Cool site! As a life long GM guy I purchased a new 07 Accord a few years back (4cy / auto) and have been VERY impressed. Love this car...

but...at around 40k it developed a clunk when hitting even small bumps. It's not crazy loud but you know it's there. I'd describe it as sounding like the spare tire had not been tightened down and was rattling when you hit bumps.

Last week while at the Honda store for brakes and LOFR I had them look for it. Tech says he did not see anything out of place/loose but he did hear it. He recommended "starting with rear struts". I could see struts or maybe sway bar end links / bushings ??

Not new to cars or even suspension work...just not familiar with Accord quirks and don't feel like "shot-gunning" parts on this thing.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

It may noise from the rear spring. See this thread and the image I attached regarding Honda tube silencer.

PICS How to Remove Clunking Noise from Rear - AcuraZine Community

 

If you go to the ericthecarguy website, he has a video on finding suspension noises.

I would inspect the sway-bar endlinks and bushings as they can cause a noise if they wear out.

 

Thanks.

The tube silencer kind of makes sense...and it's cheap so I'll start there.

After reading some of that thread it would probably be more accurate to to describe this noise as a shudder/rattle as it's not a single CLUNK.

If it were the sway bar end links wouldn't I be able to feel some slop or make the rattle occur by pitching the car around - loading and unloading each side?

 

You've actually checked for ...um... a loose spare tire?

Seems like you could duplicate the sound of loose end-links by shaking the car around. Don't be gentle about it either.

Sounds can travel around in funny ways too, so maybe sit inside while your friend shakes the car around.

 

The spare tire is definately not loose. I've even pulled everything out of the trunk and the noise is still there.

I'll try the tube silencer and then seriously go wring this thing out. Haven't ever spent much time trying to diagnosis it but on a recent trip it drove me freakin' nuts.

Thanks.

 

There's other stuff down there that's mounted in rubber. Things like the EVAP canister or even some fuel hoses. Make sure you rule that stuff out by crawling underneath & trying to wiggle everything you can find.

Not sure 2007 Accord, but my daughter's 2007 Civic has a plastic pan underneath the trunk, kinda like an aerodynamic thing that makes it smooth underneath. Easy to imagine if some of the fasteners come loose that thing can flap around in the wind.

 

Good information. I'll look for those kinds of things.

Thanks.

 

Wasgm, did you ever figure this one out? I'm about to start working on my son's '96 Accord rear suspension clunk project again ... the tube silencer remedy looks interesting ...

Thanks. John