clunk from front passenger side....

[txz4]

It only happens at low speed when turning as im going up a steep sudden incline. I know its either the engine mount bolts or the strut mounts. I hand checked the strut mounts and the the reinforcement cross bars and they were all tight (to the hand). I fear i may have the dreaded engine mount bolt issue.... im going to give it a check today after i get home from school and temporarily tighten the current bolts (if need be) until i can order the new ones and Nordlocks.

I believe to access the engine mount bolts visually, all i will need to do is remove the heat shield on the side of the engine near the headers and i should get a good view. am i correct on that?

Please help as i am a little worried after scouring other engine mount threads

[txz4]

okay upon further inspection it looks like unless the headers are removed you cant really access the bolts... thoughts?

i once overed each of the strut mount bolts and one was slightly loose so i tightened it back up. lets hope that's all it was...i plan on at least replacing the passenger side engine mount bolts as i do my headers within the next few weeks.

[babydevilj]

even if the cross bars are tight by hand inspection it could still be the problem. mine was making a ridiculous noise until i tightened the crap out of it. now im noise free
i later added a crush washer above and below the cross bars and then tighten the nut. hasn't loosened up on me yet.

[Trev]

There should be some very detailed writeups out there. But to paraphrase, the right side bolts you get to from below. The reinforcment frame needs to come off to give you the access you'll need.

However if you take off the front right wheel, this gives just enough room to visually inspect teh front two bolts. For me those front bolts we're the one's that had backed ou teh most.

Lastly the left side bolts can all be accessed from the top. You'll just need some swivel joints & be prepared to bust some knuckles.

[SCHMOUPE]

Originally Posted by Trev

There should be some very detailed writeups out there. But to paraphrase, the right side bolts you get to from below. The reinforcment frame needs to come off to give you the access you'll need.

However if you take off the front right wheel, this gives just enough room to visually inspect teh front two bolts. For me those front bolts we're the one's that had backed ou teh most.

Lastly the left side bolts can all be accessed from the top. You'll just need some swivel joints & be prepared to bust some knuckles.

I can bet money on this (if youre not getting crazy vibrations) that the culprit is a loose strut brace nut. In my case the nut was completely stripped. Replaced and the clunk was gone. Retorque to spec.

[Swashplate]

Sway bar ? I had a clunk due to that.

[txz4]

Originally Posted by TheBroker

Sway bar ? I had a clunk due to that.

that was something else i plan on checking next time i get under the car.

[Cruiser565]

Tight to the hand is certainly NOT the way to check those nuts... I can almost guarantee that is the culprit. Go ahead and re-torque those nuts (especially nearest the firewall) and give it a test before trying anything else so as not to waste your time.

Will

[txz4]

Originally Posted by Cruiser565

Tight to the hand is certainly NOT the way to check those nuts... I can almost guarantee that is the culprit. Go ahead and re-torque those nuts (especially nearest the firewall) and give it a test before trying anything else so as not to waste your time.

Will

already did in the above posts. i hand checked it on the way out to school and when i got home i took out the ratchet. everything was very snug minus maybe 1 strut brace bolt which i wouldnt call loose, but was certainly not as tight as it could have been.

[SCHMOUPE]

so clunking gone or what?

[txz4]

Originally Posted by shakib

so clunking gone or what?

so far so good, but then again there really hasn't been that much time. Hopefully within the next few weeks ill have done the headers and the engine mount bolts and will report back.

[Finnegan]

^Excellent. These things cause an undue amount of annoyance.

Just want to make sure folks know there are two types of firewall/strut brace fasteners, and one can be re-torqued and the other cannot.

If you see threads with a nut on top you have the kind that can be re-torqued; if there's a bolt with washer that screws through it should not be re-torqued. The second type is a single use bolt that has been angle torqued. The "reusable" kind is typically the one that becomes loose anyway. This is why I suspect they changed the fastener type of later build Z4Ms.

See this post. Instruction for each fastener type can be found earlier in the thread, and there's a link over to Ron Stygar's SIBs and other information as well.

[inTgr8r]

^nailed it

[txz4]

figured i would update this thread after a week. The clunk is totally gone now. Hard to believe that though the bolt was by no means loose (just not as tight as it could have been), it made such a noise. Anyhow noise gone, smile back, and worry has currently left the building!

[Cruiser565]

Originally Posted by txz4

figured i would update this thread after a week. The clunk is totally gone now. Hard to believe that though the bolt was by no means loose (just not as tight as it could have been), it made such a noise. Anyhow noise gone, smile back, and worry has currently left the building!

I'm glad it worked out and you didn't waste any more time on the other possible causes. This seems to be happening all the time... I went ahead and put some anti-sabotage torque markings on mine so I could visually check them every now and again to see if they were backing off.

Will

[inTgr8r]

part of the problem getting these braces locked down is that the holes are slotted