bad clunk

[HangLoose]

ok so i have my 97 eclipse 5 speed manual turbo, it clunks really bad when i hammer on it and im coasting or from a dead stop, soo theres slack somwhere obviously, i dont ahve any idea where to start with this, it seems ot be coming form the right side. any help would be appreciated i know this is very broad but anything to narrow it down, ive worked on cars my whole life and cant figure this out!

 

[gofer]

Sounds to me like a broken motor mount if it does it on a free rev too.

 

[HangLoose]

i thought about that. but when i free rev nothing but then its not putting torque to the ground so it wont move as bad
i dont think its a motor mount

 

[dsmcurse]

jack the front end of the car up and put the jack stands down under there in the correct spots. grab your wheel/tire and shake it wiggle it try to move it. do this to both wheels. maybe you find a bad tie rod or a bad wheel bearing. also check the driverside axle. its the longer axle of the two and actually has a carrier bearing that bolts up to the back of the block. make sure that your axle isnt loose from the block.

 

[Clutch450]

While you have it up on stands check out both control arms on each side. Straight one and curved one. Those bushing wear out over time and cause bad banging and such

 

[dsmcurse]

oh-yeah for sure. 2G is super bad at that. unlike 1G or many other cars from the 90's the lower controll arm isnt a "A-arm" type. its two individual arms and the ball joint socket goes bad on these lower arms all the time. the rubber grease boots are ALWAYS torn, definatley check those suckers out like clutch450 said. when they get bad they get loose feeling and you can start to hear and feel that clunking

 

[HangLoose]

oh its bad like when i hit it, it really scares me, you can hear it hit when the car pulls and when it stops pulling, i know theres slack, but its loud! it hits hard to .

 

[rEclipserGST]

oh its bad like when i hit it, it really scares me, you can hear it hit when the car pulls and when it stops pulling, i know theres slack, but its loud! it hits hard to .

I bet it is a bad mount.

You mentioned you "don't think it is a broken motor mount"

We have two motor mounts, two tranny roll stop mounts. Looking isn't going to tell you everything. I would try to rock the motor, too much and that is a dead give away.

Otherwise remove them and inspect. I don't have any stock mounts on my car. World of a difference.

 

[tominatortwo]

If your mounts are good, check your CV-joints.

 

[DSMDEMON93]

I had a similar issue. Check your Rear Knuckle Bushings. Above the rear wheel, where it joins the upper control arms. Mine were shot!

 

[3052Talon]

What did you find?

 

[silvreclips]

Join the club, I have been trying to track mine down from months now. Checked everything, im just going to start replacing control arms. Might want to check your strut also.

 

[HangLoose]

havent got into it yet, is it easiet to check this stuff while the cars on a lift or on the ground?

 

[USAF 98 GSX]

Lift it, so you can eliminate multiple possibilities at once.

 

[turboglenn]

Gonna most likely be one of these three if it's "simple" D-shaft carrier bearing or bracket, u-joint, front or rear roll stops, (oh and rear subframe bushings and i guess check the front control arms as well, there's a million things it could be, get a prybar, jack the car up crawl under and see what can be moved that shouldnt)

 

[luv2rallye]

Motor mounts, especially anti-roll ones, can be easily checked by having someone watch the engine movement while you rev the engine and let the clutch out in gear just enough to start grabbing and then push it in again, and repeat - all while holding the car still with the brake pedal pressed hard so it doesn't go anywhere. Trick I learned from guys at Kennedy Transmission.

 

[HangLoose]

ok thanks guys ill get right on this this weekend!

where are the rollstops on this?

 

[silvreclips]

ok thanks guys ill get right on this this weekend!

where are the rollstops on this?

The front and rear mounts on the transmission. Not the ones on the side.

 

[luv2rallye]

The front and rear mounts are near the bottom. Rear is practically impossible to see.

 

[HangLoose]

so you have to see them from the bottom i see one right next to my battery, i have a lift so its not a problem. the one by the battery looks shot as of now so im thinking they all probably are.

 

[luv2rallye]

See page 32-9 here: http://tearstone.com/eclipsefsm/32.PDF for anti-roll mount locations. Yours is similiar to the 2.4L diagram. Front is to the left. Engine (not shown) rides above these mounts. The rear one is rear of the vehicle speed sensor (VSS) and attaches to the bell housing and is near impossible to be seen from the bottom. The steering rack is under the member that it rides on. You can barely see it by looking down there from the battery location but a lot of stuff is in the way (battery, cables, hoses, etc).

 

[HangLoose]

got the rear one in! but it still is clunking, looked at my front mount, its not attached at all right now in the middle...... sooo gotta wait till friday to get that one now, took about 30 minutes to change the rear one easy as he!!. the front looks like it will take 10 minutes.

 

[HangLoose]

ok so the clunk is still there. now im really confused the mounts were toally gone.. i put the new ones in place. its stillll clunking! what to check next?