2004 Sebring Sedan - front noise/rattling

I also have a 2004 Sebring Sedan and like many recent posts, I have a rattling or clunking noise which seems to be coming from the front somewhere, maybe under dashboard - - but sometimes it sounds like it is under the hood. It developed at around 30,000 miles and my dealer can't seem to find anything wrong with the car, let alone fix the issue. Chrysler Tech has kindly responded to some of the recent posts and I think there is a TSB in September 2004 (#2301203) regarding the issue - - but another poster said that the TSB may not have cured his problem. Maybe Chrysler Tech can review the TSB and give us some insight.
 
I also have been told that there is an "A" pillar (which I was told is the upright sheet metal post between the front door and windshield) which sometimes begins to rattle and clunk. This may also cause the rattling sound to be heard under the dash near the CD player. Any thoughts Chrysler Tech  whether this can be examined and fixed? My car is now beyond warranty and the dealer has tried many times, also like another poster, to find and fix the problem without success (while the car was under warranty). 
 
Finally, another poster said that his struts were probably causing the problem. Any insights are appreciated. 

did they do the tsb u said or not??  if not that would be a good place to start and i am only guessing because i cant heard the noise myself. The a piller would not even attach to any part under the dash it is only from the windshield area thats it.  U may have 2 different issues thinking they are one    read the tsb and see it it applys to u.

Thanks Chrysler Tech.
 
I know you haven't heard the noise, but the best I can describe it is a rattling, sometimes creaking or light clunking - - not a grinding. Sometimes it sounds like it is coming from under the car - -and when it does, it sounds like a creak (similar sound to walking over a loose floor board or a loose wood step). Sometimes it sounds like it is coming from under the hood or under the dash, and when it does, it sounds like a rattling or light clunking  - - almost as if 2 pieces of metal or wires are clanging together. Otherwise, the car actually runs very smooth.  
 
I have not tried the TSB, I just found out about it on this forum - - another poster referred to the TSB issued in September 2004. Where can you get these to read?
 

give me the last 8 of your vin and i will email to u all the related tsbs for that noise

Hi - I finally found something on this problem.  I've been faced with the noise for the last three months and of course the dealer couldn't find a problem.  I first took it in just prior to the end of the 3 yr warranty period, and had it back twcie since.  It is very much as Craid described - like two pieces of metal clanging together. They changed the swaylink bushing and the lower control arm.  Because it was done after the warranty pd, they agreed to cover the parts if I covered the labour.   However, the problem reappeared two days later.  Naturally, because the sound is infrequent, it didn't appear when the car was in the dealer for two days this past week.  It has stopped for now.  At least I have the TSB 23001203 to use as reference.  Is there anything else I should know, or pass onto the dealer when I am in next?  I saw one website that noted that two rivets need to be installed in the struct assembly.

if your car falls into that tsb by build date

Thankas again Chryler Tech. Drutkay, please post what you find after showing the TSB to the dealer and if it worked. Thanks.

The noise reappeared this afternoon.  As I was just around the corner to pick up a rental car for a business trip, this was the perfect time to take my Sebring in.  I saw the same service rep and explained what I found online.  He was amazed when he checked the Chrysler tech site with my VIN and found the TSB - he had never heard of this one before.  He called the shop supervisor, who also had checked the car a week earlier, to explain what was found.  They are going to do the repair as a warranty claim.  

oo good god    checking the web site for a tsb is one of the first things u ever do  man  sorry for the dealership being that way.

Good luck drutkay. Again, please let us know what happens.
 
Chrysler Tech - - my dealer obviously did not check for TSB's either. They have looked at my car several times as well about this. The biggest thing they tried to do to help - - which was covered by warranty - -was to replace the engine mounts. Now my car is just over 36,000 miles and beyond the warranty. I was thinking of showing them the TSB from 2004, asking them why they didn't look this up - - and see if they'll cover it under warranty as I have been trying to get this fixed for several months. What do you think?  

Picked up the car this afternoon - everything seems good so far.  I will be more confident after about a week without any noise.  Just to clarify, I do think that the dealer did check the TSBs, but likely looked too quickly at the titles and didn't associate my problem with the descriptions.  Now having said that, if they had picked this up the first time, I would have had one sway link and the lower control arm replaced under warranty (I paid labour only as  goodwill).   But they cover the parts for both sides, which wouldn't been done under warranty.  So in the end, other than my time for a couple visits, it probably wasn't all that bad overall for cost when including potential future repairs.

Craig:

I would point out the TSB to your dealer as you identifed the problem while under warranty, just as I did.  That allowed me to get the goodwill parts post warranty for work that had to be done, which was better than nothing.  And they did the TSB repair for free.  The dealer has to realize that it's not your fault that they couldn't resolve the problem. 

I had a noise like this on my old Shadow. It was the sway bar bushings any time they got wet/frozen. I was too cheap to put new ones.
My Sebring has never made a noise like this and it's an '04 with about 40K miles.

Bad news - the noise is still there.  Same sound with the same random occurance. The TSB solution appears not to have made a difference.  I had the bushings for the swaybars replaced the visit before last, so I suspect that my dealer will not be able to offer any other fixes.  Is it possible that the problem is within the CV?  I would guess not as something cracked, loose etc would be a constant noise.  Maybe a siezing wheel bearing?  I'm at slightly less mileage than Cordoba Man and the noise been present for about 3 months.  Even though we are making terrible weather, I don't think that the bushing were wet yesterday afternoon when the noise appeared.  I'm at a loss as to the next step.

I did a bit of investigating and noticed that a hard turn of the steering wheel seems to stop the noise, at least for a short while.  This is done while stopped, and the turn is to the full right and left.  Can somebody who is having the problem give this a try and see if it is repeatable?  

Too bad it did not work. Thanks for letting us know Drutkay.

Cordoba Man - what are swaybar bushings? Maybe Drutkay could mention this to his dealer as well.
 
As far as my update, the dealer is not sure what my noise is still. Interesting, I had a quick oil change done recently and the dealer said that at the least, they could tighten some things in the undercarriage and the underhood and the rattling has been occurring much less for some reason since then, but I expect that the rattling will get worse and continue to occur. Very strange problem that these cars have.

Craig:  The stabilizer bar interconnects both front lower control arms of the vehicle and is attached to the front suspension cradle and the underbody of the vehicle.  Attachment of the stabilizer bar to the front suspension cradle is through 2 rubber-isolator bushings and bushing retainers.  The stabilizer bar to lower control arm attachment is done utilizing a ball joint type, stabilizer bar attaching link.   These stabilzier links (aka swaybar link), which includes the bushing, help to dampen the stabilizer and are mounted just behind the wheel well on the underside of the car.  My dealer changed the bushing as part of the first repair that I had to pay labour for.  The noise has stopped for the time being.  I had it on Sunday during one trip.  When I took the car out of the garage to start a second trip, I heard a single "bang", as if a component fell back into place.  No noise since.  Given that my dealer has checked everything has been checked and is tight, I believe that one of the components has a bit of play and is working out of positon.  The banging is caused as the part binds and then falls into place.  My guess is the left steering knuckle, as this part seem to have a minute amount of play when I had the tire off on Saturday after a bout of noise.  I am going to talk to my dealer again tomorrow to see what they think.

Craig:  forgot to ask, but exactly what did your dealer tighten?  At this point, need to check all possible causes.  So far I have had the lower control arm (with the ball joint since it's part of the assembly) and the swaybar links changed, and the TSB 2301203 with the rivets to the upper strut area done.  

Honestly drutkay, I don't know what they did. The weird thing about my car is - - is that I hear the rattling all the time, but I have been to the dealer 4 times for them to test drive the car and for some reason, it never makes the noise for them. They have checked the car over several times, and this last time when I had the oil changed, I mentioned all the possible issues that the different discussions on this forum have raised. They claimed to have checked these out, including the TSB issues, and they haven't found the source of my rattling and noises. However, I did not mentioned the bushings. I wish I was of more help, I am unfortuantely, not very maintenance savvy. Thank you for the detailed explanation of the bushings and stabilizers. I will of course mention this to them the next time I am at the dealer. 
 
It seems that our problem is probably caused by many different little things, but at least, it seems like this is only a noise issue.

My dealership did the rivet repair and it did not work either.  The only thing that they told me was that it is not a safety issue which I am not sure that I believe.  I have emailed Chrysler several times and they has done NOTHING.

Like I mentioned before, I had a single bang (as if a part fell back into place) on Sunday morning and I have been noise free for the last two days plus.   I actually do think that it's not a serious issue, but I would like to know the source of the cause.  I think it may be the steering knuckle or the lower control arm (which I've had changed), but it's likely in the fasteners or the ball joint.  I'm probable totally wrong and it's in the upper control arm.  Summary:  it could be anywhere.  I need to let my dealer know that the rivets didn't stop the problem so that they aren't left with the impression that this is the outright solution.  I can understand the dealer problem as probably everything does look OK, and there's just some part that has a bit of play or is binding.

My wife has a 2001 sebring convertable that makes the same noises. Our problem seems to get more noticeable when I'm riding with her. Seems like the extra weight in the right side adds to the problem. Ours is also intermittant. I've changed the sway bar links and it went away for a few days. Also, every time I jack the car up to check for the problem the noise goes away for a few days. It definately is leading me to the suspension and something loose or possably a broken weld in the strut mount area. I going to be trying some ideas this weekend and will let you know if any work. We had this to the dealer several times for this noise and they couldn't fix it.