# "clunk" sound. Bad dog bone?



## scrilla (Mar 28, 2006)

2001 mk4 golf 2 dr 2.0l 8v manual trans
Hello, I have recently noticed a "clunk" sound coming from the front of the car. It happens when I either:
Let the car drive in gear (any gear) with my foot off the gas, so its basically running at idle speed, and I tap the gas pedal then release. When the car bucks down forward I here the clunk.
Start the car and the motor is rocking heavily to start, I hear the clunk noise (only once).
Turn the car off and the motor rocks when shutting off, I hear the clunk noise (only once).
Basically it seems to be happening when the engine jerks more than normal idle conditions. 
Put the car up on a lift today and had a look underneath. Checked out the dog bone and it looked ok. If I grab it ad twist it (like the throttle on a motor cycle) you can feel a small "tick or click" but it doesnt seen to have any excessive play in it. Gave the exhaust a once over thinking maybe it was hitting somewhere but I didnt see anything a miss there.
Anything else I can check that might be the source of this "clunk" sound before throwing money at the problem?
Thanks for any advice.


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## scrilla (Mar 28, 2006)

*Re: "clunk" sound. Bad dog bone? (scrilla)*

Bump, any one have any suggestions?


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## bearing01 (May 27, 2004)

*Re: "clunk" sound. Bad dog bone? (scrilla)*

What's the "dog bone"?
Check your control arm bushings. Check your engine mounts. The bushings will look cracked or torn. As for eng mounts, put your foot on the brake and attempt to jerk the car forward/revese while in drive or letting out the clutch while in gear. Get someone to watch the engine move or listen for noises.


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## Jay-Bee (Sep 22, 2007)

*FV-QR*

The dogbone is the rear transmission mount on MK4s.
It's very possible it's bad, I had to replace mine last summer and opted for the OEM piece rather than stiffer after market ones. 
I replaced my control arm bushings some time after that when another "clunk" noise started to show up, along with shaking of the steering wheel when braking on the highway. If it's not making the noise over bumps it's probably not related to suspension.


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## scrilla (Mar 28, 2006)

*Re: "clunk" sound. Bad dog bone? (bearing01)*


_Quote, originally posted by *bearing01* »_What's the "dog bone"?
Check your control arm bushings. Check your engine mounts. The bushings will look cracked or torn. As for eng mounts, put your foot on the brake and attempt to jerk the car forward/revese while in drive or letting out the clutch while in gear. Get someone to watch the engine move or listen for noises.

The dogbone is the motor mount underneath the engine (rear). I have tried pulling the parking break and letting out the clutch, then when I release the clutch you can here the clunk noise as well. All the bushings I looked at yesterday seemed fine to me. Nothing that was glaring at me.


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## scrilla (Mar 28, 2006)

*Re: FV-QR (Jay-Bee)*


_Quote, originally posted by *Jay-Bee* »_It's very possible it's bad, I had to replace mine last summer and opted for the OEM piece rather than stiffer after market ones.

Did yours show any signs of wear to the naked eye? Just curious because I couldn't see anything wrong with the bushings like them being cracked or falling out. I can see how it could still be bad without looking trashed, maybe the bushings are all spongey and are letting things flex too much?

Any one else had issues similar to this? I can get the dog bone from ecs for pretty cheap so I may just replace it anyway.
http://www.ecstuning.com/Volks...5669/
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Anyone had any experience with this?


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## scrilla (Mar 28, 2006)

*Re:*

Ok, so got the car back up on the lift. Put it in first gear and rocked it back and forth while looking from underneath. As the weight of the car rolled backwards and forwards you could watch the motor pull up and down. Low and behold, each time you could see the front mount on the dogbone (pendulum mount) bushing make a loud clunk sound. So there we have it. Looks like Im in the market for a new dogbone.


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