Rattle from rear passenger suspension (Video)

[AFcadet]

I've been looking for this rattle for a while. I had it a year ago...however I replaced my shocks thinking it was shocks going bad...but the rattle has came back a few months ago...and its getting worse and worse.

You can hear this any time I go over any bumps or uneven road. Seems like the rattle happens when the suspension compresses...regardless...here is a video of me driving over a fairly uneven road.

Any ideas?

MS3 Rattle - YouTube

[NJSPEED3]

check the rubber boots that go over the springs and the perch.

[AFcadet]

I looked at the boots...they look in good condition and the bolt is tight.

[AFcadet]

Bump....any help a all?

[himurax13]

Check the rear sway bar endlinks. Take a picture if you can..

[Rokusek]

I'm guessing end links, or maybe swaybar! They may possibly be lose that will cause some nasty rattle as well as the tops of the struts where they bolt to the wheel well make sure those are tight too... Just my $0.02

[Tokay444]

Rear trailing arm bushings.

[Rokusek]

Originally Posted by Tokay444 Rear trailing arm bushings.

Possibly.

OP, can you have someone ride in the hatch with the seats down and go slow in a parking lot or something having them move the camera around to try and pin poor where he sound is coming from?

[AFcadet]

Originally Posted by Rokusek Possibly. OP, can you have someone ride in the hatch with the seats down and go slow in a parking lot or something having them move the camera around to try and pin poor where he sound is coming from?

Thats a really good idea. I'm 99% sure its coming from the rear right suspension. You can definatly tell its coming from the right. And the reason I think its the strut is because I had this exact same sound on the OEM struts...when I replaced the struts the sound completely went away. And now a year later its slowly coming back again. Its confusing though because I completely took out the rear right strut...looked at it...retightened everything...then re-installed it.

[AFcadet]

Here is a picture of the passanger side rear swaybar endlinks. See anything? Everything was tight.

I took the entire rear right strut out a few days ago...tightened everything and reinstalled. Same noise though...so I'm not sure its coming from the strut.

[Rokusek]

im telling you have someone ride in the back with the camera... also... not to insult your inteligence but maybe check your spare tire and see it thats fully tightened down... also another way to get the sound to reflect more, remove all the hatch panels and fold the seats down, then take the video... this will help to better determin whats up.

it could also be the spring too... just a thought, maybe you got a rock in there thats just big enough to keep the spring from seating properly... just a thought... it really does sound like a strut or spring watching and listening again... but without a better video from the hatch its hard to say...

maybe even have a friend drive the car and you ride in the back and move around and listen for it, your judgement on what it could be is going to be 100 times better than any of ours

all in all without being there and physically touching and seeing the car its hard to make an assumption on what it could be...

try the second video like i said, and go from there.

[theurgy]

Maybe check the bolts that hold the upper rear shock mount in place.
If they are crooked, broken or loose if could cause that kind of clunking.

[AFcadet]

I checked all the suspension...its fine.

So I today I tried driving around with the parking brake on the first notch up and that got rid of the rattle! Odd though...it does not feel like the ebrake is up far enough that it is riding the brakes...however maybe the pads are rattling? Not sure...

Anyways...if I have the ebrake one notch up...the noise goes away...

[theurgy]

Ahhh... well then check that the caliper is tight up to the bracket, check the bracket is secured as well and finally check that the brake pad retainer clips are on as well.

[Rokusek]

Originally Posted by theurgy Ahhh... well then check that the caliper is tight up to the bracket, check the bracket is secured as well and finally check that the brake pad retainer clips are on as well.

Exactly what he said!!!

[vampire8u]

here is a video of the terrible noise coming from the back of my 2011 MS3. I already pulled and checked the bushings on the sway bar and greased them. Endlinks are tight. Tried the brake trick but its not coming from them. Shocks don't act like they are blown and nothing obvious is rubbing. I took everything out of the back including the jack and had my wife drive me around the block. Our roads suck and have alot of filled in cracks in them and you can hear every single time the suspension moves over one. Can anyone offer some suggestions as to what it might be.

MS3Noise - YouTube

MS3Noise - YouTube

[theurgy]

And it clearly sounds like it's coming from the suspension area, not cabin noise?

If so, do you have any aftermarket suspension or are you still using stock?

[vampire8u]

Cabin noise?? did you listen to the video?. It sounds like its coming from outside the car all that is between me and the street is that sheet metal they call the body/frame. Its pretty easy to hear in the video every time the suspension hits a bump at times its nonstop. During the video I was sitting on top of the rear seats that are folded down, feet into the rear where the spare goes. No aftermarket anything 15000 miles on it new from dealer.

[Rokusek]

Originally Posted by vampire8u here is a video of the terrible noise coming from the back of my 2011 MS3. I already pulled and checked the bushings on the sway bar and greased them. Endlinks are tight. Tried the brake trick but its not coming from them. Shocks don't act like they are blown and nothing obvious is rubbing. I took everything out of the back including the jack and had my wife drive me around the block. Our roads suck and have alot of filled in cracks in them and you can hear every single time the suspension moves over one. Can anyone offer some suggestions as to what it might be. MS3Noise - YouTube

Switched user names on us, kinda fucked me up for a second...

ok from the sound of it i am gonna guess a couple things, being that you have 15k on the car, and this has become a problem, hopefully i dont insult your intelligence.

also please tell us EVERYTHING you or the dealer has ever done to the rear suspension before this noise came about. while thinking about that keep these in mind:

1.) maybe, maybe not. check to make sure that the lugs are tight, i didnt fully tighten mine down once and it sounded similar to this, only up front. loose lugs can make the wheel and the hub smack together and make some fucked up noises that you wouldnt think would cause this.

2.) if you removed the sway bar prior to this noise, get a set of ramps if you dont have some already jack the car up, place ramps under each rear tire (this puts load on the sway bar and suspension) then loosen all the bolts holding the sway bar to the chassis then then tighten them back up, this will insure that the sway bar was tightened under load, preventing popping or clanking sounds similar to this.

this is all i can think of off the top of my head with everything being stock, untill i know what else you have done i cant say anything else

[Nliiitend1]

Sounds almost like the swaybar is contacting the rear subframe...

[vampire8u]

I didn't take the sway bar off until I couldn't stand it anymore(today). I have rotated my own tires and they are not loose. This problem has been ongoing for at least 10k miles. I took it to the dealer one time because I got a flat tire at 6k and the place I went to refused to fix the tire because the inside of the tire was worn. The dealer said wow those tires are screwed up and then told me that everything was green in the alignment and I needed to rotate the tires every 2k miles and to go buy some new tires. I rotated them at 4k. Took it to a alignment shop and they said that the dealer is F@#ing stupid. Now probably I'm betting the rear shocks/struts are blown and all that noise I hear is from the springs doing all the work, though its hard to test a strut/shock when there is nothing solid on the outside of the car body to push down on. Try pushing down on the bumper and you might rip it off. lol. My experience with the Mazda dealer was not good, add in the price I have to drive 200 miles round trip to see them and you will understand why I am asking for help here.

[Rokusek]

Originally Posted by vampire8u I didn't take the sway bar off until I couldn't stand it anymore(today). I have rotated my own tires and they are not loose. This problem has been ongoing for at least 10k miles. I took it to the dealer one time because I got a flat tire at 6k and the place I went to refused to fix the tire because the inside of the tire was worn. The dealer said wow those tires are screwed up and then told me that everything was green in the alignment and I needed to rotate the tires every 2k miles and to go buy some new tires. I rotated them at 4k. Took it to a alignment shop and they said that the dealer is F@#ing stupid. Now probably I'm betting the rear shocks/struts are blown and all that noise I hear is from the springs doing all the work, though its hard to test a strut/shock when there is nothing solid on the outside of the car body to push down on. Try pushing down on the bumper and you might rip it off. lol. My experience with the Mazda dealer was not good, add in the price I have to drive 200 miles round trip to see them and you will understand why I am asking for help here.

This should have been part of your first post!

I need to let y brain process this information before I post something else informative. Be back later.

[Rokusek]

Ok, so its a drive to the "STEALERSHIP" so thats out of the question again, you took it there once and they said nothing.

If you want to check to see if the struts are blown (i think this is highly unlikely) remove both the rear struts, you and a friend grab one each by the bottom, put the top on the ground (preferable concrete with some cardboard down to prevent any damage) then compress the strut all the way till it stops, then you both count, release and see what one expands faster (this is how we test Koni yellows to try and match the two rears as close as possible when adjusting them) this might help, but like i said that is unlikely.

While the struts are out go ahead and inspect the studs at the top of the wheel well and make sure nothing is damaged. also check your springs to make sure they are seated properly. try to spin them around and see if there is any metal to metal wear on them (this has been a problem with a few locals here (mostly aftermarket stuff but worth a shot)

Even though you checked the endlinks, check them again. check your camber arms as well (this is also unlikely but still worth a look, just trying to go over everything i can think of that has caused noises like that to come from the suspension area)

And like he said

Originally Posted by Nliiitend1 Sounds almost like the swaybar is contacting the rear subframe...

If this is the issue it can be fixed by getting the car off the ground but leaving laod on the springs and sway bar as i mentioned earlier. take the car out and take a corner really hard and see if you hear a loud POP sound, that would infact be the sway bar popping into place, it may have slid to one side or the other, so check the underside of the chassis for metal to metal wear, look only where the sway bar could touch it.

How ever, i really do suggest to double, tripple, and quadrouple check the endlinks. if you google right rear endlinks, they have been known to come loose a lot on all 3's in general. loosen them up completely (top and bottom bolts,you will need an allen key and 17mm wrench) then reposition them and retighten, do all this with load on the suspension.

I know you say you have checked this but trust me when i say this, it deserves a more in depth look, it could be the top bolts on the end links, where you have probably only been removing the bottom bolts.

try these things and get back to us.

also read this:
http://www.mazdaspeedforums.org/foru...dlinks-109000/
and this:
Mazda 3 Rattles, Bumps, and Squeaks - Car Forums - Edmunds
and this:
"Popping" sound heard -- possibly the aftermarket rear sway bar I installed? [Archive] - Swedespeed

if you google a little more you will find TONS of threads on different forums about this same exact issue... and it was already here once... sooo if that doesnt fix it, then i dont know what else to tell you. because i will truly be at a loss for words.

[vampire8u]

Here's an update. I quadruple checked the end links, they aren't loose. Checked everything else and It looks great. It seams like for the amount of noise that is being generated the problem should be obvious but there is nothing to be seen. Soooo. I disconnected the sway bar from the end links and took a drive around the block.... noise is gone. The end links don't appear to have any visible damage. Going to order some new polyurethane bushings for the sway bar and if that doesn't work, change the end links.

[Rokusek]

Originally Posted by vampire8u Here's an update. I quadruple checked the end links, they aren't loose. Checked everything else and It looks great. It seams like for the amount of noise that is being generated the problem should be obvious but there is nothing to be seen. Soooo. I disconnected the sway bar from the end links and took a drive around the block.... noise is gone. The end links don't appear to have any visible damage. Going to order some new polyurethane bushings for the sway bar and if that doesn't work, change the end links.

Well I guess that's a start... Did you reinstall the sway bar and end links? Or haut remove them completely?

[himurax13]

Originally Posted by himurax13 Check the rear sway bar endlinks. Take a picture if you can..

Hmm, called it.

My endlinks came loose last weekend and I had to tighten them again.

[vampire8u]

Originally Posted by Rokusek Well I guess that's a start... Did you reinstall the sway bar and end links? Or haut remove them completely?

Yes, just finished putting it all back on. It still seems to work fine, just that damn noise. I greased up the bushings and I didn't get 3 feet (1 inch bump out of my driveway to the road) before it made the noise again so somehow I doubt it's them. Sigh. Anyhow I'm going to replace the bushings and links next week.

[Rokusek]

Originally Posted by vampire8u Yes, just finished putting it all back on. It still seems to work fine, just that damn noise. I greased up the bushings and I didn't get 3 feet (1 inch bump out of my driveway to the road) before it made the noise again so somehow I doubt it's them. Sigh. Anyhow I'm going to replace the bushings and links next week.

It's just seems extremely hard to believe that removing and reinstalling the end links didn't fix it and that buying new ones would do the trick...


Keep us posted I guess...

[trdsw]

Originally Posted by vampire8u Yes, just finished putting it all back on. It still seems to work fine, just that damn noise. I greased up the bushings and I didn't get 3 feet (1 inch bump out of my driveway to the road) before it made the noise again so somehow I doubt it's them. Sigh. Anyhow I'm going to replace the bushings and links next week.

I have the same noise any updates with the parts you installed?