Rattle From Front End

[Rutty]

My Newport has developed a rattle/clunking noise in the driver's side front end when accelerating. It always happens when accelerating. Bumps don't seem to cause the rattle.
It started after I did some hard braking.
Any weak points in the front suspension system that I should check first?

Thanks,
Matt
'68 Newport Custom Sedan

 

[Xenon]

Open hood....
FIRMLY stand on brake pedal...
Put gear selector in D or 2...
Push accelerator pedal little more than half way all at once...
Look to see if motor "jumped" up...

If motor jumps up, replace left motor mount....





.

 

[polarus]

I had a 69 Newport that started to make a clunking noise every time I accelerated it ended up being a worn lower ball joint.

 

[Big_John]

My Newport has developed a rattle/clunking noise in the driver's side front end when accelerating. It always happens when accelerating. Bumps don't seem to cause the rattle.
It started after I did some hard braking.
Any weak points in the front suspension system that I should check first?

Thanks,
Matt
'68 Newport Custom Sedan

As @Xenon says, check the left motor mount.

After that, check the shocks to see if the lower bolt is loose (seen this a few times) . Since it happened after hard braking, I'd also look hard at the front strut rods.

From there, it's look at ball joints and the upper and lower suspension bushings.

 

[Rutty]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I didn't even think about checking the motor mounts. That's a good idea.

 

[Snotty]

Your front strut rod bushings could be shot too.

 

[Rutty]

Open hood....
FIRMLY stand on brake pedal...
Put gear selector in D or 2...
Push accelerator pedal little more than half way all at once...
Look to see if motor "jumped" up...

If motor jumps up, replace left motor mount....





.

The left motor mount seems to need replacing. The rubber is very cracked and the engine jumps up on the left side when I perform the test Xenon recommend. I'll replace that first and see if the problem goes away. I'll take a look at the strut rods and bushings when I'm replacing the mount.