Knocking & Traction Control Light On Right Turns At Speed

  1. My model of MX-5 is: __NC MK3 2.0 Sport
  2. I’m based near: __St Neots
  3. I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: __knocking noise and traction light flashing

HI Folks!

Just had a new noise appear…

When going round right hand turns, under power in a spirited manner, I get a bang, bang, bang, noise that is regular in timing, like it’s related to the wheel/driveshaft turning, and the traction control light flashes on the dashboard…

The light makes me think this is drivetrain related rather than suspension…but has anyone else had this and got to the bottom of it?

Only appeared after I had the car up on stands and changed the rear wheels for refurbed ones with new tyres…but the wheels are OE 10 spokes and the tyres are the same Kumhos I had on last time…

Puzzled…

Cheers

Giles

Are the new wheels torqued up correctly?
If so, then put the old wheels/tyres back on and see if it still happens.

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Wheels all torqued up…old wheels no longer have tyres, so tricky to pop them back on…and it only happens on right hand turns, not left, and I’d expect a loose wheel to rattle either way?
Worth a thought though…

Have a close look at your rear shocks for oil leaks.

It sounds like the right rear wheel is suffering axle tramp - generally caused by lack of damping.

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Tramp…that’s the rotation of the axle up or down? Only ever heard of that in relation to excessive power/torque causing the axle to twist on leaf springs…wasn’t aware of it being a problem with an independent rear end that effectively has no axle housing to twist…. Can you tell me more???
Thanks
Giles

Broken spring maybe, now dislodged re jacking hence only on right turns. Check fronts and rears, also I had a front drop link break, it came apart, so could be similar.

Had new Eibach springs last year so hoping it’s not that…will check though and have a look at the drop links too…
Cheers

Check your shocks first, most likely right rear if it’s banging on a right-hand bend.

It’s the tyre bouncing on the road as it loses and regains grip; lots of possible reasons why it can happen, even with fully independent suspension.

I lost all the damping in the front right McP strut of my (then nearly new) Astra going up the A1M to Lincolnshire; it had burst a seal. Anything more than about a tenth throttle and it bounced merrily, sometimes even fighting the primitive ABS.

I had to do 350 miles very gently with only three shocks before I could get it into the dealer (on my way to work) for them to swap the cartridge under warranty. All four shocks then lasted until I scrapped it almost 200K miles later!

Technically - yes - you are correct.

However - the “Axle Tramp” description is used to describe a wheel bouncing as it loses and re-gains traction under throttle.

Great info…thanks! Every day”s a school day!

Thanks…I’m off to crawl under the car in the rain!!! Let’s see what’s leaked or loose!