"clunking" front end - still

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Last Sunday I spent every bit of 5 minutes with pb blaster and wd40 and a wire brush on a single bleeder valve on my Mazda, just to snap the %/)# head off >.< a new caliper is needed after the heat/ezout and channel locks failed. =/

I used a 5' extention on my breaker bar to get the driver side nut off the sway bar, it creaked for the first couple turns..I didn't know if it was going to break or not.

[nitrofarm]

Last Sunday I spent every bit of 5 minutes with pb blaster and wd40 and a wire brush on a single bleeder valve on my Mazda, just to snap the %/)# head off >.< a new caliper is needed after the heat/ezout and channel locks failed. =/

I used a 5' extention on my breaker bar to get the driver side nut off the sway bar, it creaked for the first couple turns..I didn't know if it was going to break or not.

Zoom Zoom get yourself a small map gas kit for sweating Copper pipes.
Wire brush corrosion while its dry-
Blow off all remains-
Torch till its almost cherry and let cool -
Then PB blast-
Wiggle bolt/Nut/Bleeder (whatever) back and forth breaking up rust partilces inside. Ues Copious amounts of PB blaster all the while. Dont ever just "Snap" it loose and try to spin it all the way out. You have to wiggle it back and forth like youre bolt threads are a "Machinist Tap".
My Pops owned a Mobil station in a Chicago Sububrb for 30 years. We know about rusty bleeders. Customer dont wanna here about a little bleeder costing them lots more money. Then when you put it back together. Use Anti-seeze.
Ya gotta use a torch in this game..........:p

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

I had similar abnormal "clunking" sounds right after having my clutch replaced as part of this barter deal:

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33582&highlight=clutch

The guy who did the work claimed that the noise (I didn't have anyone watching/videoing like you did and could only go by what I experienced from the driver's seat) was "perfectly normal" and wouldn't come back (to my place, where he did the work) to fix it. He even claimed to have had several of his professional-mechanic relatives drive it and that they said there was nothing wrong.

So I took the car to the local friendly Midas shop to put it up on a lift and look for anything strange. Right away, Midas found the problem. The guy had put the wrong-thread nut on the rear engine/tranny mount. Although it uses the same size socket as the proper nut (which looks very different), it didn't tighten up, leaving everything rocking under the hood during clutch engagement/disengagement, just like you're describing.

For some time after that (during which I was afraid to take the car far from home or to drive it agressively), I kept wondering, "OK, so where's the nut that was SUPPOSED to go back on the engine mount installed on the car, or where is there a nut left off the car? What's going to fall apart next? Then the exhaust started making a racket, so it was back to Midas for new exhaust. Before I could get it there, I found the engine mount nut installed on the exhaust, which it turns out uses special slightly-oblong "high temp" nuts that don't need lockwashers. The guy has grossly mangled one of the exhaust manifold studs by trying to tighten up the different-thread structural engine-mount nut there. I had to take the exhaust manifold off and to a machine shop to "rejuvinate" the threads using professional thread-chaser requipment.

The guy still denies doing anything wrong, claiming that it's OK to use high-temp exhaust nuts on your engine mounts (which, of course, don't get hot) and regular low-temp structural nuts on your exhaust without even using lockwashers (which will, of course, fall of unless the threads are mangled badly enough to hold them on).

Aside from the above hassle I went through (I wanted to ship the re-clutched Festiva to the East Coast where I was working so I wouldn't have to keep renting a car week after week for $232/week), I still have the second car to be worked on and got talked out of giving up the two rust-free complete Festivas that were supposed to be part of the completed barter deal.

So, my guess is that you've got something amiss in your rear engine/gearbox mount. Maybe not a wrong nut like I had, but something allowing excessive movement back there.

BTW, when I work on cars (or particularly airplanes), I make a point to keep track of what fasteners (and other small parts) came from what area of the machine, so they go back on where they came off, even to the point of noting which length bolts go where, so you don't end up with an "insufficient gripping threads" (short bolt in deep hole) situation that can cause a catastrophic "aw, s**t" failure when you least expect it.

[zoom zoom]

Thanks for the input.. does anyone know the exact part # for the rear transmission mount on my 94 aspire? I've heard advance and azone give you the wrong one..which I don't doubt, they've already sold me the wrong parts on multiple occasions. The drivebelt/exhaust flange gasket/ spark plug wires/ .......for this car and others. I don't want to take the crossmember apart to find out I can't put it back together to get the right part.

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Updates:

Changed the passenger side lower control arm tuesday, the old ball joint was so loose you could move it around without any resistance, and the grease had long since dried up and started balling up.

Still didnt fix the clunk, if anything, it made it worse. After i replaced the driver side lca the clunk stopped for awhile, now its gradually getting worse day by day.

So far ive got a whole new front end, the sway bar is the only existing part. Looks like i'm in for some fun trying to replace the transmission mount next tuesday. (Or thursday, my day off)

If it turns out to be the steering rack, im probably going to cry. (Read "rage")

[georgeb]

Looking at the video, it looks like driveline slack, not suspension slack. You can see the engine rocking back and forth. Like I suggested in post # 3, put the car in first (engine off) and rock it back and forth and watch the driver's side trans mounts as well as the trans support rod bushings for movement.

[Nerd Racing]

My brother in law has a clunk too, they put his car on a lift where he works and they said it was a transmission mount gone bad. might want to check that.

[zoom zoom]

Ya definately.. I seen on fa.com in your old build thread you said you filled your mounts with 3m window weld, is that an option for fixing my busted mount, or was it just to "protect" your rubber from cracking. I think that would be a cheaper alternative to buying a new mount and taking a chance on it not even being the right part. My car is due for some downtime here soon anyway which would give the stuff a week or so to settle.