Honda Car Forum

Hi, all -- looking for other Honda/CRV owners who may
have had a similar problem.

My brand new 2004 CRV (2WD, automatic trans) w/ less
than 300 miles makes a *clunk* sound when it goes over
bumps in the road, but only when the car is cold.

The sound goes away after a few (like, less than five)
miles, and stays gone for the rest of the day, presumably
because it sits in the sun in the parking lot at work.

The sound is like a cowbell -- clunk. It appears to
be coming from the front. I've not been able to determine
whether it's coming from the driver or passenger side,
and so far I'm unable to reproduce it at will consistently
by going over bumps on purpose.

I've gone back to the dealer once, and they replaced
the strut. Obviously I still hear it in the morning.

I did a search in newsgroups on Honda clunking sounds,
and I read stories of owners who've gone back to their
dealers up to a dozen times, replacing this and that
with little or no success.

So, before I go back to the dealer again and have them
replace the bottom of my car piece by piece , I thought
I'd post as much detail as I could in the hopes that
somebody else had an experience with similar details and
can advise. Thanks!

myngaddy@hotmail.com (Bob) wrote in
news:cc816a34.0408161459.37435aca@posting.google.c om:

> Hi, all -- looking for other Honda/CRV owners who may
> have had a similar problem.
>
> My brand new 2004 CRV (2WD, automatic trans) w/ less
> than 300 miles makes a *clunk* sound when it goes over
> bumps in the road, but only when the car is cold.
>
> The sound goes away after a few (like, less than five)
> miles, and stays gone for the rest of the day, presumably
> because it sits in the sun in the parking lot at work.
>
> The sound is like a cowbell -- clunk. It appears to
> be coming from the front. I've not been able to determine
> whether it's coming from the driver or passenger side,
> and so far I'm unable to reproduce it at will consistently
> by going over bumps on purpose.
>
> I've gone back to the dealer once, and they replaced
> the strut. Obviously I still hear it in the morning.
>
> I did a search in newsgroups on Honda clunking sounds,
> and I read stories of owners who've gone back to their
> dealers up to a dozen times, replacing this and that
> with little or no success.
>
> So, before I go back to the dealer again and have them
> replace the bottom of my car piece by piece , I thought
> I'd post as much detail as I could in the hopes that
> somebody else had an experience with similar details and
> can advise. Thanks!
>

I had a problem with a 2003 where there was a loud BANG in the right
front every so often when I took a right turn. They first tried
replacing the tie rod...didn't work. Ended up being a loose strut (or so
they said).

On 16 Aug 2004 15:59:09 -0700, myngaddy@hotmail.com (Bob) wrote:

>Hi, all -- looking for other Honda/CRV owners who may
>have had a similar problem.
>
>My brand new 2004 CRV (2WD, automatic trans) w/ less
>than 300 miles makes a *clunk* sound when it goes over
>bumps in the road, but only when the car is cold.

"Cow bell clang" makes it sound a lot like exhaust system heat shield
or something related to that. Maybe a bolt is loose or a weld is
broken. After the system warms up, the metal expands and tightens up
whatever is loose.

Problem is, if you go to the dealer with this diagnosis, that's all
they will look at. But you should be able to put the car up on a stand
and bang stuff around until you find the loose parts.

Hope this helps.

Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor

Had the same sound in my Civic 03, it ended up being the heat shield.

Dmitry

"Elliot Richmond" <xmrichmond@xaustin.xrr.xcom> wrote in message
news:bpi2i0hngds606tkafrknv1uh6p81msvbj@4ax.com...
> On 16 Aug 2004 15:59:09 -0700, myngaddy@hotmail.com (Bob) wrote:
>
> >Hi, all -- looking for other Honda/CRV owners who may
> >have had a similar problem.
> >
> >My brand new 2004 CRV (2WD, automatic trans) w/ less
> >than 300 miles makes a *clunk* sound when it goes over
> >bumps in the road, but only when the car is cold.
>
> "Cow bell clang" makes it sound a lot like exhaust system heat shield
> or something related to that. Maybe a bolt is loose or a weld is
> broken. After the system warms up, the metal expands and tightens up
> whatever is loose.
>
> Problem is, if you go to the dealer with this diagnosis, that's all
> they will look at. But you should be able to put the car up on a stand
> and bang stuff around until you find the loose parts.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Elliot Richmond
> Freelance Science Writer and Editor

"Elliot Richmond" <xmrichmond@xaustin.xrr.xcom> wrote in message
news:bpi2i0hngds606tkafrknv1uh6p81msvbj@4ax.com...
> On 16 Aug 2004 15:59:09 -0700, myngaddy@hotmail.com (Bob) wrote:
>
> Problem is, if you go to the dealer with this diagnosis, that's all
> they will look at. But you should be able to put the car up on a stand
> and bang stuff around until you find the loose parts.

I climbed under the CRV and tapped around the exhaust
system with my hands but didn't really find anything. I'll poke
around again tonight or tomorrow morning after the car's
cooled down.

Allow me to take the subject in a different direction:

I'm scheduled to take the car back to the service department
in a couple of days. I'm worried that my story will turn into one
of those "mysterious sounds that they can't figure out", and all
they can do is keep switching parts out each time.

I've had the car for less than a month. Less than 300 miles.
I was lucky enough to have saved up the money to pay for
the car in one go but haven't actually made the payment yet.

Is there any option other than keep going back to the service
department that I should be aware of?

Thanks again for any input.

Bob wrote:
> "Elliot Richmond" <xmrichmond@xaustin.xrr.xcom> wrote in message
> news:bpi2i0hngds606tkafrknv1uh6p81msvbj@4ax.com...
>
>>On 16 Aug 2004 15:59:09 -0700, myngaddy@hotmail.com (Bob) wrote:
>>
>>Problem is, if you go to the dealer with this diagnosis, that's all
>>they will look at. But you should be able to put the car up on a stand
>>and bang stuff around until you find the loose parts.
>
>
> I climbed under the CRV and tapped around the exhaust
> system with my hands but didn't really find anything. I'll poke
> around again tonight or tomorrow morning after the car's
> cooled down.
>
> Allow me to take the subject in a different direction:
>
> I'm scheduled to take the car back to the service department
> in a couple of days. I'm worried that my story will turn into one
> of those "mysterious sounds that they can't figure out", and all
> they can do is keep switching parts out each time.
>
> I've had the car for less than a month. Less than 300 miles.
> I was lucky enough to have saved up the money to pay for
> the car in one go but haven't actually made the payment yet.
>
> Is there any option other than keep going back to the service
> department that I should be aware of?
>
> Thanks again for any input.
>
>

======================

Join hondasuv.com so you can search. You'll find it. If not, Post and
you'll get answers. It's a bit slow due to summer, but very lively
compared to some forums.

'Curly'

From: myngaddy@hotmail.com (Bob)
wrote:

>I'm scheduled to take the car back to the
>service department in a couple of days.
>I'm worried that my story will turn into
>one of those "mysterious sounds that
>they can't figure out", and all they can
>do is keep switching parts out each
>time.

"Everything is operating to spec. We couldn't duplicate the noise." Man,
how I hate those words!

As to your problem, does it do it when the frame shifts, like when
you're moving slowly in a parking lot and when you brake, the sound
occurs? Or, moving in reverse and when you brake to change gears, it
pops? If so, it sounds like the sound could be emanating from your strut
mounts. They're notorious for making an annoying, quick pop sound when
going over bumps and when the car changes motion. It's not a safety
hazard, but annoying, yes.

If it's any consolation, my Lexus RX 300 makes that noise. It's worse
when the car is cold. Just wait until winter.

>Thanks again for any input.

Well, mine may be way off base, but since you asked....

"Bob" <myngaddy@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:cc816a34.0408161459.37435aca@posting.google.c om...
> Hi, all -- looking for other Honda/CRV owners who may
> have had a similar problem.
>
> My brand new 2004 CRV (2WD, automatic trans) w/ less
> than 300 miles makes a *clunk* sound when it goes over
> bumps in the road, but only when the car is cold.

Hi again. Thanks for everyone's input. The dealer called
and said that the sound is normal -- other customers
have brought their CRV in, and the technician knows
what I'm talking about. I made the technician drive a
new CRV with me, and he was able to reproduce and
point out the sound to me without my coaching.

Apparently there's space between the strut and its mount,
and if you hit a bump just right, it'll make the noise I described.
It's a little louder on mine than the other CRV we drove,
but it's the same.

He also told me that even when the car is warm, if I
hit a bump just right, I'll hear it, too -- this bit of detail
I didn't tell him, so I'm some what reassured by this.

He tried to reproduce the sound on a 2003 CRV and
was not able to. Supposedly the dealer contacted
Honda, but Honda doesn't think it's a big deal.

So basically the technician says it bad design. I guess
that's that.

myngaddy@hotmail.com (Bob) wrote:

>Hi again. Thanks for everyone's input.
>The dealer called and said that the
>sound is normal -- other customers have
>brought their CRV in, and the technician
>knows what I'm talking about. I made
>the technician drive a new CRV with
>me, and he was able to reproduce and
>point out the sound to me without my
>coaching.

>Apparently there's space between the
>strut and its mount, and if you hit a
>bump just right, it'll make the noise I
>described.

Just as I thought! I got one right!
All three Toyota's/Lexus I've owned have made this sound. I've heard it
in my son's Civic, but not my husband's Grand Prix.

>He also told me that even when the car
>is warm, if I hit a bump just right, I'll
>hear it, too -- this bit of detail I didn't tell
>him, so I'm some what reassured by
>this.

As I said in my earlier post in this thread, be prepared for winter...it
gets worse. Again, just annoying and not dangerous.

>Supposedly the dealer contacted Honda,
>but Honda doesn't think it's a big deal.

You know how many cars they'd have to fix only to have the problem
re-occur?
It's a 'live with it' problem.

>So basically the technician says it bad
>design. I guess that's that.

Why it only happens in Japanese made cars is curious. I'm no fan of
American badged cars, but none of the ones we've owned have made this
strut mount noise, while all of our Japanese made autos have. I was
devastated when my Lexus started making the noise and the dealer gave me
the "operating to spec." garbage.

Good luck living with it.