Mazda 3 2004 front shocks

Polo_Cluvie

Hi guys as above my daughters 04 mazda. We have it probably 4 yrs and in that time it's gone through 4 ncts with little to no hassle. Since we've had the car there's a clunking from the front both sides but it's never drawn the attention of the nct. I have to assume the shocks are OK as they've been tested and are not leaking and the car is nice and solid on the road. I've done front links and arb bushes thinking that would solve it but no joy. Any ideas?

BlakeS94

Can you narrow down when the clunking is happening? Is it when going over bumps, when turning, when accelerating or decelerating, during gear changes, when braking?

Clunking can be a number of things, it could be the front struts top mounts, track rod ends, the steering rack itself, control arm bushings, ball joints. Check if the bolts on the ARB and links are tightened fully for a start.

Polo_Cluvie

Hi a lot of what you've mentioned would have been flagged at the nct. That's why I'm leaning towards the shock top mounts. Going over the slightest bump there's clunking from both sides

BlakeS94

Okay I see what you mean, the NCT wouldn't be able to check the mounts visibly I suppose.

A good test for the strut top mounts is to have the car on the ground with all its weight, and have someone in the car turning the steering wheel lock to lock, while this is happening you'll need to get your hand in the space between the wheel arch and your tyre, and hold the coil spring, while the wheel is turning you should feel smooth movement in the coil spring.

If the coil spring is jerking or it feels like it's holding tension and then releases and sort of "jumps" then you have bad strut top mounts.

Another test is drive the car slowly and make a turn that would cause steering to be locked out, do this for both sides, and test it going forward and in reverse, you only want to be in 1st gear going forward. If you have bad mounts you will feel the same jerking motion in the steering wheel at a specific point in the turn. The jerkiness is caused by the top mounts ball bearings either losing their case hardening or the rubber being damaged and allowing dirt and debris to enter, and ruin the bearings.

So instead of the bearings moving smoothly as the car is turning, they are getting caught in the dirt and debris and sticking, and then after a few seconds they release so the mount jerks instead of having a smooth motion. Hopefully I've explained this well enough for you.

Hope this helps you out.

JCN12

Another issue to consider is a broken coil spring. Sometimes they can break at the ends, and so its not noticeable apart from the clunking.

JCN12