PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

This has been going on for a while..

Whenever I go over a speed bump, pot hole, etc., I get a real annoying clanging/banging in the passenger rear. It will also happen when I go around turns without completely slowing down.

It almost sounds like the window regulator is hitting the door skin, but that's not it!

The struts and strut mounts are new all the way around. Any other thoughts?

You may want to check the rear alignment links.

Also make sure the shocks are very tight. They will clunk if not. Even 1/4 or 1/2 a turn with a wrench will make a difference.

00Beast wrote:Also make sure the shocks are very tight. They will clunk if not. Even 1/4 or 1/2 a turn with a wrench will make a difference.

I have to tighten mine every 10,000-20,000 miles.

Good advice.

I'll give the shocks a once over to make sure they're tight.

Also Check your rear control arm bushings. When these go bad you get a clanging noise. You may also get a little side rear end wander/ sway movement when you go over bumps driving down the road.

So the noise was getting a lot worse and more frequent. Finally today I had enough and was determined to figure it out.

It ended up being a loose 18 mm bolt, as pictured here:





I'm not exactly sure what this bracket does, but it's located just in front of the passenger wheel. I was surprised to see it was only finger tight. Every time we'd shake the car, it would make a "popping" action. It tightened up well, though. I didn't torque it to any specific torque amount, just to almost as much strength I had behind my 1/2" breaking bar.

Incidentally, it was the bolt in the center of the inverted cup which was loose.

I have a 97 grand prix that is making a clunk in the passenger rear. Almost sounds like a strut... I don't have the bracket in the picture either. Any suggestions? Someone said to re-tighten the shocks, how do I do that?

shipmanlights wrote:Also Check your rear control arm bushings. When these go bad you get a clanging noise. You may also get a little side rear end wander/ sway movement when you go over bumps driving down the road.

How can a car owner test the rear control arm bushings themselves?

maroon111993 wrote:I have a 97 grand prix that is making a clunk in the passenger rear. Almost sounds like a strut... I don't have the bracket in the picture either. Any suggestions? Someone said to re-tighten the shocks, how do I do that?

The W-body suspension is completely different than the H-body. You probably won't get many relevant suggestions here. Try a GP forum.

harofreak00 wrote:

maroon111993 wrote:I have a 97 grand prix that is making a clunk in the passenger rear. Almost sounds like a strut... I don't have the bracket in the picture either. Any suggestions? Someone said to re-tighten the shocks, how do I do that?

The W-body suspension is completely different than the H-body. You probably won't get many relevant suggestions here. Try a GP forum.

Everyone tells me this. GP forums suck. They don't help at all. Honestly, I've gotten more help from this forum. Plus I like the layout and the people here 100% more. Sooo instead of sending me away from your forum, help a brotha out!

maroon111993 wrote:

harofreak00 wrote:

maroon111993 wrote:I have a 97 grand prix that is making a clunk in the passenger rear. Almost sounds like a strut... I don't have the bracket in the picture either. Any suggestions? Someone said to re-tighten the shocks, how do I do that?

The W-body suspension is completely different than the H-body. You probably won't get many relevant suggestions here. Try a GP forum.

Everyone tells me this. GP forums suck. They don't help at all. Honestly, I've gotten more help from this forum. Plus I like the layout and the people here 100% more. Sooo instead of sending me away from your forum, help a brotha out!

Grandprixforums.net has plenty of knowledgable people that are super helpful. I'm sure you'll get someone to help ya out there. We're not trying to chase you away by any means! We just can't transfer all the H-body knowledge to the W-body.

Best way to identify the source of the noise: climb into the trunk with a flashlight and have a friend drive you around for a few minutes (over some known bumps). By doing this, I determined that my passenger-side shock was not fully secured on the top end. I could clearly see the radar disc-shaped cup banging up and down as we went along (I removed the cover beforehand, for a clear view).

Afterward, by tightening the nut further (while holding the center rod steady with a crescent wrench) I was able to make most of the noise go away (in my case). I wound up having to tighten this nut tighter than its torque spec originally called out for.

Ken_W

Ken_W wrote:Best way to identify the source of the noise: climb into the trunk with a flashlight and have a friend drive you around for a few minutes (over some known bumps). By doing this, I determined that my passenger-side shock was not fully secured on the top end. I could clearly see the radar disc-shaped cup banging up and down as we went along (I removed the cover beforehand, for a clear view).

Afterward, by tightening the nut further (while holding the center rod steady with a crescent wrench) I was able to make most of the noise go away (in my case). I wound up having to tighten this nut tighter than its torque spec originally called out for.

Ken_W

I'll give that a try. But knowing my friends, I'll be locked in a trunk.

If I dont reply in 2 days, my address is
P. Sherman
42 Wallaby Way, Syndey.

I just stumbled across this looks like dude is still in his trunk hahaha

Blackhawk, I'm having very similar troubles check my post " Mystery clunk rattle over bumps and inclines videos" did it sound like that? Thanks

Franksdad wrote:I just stumbled across this looks like dude is still in his trunk hahaha

Haha I haven't found the issue. Still does it. Even with 4 new struts/shocks. Now the driver front does it, too. Even when leaving from a stop and giving it gas, the driver front left will 'pop'.

Can't hurt to check front sway bar links.