C5 Estate HDI 2.0 2003 FUNNY NOISE

[kayjas]

For about the last 3 months I keep hearing a twangy sound coming from the rear passenger side area. Sounds like it underneath or somewhere near the rear wheels. It sounds a bit like when you twang a plastic ruler on a table Like a zebedee twang. It sort of happens after bumps in the road but not always and is intermittent. I can rule out the spheres because these are new.
Any ideas ??

[Paul-R]

Sounds like the rear arm bearings to me. Other descriptions are that it sounds like two hammers striking against each other or a loud crack when you go over a bump. It can frequently go away in wet weather.

They can go for years like this but be warned that if you leave it too long before replacing the bearings then the arms themselves can be worn and need replacing.

[Hell Razor5543]

I had mine done recently, and it not only sorted out the noise, the suspension was riding more smoothly. It cost about £450 at an Independent Citroen specialist (which included the cost of Citroen supplied parts).

[kayjas]

I have a mechanic that does most things, he has a proper garage with a lift, is changing the rear arm bearings a major job or is this sort of routine ?

[kayjas]

Is this also known as the rear radius bearing ?

[kayjas]

There is no cracking or banging sound, it is fairly quiet and I hear it also on smooth roads.

[Paul-R]

Yes, rear radius arm bearings are the same thing.

It may be the very beginning of worn bearings. Although I am surprised that you hear the noise on a smooth road. Perhaps it's not as smooth as you might think?

[Paul-R]

How many miles has the car done?

[kayjas]

Its done 60K, however we have a lot of speed bumps in the area and I tend to go over them at about 20mph as it seemed to be less aggressive then going over slowly.
I have also towed a heavy camping trailer4 up on long journeys.

[GiveMeABreak]

Kayjas - can you edit the title of your post and change the C% to C5 - it will help others searching the web, otherwise it won't get picked up. Thanks

[RichardW]

I had been meaning to do that... done it now!

[GiveMeABreak]

I had been meaning to do that... done it now!

[Paul-R]

It's not a high mileage but if you have a lot of speed bumps locally and take them a bit aggressively then I still think it could be the radius arm bushes.

[Stickyfinger]

The radius arm bearings I am convinced, suffer with both mileage AND age.....either/or

[kayjas]

Today on my commute it didn't make the noise once, is it temperature related I wonder ?

How easy is changing the swing arm bearings and does anyone have a photo or diagram showing which ones need changing please ?