[feldom]

Hi,
I have a 4 month old, 3000 mile CRDi and am very pleased with it. Recently I get a clonking noise whenever I travers even small irregularities in the road surface. It is a noise like a loose parcel shelf or spare wheel but I've checked these. It sounds as if it is coming from the top of the suspension strut (or even struts). Any obvious ideas before I take it in for a look over?

Thanks Mike

[Lorian]

Probably the boot on the top of the shock.

Reach over the tyres and push the (loose) plastic boot back up to the top of the shock absorber, till it kind-of clicks in to place. They slip down and make a noise on sleeping policemen etc. If it persists there is a TSB (technical note) for dealers to fix it (replacement), as its a known problem on cars produced in the Czech factory in the last 12 months or so.

There is a TSB for replacing knocking bump stops too, I guess if you take to the dealer with the noise they would fix either issue that was present without hassel. Seems a common issue, I've had it mildly, and others too.

[feldom]

Brilliant.
Will check it out tomorrow morning and let you know what I find.
Thanks

Mike

[Argus]

Probably the boot on the top of the shock.

Reach over the tyres and push the (loose) plastic boot back up to the top of the shock absorber, till it kind-of clicks in to place. They slip down and make a noise on sleeping policemen etc. If it persists there is a TSB (technical note) for dealers to fix it (replacement), as its a known problem on cars produced in the Czech factory in the last 12 months or so.

There is a TSB for replacing knocking bump stops too, I guess if you take to the dealer with the noise they would fix either issue that was present without hassel. Seems a common issue, I've had it mildly, and others too.

In my I30 the plastic boots-dust covers (with yellow rubber bumpers inside), were glued into metal insulator. I used glue/sealant (for windscreen) FORCH all seasons speed K-103
Link to TSB (thanks babis_xo):  http://hyundaiserviceman.com/en/articles/tsb-hfe10-21-p060-hdfd

[Lorian]

There is another tsb for replacing the yellow bump stop too if required.

I think I,d let the dealer do the glueing though

Sent via swype & tapatalk on Android

[feldom]

Did the check as you explained Lorian and found that the gators had slipped down. I could push one up and it seemed to click into place but the other just slipped down again. Sliding the gator quickly up the strut did produce the same clonking noise I had heard whilst driving the car. Will take it in for the fix after the holiday period.
Thanks again

Mike

[feldom]

Now starting to get worried !!!
Took car in today after describing the problem to the service dept, over the phone. Was wondering if I should mention the TSB but decided to play dump. Called for car to be told that the mechanic had heard the clonking noise on road test but was unable to pin-point the fault. I had to re-book it in for 2 days because "they may require to dismantle the suspension and order new parts". Wow! I still didn't mention the TSB but asked if there are any known faults on recent i30s. Answer, No.
So.
1. Had they run out of time to do work on the car and gave me a load of old flannel.
2. They did do the work but were completely unaware of Hyundai TSBs.
3. The TSBs were checked and were found to be inappropriate and there is a bigger problem with the suspension.

On the positive side the suspension seems OK to me, when cornering left or right. It doesn't feel loose. In fact according to my wife the suspension feels a bit stiff.

I'm booked in for 2 days (24th and 25th Jan). I will keep you posted

[Lorian]

It doesnt stop the suspension work properly, just causes annoying noise. I'd continue to play dumb and see if they replace the whole units.

Will have to book mine in sometime to be done.

[eye30]

Well at least they acknowledged the noise.

Keep the hearing finely tuned and see if you can isolate before the date so you can update them.

[trev012]

Now starting to get worried !!!
Took car in today after describing the problem to the service dept, over the phone. Was wondering if I should mention the TSB but decided to play dump. Called for car to be told that the mechanic had heard the clonking noise on road test but was unable to pin-point the fault. I had to re-book it in for 2 days because "they may require to dismantle the suspension and order new parts". Wow! I still didn't mention the TSB but asked if there are any known faults on recent i30s. Answer, No.So.
1. Had they run out of time to do work on the car and gave me a load of old flannel.
2. They did do the work but were completely unaware of Hyundai TSBs.
3. The TSBs were checked and were found to be inappropriate and there is a bigger problem with the suspension.

On the positive side the suspension seems OK to me, when cornering left or right. It doesn't feel loose. In fact according to my wife the suspension feels a bit stiff.

I'm booked in for 2 days (24th and 25th Jan). I will keep you posted

I have a knocking noise coming from the suspension when going over rough ground [Not potholes] and mine has only done 8k miles. I was back at the garage last week and apparently there have been a lot of people reporting similar fault. The service manager came out for a test drive with me and agreed there was a problem with the suspension ball joints and he would need to order in new parts to replace them.[Getting all 4 corners replaced]  He said the originals were made of inferior nylon but the new ones now on order are made of better materials. I think this is very poor of Hyundai, considering the few miles that have been covered. I've been told that should cure the problem but if not, it's going straight back again.

[Twempie]

Probably the boot on the top of the shock.

Reach over the tyres and push the (loose) plastic boot back up to the top of the shock absorber, till it kind-of clicks in to place. They slip down and make a noise on sleeping policemen etc. If it persists there is a TSB (technical note) for dealers to fix it (replacement), as its a known problem on cars produced in the Czech factory in the last 12 months or so.

I too had started to notice exactly the same noise when the car was going over uneven surfaces.  Initially I thought it was loose items that were knocking about in the boot.  However after carrying out the checks suggested by Lorian I discovered that on both sides of the car the plastic boot had become detached from the top of the shock absorber and I was able to move it up an down.  Tried to shove the boots back into place but had no joy - both boots just slid down again.  Will arrange to book it into the dealer and mention that my understanding that a TSB has been issued detailing how it can fixed.

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge Lorian.

Cheers

Twempie

[sparki30]

Just had both front drop links replace because of low speed clonk/rattle 2008 1.6crdi 29K miles

[feldom]

Car has now been at the dealers for 3 days and the service manager has told me that they can hear the noise but they cannot pin point it. I mentioned the TSB about the loose gaiters (see above) and he said they had done that but the noise was still there. I then read out some of the items from this thread about the poor quality suspension bushes and that other service managers had identified this as a known problem. He assured me that he had gone through all the pertaining TSBs and cannot do any work on the suspension until he gets a call from Hyundai. He also said that he has access to Hyundai's internal technical database where all known problems are logged.
He assured me that from a safety point of view there is no problem with the car and that I can collect it and when they get word from Hyundai they will ring me to bring it back in.
I can live with this for the moment. (I've got a loan car). What does worries me is that several posters to this Forum have had suspension faults identified and sorted but my service manager appears not to be aware of any known problems.

Arh that's better I have calmed down now and will await further developments 

[Talking Hoarse]

Me too!  Mine is back next week @ 7+k miles for strut top mounts (I gather) as well as gaiters.  Noise was chronic on one side in very cold weather but has improved a lot as weather has warmed.

[feldom]

I hope this saga isn’t becoming boring but …
Today I went to pick up the i30. I spoke to the service manager who confirmed that the suspension TSBs have been done, but on their test drive, they could still hear the knocking. He said they are waiting for Hyundai to ring back with what to do next. They could not do any further work on the problem without a TSB or authorisation from Hyundai.

(Interesting that Trev012 and sparki30 have had further work done on their suspension.)

He was happy to have me write to Hyundai to progress the situation, gave me their address and said I could mention his name in any correspondence. As an aside, he mentioned that there is a “world wide” bulletin due out from Hyundai, but could not say what it is regarding.

At the moment, I think this has been a fair interchange.

PS Strangely enough, when I drove the car (11 miles) home there was no clonking at all.

[eye30]

he mentioned that there is a “world wide” bulletin due out from Hyundai, but could not say what it is regarding.

Interesting for him to say this then stop mid sentence!!!!

Be interesting if our oz members know anything about this

[Rof]

Have you asked to see if the "clonking" has anything to do with anti-roll bar joint or perhaps a steering rack issue (see my posts).  I'm on my second steering rack.  I experienced "clonking" when going over bumps quite early on into having my vehicle and steering handling issues.  Could possibly be either of those.  Long shot.  Presumably no fault codes have come up on the computer?

[Lorian]

alas the ECU doesn't monitor the suspension. That's left up to the pilot 

[Twempie]

Got back to work two weeks ago and took the car to the dealer to get it fixed earlier this week having waited ten days for an appointment.  Noticed the clonking noise again this evening and lo and behold one of the gators has dropped again just two days after being 'fixed'.  Looks like they have simply shoved the gators back into place rather than fitted replacements as per the TSB advice and Lorian's earlier post. This is despite me mentioning the TSB when I first phoned up to make an appointment.

I don't want to tell the guys at the garage how to do their jobs but equally it is a real pain having to take it back in and organise time off work. When I phone I'll again mention that I understand there has been a TSB issued and ask that they order the replacement parts before it goes back in again. Pity there wasn't a reference I could quote to save some hassle.  Having said that I know from other posts that Hyundai doesn't like TSB informaton to be in the public domain.

Cheers

Twempie

I had both my front struts changed as they were both knocking when going over speed bumps my car was only 8 months old at the time.
It was built in the Czech factory last year.

[eye30]

It was built in the Czech factory last year.

Are the cars with all issues the ones built mainly in the Czech factory?

[Lorian]

All the clonky suspension covers, yes. There are I believe three (maybe 4) problems that are predominantly reported on 2009/10 Czech-made cars, and this is one of them. The did of course fix a few things too.

[Gibber]

All the clonky suspension covers, yes. There are I believe three (maybe 4) problems that are predominantly reported on 2009/10 Czech-made cars, and this is one of them. The did of course fix a few things too.

Lorian, could you list the problems to help us so we can be aware? 

[quadster]

I have a 2010 CZ made i30. The dealer replaced all 4 shocks in december and they are fastening the plastic boots on tuesday... Hope it solves the problem!

[Dazzler]

The other major one is faults in the paint which can be quite bad on Czech built cars ... There has also been more issues with the glow plugs (although some of those issues in the Korean built cars too - but not as common) I'm sure Lorian will remember the other 1 or 2..

[Lorian]

Lorian, could you list the problems to help us so we can be aware?  

The ones that come to mind (I thought of one more) are:

1. Traffic Alert (TA) not working or causing gaps in transmission on the radio. Seems to require a replacement radio. (firmware <1.10 appx)
2. Front suspension links noisy - they seem to get replaced but there is a TSB with a fix I believe.
3. Rear suspension plastic covers come loose - some have had them replaced but they can be glued back in place.
4. Paint issues - some with possible zinc faults, some with brittle paint/clearcoat (the latter being just some in red to llimited countries it seems)
5. Higher failure rate of Glowplugs (in diesels). Maybe limited to one brand of plug used but not proven.
6. Weak spring in ignition lock seems more prevelant in European cars, but has been reported in at least one or two .au models. Needs a quick squirt of a decent switch lube or there is a replacement part a dealer can install. Stops the car being locked with remote.

These should not be taken hard fact, it's just what sticks in my mind from other member's posts. And certainly not all cars have all the issues. Reports are generally few and far between so its hard to see trends. Points (3) and (5) seem pretty common though.

There are threads on all these topics so I wont add any more detail here.

[Dazzler]

Thanks lorian.. you are a machine (that wasn't made in a Czech factory) 

I think the excellent quality control in the Korean factory makes the still good QC in the Czech factory seem worse than it is...)

[bumpkin]

Taking mine in on Monday to explore the suspension noises..........................

[StarSeeker]

There is a similar post below.  Had this problem myself but can only remember it happening once, on a roundabout.  Sounded like my front coil spring on the suspension had shifted inside its retainers/cups, or what ever they are called.

https://www.i30ownersclub.com/forum/index.php?topic=5117.msg54290#msg54290

[Lorian]

My suspension knock from the rear was fixed on the first attempt by dealer.