[minsanity]

Are you sure you want my details?? ok then, here you go:

because i bought this car used, w/ about 40k on the clock, this clunking i was hearing, i didnt really know if it was just the strut bearings as one here on the forum suggested, although it made plenty of sense..

my remedy was tor order the appropriate strut bearings from tasko parts, which if i recall was an actual mazda dealer seling parts online, now i did this some time ago, so i dont have part numbers, what i do remember was that you must know where your car was made because the exploded views of the suspensions were indicating different part numbers for japan and mexico made mazda 3 vehicles.

in addition 2 the strut bearings for both sides, same part number, i bought new front OEM Springs, and another part that mazda referred to a spring isolator, a simple piece of rubber formed to attach to the bottom of the spring where the spring makes contact to the perch of the strut, they were real cheap, like 2bucks and change each, i bought about 6, i figured i use them anywhere i wanted...lastly, because i didnt want to risk this work to not be succesful due to a possible bad strut, i bought 2 new Bilstein oem grade replacement struts, left and right...after receiving all the parts, i disassembled the front suspension, removed and reused some of the existing parts reinstalled and when for a ride to hit a manhole cover, problem solved....but i created a new problem, the front and rear suspension felt out of tune, mainly because the bilsteins had a 10% stiffer ride, so i had to buy the mating bilsteins for the rear and did the shock swap, now the vehicle ride wonderfully!

Ah, so new OE strutmounts went in, not beefier bearings, right? Thanks!

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

[444rose]

no beefer strut mounts, i transferred the strut mounts from the old struts, nothing to them that could wear, just a chunk of metal that holds the strut together and ties the top of the strut to the body, no other strut bearings available other than the oem, although the strut bearing that arrived from Tasco mazda were half grey and half black in color, the original ones that failed were all black, both made by a company in france.

 

[Redtag]

Greetings from Australia!
This is a great thread, thanks for the information. I just picked up a secondhand Mazda3 (45,000 km) and noticed a clunk at low speed, usually when the front suspension drops over a small bump. The dealer - good service - looked at the issue under warranty and concluded that the tie rods needed replacement. Evidently the factory acknowledge that certain rods/certain models need replacement. Anyway, that eliminated one clunk (one that happened at full lock). The low speed clunk (wheels straight ahead) is still there, possibly worse now. The dealer's next step was to replace bump stop and cure some damper stiction, but I think I'll ask them to lube the bearings while they have the suspension apart for good measure too.
Thanks once again!
Redtag!

 

[pmrmazda]

My 2015 Mazda3 SGT has the same problem with about 38K miles on it. Was this covered by your dealer under powertrain warranty?

Greetings from Australia!
This is a great thread, thanks for the information. I just picked up a secondhand Mazda3 (45,000 km) and noticed a clunk at low speed, usually when the front suspension drops over a small bump. The dealer - good service - looked at the issue under warranty and concluded that the tie rods needed replacement. Evidently the factory acknowledge that certain rods/certain models need replacement. Anyway, that eliminated one clunk (one that happened at full lock). The low speed clunk (wheels straight ahead) is still there, possibly worse now. The dealer's next step was to replace bump stop and cure some damper stiction, but I think I'll ask them to lube the bearings while they have the suspension apart for good measure too.
Thanks once again!
Redtag!

 

[DortA]

Hey All, I too am from Australia and have had my 2015 Mazda 3 since new and within the first year I notice a knocking on the driver side over bumps (poor road surface) where there is torsion flex from front wheel.

During the first preliminary service, I address a clunking/knocking sound and according to the Mazda Dealer TSB they fitted a bumper stopper. This didn't stop the clunk noise, I notice the noise very noticeable when driving on the road lane reflectors at low speed and when applying light brakes the sound is stops.

On the next schedule service, they advise that this was normal operating sound.Just before my warranty was over, I had them look at the vehicle again and confirmed their was a sound to which the replaced it again with another bumper stopper and didn't solve the issue.

A year after warranty (recently), schedule the vehicle for service and advise the issue was not fixed. The dealer had the car for a week to diagnose the issue and later confirmed they tightened all bolts, nuts and greased. I came back and the noise was still there! and the took then replaced the dampers... I notice the vehicle doesn't make any noise when hitting the lane reflectors but still makes this soft clunky noise in slow speed on uneven surface (including my drive way).

If they replaced the dampers, tighten bolts, nuts and grease. Could it be the struts or tie rod?

 

[Scoobydew]

Not sure if this answers your question, but I have replaced the strut mounts, spring perch/rubber grommet on the bottom of the strut, and installed an isolator as you mentioned. I still have a bit of clunk due to pairing my Koni FSD’s with Corksport camber plates however. It’s not as noticeable but it’s there (my assumption is just the pillowball bearing needing to be regressed).

I do however, have a question for anyone who can answer this-I recently developed a creaking sound while going over bumps at low speed. I replaced my front lower control arms, front sway bar, front sway mounting brackets from JBR, endlinks, ball joints and put superpro bushings in them Thinking there might’ve been some slop when removing the front subframe for the front sway bar replacement, I also installed a magic collar subframe bushing set to realign it. Any ideas? Have a video, but will post later. No change in handling characteristics

 

[amati5]

I do however, have a question for anyone who can answer this-I recently developed a creaking sound while going over bumps at low speed. I replaced my front lower control arms, front sway bar, front sway mounting brackets from JBR, endlinks, ball joints and put superpro bushings in them Thinking there might’ve been some slop when removing the front subframe for the front sway bar replacement, I also installed a magic collar subframe bushing set to realign it. Any ideas? Have a video, but will post later. No change in handling characteristics

Recently I worked on my car to find clunks and while checking the control arm on the left it made creaking sound as I rotated up/down. Spraying some silicone stopped the noise, at least for now. You replaced your control arm so I am not sure but mine made the noise at just 14k miles.

 

[DortA]

I drive it everyday so I can notice it, if I'm a passenger it can be hard to notice.

Drives me nuts and only happened on low speed on coming to a sudden stop.

I too have a creaking sounds on incline/decline at rolling speeding on driver side and only developed this after the 2nd bump stop replaced.

Confirmed they replace my driver suspension strut and got rid off the knocking but the clunk and cream is there for last 4 year's.

 

[sirloin]

Hi,

Most people here seem to have this issue with bumps/turning. I am able to make this happen when braking at slow speeds, does it sound like it could be related? I don't really notice anything just going over speed bumps or potholes.

Turning does seem to make it a bit worse but most of the time I hear a clunk when coming to a stop (or just slowing down) when traveling below 20km/h.

I have a 2014 JM1 with 110k on the odo. I initially thought it was from me replacing the brakes, but the noise only started a few months and a road trip later (~6000km). I have disassembled and cleaned the brakes twice now thinking the pads were somehow moving when applying the brakes, but it only happens at low speed.

Thanks!

 

[T.Adams]

Any updates on this ? Just read the thread and only a couple have managed to fix it. I think it is a common thing in Mazdas as I heard the MX5s suffer from the same.

Thing is, my noises are from the rear passenger ( rear left in the UK )
Only hear it slowly over speed bumps. Everything looks in good condition regarding suspension components

 

[amati5]

I fixed my right front clunk (when drive over bumps) or clicks when turning at low speed. It was a defective Koni strut.

However, at 5 yrs, I started to notice the car getting creaks and squeaks from all corners whenever the car is not flat at low speed. Sometimes it was so loud that it sounded like a clunk. I think the cold weather made it worst. I used silicone spray to lube all control arm bushings and regrease all 4 poly sway bar bushings. The car drives like new now. These noises also contribute to the car’s overall noise during normal speed but you can’t tell because of other louder noises. Only 5 years is too early for a car to cause all these noises so I think Mazda use harder rubbers for their bushings. This might be something I have to do routinely now.

This might not be the solution but it’s an easy task to eliminate other possibilities.