My turn again... Grrrr
I have had a slight noise coming from front driver side when i go over bumps. The sound appears like its coming from the top of the strut area. When i lean out of the window (far.. Lol) i cannot hear any noise over bumps.. Only from inside the car?.
6 months ago i replaced both front struts and strut bearings.
I have had the wheel off and and cannot see or feel any loose components.
The noise has become more frequent over the last few weeks.
Last week i replaced the front sway bar end links, the lower balljoints in both links were quite loose but replacing them made no difference to the noise.
I cannot tell if the noise comes from metal contact or rubber, it almost has a "milk bottles chinking together" sound. The sound is a "something loose" sound in my opinion.
Drivability is fine, no uneven tiire wear.
Does this all sound like sway bar bushings?
When in the driver seat, the sound is in front of me, slightly to the left.
I have checked around the strut tower for something loose flopping around but i see nothing, checked strut upper mounting nuts, its driving me nuts!

 

Did everyone leave?

 

Ok, let's see if this is the right answer. I had a front suspension noise (2005 Sportwagon, which had original Sedan struts - "comfort" struts - that is what is written on them) that drove me crazy, and I spent a lot of money chasing it, replacing struts and bearings, etc. none of which helped. The answer: it was the sway bar bushings! The bushings were redesigned by Jaguar - much beefier. The installation of these new bushings eliminated the suspension noise instantly.
This might also be the answer for you if no other obvious culprit appears.

 

Sway bar bushings are a relatively easy and inexpensive swap. I would eliminate 2 other possibilities first. You can get a clunking noise from a bad engine mount and a bad transmission mount. I would check engine mounts first especially since it sounds like it is coming from the strut area

 

Thankyou gents.
I have a little more info on the noise which may help pinpoint.
Just done a 200 mile highway trip, and now just driving around this town the noise seems louder and more frequent, even small bumps set it off.
The noise happens a second or split second AFTER i hit the bump, and it consists of maybe 3 (ba ba ba's) sometimes the sounds are quite different.
I replaced the transmission mount approx 40'000 miles ago.
I believe there is an engine mount in that area the noise appears.. Will check tomorrow.
Any clue how to check for a bad engine mount?
My concern here would be that the ba ba ba noise happens too rapidly in succession and it doesn't "feel" "heavy" enough to be the engine.... A ha moment...
If the mount itself is able to move then that could be it
I suspected the noise im hearing is the sway bar flexing in loose mounts

 

yes, the noise a "split second after" hitting the bump is exactly the noise I had, caused by the original sway bar bushings. new new design by Jaguar completely eliminated the noise - please note this: inspection of the original bushings by my mechanic showed them to be "OK" (his word on the work sheet); he removed them and replaced with the modified design as a last resort - and that was it!

 

Getting ready to order some...thanks guys. Much appreciated, have a great w/e