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Clunking noise from rear of 95 protege

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  #1  
Old 01-29-2013, 01:03 PM
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Default Clunking noise from rear of 95 protege

Hi everyone,

There is non-rhythmic kind of clanking noise coming from the back of the car.
We can only hear it at low speeds and it's not very loud or anything.

We think it's the driver's side rear wheel. I sat in the back and kind of bounced on the seat and
it seemed to me that it's making the same noise.

Any ideas?

And more importantly we were wondering if we can wait till the weekend or is it
dangerous enough that we have to get it checked right away.

Thanks for your help!
 
  #2  
Old 01-29-2013, 01:42 PM
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Are the brakes working normally? Do you have parking brake? Your description is very vauge.
 
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Old 01-29-2013, 02:03 PM
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Sorry I don't know much about cars .

Our car is a manual if that is relevant. And yes we do have a parking brake.

The brakes seem to be working OK now. Although off and on they
make a noise when applied, some times it's like a knocking noise and some times
it's, well I don't know how to describe it, like something is being rubbed against something else.
It's seems to have to do with the weather though and it's not constant.

This noise I am talking about doesn't seemed to correlate with applying the breaks though. Even when the breaks aren't applied I can hear it.
 
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Old 01-29-2013, 02:16 PM
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Have the brakes been replaced in recent times? Could be the brakes in the issue you describe, but your last post makes me urge you to get them checked soon.
 
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Old 01-29-2013, 02:22 PM
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Yes a little more than a year ago.

So you're saying even if the noise is there when not applying the brakes, they
could still be the problem?

Thanks for the help.
 
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Old 01-29-2013, 02:31 PM
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Yes, but since they are a year old, I doubt it. But not being able to hear it difficult to diagnose. How about the rear shocks?
 
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Old 01-29-2013, 03:11 PM
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Don't know anything about the rear shocks.

I wonder if it may help if I explain a bit more: last night I sat in the back seat on the driver's side with the door open and my feet out of the car and kind of bounced as to kind of trying to apply force to the back wheel and I could hear the same kind of clanking noise from the wheel.

I don't know if this makes sense or not.
 
  #8  
Old 01-29-2013, 03:12 PM
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Originally Posted by parsa
Don't know anything about the rear shocks.

I wonder if it may help if I explain a bit more: last night I sat in the back seat on the driver's side with the door open and my feet out of the car and kind of bounced as to kind of trying to apply force to the back wheel and I could hear the same kind of clanking noise from the wheel.

I don't know if this makes sense or not.
That sounds like shocks
 
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Old 01-29-2013, 03:53 PM
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Thanks for all your help
 
  #10  
Old 01-29-2013, 05:35 PM
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Actually they have no shocks, they have struts.
It could also be a failing sway bar link. They look like this:


and you put a pry bar under the sway bar, Pry the bar up and see if there is play in the link's ball joints.
 


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