Rattle/medium pitch clonk over bumps/pot holes - 2003 K11

S

SplanK

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Hi all,
Wondering if anybody can point me in the direction of a suspected suspension/steering issue that I have so far been unsucsessful in tracking down. My Micra (K11/2003/1.0) makes a "medium pitch" clonk noise when going over bumps on either side. It seems to do it more on cornering, however can’t quite remember if it’s the loaded side of the lifted side. Also when turning the wheel (more noticable at low speed/not moving) there appears to be a creek noise. Its almost as though something is binding up and suddenly letting go, but I get no feeling of anything wrong through the streering wheel, and it will also do it when going over bumps/pot holes with the wheels straight and driving forward/backwards.

Checks done:
Wheel bolts were tight. Pulled/pushed when car on ground from top and sides. Nothing

Jacked car up, did the same - nothing

Removed wheel, visual inspection - nothing out of the ordinary. Noted no ARB/drop links.

Brake discs/pads/callipers look ok and not loose. No brake sheld noted.

Drive shaft and CV boots look like they have seen better days but no play and not leaking.
Lower arm attaches at 3 points. 2 buses bolted to car with nut/bolt and 1 ball joint. Unable to move with hand and only moves a *tiny* fraction when given a bit of gentle persuasion using a bar on one bush, talking no more than 1mm I recon which will be the play in the busy. Bushes look ok
Steering arm does not budge and no creeks/jerkiness when wheel is turned. Ball joint rubber also looks ok.

The suspension strut is on a top mount bearing. Again there is no play when man handled and no jerky/binding of the spring. I only checked with wheels off ground. I did notice that both sides, there is a plastic protector around the last coil of the spring at the top. I presume this is to protect against rubbing. It looked a little odd to me and didn’t appear fully home with fair bit of slack. Could have either worked loose, or maybe the suspension has been off before (no record of it though and bolts looks like they have not been touched in years…)

Lowered car again, listed for any noise - nothing!
Checked exhaust and other bits and bobs - again nothing!

At a loss!
 
Most of the rattles and squeeks that have appeared on the wifes K11 and now K12 originate from the exhoust shrouds coming loose . there is also a heat shield plate on the bottom of the cat that comes loose and rattles . i just pulled that plate off and binned it . the shrouds i usually just put Jubille clips on to stop them rattling .
I have changed a CV joint on her K11 ,The CV joints normally only make a noise on full lock and its a distinct rumble .
 
Thanks, this is more than a heat shield rattle, defo not same tinny type pitch. Also offending hs has already been removed by Nissan during a service before we bought the car!
 
Could be worn door hinge pins causing the door to shuffle and knock , Easiest way to eliminate this is to open the door a couple of inches whilst driving to see if the noise stops .

edited
Hard to spot but i have seen the front strings break at the top couple of inches and the broken piece dose clonk about , Measure the springs to see if there the same length .
 
Thanks, I will take a look at the door hinges just in case

Was speaking to my dad last night and he suggested although I hand balled everything to check to anything loose, it could still be a knackard bush as the force I can apply using hand is a lot less than that of driving - he iused the example of drop link failiure on his Primera, although it was goosed, trying to check for a loose part didnt show up anything. The Micra is coming up to nearly 10 years old now with all original (according to documentation anyway) suspension components.

After spying the loose rubber bit at the top, my current gut feeling is the spring or strut top bearing. Wanted to avoid taking anything out unless I was sure, but the only way I am going to be able to check it properly is to remove the strut and check it off the car. Alothough I am just tempted to take it to a garage and get a quick diagnostics on it for their opinion esp with the weather being rubish with no decent dry gap!
 
sounds like top mounts mate, get someone to turn(rock side to side) the steering wheel whilst the car is on the ground. feel the top mount to see if the spring is moving independently of the mount.
 
Thanks Jacob. I did suspect that myself but after observing nothing so far I was a bit unsure.
I did get my OH to turn the wheel each way and it did seem smooth with no binding/jerkyness. I will however re-test and inspect closer with the car on the ground when there is a break in the weather.

I am stretching the Almera's legs this week after not using it for 3 weeks so will have another listen and note down symptoms in more detail when I next use the Micra.
 
Take a vidio of the noises and post it here for scrutinisation , hope its not a deicer tin under the seat thats ratling about .
 
Will see what I can do, but i may struggle picking it up clear enough. I am confident though its something outside the cabin up front :)
 
Thanks,
Drove the car this morning - didnt seem that bad (temps are right down around here and took me a good 5-10mins to defrost this morn!) Clonking wasnt as bad on the way in, however as things have warmed up a touch its back!
Just to confirm something in my original post, the clonking seems to happen more on the side that is loaded, and seems to happen more when cornering.

Next time the place is dry i will have another poke around, thats if that happens before I get that narked of with it that I just take it into a garage!
 
Im having a similar problem at the mo, my front left side is knocking over bumps.. me and my mate have been testing it tonight and shaking it so forth but cant tell anything.. maybe a roll bar bush or something else? nothing seems loose i.e top mount etc
 
I managed to sneak it into a garage near work before and they found........ the grant total of feck all :(

He took it out for a test drive, could not hear anything, after talking to him about it he popped it up on his ramp and poked around, including some force using a long bar.... nothing. I mentioned about the top of the spring and the plastic cover so he had a good fiddle/shake with the strut spring... nothing (and spring is ok).

Lowered car and popped bonnet, gave the car a good shark around up/down/left/right... nothing

He sent me away saying when it shows take it straight back.... half a mile down the road I turned around and got him to jump in. I drove and pointed out the noise. He was unable to pin point it and the only thing he could suggest was leaving it with him at 2hr labour cost (£60) to strip the suspension and hub down completely to inspect. I said I would get back to him!

It put doubt in my head and I recorded the drive home. In the drive you can hear it once but there is a lot of other noise. I will try and upload it later regardless to see what people thing.

At a complete loss, however at least I wasn’t dreaming when I could find nothing myself and that the wheel isn’t about to fall off! Not sure if I should just leave it or spend some time outside in the cold stripping at least the strut down to check the spring/strut/top mount closer.
 
Here we go... vid...
Bit we we are interested in is at 30seconds. Please ignore all other noise, the clonk we are interested in sounds different to the rest!!
 
Interesting - at least I am not the only one to be going nuts over this!
Mine has its moments of doing it a lot, then not a lot like tonight. I will continue to video it as it can be worse than that to see if that helps identify what could be the cause.
You say yours is lowered, you changed both springs and shocks, or just the springs?
 
got corsa coilovers on the front mate, im getting it on the left.. sounds like its something knocking at the top but i checked it was all tight last night and it seemed ok, my guess is that its a worn bush somewhere but pinpointing which one is any mans guess!
 
There isnt a hugh to them either - esp on mine without a ARB, so no drop links to worry about either. I have contemplated just buying new lower arm, track rod ends and top mounts, as they dont cost a huge amount but as I bought this car to drive into the ground (aka bangernomics!) - I only want to spend the minimal amount to ensure its safe and has the function of getting me from A to B and back again!
 
Just to keep the thread up to date. We have "solved" the problem by partex-ing the fecker for a K13 DIG-S!

Hope who ever has the same problem gets to the bottom of it!
 
When i put my coillovers on i had a clucking noise i found out it was my strut top locking nut wasnt tight after getting advice from here i checked everything just go a box spaner out and cracked it tighter and the noise was gone

Scott
 
frank said:
depending on how you modded the top mounts, the topnut may be undoing itself as you turn the steering scott (detailed in this comical thread :) ) http://www.micra.org.uk/threads/corsa-b-coilovers-to-fit-micra-how-too.46092/
Click to expand...

Ive had no noise for a week or so now and ive kept a eye on it every time ive had a chance so its all good i got another set of top mounts and bearings and modded them by drilling it to 11.5 and with a file to finish it off for a snug fit it was only my left side that was knocking and its all good now

Scott
 
Althogugh I am no longer interesting in fixing my issue I found this in another buyers guide for the K11. Might be worth a mention here!

Knocking noises. If the cross member has had it you will get clunking through the gear stick and from the front as you would expect. If the radiator is moving about it knocks too.
Click to expand...

Although if I was to continue to move forward, my next move would have been top mounts. It just seems logical given the fact I, and a garage could not see anything wrong anywhere!
 

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