Diagnosing a clunk

9881 Views 8 Replies 4 Participants Last post by 07Versa6MT, Sep 10, 2014

pbnut

Discussion Starter · Sep 1, 2014

Hi folks. Just joined the forum and did some searching for an answer to my problem.

My girlfriends 2009 Versa has a clunk. It's grown worse over the past few weeks. My first thought was that it's suspension related. It's not. I just had it up on jacks attempting to find the source of the noise and it still clunks. That should eliminate suspension noises as the culprit.

Forcing the noise is easy now. At a stop release the brake, clunk, apply brake, clunk, release, clunk, apply, clunk.

I've checked calipers, CV shafts, and engine mounts. On the subject of engine mounts though, does this look normal? It seemed a bit excessive to me. This is the brake-release-brake method described above.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PG5R79khwY&feature=youtu.be

The sound is very audible inside the cabin, but less so outside. I was lying under the car while the girlfriend forced the sound and I couldn't hear anything while she said she could still hear it.

Anyone have any ideas? I'm a pretty capable mechanic but I'm stumped on this one. I'm beginning to wonder if it's not transmission related...

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07Versa6MT

· #2 · Sep 2, 2014

You checked how much play the pads had up and down? Cheap pads sometimes aren't exactly the same as OEM so they cause a clunk because of the amount of play between sliders and pad.

This is when moving right? Those mounts are done... the Versa's mounts are excessively soft even when new, but that's way too much play. It's probably caused by the upper torque mount, check for cracked rubber. Same with lower torque mount, check for signs of chafed/torn up rubber and check surrounding area for places the motor has been hitting. Where does it sound like it's coming from in the cabin, and is it a dead clunk or a high pitched clunk? Does it sound like it's coming from the tunnel, can you feel it through shifter?

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rstolz

· #3 · Sep 3, 2014

holy crap those mounts are toast.

replace the mounts and i'd put serious money down betting your clunk disappears.

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nolowversa

· #4 · Sep 3, 2014

rstolz said:
holy crap those mounts are toast.

replace the mounts and i'd put serious money down betting your clunk disappears.

Are you referring to the strut mounts?

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rstolz

· #5 · Sep 3, 2014

motor mounts, you can hear the clunk when the engine moves in the video.

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pbnut

Discussion Starter · #6 · Sep 9, 2014

Thanks guys. The upper torque mount is cracked, but it was not completely torn free as I've seen while searching the web. I didn't notice any cracks in the lower one though, but I may check again.

The sound is definitely a dead sound coming from the tunnel area. I was able to hear it pretty good when I put my head down by the shifter, though it was not felt through the shifter in normal operation (not exactly holding the shifter in an automatic all the time). I may have a feel next time I'm in there.

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rstolz

· #7 · Sep 9, 2014

The actual clunk may be from the exhaust bouncing off of heat shielding from all of the engine movement.

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pbnut

Discussion Starter · #8 · Sep 9, 2014

I had the same thought, but that's not the sound I imagine that would cause.

We're going to place motor mounts on order when she has the money.

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07Versa6MT

· #9 · Sep 10, 2014

That's true, there are two crossmembers that give the tunnel torsional strength, the clearance is not much between them. That amount of movement would touch the rear crossmember.

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