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The thunking sound is in the right front only, and occurs when I driver over a dip at low speed, or when the wheel is in the downward movement after hitting a bump at low speed. I hear it every time I back out of my driveway when the wheel goes through the gutter. This is a sound that should not be there, plain and simple.
dncb (the thread starter) said "I've concluded that the upper strut mount (and noise damper) is where the noise originates." I found this aftermarket strut mount, made by Monroe, which gives me some faint hope that there's a permanent solution to this issue:
http://www.speedycarparts.com/sku/Hyundai_Sonata_Monroe_Shock-and-Strut-Mount_20- 06_2009_TS905983.html
I'm guessing the struts themselves won't make a difference, but aftermarket struts are now available:
http://www.speedycarparts.com/sku/Hyundai_Sonata_Monroe_Shock-Absorber-and-Strut- -Assembly_2006_2009_TS72281.html
Personally, I can't afford to replace these parts right now.
What I've been told is "We couldn't find any abnormal noise", "Techs checked it, and couldn't find anything wrong", and "We've retorqued all suspension parts, and it is safe to drive". ...... On the last one, I got the tech to go with me, and he heard the thumping in the front and passed it off as hitting a pothole......which is the whole reason that I'm complaining! Either they can't fix it, or they won't fix it. Either way, my car now has 13,000 miles on it, and it is so irritating to hear what sounds like a worn-out strut on it, that I'm looking for another car, and not happy with Hyundai's service.
I turned wrenches for a living, I know wrong from right..
To those that have the "thunk" issue and have gone to a stealership hoping to have it resolved under warranty, only to (invariably) be told that "We don't hear anything abnormal", don't worry--the minute your car is out of warranty, they will encounter a miraculous enhancement to their hearing, and they'll happily advise expensive repairs.
Otherwise I love this car. I'm going to stick with it for a while. In the dealer's defense, they did a lot of other things to the car while having it in. In test driving it, they found that the rear breaks needed to be replaced due to pulsation in break pedal & thumping rear left and corrected several other problems we noticed.
I have purchased a used 2009 Sonata in July 2013 with 40k miles and it still has the remaining 18k on warranty. I have put approx. 2k miles on the vehicle to this point. I have been experiencing a clunking noise coming from what sounds like the front suspension, ( I still think it sounds like a lose strut) on the right-passenger side. It's most noticeable driving at residential speeds on unevenly paved and unfortunately most of all my local driving is on roads that need to be repaved. I have been to two different dealerships for warranty work and neither was able fix the clunking noise problem. First replacement was the link assembly-FR stabilizer and bushings-front lower arm-SPO and upper bushing arm. And this is what was reported : "Removed the passenger side wheel and disconnected the tie-rod from the knuckle. Removed the right side drive axle. Replaced the axle and reinstalled tie-rod to the knuckle. Installed wheel and torqued to spec. Road tested vehicle 2 miles. Noise was still there during test drive, sway-bar not making the noise. Finally able to duplicate the noise while the vehicle was in the air with the axle held, noise was gone. When the axle was released the noise came back. Axle had excessive play and was causing the noise." Later I returned the car back to the dealership that I bought the car at and they reported this: "Found the noise coming from the upper-control arm. Installed arm-assy- FR UPR LH/RL and test drove all operating as designed." They said work was completed, but verbally noted that there was some play in the strut, but it was operating correctly. This December 10, 2013, I followed up with a call to the corporate office with case number, as I returned the car to the first dealership. They kept the vehicle for 4 days and this is what they reported "CUSTOMER STATES CLUNKING NOISE CAN BE HEARD IN FRONT END WHEN GOING OVER ANY BUMPS. *NO REPAIR MADE, NO PROBLEM FOUNDCOMPARED SIMILAR YEAR AND MODEL VEHICLE AND ALL OPERATING THE SAME WAY SUSPENSION OPERATION RESPONDING THE SAME ON ALL COMPARED VEHICLES. Do I have any recourse with the lemon law on being the second owner with a warranty? It seems that there a quite a few Hyundai owners that have similar problems with the clunking or thunking noise and it's not just the Sonata model. Please advise if possible. Update, I have a case number with the BBB, and looking to get this resolved ASAP.
Don't agree. Based on my recent experience, I can assure you that I did not start hearing the "thunking" in my Sonata after reading about it in the forum. I came to the forum in search of a fix after hearing it.
I just purchased (January 2014) a 2008 Sonata Limited with the 3.3 V6 from an private party in South Florida (little old man drove it to the store and back- my brother knew him. The guy loved the car. The family wanted to sell it after he passed). It has 33k miles and is in good to very good condition, with new Dunlop tires. Very sweet. I'm in luck!
Before I closed the deal I took it to Firestone to have it checked out...and based on my short test drives, I was sure they would tell me that I needed to replace one or more bushings or a ball joint up front. No problem. The sound was EXACTLY what I heard in my '94 Maxima several times over the years after cruising around the potholed roads of Cleveland, Ohio - roads that destroy suspensions (the comment about tennis balls bouncing in a can is a good one).
BUT Firestone said the suspension was fine, even after I asked them to double check it. The car was in great shape, so I bought it, thinking it might be the tires. I took the car to a local Hyundai dealer to replace the rear deck stop light and asked them to check the suspension. I was told "All is normal." I took a test drive with the mechanic and he said he heard the sound, but told me he could replace bushings and ball joints but he feared the sound would still be there. No fix he knew of, but while he was sympathetic, he stopped short of admitting it was a common issue. Based on the experience of others writing about this in the forum, it sounds like a design issue, so I suspect the mechanic was following a firm directive from Hyundai: "Don't admit there is a systemic problem. Deny, deny, deny."
I have searched in vain for a fix so if anyone knows of an aftermarket solution, please let me know. Otherwise, I have to learn to live with the thunk or trade the car. I am taking the car to Cleveland where I drive mainly on potholed roads, so I am in store for constant thunking. Oy...is it worth it? But I'll bet no one has a vanity plate that reads, "THUNKER."
I have 2006 Sonata that has squeaky front and rear support arms. The dealership said safe to drive, though annoying.
You should try polyurethane bushings . As these bushing are manufacture to deal with those vulnerable which will create noises.I tried this in my car as it was also creating creaky noises.After replacing this bushings my car stop creating noises and driving smooth on road.
I'm reporting for the second time on my 2009 Limited Sonata 4 cyl. Well, the BBB Auto Dept. was a great helping me negotiate getting Hyundai to offer an extension on my existing warranty for not just the suspension problem, but happy to say the entire car. Maybe it was better than dragging it into litigation. I plan to write the CEO on my continued problem though, if only make myself a pain in the [non-permissible content removed], jokingly. No, really if they want to have an edge on the competition, Hyundai needs to listen up. I truly would like to make my appeal base on my research that this seems to be a ongoing problem with others models of past and current, some similar and some different in many Hyundai models and Kia's. I also investigated that the Kia branding also have similar types of problems. One example would be that the Courtesy shuttle used to drive me back and forth...and back from home was a Kia Sedona Van, and it was making the same exact noise but coming from the back suspension. Check out the owners complaints on similar blogs, in both front rear suspension. I think this might not get the attention of Corporate as the dealers report that this is not a hazard. I see others owners have stated that the dealerships say this is a "normal" operation of the vehicle. I quiz Sonata owners when I can (3 so far) and none report of this issue. But my Service Manager welcome me to take a spin in a Sonata on the lot in for service, and it make the same noise. Why would he? I was puzzled, but his point was that this was typical of the car. Recalling back when I bought the car I did not recognize any noise on my test drive in Palm Springs. But the roads were nice and smooth riding, as also chatter with my sale person, A/C on or stereo might have been a distraction. But as stated in the above post about weather, It did in fact come up on my return to the dealership that maybe weather in fact played a part in the thunking/clunking noise. You see, I bought the car in the desert which is very dry, but I live on the coast in San Diego which is of course cooler but has more dampness/humidity. That might explain that I couldn't get the car to mimic the same rattling noise. The damn car was messing with my head like it had a human personality and it wasn't going act up while the service manager and I went on a test drive! We came the conclusion that it could be a possibly and I was relieved that I wasn't going nuts. I have taken a break on this pursuit because it is exhausting, even having to write about it here. Other than my return trip to the desert which is an easy going drive of 120 miles one way. I took the car up to Ventura and on the 101 Fwy it did not ride as nice and I could hear, almost feel it rattling at highway speeds. Very much like tennis balls in a hollow sounding wood box. Quite annoying and it does make me worry about the wear on the total suspension of the car as time go by. However I am happy that at least I have the extended warranty. Unfortunately I have 6 years of payments to go....Ugh!
I have a 2006 Sonata GLS with only 68,000 miles. At 40,000 mi., I had to replace the front tie rods to eliminate a bad squeaking sound when I turned. Then I started on the right front suspension. After replacing the bottom support plate twice and buying a new strut, still no luck with the terrible suspension. Both sides now just drop with a loud sound when you drive over the slightest bump, crack in the road or dip. Terrible suspension. I have learned my lesson and will never buy another Hyundai, period.
Everyone should file a complaint on the front suspension with the National Traffic Safety Administration. I have.