So I have a WW IX and I put Tanabe springs on it.
I've got about 25k miles on the car, much of which with the springs.

So a few days ago I started noticing a knocking/clunking noise when making left turns.

I'm trying to figure out what it is.

A few rare incidences I've experienced this driving straight but on a slightly bumpy road.

Anyone have any ideas?
I'm thinking maybe a blown shock or worn sway bar endlink or bushing?

Anyone know how to diagnose the problem or tell if certain parts are worn?

 

take the rim off and check all the bushings all the bolts even on the strut bar tie rod

and can you notice what side its coming from i know you said left turns but can you notcie the side

 

It sounds like left side.

And when you say to check the bushings and bolts, other than checking that the bolts are tight, how are you supposed to check bushings?

 

i doubt its the bushings but i had a friend have a bushing that was crack and the metal was hitting each other

springs wear down bushing veryyyy fast

 

I'll double check them but I doubt it's the bushings. Looking now.
Thanks for the advice.

 

Front sway bar link. You have to either check this with the car sitting on the ground, undo the other side, or get both front wheels in the air. It'll tighten the bushing right up if you only jack up one corner.

(It took me three weeks to figure that out when mine broke.)

 

Check your CV joints.

 

So both my front wheels are off the ground.
How do you check your endlinks? Mine don't seem to be loose.

How do you do this?

 

If its the endlinks, it will thump when one wheel goes over a bump and the other doesn't. If both wheels go over a bump at the same time you shouldn't be able to feel anything. Once you have the car in the air, as long as there's no tension on the swaybar you should be able to feel if the endlinks are loose. They'll feel... well... loose.

CV joints usually make a clicking noise, not a thumping noise.

If you have the car on jack stands (you should), you can put a jack near the ball joint (not ON the ball joint) on the control arm and lift the suspension a little bit and see if anything moves. Have a friend jack it up about an inch or two and let it go and watch stuff to see if it moves. Check the endlinks, the ball joint, the bolts that join the struts to the hub, the nuts at the top of the strut, the front and rear control arm bushings, and the tie rod joints. Just don't get under the car while you're doing this, even with jack stands.

One other question... how low did the springs drop the car? You could possibly have bottomed out the strut.

 

Thanks for the tips.

I don't believe the endlinks are worn. There doesn't seem to be any movement.
I'll try jacking up the arm and see what happens though.

The springs are fairly moderate. They don't slam the car by any means. Still very driveable after 20k miles... but maybe that is the issue. 20k miles on the same shocks.

 

Yeah, that may be it. If you can see it, check around the seal where the shaft goes into the shock and see if its leaking. That's a sure sign of shock failure, but there are other ways for it to go that aren't so obvious. I would still check for something loose.

 

would you mind telling me other ways of identifying bad shocks? I have them off the car already.

 

If you push them in and they don't extend again is another way a shock can fail. After that there's not much you can do at home. The only way to really be sure is to put it on a shock dyno and test it. If you can't see anything visually wrong with the shocks and they still have pressure (they extend when released) then I would put everything back together, and make sure it's all nice and tight. Then see if it still makes the noise.

Once you get it all back together, you can test the ball joint and tie rod ends. Put the wheel back on, and try to rock it up and down. If you can feel any movement (it'll feel like a little thump) you probably have a bad ball joint. Then do the same thing side to side to test the tie rod end. If you can feel it thumping a little, get someone to shake the wheel while you grab the inner and outer tie rod joints. You'll be able to feel which one it is.

 

i was just about to say the same thing^^

 

Thanks. I'll test it out tomorrow. A friend is letting me test out his front shocks.