I have a 96 Miata with only 39K miles that I bought used a few months back. I was at an autocross event the past weekend and heard a clunking noise a few times during my earlier runs during hard cornering. I didn't notice anything in my later runs, but I wasn't as jerky in my later runs either. I've also heard this noise in another autocross earlier in the month. What could be causing this noise? Is something loose?
Thanks
Check to see if the rear sway bar has shifted in it's bushings and is hitting something.
Absolutely a sway bar problem (one hopes). One example in Mazda's category...there was a run of Protege MP3s with messed up sways that
*always* clunked. I would get underneath and torque all that nonsense down, and see if the noise goes away.-r0ll
Also check whether the exhaust is hitting anything.
Leon
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check out the sway bar and exhaust this weekend.
Another related possibility if you get no relief from those excellent suggestions, would be the possibility that the swaybar got installed w/o the proper lubricant between it and the bushings. This could cause it to 'grab' and 'let go' rather abruptly, possibly making a clunk sound. Easy enough to remove the bars and check if need be.
You might also check torque on your shocks.
Chris
99BBB
Remove and dispose of all corpses and body parts before beginning autocross runs.
This is pretty much SOP.
This is also an excellent suggestion, isn't the newsgroup great! ;-)
Chris
99BBB
Well, y'know, heads tend to roll around if not secured, and they make this kind of hollow "thump" noise. It's kind of like putting one of those "icebox watermelons" in the trunk.
It can be quite annoying.
... or so I hear.
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