96 Lumina - Clunking noise in suspension

All,

I have noticed a clunking noise in my suspension lately. I don't really know anything about struts and was wondering if this was an indication that they are going bad. I can't find anything that could be loose.

It's a 96 Lumina with 89k 90% highway driven.

Thanks for the input.
Vince

Sounds like you have a bad strut mount. When worn, they make a clunk everytime you hit a bump. Strut mounts are inexpensive, you can get them at your local AutoZone

Are the noises coming from the front or rear?

I too have recently been driving a 96 Lumina that does the same thing: clunking from the rear end, and I mean BAD! My mechanic said it was bad strut mounts, but quoted a rather high price to fix. And he has cheap hourly rates. Is this dangerous to drive? Also there is a bar that looks like leaf springs used to look like, only a lot thinner, that has a bend in it on the dr. side....this was my uncles car, not sure if he's giving it to me or not...attaches to the rear near tire somewhere, and also ahead of tire. like a leaf spring..is this anything that will hurt the car? I don't know if he is giving me this car as he bought a new one, and is it worth fixing? Runs great, and the body is good, except for some dings, as he is not a good driver, and I swear he aims for holes & bumps. Very hard on cars. Has 119,000+ on it, but if I knew for a fact he was giving me this car, I would fix it if anyone thinks it's worth it. One more question: does this have those timing belts like my 83 Stang that have to be changed every 6000 miles, as I am sure he hasn't done this..He took it last week to supposedly have new struts put on front, but I don't think so---they are rusty and dont look new to me, unless you can replace something inside of there somewhere! Someone help, please. And let me know if this is safe. My mechanic who fixed the bad wheel bearing on it, said in time it could dent something? Thanks for any info from anyone! So glad to have stumbled across your forum!

the strut piston can eventually shoot through the mount causing the car ride lopsidded. i would comsider this a hazard as this can and will affect the ride and handling charactristics of the vehicle. you will notice in due time. if it is just the mount, they are rather cheap, the labor is what would cost you. i have a "93" lumina eurosport, and had the rear strutr replaced last spring. my driverside rear strut froze up on me, it was like riding a roller coaster. im not sure about the leaf spring, i have one in the rear of mine also. i want to repalce it but no one can seem to give me a quote, i was told that i can replace the bushings however. the car sags a little in the rear. as for the front struts, im not sure about on your car. on the earlier models i do believe there are cartridges. if yours is anything like mine, you replace the cartridges and keep the housing, thus explaining the rusted look(you are actually seeing the houseing). what you could do is stand on either side of the car in the front and push down on the car a couple of times. if it stabalizes right away then they should be ok. if you dont have the right tools to fix the strut mounts then it could be expensive at the shop. if you do replace one bad mount, replace the other as well. the luminas are really good cars, i have had mine for 3 1/2 years, bought it with 87,000 miles on it. now has 129,000 miles, i change the oil faithfully every 3000 miles. swicthed to synthetic, engine runs smoother in my ipinion. i did have to get the tranny rebuilt, but that was my fault. i am a hard driver, and other then ruotine maintenance and the tranny the car is wonderful. i have to drive roughly 30mile each way to work everyday, and have only had 2 breakdowns 1. tranny and 2. caliper bolt came out. if your uncle does give you the car, us elucas products in the oil and the fuel, its a really good aditive. good luck

I too have recently been driving a 96 Lumina that does the same thing: clunking from the rear end, and I mean BAD! My mechanic said it was bad strut mounts, but quoted a rather high price to fix. And he has cheap hourly rates. Is this dangerous to drive? Also there is a bar that looks like leaf springs used to look like, only a lot thinner, that has a bend in it on the dr. side....this was my uncles car, not sure if he's giving it to me or not...attaches to the rear near tire somewhere, and also ahead of tire. like a leaf spring..is this anything that will hurt the car? I don't know if he is giving me this car as he bought a new one, and is it worth fixing? Runs great, and the body is good, except for some dings, as he is not a good driver, and I swear he aims for holes & bumps. Very hard on cars. Has 119,000+ on it, but if I knew for a fact he was giving me this car, I would fix it if anyone thinks it's worth it. One more question: does this have those timing belts like my 83 Stang that have to be changed every 6000 miles, as I am sure he hasn't done this..He took it last week to supposedly have new struts put on front, but I don't think so---they are rusty and dont look new to me, unless you can replace something inside of there somewhere! Someone help, please. And let me know if this is safe. My mechanic who fixed the bad wheel bearing on it, said in time it could dent something? Thanks for any info from anyone! So glad to have stumbled across your forum!

I think you are looking at the trailing arm, goes from the body ahead of the wheel to the axle? If you've got one bent, it's in a bind and will make some strange sounds. The bushings in it may have worn out from being angled wrong, that'll produce a healthy clunking. Also the rear axle alignment will be off, and odd tire wear and steering pull can result. It's easy to fix, basically just bolted through an eye with bushings on each end. I'd fix that before you do anything else trying to find the sound.

I'm guessing the mechanic was talking about if the hub bearing came apart and the wheel went back into the fender. That's pretty rare, but can happen. More concerning, is as the bearing disintegrates it can lock momentarily, causing the car to abruptly jump sideways faster than you can counter steer. Or you end up oversteering to correct, and when it starts rolling again, you shoot in the opposite direction unexpectedly. It's pretty scary.

My '97 has 120,000 on it now, and I wouldn't hesitate to drive it anywhere. Been a great car, had it since new.

No timing belt, chain on these. Should go to at least 175,000 before it needs a chain.

jeffcoslacker, do the "93" euro's have timing belts/chains?

jeffcoslacker, do the "93" euro's have timing belts/chains?

Unless you have a 3.4 DOHC V6, you have a chain. I don't think they even had the DOHC in '93, but I'm not sure.

naw its a 3.1 euro, how should it be changed?

i have a 96 lumina and it also clunks in the rear. had struts and mounts changed but the same noise was still there. after a couple of months i checked under the car again and found out the stabilizer bar bushings were bad. older lumina's had a fiberglass spring that does look like a leaf spring that goes from the driver side to passenger side. rubber on the ends also go bad.