What happened??
 

Greetings,

I took my 2000 Protege with 67k miles to my mechanic for snow tires, oil change and new front brakes (front driver side caliper had begun to stick). The car has been running great.
They did the oil change, new snow tires and new front calipers, rotors and pads.

The car came back with a noticeable clunk in the front right when I hit any small bump - but the steering is tight and no additional noise when breaking. The car had absolutely no noise or looseness in the front end before getting the above mentioned work done.

I took it back; they couldn't find the cause and suggested new struts or something to the tune of $900. This is complete nonsense!!

They screwed up something simple during the work that they did. I'd get under the car myself but we're in the middle of a nasty winter.

Any ideas?

Thanks, Dan

its your ahh i can't think of the bar but it connects to your cv joint and it helps your car steer if i think of it ill message you but that bar is loose you need a new one i have to get that done on my focus.
but its not something you can do yourself because once you take this bar off you have to get a wheel alignment done.

darkstar,

I appreciate your suggestion. However, there was absolutely no sound in the front end prior to taking it to the mechanic.

Dan

check your calipers and rotors again maybe he didn't tighten something down but that bar is the only thing i can think of.

Well you're not having engine issues, so I suppose they did the oil change right. Brakes--if you're only getting the noise when you hit a bump, and not as a result of hitting the brakes, those must be okay too. Tires--what about maybe a couple of lugnuts left loose on a wheel? I haven't seen it cause that sort of noise--you usually get more of a growl during turns from a slightly loose wheel.

OOH OOH!!!! This is the only thing I can think of that might cause your symptom AND might be present due to the work they did. If you're removing brake calipers, you're supposed to support them in such a way that they don't just hang from the brake lines. Common method is to use either a bungee cord, coat hanger wire, or whatever works to run through a hole in the caliper, and then hook onto the spring to keep it out of the way. If they left their device of choice in the spring, maybe it's hitting around in there?

Daniel,

I like your thought process. My first reaction to the noise was that someone left a tool in the engine department (I've done it myself).

I'll check it out and let you know.

Thanks, DR

My car picked up a small stone - and that stone stuck between front brake rotor and mud cover - very funny and very hard to find