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Thread: Clunking suspension

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2021
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    Australia
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    Clunking suspension

    I have a 2013 Golf comfortline mk7 and I’m having an issue with the front suspension that is doing my head in. I have taken it to the dealer so far 4 times and they cannot figure out what’s going on and say everything looks fine. Car only has 60,000 km on the clock.

    Essentially what’s happening is that the front suspension clunks a lot. Clunks on turns. Over bumps. Has started clunking/knocking just driving straight with undulations in the road. Tricky part is that it doesn’t do it all the time but a lot of the time. Sometimes in underground car parks it will produce a loud bang when the wheel is turned and hits one of those thin yellow speedbumps found in underground carparks. When driving out of my building carpark and driving up a ramp and then levelling off at the end of the ramp i can hear something jiggle and make subtle screeching and clunking noises in the suspension. As if something falls back then falls forward. There are subtle noises I wouldnt know how to characterise when the car comes to a stop. Sometimes when it does bang on the driver side i can sort of feel it in the car floor. Sometimes also bangs when the suspension is travelling downwards after going over one of those yellow speedbumps. The banging over those bumps is more pronounced when the car is loaded with people. And one more thing ive noticed is the cars extreme sensitivity to road camber. On the highway with the slightest of camber in the road, the car will pull to the side of the camber. I can feel it in the steering wheel as the camber changes on a highway.

    These are some of the things ive been experiencing. What do you guys think could be causing this?

  2. #2
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    May 2021
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    Australia
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    Thread Starter
    And one more thing. When I get in the car in the morning I can hear a metallic clunk before i close the door.

  3. #3
    Join Date
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    The suspension clunking/knocking will almost certainly be your strut tops and strut bearings on the top of the front suspension. A very common issue on the Mk7, Mk6 and Mk5 Golfs. I bought a Mk7 GTI mid-last year with 48,000km on it and noticed the suspension noise on the test drive but knew what it was. Similar to your experience, it would make noise just moving around a carpark, and while going over undulations in the road while driving.

    I removed the suspension and replaced these items and its 95% better but still makes a noise occasionally when going over a speed bump.

    On some occasions the cause of suspension noises are the front sway bar and end links, but it the majority of cases its the struts tops and strut bearings. Crazy a VW dealership doesn't know this.

    Given what you have described, it would be worth checking all the bolts are tight too, just in case.

    As for you door noise - is the noise coming from the actual door? If not, is the noise coming from the engine bay area (if so its more than likely the fuel pump priming etc in anticipation that you are about to start the engine). Lots of electrical items come alive and prime when you unlock the car (and open the drivers door) so this may be what you are hearing.
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  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2021
    Location
    Australia
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    Thread Starter
    Quote Originally Posted by Lucas_R View Post
    The suspension clunking/knocking will almost certainly be your strut tops and strut bearings on the top of the front suspension. A very common issue on the Mk7, Mk6 and Mk5 Golfs. I bought a Mk7 GTI mid-last year with 48,000km on it and noticed the suspension noise on the test drive but knew what it was. Similar to your experience, it would make noise just moving around a carpark, and while going over undulations in the road while driving.

    I removed the suspension and replaced these items and its 95% better but still makes a noise occasionally when going over a speed bump.

    On some occasions the cause of suspension noises are the front sway bar and end links, but it the majority of cases its the struts tops and strut bearings. Crazy a VW dealership doesn't know this.

    Given what you have described, it would be worth checking all the bolts are tight too, just in case.

    As for you door noise - is the noise coming from the actual door? If not, is the noise coming from the engine bay area (if so its more than likely the fuel pump priming etc in anticipation that you are about to start the engine). Lots of electrical items come alive and prime when you unlock the car (and open the drivers door) so this may be what you are hearing.
    With the door thing what I meant was that when I get into the car and sit in the seat I can hear a metallic clunk from the suspension. As in when there’s a weight in the car it clunks. Its sort of like tapping two forks together. I can sort of make it happen again if I put my foot and press down. Sometimes happens sometimes and other times goes away after a few times. One time a passenger got in before me I heard it clunk as soon as they sat as I was standing. Strange.

    One other thing I forgot to mention is that the ride, for a golf which is known for its ride quality, is not golf like if that makes sense. Hard to describe but it feels jarring sometimes and just not how a golf rides. Just not coping with road imperfections as well as you’d expect it to. And I can hear a subtle metallic clunk over imperfections that others usually cant over road noise. Steering strangely a little bit on the heavier side as well. Tire pressures are all good though. Sounds have been going on for at least 10,000 k.

    What confuses the dealer i think is that there’s no vibration whatsoever at any speed up to 120km/h. Steering returns to centre. One of the times they looked at it they remarked the LCA bushes looked dry and they sprayed them with lubricant which did nothing. I also don’t think this is a case of the lithium paste lubricant TPI for mk7 golfs because of the handling issues.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
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    Canberra
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    Any chance the transportation pucks weren't removed from the front struts ?
    2017 MY18 Golf R 7.5 Wolfsburg wagon (boring white) delivered 21 Sep 2017, 2008 Octavia vRS wagon 2.0 TFSI 6M (bright yellow), 2006 T5 Transporter van 2.5 TDI 6M (gone but not forgotten).

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