Hi,

Car: 98 Sunfire manual transmission, 4 door

About 5 days ago, after starting my car, the first time I used the breaks, there was a clunk noise that came from the back. It never did it again until this morning, once again the first time I used the brakes after turning on the car.

I have checked and it isn't something inside my trunk, or the spare.

It seems to happen at the end of braking. Right before I get to a complete stop. I can actually feel the clunk in the driver's seat. It sounds like and feels like someone is hitting the bottom of the car with a 2 by 4. And no I did not run over anything. No speed bump either.

Any ideas?
Has anyone had this?
What should I start with?

Thanks.

Are you sure the clunk is from the back?

My sunfire did the same thing and it sounded like it was coming from the back. I dismissed it the first time I heard it, then about a 2 days later it did it again but this time my front drivers side wheel fell of because my upper balljoint snapped. There was no warning signs that the balljoint was going to fail either just that clunk that happened twice and it wasnt too loud.

Other than that could be your rear brakes need to be re-adjusted.

I could also be completely off base, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

BB

Mine has been doing this for the last 100K miles! On mine, the problem is that (for some reason) the brake shoes aren't held tight enough to the backing plate. This allows the brake shoes to move sideways a little bit causing the clunk you're hearing.
If you want to try this; take off the rear drums & manually adjust the brakes up as far as you can. This will prevent (temporarily) the ability of the shoes to move sideways. Once the brakes start to wear again, the clunk will return.
If this works then you "should" be able to fix it with new shoes & new drums. I say should because I did this plus new brake hardware & mine still does it.
Hope this helps.

I just bought my sunfire, 98 GT 5Spd. I noticed this when I took it for the test drive when I stopped to throw it in reverse I heard it. Disregarded it as I thought I just hit a bump as I was on a dirt road. Happened twice since then, have only had it for a day. It seems that it happens near the end of braking but only under a heavy brake situation. Regular braking there is absolutely no noise. Mine also hasn't been the first time applying the brakes.

Could be a bad strut mount.



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i have the same problem in mine. I think it could be bad struts cause i know mine are bad. But im not sure cause mine didnt start doin it till i had my rear brakes replaced.

Mine is going into the shop tomorrow, I will post an update when I find out what it is on my end. I have a strong feeling it is brakes, but may also be strut mount as it seems the back left end dips when applying the brakes in a moderate-heavy application. As well as it sounding like the brakes may be warped or something.

Any update on this? Having the same problem myself and am wondering what it ended up being.

It actually never made the sound again since I posted this. So I haven't had a chance to look at anything yet. Sorry.


Thanks for all the replies.

i put myy factory struts back on and redid rear brakes and i have the exact same problem and cannot for the life of me figure it out

mine does it too, i agree its the brakes not holding fully cause i was putting the rear pass side tire back on and when i tried to torque the bolts with the car lifted and the e-brake on the wheel turned about 45 degrees then bounced back once i took pressure off the torque wrench


2002 PAID $500 AND DID A $200 PAINT JOB IN MY GARAGE WITH A 40 GALLON COMPRESSOR

mine does it too, i agree its the brakes not holding fully cause i was putting the rear pass side tire back on and when i tried to torque the bolts with the car lifted and the e-brake on the wheel turned about 45 degrees then bounced back once i took pressure off the torque wrench


2002 PAID $500 AND DID A $200 PAINT JOB IN MY GARAGE WITH A 40 GALLON COMPRESSOR

no upper ball joints on these jbodys boys just lowers mine will creek or whatever when i go from reverse to 1st and brake in both directions but on mine its the pads in the front moving just a hair thats the noise i hear sometimes....maybe get your shoes adjusted in the rear or put some new drums on that might help too if they are original...just some suggestions.....

it is the rear brakes. They are jsut @!#$ty in general. I changed drums and shoes and it still does this , more of a cold day or moist day. The self-adjusters, that dont selft adjust sometimes need to be played with. Give it a shot, but i would not worry too too much. Mine also slams to the ground in the back with cold mornings and wetness. No ideas why...


Fireboy153
Brady Fire Co. - Station 150
Long Live The Sunflower! (yea its not so "cool")

Mine does it when sitting still. Noticed it in a drive through. The brakes are popping when the brake pedal is release. Im about to replace ALL of my suspension and braking components since my car has 310,000 miles... its starting to get bad..

same exact problem on my 99 z24 when its wet/damp outside. i only have 132k miles though. mine seems like after driving for a while and a few stops it dries them out or something and it doesnt do it anymore until the car sits and they get wet again. idk what it is either.

mine started doing this right after i put in new drums and pads in the rear. it did it for a few weeks, i adjusted it, still did it, then randomly went away for a few thousand miles. and now continues to do it every once in a while.


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When I changed my rear brakes with cheapo brake shoes, Made sure I changed the wheel cyls as well. No more noise.

What're the wheel cyls youre talkin about? i havent done much major work to my car but i can change the brakes for sure

Rear wheel cyl's are pretty easy to change out. Just make sure you use flared wrench on the metal brake line, So they don't strip. I rounded off one of the nuts before on one of my older cavaliers.