The misses drives an 09 Mazda5 with 90,000. It's had a front end clunk for a while. The noise sounds like strut mounts. I tried to get lucky and replaced only the sway bar end links. No luck. Today I did struts and mounts. They both were needed, but didn't clear up the noise. I don't know when I'll get it on the lift again, but I'm not sure what to look for when I do. Suggestions?
Sway bar frame mounts?
I developed the same thing on my Ford Focus after touching just about everything on the front end, including the subframe. I looked for, but didn't see anything particularly obvious.
When I was assembling the car, I did notice that my catalytic converter bracket (where the cat attaches to the engine) is broken. It was just resting on the bracket when I disassembled, so I did the same upon reinstallation. I was planning to replace it anyway, but could this be the culprit?
My issue arises at hard motion changes; accelerating, turning, braking.
It's it the cowl/windshield clunk I've heard about?
Plus I believe there's a TSB regarding F&R sway bar bushings as well.
yeah, there is a number of TSB's on various clunks and noises in the Mazda5's suspension. I'd do a search for those and see what comes up.
The sway bar bushings would be my bet. It's easiest to lower the subframe a bit as access is nearly impossible otherwise. I did the job without it but it would have taken way less time and expletives by lowering the subframe an inch.
I did the end links at the same time. I think the upper mounts are bad on the van again at 145k now. I just did a lot of work to it so I'm not motivated to tear into it again.
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