Multiple suspension issues - clunks, creaks and pops

[ahtoxa]

Hey all,

Purpose of this thread is to document specific progress on some ongoing issues to hopefully help those who may encounter this.

Problem 1

- Noise when going over multiple small bumps at speed of around 30 mph. This happens when hitting bumps with driver side only. Those in the southern states - noise is heard when you run over the lane marker "bumps" in the read. Noise is defined by metallic rattle similar to a loose exhaust but not diagnosed as such.

Solution - ongoing. Dealer took another Sonic for a ride with me (also a hatch like mine) and same noise was heard. I am currently in a loaner sedan and no similar noise is heard. Original issue appeared at about 1k miles.

Problem 2

- High pitched squeak coming from driver side front. Heard when going over small road bumps, dips and imperfections, where suspension undulations are minor.

Solution - dealer replaced front driver side strut assembly under warranty. Issue resolved - diagnosed as defective strut. Issue appeared at just under 2k miles. This occurred after Problem 1. Replacing the strut did not resolve the clunk or affect it in any way.


Problem 3

A very loud POP is heard while accelerating in low gear over uneven surfaces, such as railroad crossings. Sound is not always repeatable. Very loud and very metallic in nature. Also the the impact can be felt in both the driver and passenger floorboards. This will also occur at times under steady braking with no bumps in the road. In this scenario, the noise occurs well into braking, not immediately during weight shift when brakes are applied and before the car stops and weight shifts back.

Solution - ongoing. Car has been at the dealer for 2 days under examination. Initial day spent to resolve the problem yielded no results as I was advised that all appeared to be in check. Service manager was in vehicle with me when I was able to replicate the issue. Dealer is currently stumped on what is causing the severe noise as the issue is very apparent. Issue appeared at just under 2k miles.


So far dealer has been very responsive and I believe them to work attempting to resolve the issue and as best they can. I'll keep you guys posted to the solution.

P.S. I've asked them to look into the sway bar links and while I've not received a negative confirmation, it hasn't been officially ruled out.


2012 Sonic HB
1.4T 6 MT
Just over 2k miles on the odometer

 

[Chevrolet Customer Care]

Hey all,

Purpose of this thread is to document specific progress on some ongoing issues to hopefully help those who may encounter this.

Problem 1

- Noise when going over multiple small bumps at speed of around 30 mph. This happens when hitting bumps with driver side only. Those in the southern states - noise is heard when you run over the lane marker "bumps" in the read. Noise is defined by metallic rattle similar to a loose exhaust but not diagnosed as such.

Solution - ongoing. Dealer took another Sonic for a ride with me (also a hatch like mine) and same noise was heard. I am currently in a loaner sedan and no similar noise is heard. Original issue appeared at about 1k miles.

Problem 2

- High pitched squeak coming from driver side front. Heard when going over small road bumps, dips and imperfections, where suspension undulations are minor.

Solution - dealer replaced front driver side strut assembly under warranty. Issue resolved - diagnosed as defective strut. Issue appeared at just under 2k miles. This occurred after Problem 1. Replacing the strut did not resolve the clunk or affect it in any way.


Problem 3

A very loud POP is heard while accelerating in low gear over uneven surfaces, such as railroad crossings. Sound is not always repeatable. Very loud and very metallic in nature. Also the the impact can be felt in both the driver and passenger floorboards. This will also occur at times under steady braking with no bumps in the road. In this scenario, the noise occurs well into braking, not immediately during weight shift when brakes are applied and before the car stops and weight shifts back.

Solution - ongoing. Car has been at the dealer for 2 days under examination. Initial day spent to resolve the problem yielded no results as I was advised that all appeared to be in check. Service manager was in vehicle with me when I was able to replicate the issue. Dealer is currently stumped on what is causing the severe noise as the issue is very apparent. Issue appeared at just under 2k miles.


So far dealer has been very responsive and I believe them to work attempting to resolve the issue and as best they can. I'll keep you guys posted to the solution.

P.S. I've asked them to look into the sway bar links and while I've not received a negative confirmation, it hasn't been officially ruled out.


2012 Sonic HB
1.4T 6 MT
Just over 2k miles on the odometer

Hi ahtoxa,

Thank you for posting your issues, progress and updated status of your vehicle. I have also documented. Hopefully, everything will be resolved soon with your Sonic.

Vanessa,
GM Customer Service

 

[ahtoxa]

Update to problem 3

Dealer has replaced right front strut and sway bar links. Before car was returned to me the service manager was not convinced the problem was resolved. Car remains in dealer possession for further troubleshooting.

Total parts replaced:

Left front strut
Right front strut
Front sway bar links

Resolution remains to be found for problem 3

 

[laroux74]

I am bringing my Sonic in on Friday for an issue similar to Problem 1 you listed. My Sonic has close to 15K miles on it and I have had it for about 9 months. I was just chalking it up to living in the Boston Metro area and our roads being crap (bumps, potholes, cracks... and that is just the highway)

Will def report back about what they say about it.

 

[SSpeckerwood]

i have over 15K on my sonic. please keep us updated as i've never had any problems as you stated.

 

[ahtoxa]

Dealer is current awaiting on a specialist or some sort of field/tech/engineer guy to come out and inspect further. They are stumped and do not have a solution.

Car has been at the dealer for a total of 8 days now or so.

 

[SSpeckerwood]

have they gave you a rental car to drive?

 

[ahtoxa]

Of course. Otherwise I'd have a much larger issue with this.

Spoke further with my service rep today. They've tried to isolate the issue to a lower engine mount - that wasn't the problem. Trying the upper mount to see if this is it.

 

[SSpeckerwood]

what kind of rental car did they give you?

 

[ahtoxa]

Originally a 1.8 5MT(!) Sonic but it was completely base (cranks, no CD/USB) and now a Cruze 1.8 AT.

Admittedly I've not driven too many automatics in the last 5-6 years but the auto in the 1.8 is quite bad. Otherwise the car is great.

 

[Chevrolet Customer Care]

Dealer is current awaiting on a specialist or some sort of field/tech/engineer guy to come out and inspect further. They are stumped and do not have a solution.

Car has been at the dealer for a total of 8 days now or so.

Thanks for the update! Hopefully, they'll be able to figure out what the cause is.

Vanessa
GM Customer Service

 

[ahtoxa]

No update. I was made aware that there is another Sonic with same or similar symptoms in Michigan. No resolution on that car either. Another engineer will be in on Monday.

 

[ahtoxa]

Update on Problem #3.

Let me preface this by saying that this is the information I have from the service writer. I have not spoken to the service manager at this time due to being late in the day. The reason I mention this is because my service writer seemed to have some gaps in information given to him, so I shall get closer to source next week.

An engineer insected my car this week and after some testing has concluded that the source of this loud pop is an elongated mounting hole for the right front control arm. I do not know whether it's upper or lower at this time. During specific forces applied, the mounting bolt would shift in its position and make the noise.

The catch, is that according to the service writer, and per him according to the engineer, this "wallowed out" mounting hole is not a result of any damage or improper torquing of the bolt itself allowing it to move. As it was relayed to me, it was designed as such form the factory.*

* This is where it doesn't make sense to me. I've never seen control arm mounts designed with an elongated mounting hole thus allowing potential movement.

Moving on, I am advised that there is no immediate solution and the engineer that was at the dealer inspecting my car will need to consult with his team (or whatever) to understand that the fix has been in similar scenarios or what it needs to be.

P.S. I do not know whether left side is affected. To reiterate my point - the idea of an elongated mounting hole just seems weird to me to begin with.


I am now awaiting the decision from the engineer(s) to see what the fix will be. Frankly, as much as I support the dealership and their responsiveness to my issues and needs, I will be pressing to get this resolved. Sonic has just over 2100 miles and has been in the shop going on 3 weeks.

I did some reading into the lemon laws here, but it seems that as long as I'm given a loaner vehicle to drive, time in shop doesn't count. What will count is when and if I came back with the same issue. Problem is, I can't even seem to leave the shop to have a chance to come back.


All that said and done I still love the Sonic and I really want mine back.

 

[Chevrolet Customer Care]

Hi Ahtoxa,

Thanks for the update and your patience. I guess that's all you can do until the dealership finds a solution. Hopefully, you'll have your Sonic back soon.

Vanessa
GM Customer Service

 

[ahtoxa]

Update to the problem. I also would like ya'll's opinion on the matter.


The solution to the loud clunk has been found. One of the control arm bushings wasn't torqued correctly causing the noise. HOWEVER, the actual problem is that it COULDN'T be torqued down correctly without adding a washer somwhere between bolt and bushing that mounts it.

Service advisor stated today that "It may still be heard if driven hard, but this car isn't designed to be driver hard, so in everyday driving, the problem is fixed".

I have a problem with this on multiple levels:

- the 'fix' is not a fix in my opinion. It's an untested bandaid to the situation. That washer that was added was NOT designed to be there from the factory. It's a reasonable expectation to have my new car to be factory stock. A non-factory fix on a new car is not acceptable to me. There is no way of knowing whether this fix will hold long-term or maybe even cause accelerated bushing wear or what not (depends on where thy placed the washer).

- While they have addressed the symptom, they have not addressed the cause. There has to be something, which separates my Sonic from tens of thousands of other Sonics on the road that don't have this issue. The remedy is not to cover up the symptom but understand what the root cause is.

- If I can still hear the noise when driving hard, it means that it's NOT fixed.



I have opened a case with GM Customer Service (who has been fantastic so far) and we'll see where this goes. I'm not asking for any compensation or anything unreasonable. I am asking for my new vehicle to be fixed correctly without using parts for the fix, which weren't designed to be used in a given application.

 

[ahtoxa]

Next update on the same problem as above.

The resolution that the engineers implemented did not work. I didn't really hold my breath on this one.

The Sonic is still at the shop and now it's been close to a month. I am waiting on an update today as most recent action was the decision to replace cradle/subframe along with the mounting hardware.

 

[ahtoxa]

After exactly 29 days at the dealership, the problem was finally fixed and hasn't returned in a week. The fix ended up being a subframe replacement and according to the writer, the new subframe differed from the old one in that it had welded washers that were used.

However, the saga didn't end there. I received my car back with damages. Right fender's sheetmetal was pulled out, bumper cover was way misaligned (they removed it as part of subframe replacement) and both wheel well liners weren't installed correctly.

Went back to dealer, had them fix all of it. They did so rather admirably, however I forgot to check underhood. When I was checking oil a few days later, I noticed that the plastic cover that goes over the top of the radiator was tightened back down so hard that it cracked the plastic around the mounting holes.

I've not brought this to the management's attention yet, however I have an inquiry with GM in regards to whether I can order the part myself, replace it myself and be reimbursed for the cost of the part.

What a rollercoaster ride it's been. Contemplating showing up at the dealer today and once again pointing out their tech's incompetency.

 

[1967stella]

Good look woth GM.. I got nowhere with my claim even down to them "closing my case" and then refusing to call
Me back still havent gotten issues fixed

 

[1967stella]

Good look woth GM.. I got nowhere with my claim even down to them "closing my case" and then refusing to call
Me back still havent gotten issues fixed

 

[sonicR]

gm customer service sucks!!!!!! they want the american public to support there products but there customer service sucks!