HI all,
Every time I turn the steering wheel at low speed or from stop I get a CLUNK sound.
My local shop says upper control arm bushings are worn out. $1500.00 to fix.
Any body else having this problem?
Also yeah I have gone through 3 batteries. I finally got smart and bought the most expensive Interstate battery. The Mazda still eats them but they are prorated and Interstate usually replaces them for free.
Thanks.

 

$1500 is purely absurd....

Front, upper control arms are priced from $50 to $85 on Rock Auto. Installing them would be beyond simple- Separate the ball joint - remove two bolts near shock tower. Highly doubt you'd even need an alignment. For the price they're giving, you could do it yourself and replace every single suspension arm. Front AND rear. AND still have money left over.

Also, the low-speed clunk could be the known steering shaft issue. Make sure the clunk isn't in the steering column. It's easy to check- grab hold of the steering column under the dash -car not running- and jerk the steering wheel quickly back and forth with your other hand. You'll know if the clunk is through the column or not. Mine has the problem. Looked at it just this weekend and need to check the firewall joint.

My car has had a habit of getting a clunk due to the sway bar end-links going bad, or coming loose. Just installed new lock nuts AND lock washers this past weekend, along with putting a standard flash washer on each side of the bar where the end-link passes through it. (And once when I got a thunk- it actually was the rear bar end-link. It just felt like it was coming from the front)

 

I get the same clunk when I steer all the way at lower speeds, will check back to see if it can be felt thru steering wheel if I yank on the thing

 

Yeh, $1.5k sounds absurd. Clunks are usually the bushes. 3 batteries? Cheapo batteries or what? I would have that checked too, but not by the same shop that quoted the $1500 bushes! A good auto parts shop can check the battery and charging system while you wait. I usually buy the best battery I can get from the consumer reports reviews and I have only had to buy one battery for my '04 6 Wagon since I got it in 06.

 

Shortened battery life is very common on the 1st generation 6. The battery receives zero airflow, and essentially sits and cooks. You're lucky to get 3 years. Both my factory and replacement Diehard Gold made it just at 3 years.