Toyota Camry (1996 - 2002) - 1997 2.2 suspension 'clunk'

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
View Threaded
Sat 1 Mar 2008 12:50
1997 2.2 suspension 'clunk' - lucklesspedestrian
I've just bought an immaculate FSH Camry 2.2 (1997 with 110K on the clock) from a chap who really has cherished the car from new.

It drives like a car half its age and miles and only cost me a few hundred pounds (possibly the ultimate bangernomic mobile!)

The only problem I can find is that the front suspension (at least i think it's the front suspension) seems a wee bit noisy with a noticable 'clunk' going over speed bumps or potholes.

The suspension is original.

On smoothish roads it fairly glides along.

I vaguely recall reading somewhere that this was something of a design flaw on Camrys (possibly the struts and strut mountings) and that the noise didn't actually indicate a fault as such.

Has anyone else heard of this problem, or possibly managed to fix it or pehaps it's just a case of learning to put up with it?

(I suspect it seems worse than it is because the car is otherwise so quiet!)

All the best

Steve
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 1 Mar 2008 15:18
1997 2.2 suspension 'clunk' - p0l0nium
"Motest" are doing a £40 "no-pass no fee" MOT offer at present. If its anywhere near MOT time it would be worth that to find out in case its 'life-threatening'.

Failing that, normal diagnostic rules apply: The first thing I'd do is lift up each corner in turn, put a plank of wood under the wheel and lever the wheel up and down until you find out what;s clunking. Worn suspension strut top end bushes are quite common anywhere over 50K miles.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 8 Apr 2008 03:12
1997 2.2 suspension 'clunk' - canucklen
Hi --

If you find out that the noise is coming from the rear suspension, then it may be your sway bar.

Mine has been driving me nuts for months whenever I hit a bump of any size at all, and I just found the cause.

I found out that my sway bar makes a clunk if you push it side-to-side. I have no idea why it clunks as it does not hit anything, but it clunks.

I took a small, but strong tension spring and hooked it from the sub-frame to the sway bar so that the spring pulls the sway bar sideways ... and NO MORE CLUNK !!

I see the factory engineers must have discovered this also as there are small rubber stoppers on the sway bar just inside each of the mounting brackets -- but of course these have pushed inwards and are no longer holding the bar from travelling sideways.

Hope this helps.
Canucklen
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 19 May 2009 16:54
1997 2.2 suspension 'clunk' - lucklesspedestrian
Turns out it was worn D Bushes in the sway or anti roll bar.

Local garage taped them up for £20. problem solved!

Thanks for the reply Canucklen
Reply | Report as offensive | Link

We give you the low down on how to save on insurance, little-known tricks and tips, what insurance groups mean and how to use insurance aggregators to beat insurers.

Insurance group finder and how to save on insurance

Looking for a garage you can trust? Honest John's Good Garage Guide has thousands of reader recommended garages, plus how-to guides and tips on servicing.

The Good Garage Guide