Paradox

The location of the noise in my car sounded like it was coming from the strut but turned out to be the link. When it first started it was not that noticable but it always sounded like a clunk. Cold, wet days the noise gets worse and lasts longer. A clicking when turning might be the intermediate steering joint / shaft.

Carfagno worked together with me over a period of weeks to try to pinpoint the problem as I described the symptoms and they finally concluded that since water effects it, it had to be the link since the strut is sealed but it was just an educated guess that solved the problem.

SSmike06

Well I'm going to go and see my dealer next friday on the 26th. I'm bringing a list with me they are going to scream since it's all under warranty hahaha.. Good thing to know that on most problems I wasn't alone.

DebadgedBALT77

thanks guys. i guess ill take it in to them one of these weekends and have them take a good look at it. I love the car but not happy that its making noises when i only have 4000 some miles on it.

kissmySS

I too have that very same clunk.. Just got the car back today they replaced the intermediate shaft from a different issue.. ( small clunking on full wheel lock left or right) said they could not re-create the noise over bumps so im gonna drive it for abit and see if it still does it.. anyone have like a hissing/wind/exhaust noise coming from there dash area, it sounds like an exhaust leak but they looked and found nothing... any ideas? My bumber to bumper is over in 10,000 so i wanna fix anything i can now..

Just a heads up my condensers bottom line of fins was hanging loose they replaced the condenser, if you dont look at your condenser much have a look it could happen to you...lol


ALSO i have a clunk in the left rear? anyone? lol (this is getting retarted) once again dealer "could not re-create"

CAN SOMEONE POST UP LINKS TO OUR TSB'S PLEASE...


EDIT- Also ordering me a left outer cv boot it is split on the drivers side... everyone check...!

Bump For All To Read...!!!

hardtocope

yea i get a whine noise sometimes in my dash but i think its just vibrations or something.

Mike_42

I'm glad I glanced through here prior to my scheduled appointment this next week. I'm taking a printout of this thread to my dealer to show them prior to them working on my car.

Mine is getting the intermediate steering shaft replaced cuz when I mentioned my "clunking noises" to the service manager at my dealership he said there was a bulletin about the shaft etc. and that to him the symptoms seemed close enough so he wants to go ahead and get that shaft swapped out.

the bit of printout they showed me relating to the steering shaft had 'similar' symptoms listed, except that it said "related to steering" and that it could be felt/heard when sitting parked and turning the steering wheel 90degrees or so.
service manager and I sat in car and did that and yes indeed it made a clunk noise.
My experience of the clunks was substantially louder though, but of course while driving and going over minor bumps (such as some manhole covers and similar road bumps, and during this winter some of the bumpy ice/snow patches have really made me worry about the significance of the noise), but I had never noticed it associated with any steering movement (I even did a bit of swervy testing in large empty parking lot to try to diagnose the issue)
my noise is always associated with bumps in the road of some type, and it is a definite "clunk" that you can feel and clearly hear, from the first time I heard/felt it I was thinking "suspension related" all the way. Directionally from my head position in the drivers seat (although sounds can be deceiving at times) my initial gut reaction was that the sound mostly originates from approximately two locations each about a foot from the centerline of the vehicle near foot level and in front of the console area, one relating to left wheel and one relating to right wheel.

only reason I said "sure" to the steering shaft replacement is that it's not gonna cost me even a penny, and it will get them under the car and now with this information in hand hopefully I can kill two birds with one stone and not have to take the car back a second/third time for this one issue.

I'm guessing at this point not enough word about the sway bars has reached back to GM for them to issue a TSB about them being the actual "clunking" issue we're having.


Other than this my car hasn't given me any reason to complain at all, no problems.

snowbred

that hissing is that they did not close this one piece under the dash.. i think itscalled a boot or something.. i had the same noise.

Paradox

If you suddenly notice a hissing after getting the intermediate steering shaft replaced, check the boot that seals around the steering shaft and to the firewall just under the brake pedal. If the boot is not installed correctly, road noise will sound like a hiss. Easy fix if this is the problem. Just place your upper body under the dash on the driver side and press boot into firewall.

Mike_42

update on mine:


got car back yesterday afternoon. my "clunking" noise on road bumps still exists.

Dealership had replaced the intermediate steering shaft yesterday and I had informed them about others on here with the anti-sway bar links potential issue so they said they had checked those while under the car and couldn't get any movement out of them or indication that they were loose or etc. Also they drove it a bit but they were unable to determine if the noises they were noticing were just due to the rough snowy roads or if the noises were 'normal' etc. (I can understand them not personally being familiar with 'normal' road noises for a Cobalt SS/SC as mine is one of only two units that have been seen by this dealership to my knowledge. they've had a couple 2.4SS units through, but otherwise just LS coupes and sedans)

I do notice that the steering 'feels' a bit more like 'brand new' now that they replaced the intermediate shaft, a little tighter, and when I turn the wheel substantially left or right there is no longer the small 'clunk' that did once in a while occur. but my clunk had always been different from that and still exists

I went back to dealership just now on my lunch (needed to sign the warranty work papers for yesterday's shaft replacement anyway), and scheduled for them to check my car out again this Friday.
I made sure I re-explained again my experience fairly specifically of course:
noticing the clunk noise (can be felt in feet and easily heard) ONLY when encountering bumps in the road. problem didn't exist in the first year I had the car, seems to mostly occur when the bump is not 'symmetrical', meaning that if I go over a bump that is straight across the road and impacts both wheels identical the clunk noise is never heard but if I encounter bumps which impact just the left or right wheel or impact them at different instances then the clunk is almost always there.

So, hopefully they will determine what piece(s) need to be replaced when they check it out this Friday.. we'll see.

Service manager did say that they've had anti-sway bar link issues on various other GM vehicles ( Equinox and several others ), so he hasn't ruled that out as a possibility at least.

On a positive note I have no hissing or any noise changes after the intermediate shaft replacement procedure like others encountered, so that's good at least.

keeper51

Hey there, i too got my intermediate shaft replaced and still had the problem. They replaced my sway-bar mounts and insulator I believe cause they were loose and the problem seems to have been fixed, other than the roads are rough and it clunks a bit anyways cause of the snow and ice, hopefully they figure out your car.

sethallen

i hope i can get mine fixed...i am going to take it in next week i think

Spite4U

I had a bad clunk from the day I drove off the lot. Finally after multiple attempts the stealership replaced the drivers side top plate/suspension table and the problem is 98% better. Have your service managers inspect this part if the end links are not the issue.

Good luck!
Spite

Mike_42

today's update:

got to take a service departmnet guy for a test drive in my car this morning when I took it to dealership to get looked at.

Service guy was able to now clearly hear the noise I am talking about,
so hopefully we'll see some solution this time around.

Jesse_Chouinard

hi.... usually just read the posts but since i just had this problem taken care of i might as well let everyone know the the problem was the bushings for the sway bars were all cracked causing some sort of "rubbing"...anyways ever since replaced havent had any clunking or noise!...hope this helps!

Mike_42

Service department called me and said they're ordering anti-sway bar links for mine, they dropped my car off to me at work and they'll call me once the parts arrive to schedule getting em swapped out.

Based on the experiences of others here on the forum I'm now fairly confident that they'll finally be fixing my clunk before long.

Thanks everyone for posting about their symptoms and what solved it, as I might not have been able to point my dealership in the direction of the anti-sway bars without the posts on the forum here.

I'll update again after they do the work on my car.

blu3_v1p3r

iTrader: (6)

Hey did any of you happen to note the temp out side at the time of the noise... i noticed mine makes a clunk when its cold out, but its not in the frint... and its only when i go over a bumb when you first start driving....

Mike_42

temp didn't seem to make any difference for mine, and it's in the front and I can feel it in my feet (right foot fur sure). used to be that it seemed to go away after a 'while' of driving, but then progressed to just occurring all the time, but not on 'every' bump, has to be ones that move the suspension in certain ways to cause it (pretty much always has to be a situation where the wheels are encountering different conditions left/right such as one wheel hitting a manhole cover or similar minor pothole type stuff) a straight across the road bump (such as line in pavement from construction stuff etc.) has never caused it. has always sounded like suspension (bushings, some sort of 'joint' etc.) to me.

Paradox

Known problems include the upper strut mount, steering shaft, and anti-sway bar up-links. I had all replaced. The problem with diagnosing the up links is that they are under tension and won't have play in them until the suspention is in a certain position. When I had a passenger in the car the noise went away. When the car was up on the lift and the wheels were hanging, there was no play. The mechanic removed the one that made the louder noise and found that the hole was distorted. (oval) He then replaced them and that particular noise went away. Dealers are not always the most enthusiastic about spending time on a problem that is not clear.

Good Luck.