I notice a tremendous amount of heat along the fenders near the front wheel wells on my two mazdas( 2000 mpv, 2007 mazadaspeed 6.) Can this heat affect the function of the front struts? Both cars produce a bumping sound when the steering wheel is tugged to right or left but it’s intermittent, hard to reliably reproduce. It seems to happen especially after the cars are idling, at a standstill for several minutes on a hot day.6-9mos ago, the bumping sound on the van progressed until a regularly reproducible clunk occurred when I tugged the steering hard to left or right. It had 90+ thousand miles on it at the time. The front struts where replaced which fixed the problem so now it’s back to the occassional bumping sound. My theory is engine heat affects the strut hydraulics causing this bumping-clunking sound when the strut is subjected to stress such as due to an intial change of steering direction. Any thoughts, suggestions?
It could but I would think it was unlikely.
If the van is anything like my Toyotas, there is a bump stop on the steering knuckle that will contact the stop on the lower arm when the wheel is cranked to the extreme left or right. When new, they had a plastic cover on it to prevent it from making noise. But, with double-digit years on them, the plastic is long-lost. They tend to tick and groan loudly. I’ve decided to live with it, since I know it is not dangerous.
I think you’re totally off base with this theory. The engine is separated from the front suspension by the uni-body/ fender liners/whatever you want to call it. There is no direct connection between the engine and the suspension.
Open the hood and look for yourself.
Your theory that the heat from the engine is sufficient change the performance of the front suspension is BOGUS, plain and simple. This is a street car we’re talking about. NO WAY. NOT GONNA HAPPEN.
Quit drinking so much coffee.
There may be a problem with the suspension, but engine heat is not the reason for the problem.