NBD925

Specs: 1993 Nissan Maxima DOHC, Automatic

I have searched this a few times and no real answer comes up. My Maxima has a clunk sound when driven over ruff roads or speed bumps that seems like it comes from the front left.

What were the top reasons this could be: Engine mounts bad, Struts loose at tower top nut?

Houdini

Sway bar bushings or end links?

TheWoodsman

I too had a similar mystery clunk and resolved it by replacing the control arms and tightening down the top nut on my struts to spec. Sometimes, a mechanic who isn't familiar with Nissan torque specs may not tighten down your struts as hard a they need to be (180 ft/lb's). Also, if you have aftermarket replacement struts, sometimes they have an oval shaped hole instead of a round hole for the upper strut to knuckle bolt. They do it so that you can slightly adjust camber, but if it's not torqued to spec it will shift back and forth.

When it comes to the control arms, look at the bushing that contacts the front part of the gusset (where the spindle part goes into the bushing) They get worn out pretty easy and can cause a whole ton of clunking noises over bumps.

Bad engine mounts, which I've also had, will typically cause a clunking noise when you accelerate but not while maintaining speed. Open the hood and rev it, you'll see the engine pull upwards if the mount(s) are bad. Typically, the front mount goes first which is good because it's a helluva lot easier to replace than the others. I've heard guys say it's only an hour or two at most for a shop to do the swap. IF you have appropriate lifts and jacks etc, you can do it yourself, BUT I believe you have to unbolt the tranny to raise the engine....which isn't the most fun to do.

maximo018

iTrader: (6)

Check your transmission mount and ctrl arm bushings.