Clunking sound on the first drive of the Morning

AMBERLYNM

MEMBER
2018 HYUNDAI ELANTRA
TURBO
2WD
AUTOMATIC
44,901 MILES

First thing in the morning when driving my car, it sounds like I am driving with a bag full of empty cans of soda under the front passenger side. I have tried looking in the engine compartment, underneath the car (without using a jack) and even in through the wheel spokes area and I can’t see anything that looks loose, detached or could be even remotely close to a problem. After a while, I’m assuming once the engine is warmed up, the noise will stop. The sound also only happens at low speed. Any ideas?

5 Replies

KEN L

MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
47,536 POSTS

I would make sure the front wheel is tight on the car, but with noise, we can't tell what is wrong. If you can take a quick video with your phone and then upload it here with your response. Then I can see for sure what's going on.

This video will show you how to tighten the wheel:

https://youtu.be/_HIaE1MyDiw

Let us know what happens and please upload pictures or videos of the problem.

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Monday, May 9th, 2022 AT 7:35 PM

AMBERLYNM

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4 POSTS

Perfect, I will record it tomorrow morning on my way out! Thank you so much.

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Monday, May 9th, 2022 AT 8:04 PM

AMBERLYNM

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4 POSTS

The sound is only heard from inside the car from what we can tell. When someone walks beside the car while driving, they do not hear it.

Video (Click to make bigger)

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Tuesday, May 10th, 2022 AT 9:40 AM

AMBERLYNM

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The sound is only heard from when in the car from what we can tell. When someone walks beside the car while driving, they do not hear it.

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Tuesday, May 10th, 2022 AT 9:40 AM

KEN L

MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
47,536 POSTS

Thanks for the video, it sounds like a front strut or sway bar link is no good which is common. The strut fails internally so it is difficult to see, here are the instructions and a generic guide so you can see how the job is done and the cost to get it fixed:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-replace-a-suspension-strut-and-spring

and

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-replace-a-sway-bar-link

Here are the instructions in the diagrams below for the sway bar link (#17) and strut replacement. Check out the diagrams (below). Please let us know what you find. We are interested to see what it is.

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