307 rear nearside clonk (again)

Hello,

I've trawled through various threads on here regarding clonking noises from
the rear nearside on the 307. It also seems to affect 306s and 406s the
more I read this ng!!

We have a 30 month old 5dr 307HDi 110BHP, 36,000 on the clock. Not missed a
beat since we got it at 7 months old with 5000 on the clock. But it has
developed a rather loud clonking/racking/banging type noise any time the
body flexes in any way eg over bumps, round corners, heavyish braking.

A friend who runs his own garage (also runs his own rally car{s}, sons kart
and is a member of our local motorclub so knows his stuff) did the 36000
mile service and we had it up on the ramp and could see absolutely nothing
wrong. No bushes squashed/graunched or out of place ... in fact, according
to him, not a lot back there to make a noise. He did secure (with a zip
tie) a plastic cover that had some movement in it but it hasn't made any
difference; clunking away just as before. Have tried running with no spare
wheel in, seats folded down, seatbelts done up etc etc but just can't work
it out.

Has anybody successfully cleared this problem or know of anybody who has ...
and more importantly, what the hell is it and how is it cured??

Your replies appreciated.

Phil C

 

Can you replicate this noise by bouncing the rear suspension up and down? If
so, perhaps another brave soul could look underneath (not get underneath)
and work out the source of it. I would have thought that it is either one of
the bushes, or a damper.
Otherwise, can someone sitting in the back isolate the source better, at
least to tell which side is at fault?
Brian.

 

Broken spring? You may have to feel your way along the spring, but the
bottom one or two rungs may have decided to seperate themselves from the
rest. When checking, the car must not be resting on the wheels - i.e. less
tension on the springs.
My best guess ...

Ivar Petur

 

Various threads here before usually point to the bearings for the radius
arms. Certainly, that was the problem with mine.
You can see a picture here http://www.sspengineering.co.uk/ of the whole
rear unit on many Peugeots. (I've no connection except they did mine.)
As you say - there's not much at the back which can cause a clonk. And
my normal garage spent quite a lot of time beforehand but found nothing
obvious. On a 405 you should also check the jack in the nearside
compartment isn't rattling. Cheers.

 

.... mind you, I should add that I don't actually know if 407 suspensions
are same at the others !!!!!!! And serious clonking tends to come on
after the bearings get water in and start to seize.
Cheers, A

 

Hello Brian,

Have tried the person in the back .... and it is definitely more obvious
through the floor pan under where the nearside rear passenger would sit.
Jumping up and down on the suspension doesn't cause it to clunk ..... hmm
which perhaps does point to wheel bearings as per a later thread which I'll
now reply to.

Thanks for the reply.

Phil

 

Hi Wichita,

When I first read your post I got it into my head it said wheel bearings
..... but having re-read it obviously it is talking about a different sort of
bearing. Time to talk to my friendly mechanic and see if the 307 is the
same as the 407 and how costly an experience changing the bearings will be.
sspengineering seem to offer a good service and I might have to check them
out .... though they don't have a 307 shown on their site.

See ya,

Phil

 

You might try driving (slowly!) with the rear door open to see if that makes
any difference to the noise, or at least to where it seems to be coming
from. These noises have a way of travelling through the structure and
popping up in a different place.

I don't think, from what you say, that it's the same problem I have, which
also comes from the rear nearside. Opening the door stops the noise
altogether, which suggests it's actually the door.

Androo

 

Thanks for your thoughts. I'll check for a broken spring ... and do some
testing with doors/boot hatch open.

Regards,

Phil>

 

One last thought that has probably occurred to you already. Could you have
a broken exhaust mount, that would certainly cause a clunk of some sort.

 

Hi Buccanneer,

The exhaust seemed pretty well fixed down but will check it tomorrow when I
have the wheel off to check the spring.

See ya

Phil

 

I have a problem from the passenger side rear. More of a crack than a
clunk, but the same thing with accelerating, braking, turning. Basically
whenever the weight shifts in the car.
Have tried two dealers and tried everything to try to isolate the
problem.
I'm pretty convinced it is actually within the bodywork - maybe a weld
come loose or something.
Peugeot aren't bothered obviously so I will have to make do with it.
If anyone has a fix I'd be very grateful to hear it.

 

Well I've had the rear n/side wheel off and with the car suitably supported
have been underneath (again) and had a thorough look round. There really is
no obvious problem. No broken spring, no banging exhaust, no bushes
looking anything other than normal and in place. No loose trim, no damaged
shock absorber, no missing bumpstops. And what is worse is that the car has
started to clunk from the front offside now!! Much more of this and I think
it might be time to move it on ... which is a shame really as it hasn't
missed a beat in the 30,000 miles we've done in it.

I might investigate spraying some lubricant wildly around (but avoiding the
brakes/discs obviously) in the areas of both front and rear suspension. I'll
have a look around Halfords today and if there is nothing that looks much
better than WD40 then WD40 it will be.

Seasons greetings

Phil

 

Here's me replying to my own post to say that I've just had a look at the
Peugeot website and there doesn't appear to be an email address or even a
postal address that you can write to and ask what the corporate view on this
suspension noise is.

Lots of people must be booking cars in for investigation into noise from
suspension and spare bushes or bearings or whatever the root cause of the
problem is must be flying out the parts departments across the country ...
so they should be able to tell us what the problem is. It should be one
visit, explain the noise, they say oh yeah we can fix that, book it in for
xxxx. You pick it up and job is done and all noises gone.

See ya,

Phil ... almost on the campaign trail to hit Peugeot with this one.

 

The 406 and 605 have front and rear anti-roll bars, which have so called bar
links. The bar links have joints on each end and when these age the clonking
begins. Does the 307 use the same system?

IPG

 

Hi IPG,

As far as I know it does. And on Friday it is going to the local Pug dealer
for me to take out their senior technician (hmm) who will see what he can
hear and then he'll have it up on the ramp, have a look round and let me
know what he thinks.

Will let this ng know the outcome!!

Phil C

 

2004 307cc - Same symptoms - noise from the rear nearside - dealer
identified it as defective anti roll bar bush from the front nearside (that
noise transference theory !!) - replaced under warranty - no problems
since - car had only done 2000 miles.

 

Same problem here........

sounds like a Mechanic left a hammer in a void or something. Usually only
clonks upon acceleration and braking.

 

I have the same noise from the nearside front on my 307HDi XSi 53 plate, but
only happens occasionally. Did you get this repair done under waranty?

 

..... and the Pug dealer was very helpful!! Came out in the car, heard the
noises, took it back to the garage, put it on the ramp, gave me a coffee,
came back 5 mins later explaining that they would fit new front suspension
brackets (a standard mod) and that the rear door was out of alignment which
they would correct. 30-40 minutes later I was on my way, job done ... and
all for free. 10 mile trip home and no clonks, bangs, graunches or any
other noises.

Unfortunately during the 30-40 mins I was at the garage I ended up p/xing
the car for an 8 month old 307dt with 12,000 miles on the clock!! It has
been a Pug 'Management car' and is a much higher spec than our 2.0hdi Rapier
110 (though the same engine). Has 17in wheels, 50 profile tyres, cd
changer, mirrors that pull themselves in when you switch off, trip computer,
fog lights front and rear, auto wipers and lights and about ten zillion
other toys to make this 55 year old boy happy. Leather trim seats, leather
armrests and err ... well I can't think of any at the moment but I expect
there are more.

Let's hope I'm not on here after xmas asking for advice about problems on
it!!!!

Merry (and clonk free) xmas to you all.

Phil.