken away from the crossmember. The sway bar seems to be deteriorating from corrosion compared to everything else around it, but is still connected as it should be. Shock towers?
 
My car does the EXACT same thing. I was thinking it was the struts, but only the rears make the noise and if you physically push down on the car it doesn't feel abnormal as if the struts were worn out. So i dunno.:shrug:
 
Same here. I can't replicate the issue while in the driveway or from underneath while troubleshooting. I was going to pull everything out of the trunk and crawl back there and have the wife drive over some potholes to try and figure it out.
 
i had a clonk underneath... it turned out to be the exhaust knocking on the heatshield that covers the e-brake cables... worth a look... G.
 
I just replaced all the exhaust hangers this afternoon. The new ones are very stiff, so maybe the exhaust won't move so much. I'll see tomorrow AM if that was it. The old rubber mounts were very stretched out and quite worn.
 
I'm still thinking its the sway bar end links. The rubber is probably gone and you never said you checked them.
 
Dyoel182 said:
I'm still thinking its the sway bar end links. The rubber is probably gone and you never said you checked them.
Click to expand...

They look pretty far gone and there's a lot of play/movement when you're underneath the car and push up on the cross-frame. I plan on getting an upgraded rear swaybar and end links from BAT as my rear sway bar seems to be rotting away whereas the rest of the undercarriage is in good shape.
 
i've got a similar noise. metallic clunking somewhere in the rear.
and on top of that, a metal 'pop' which sounds like its coming from the rear strut area. BAT struts/springs with ~10k miles max.

i've got mostly new suspension parts in the rear.(front too) sway bar end-links w/ bushings are brand new, and the resolved a loud squeak i had.. but nothing else
 
When you replaced the rear end links did you find that mainly the rubber was bad or was the joint where it connects to the bar shot as well?
 
Dyoel182 said:
When you replaced the rear end links did you find that mainly the rubber was bad or was the joint where it connects to the bar shot as well?
Click to expand...

rubber was completely mangled. it was put new after the brand new suspension too.. ~5k miles. i blame it on the poor design of the bushing on the new end links. the new energy suspension ones have a much better design.
 
So it was the rubber and not the endlink itself? I have the ES poly sitting at home for the rear but its hard to find the endlinks.
 
just make sure the nut on top of the strut mount is tight. i have seen this countless times. people do a DIY strut install and the nut ends up backing off. hell, i bought my silver contour and the front strut mounts had about an inch of play between the strut tower and the mount. that should be the first thing you do before you start replacing parts. just make sure all the nuts and bolts are tight!
 
Black 98 CSVT said:
just make sure the nut on top of the strut mount is tight. i have seen this countless times. people do a DIY strut install and the nut ends up backing off. hell, i bought my silver contour and the front strut mounts had about an inch of play between the strut tower and the mount. that should be the first thing you do before you start replacing parts. just make sure all the nuts and bolts are tight!
Click to expand...

does that entail removing the struts/springs and almost reassembling them?

based on the sound im leaning toward something in the strut-area... although i've had the clunking for as long as i can remember. the new popping is what im worried about.
 
I just ordered rear sway bar bushings and rear sway bar control arm bushings from Energy Suspension. Once they're installed I'll see if that does the trick. My sway bar is taking a lot of corrosion yet the rest of the rear end isn't. Is that normal in these?
 
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