When driving on rough roads, I have noises that sound like loose stuff in the trunk. I removed everything from the trunk but the noise is still there. My local garage put the car on the lift but could find nothing loose. The mechanic took a ride and said it sounds like some bushings reacting to the very cold weather. Now it's warmed up a bit but the noise is still there. The car has about 32000 miles on it.
---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire (44=EF=BF=BD 15' N - Elevation 1580')
I've seen numerous worn front sway bar links, but they typically don't soun d like they're coming from the front of the vehicle.
It's also a simple matter to check the rear sway bar links and bushings.
If nothing is obvious, it'll probably take some money to figure out. There 's a special tool (Chassis Ear) with leads that clamp to the vehicle, a con trol box, and a set of earphones. The mechanic can then clip to various pl aces where the noise is suspected to be originating. This may take several iterations, but in most cases is rather accurate. I have seen a few cases , however, where the sound echoes causing a misdiagnosis.
Stick someone in the trunk and go driving.
I can't speak to the Elantra, but my 2006 Sonata had a similar noise in the rear and I finally got under it and yanked hard on the sway bar and there was a barely perceptible movement in the bushings and when they were replaced the noise disappeared.
Very similar experience to Voyager on my 2010 Sonata. In my case loosened brackets securing roll bar bushes to rear suspension and moved inwards as far as possible and retightened. Problem solved. Total movement would only have been 3-4 mm either side as Voyager commented . Had been back to Hyundai for 3 days, no success. Then again odd noises can be a proper XXX to find and fix. Noise hasn,t returned in 3 months. Dont know if Elantra is similar but task is so simple its worth a try. Cheers John
---MIKE--- wrote:
I can't speak to the Elantra, but my 2006 Sonata had a similar noise in the rear and I finally got under it and yanked hard on the sway bar and there was a barely perceptible movement in the bushings and when they were replaced the noise disappeared.
Yes, that could be it, had to tape mine in position to stop them jumping out.
I had my car repaired today. Hyundaitech had the answer. They replaced both front sway bar links at a total cost of $181. Thanks for all the suggestions.
---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire (44=EF=BF=BD 15' N - Elevation 1580')
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