Cluncking sound from front end

Any ideas anyone?....Since my tyre blowout and repairs, the car has developed a loud metalic cluncking sound from the front end...mostly over uneven road surfaces...weirdly more noticeable at low speeds and not necessarily worse over large potholes. My trusted garage have replaced the near side tracking rod assembly, which made no difference..they say that the suspension, shock absorbers and ftront ball joints are all ok, as are the coil springs. They can seemingly find nothing loose or in danger of becoming loose. The noise is quite pronounced, and short of giving it back to them or another garage and saying that I don't want it back until it's fixed.....which might cost a fortune....I am at a loss. Any thoughts anyone ???

Only time I've encountered something similar was on an MGB anti roll bar mounting.

Otherwise no helpful thoughts I'm afraid.

Hmmmm....thanks Pittstop, I'll mention it to the garage next time I'm passing

Definitely sounds like a worn out bush, might be that it was perished and the blow out finally pushed the rubber to its limit. Could well be the anti roll bar mounting bushes if that's the case, especially as the garage have seemingly discounted the suspension and mountings.

Cheers Timtnx

Pricey job would you say if the anti roll bar mount bushes are at fault ?.....and safe to drive ?

Shouldn't be that expensive as its only a case of dropping the bar and changing the bushes, does depend on how many extra bits have to be removed first though. No reason for it not to be safe to drive as the bushes are houses in metal fittings so just noisy due to lack of cushioning

Cheers for that....I'll get the garage to check them out....because the noise is drivjng me mad !!

Been to the garage....they're determined that they checked the bushes and all is ok......aaarghh !!
They reckon that I can have them changed, but it probably won't cure the noise.....so could be a waste of time and money...A costly second opinion is my very last resort...but really don't know.........any more ideas anyone ????

No point really in changing anti roll bar bushes if they've checked them.

The wear required in those bushes to make a noise should be easily spotted.

Just a thought: is there a forum for Twingo RS owners? Perhaps someone there has highlighted this problem.

Have a read of this    https://www.twingo133.net/general-twingo-renaultsport/clunking-noise-t11146.html

One person's clunk was eventually diagnosed to engine mount

Really frustrating for you.

Thanks Pittstop...i'll have a look
Yes, it is extremely frustrating....I know the garage have told me its not dangerous...but its not right..si in the long run it could become so (in my mind)...probably fail the next MOT !!

I’d definitely get a second opinion. I am very cautious when a garage tells me they’ve checked something. Not saying yours can’t be trusted. I’ve had a huge clunk, cracking sound - took it somewhere said they couldn’t find anything then took it to Renault and turned out my suspension arm was on its way out which has been replaced now.

Definitely a fair point....I fear an expensive trip to Renault may be on the cards
Will keep the forum posted.....

The front springs tend to break right at the top up inside the suspension turret. It's very difficult to see unless you have an endoscope

Thanks Sebrina...I am actually taking the car back to another independent garage on Wednesday...
Took it in last Thursday and this garage found "play" in the anti roll bar mounting....said that the parts required were perculiar to the Wind and had to come from Renault. One of the parts arrived on Friday, but not the other...which was due today, but I cannot take it back until Wednesday...so my fingers are tightly crossed.
I will post the results as soon as I'm certain it's actually fixed...

Update so far.....Clunking from front end..
Both track rod ends replaced..no cure
Anti roll (sway) bar bushes replaced.....noise gone !!!...yay...or not
Garage have searched high and low for total cure and are now waiting for a NSF shock absorber and mounting...
No bill as yet....but all the parts had to be sourced from Renault..who of course had never heard of the Wind. I rang the Renault parts desk myself in frustration as these repairs have been on and off for 2 weeks...They tell me that the shock absorbers are mostly not available in the UK from Renault, and that my garage had actually had the last one available in the UK..!!
The sway bar bushes are also apparently peculiar to the Wind..so not the same as the Clio or Twingo.
This is all a bit surprising, as I'd always assumed that many parts were shared with the Clio or Twingo on which it was based ??
The lack of Renault spec parts is a little worrying going forward, although I did find a company on ebay producing Wind shock absorbers..but when I mentioned this to my garage, they said that they wouldn't fit non OEM parts that were from an unrecognised source.
Lets hope that the supply of "official" parts doesn't dry up before the cars outlive their natural lifespan..

Initially surprised that the RS Twingo doesn't share things like anti roll (sway) bar mountings with the RS developed Wind. 

That said maybe Renault recognised a different weight distribution between the models & varied the bar's spec accordingly.

EG: Brake pad back plates can be the same physical size but have different pad material or pad dimension originally specified depending on model of car. 

Non standard part sellers would just say their product "fits" all these models. EG: Wind, Clio, Twingo. 

When I changed my rear pads the plates on the pad fitted the callipers perfectly but in practice the area of disc the pad sweeps is slightly less. They work fine & sail through the MoT.

You cannot be sure what the specification is for non original parts but to keep rare cars on the road you eventually have to live with it.

At the opposite extreme many of the parts I used to but for my MGs & Triumphs were not original spec: They were better!!

That's the irony....the manufacturer supplied parts are the same spec as the ones that failed in the first place.......
The "copies" may well be an improved specification..and so last longer !

I heard somewhere that car groups, ie, Renault etc are obligated to keep parts for 10 years and after that they start clearing them. Not sure how much truth is in that but getting parts from Renault isn’t easy and as time goes on will worsen.

I know mate..it's a worry

We do have a Renault contact on FB so if anyone needs parts she is our go too. But aswell as that I think (might be wrong)but as the Wind was launched later in France it might be we can source parts via the French Forum who are friendly people, and some are actually members on here. They are all part of FB groups too, you can't have too many groups. I think I am on all of them lol.

Barbs wrote:We do have a Renault contact on FB so if anyone needs parts she is our go too. But aswell as that I think (might be wrong)but as the Wind was launched later in France it might be we can source parts via the French Forum who are friendly people, and some are actually members on here. They are all part of FB groups too, you can't have too many groups. I think I am on all of them lol.

Nice one Barbs...Good to hear that the young, "new kid on the block" Facebook group...can be a source of reliable help and assistance to the..perhaps a little slower and plodding Forum
There's life in the old dog yet !!

Clunking update.......
After 2 weeks of parts being sourced from Renault....NSF track rod end, anti-roll bar bushes and NSF shock absorber and top mount....the bushes and shock absorber being peculiar just to the Wind...
The clunking is gone !!....picked the car up on Friday, and they'd not had time to work out the bill...so am going in on Monday for the painful bit
Apologies though guys....I appear to have had the last Wind shock absorber in the UK from Renault....oops !!
Will update on the final bill once I've picked myself off the floor.....

Hi Sea Dog: Suggest; like the teenagers do; you ask Father Christmas for cash this year instead of presents.

It seems; as you said on the 29th; that the most worn parts were the anti roll bar mountings but once you had started down the path of a full investigation so much other stuff is also similarly worn.

Get your smelling salts ready when you view the bill!

Roll on the Spring when you can start to enjoy some top down weather.

The Bill......
Finally the garage worked out the bill for my recent repairs....took them a week !
Shock absorber NSF and top mount, Anti-roll bar bushes, NSF linkage...and days of head scratching - literally !!..but only charged 2 hours labour...
£358.00 including VAT , so not as bad as I had feared...and have finally found garage with "proper" old school mechanics

£358! Sounds like a deal.

Re old school mechanics.

Working with my daughter's partner on her TTS a while back on a Sat morning in his employers main dealership workshop caused some merriment when I put on overalls when everyone else was wearing trousers & polo shirts with garage logo.

One of the managers wandered in & pointing at me said you lot are technicians HE is a mechanic!!!