front end clunk

[mannydingo]

I guess its half-shaft replacement time. Any tips?

Yeah, I recommend you replace the driveaxle.

[xzjn9p]

my workshop manual is in the car but the haynes in front of me says you have to disassemble most of the suspension (including pulling the ball joint) to take the shaft out. Granted I haven't done the job in about 10 years (not a mazda) but I know you didn't have to take all that apart.

[kansei]

You can take the caliper off , let go of the two 17mm strut/knuckle bolts ,remove the axle nut 1 1/4 in drive the axle back in the hub so its free (easier if this is done first) swing the steering so tie rod is all the way over to the side your working on ,if it is the pass. side there is a carrier to un bolt at the axle pulls out ( drivers has no carrier but is clipped in -use a bar to pop it out.

[xzjn9p]

that sounds more like it. I remember being able to swing the steering knuckle out of the way. I'm going to do it on wednesday, can't be too hard.

I'm going to replace the transmission oil seal while I have it apart. Anything else I should replace?

[xzjn9p]

postlogue:

shaft went in with relative ease. Getting the big axle nut off was probably the hardest thing. The previous person staked the **** out of it and used about 300ft-lb of torque it seems like. Impact gun wouldn't even take it off (after unstaking). Had to use a big cheater pipe. After that it all came apart like kansei said. I was a little concerned the new oil seal wasn't seated properly but I think its ok after its all put back together.

Car still makes a little bit of noise going over bumps. while I had it apart I could clearly see the rubber around the lower ball joints is pretty shot. I guess I'll be fixing those next.

[xzjn9p]

BUMP. Update on my suspension problems.

I replaced my ball joints last week. That job really wasn't bad at all assuming you have all the tools. I think I did both by myself in about an hour. Only advise is to make sure you bend back the shield protecting the rotor or you will get a god awful noise as you drive.

However the real culprit for my suspension popping was the driver's side sway bar link. When I put the car on the lift for the ball joints I could see that the link was broken where it meets the control arm. Removing the old link is seemingly as easy as undoing 2 bolts. This is actually really hard. I had to impact gun the bottom one and the top one I ended up grinding off with a cutting wheel because it wouldn't come loose. The problem is despite liberal penetrant soaking those nuts are 12 years old and pretty much welded on there. No combination of hand tools (the shop I use is very well stocked) would undo the top nut. I ended up just rounding it off.

After getting an alignment the car sounds and feels great. Of course now I can hear something rattling around the rear suspension. That will have to wait.

[mannydingo]

Here's the second sentence from my first reply to your problem:

The first things I would consider is the tie rod or strut mount. Another possibility is the stabilizer bar's end link. Either the bushings have worn away or the complete bolt may have now broken.

It's the second post of this thread. Kudos to me. Excuse me while I go pat myself on the back.

[xzjn9p]

Here's the second sentence from my first reply to your problem:



It's the second post of this thread. Kudos to me. Excuse me while I go pat myself on the back.

Yep you get the gold star. To review the noise was caused by the combination of:
1) driver's side inner CV joint
2) both ball joints were shot (driver's side was worse)
3) driver's side sway bar link

looks like the passenger sway bar link and ball joint was replaced at some time but the passenger ball joint was still pretty bad. The sway link and the driver's ball joint were the major culprits.

[clink]

I Work As Tech For Toyota,but Im A Fellow Protege Fan ;if The Noise Is Coming From The Front And Sounds Like It High In The Front Most Likely Its From The Strut Bearing Mounts.the Problem Is Very Simalar Between The Two