A massive bang...

[Ethan1996]

I drove over a reasonable speed bump earlier, and when the back wheels went over there was a huge bang! So loud it made everyone turn round and stare, it sounded like quite a metal bang which made me worry a bit, so I drove down the road a bit (so I didn't look like too much of a tw*t getting out!) and stopped and looked under the car. Nothing appears to be damaged at all, no marks etc on the bottom of the car and its filthy so I thought i'd notice?

Its never ever done this noise before and I go over the speedbump all the time, often faster or slower than I did today, it was nothing different.

Driving it since, nothing feels or sounds any different but my girlfriend in the passenger seat complained there was an awful whistling sound from her side of the car she could hear with the window open. Going to jack it up tomorrow and have a good look underneath, was just wondering;

What should I look for to be damaged? Is there anything common that'd make a huge bang like that driving over a speed bump?

One thing I've noticed is that when stopped, moving the gearstick side to side feels quite rough, like its dragging against something bumpy :s Not sure if this is just me imagining somethings changed though! Its bugging me, having never done this before I wanna get to the bottom of it before next time I go over the speedbump again!

Thanks

 

[Jaff.]

There's nothing much on the rear to go like that over a bump apart from shocks and springs. I'd be checking those first

 

[Ethan1996]

There's nothing much on the rear to go like that over a bump apart from shocks and springs. I'd be checking those first

Checked over the springs theres no splits/cracks etc and put some weight on the corners of the car and they both bounce back like normal, not sure what else to look for though!

 

[Diagro]

The gearbox things interesting. Is the linkage ok?

 

[Ethan1996]

The gearbox things interesting. Is the linkage ok?

Is the linkage under the car on a Mk3? Never looked and always assumed it was on the top of the box, the arms you can see from under the bonnet! It seems to be making a bit of a different noise too when moving the gearstick left to right! :S

 

[EZ Tutty]

Most likely the exhaust tw*tting the rear beam!
If it all looks ok, I wouldn't worry too much, there isn't much to go wrong on the rear.

 

[Ethan1996]

Bit of an inspection this morning reveals there are no loose wheel bolts, they're all torqued correctly, exhaust mounts and heatsheild looks okay with no play in it worth mentioning and nothing different to before. The springs look perfect still, no cracks or splits etc. Gear linkage on the mk3 is above the gearbox so don't see how that can be affected really! Must be me imagining things with the gears :s not sure how you check a shock but they look alright, and there's no marks on my filthy exhaust anywhere so doubt it was that hitting to be honest!

 

[Diagro]

Mabey you went too fast and the rear bit the speed bump?
I have done that before.
caused a horrid metal bang and turns out I was going too quick over a bump and bottomed out on it.

car inspection saw it was ok apart from some marks on the exhaust. (Which is going in the bin anyway)

 

[jackfm]

horrid metal bang and turns out I was going too quick over a bump and bottomed out on it.

Most likely the exhaust tw*tting the rear beam!

From my experiences with low clios it's one of these. Both sound horrible and resonate through the whole car. Both more likely to happen with a full car which it sounds like you had. The exhaust thing was caused by a sagging exhaust mount for me - £5 part fitted with one fairly easy to reach bolt.

 

[Ethan1996]

From my experiences with low clios it's one of these. Both sound horrible and resonate through the whole car. Both more likely to happen with a full car which it sounds like you had. The exhaust thing was caused by a sagging exhaust mount for me - £5 part fitted with one fairly easy to reach bolt.

Was only me and my girlfriend in the car, and it isn't lowered at all and wasn't even going fast, been over bumps far faster than that. Anyone know if the gear linkage is under the car on a 1.2 mk3?