Has anyone had an issue with a "clunk" when coming out of park or while braking?

I have been working in the car business for Honda for over 25 years but in sales not service. I have seen my share of bad engine mounts. In fact on any v6 appraisal I do I lightly power brake it so I can tell if the engine mounts are bad. Odyssey's are notorious for bad mounts and they are not cheap to replace because some of them are electronically controlled.
Anyway, my initial thought was my issue is a bad engine mount. Since you can't really power brake a Clarity plug in I couldn't duplicate the issue. When I had it on a lift all the mounts looked good. We also tried "driving and braking" while it was up on the lift. There was no signs of excessive drivetrain movement or the loud clunking noise I would sometimes experience. That is one of the reasons it took this long to diagnose. Everything appeared to be normal. If you have ever seen a v6 Honda with a blown engine mount and you power brake it you know what I am talking about. The motor moves dramatically in the engine bay. It is very easy to spot and not something any decent mechanic would miss. That was not the case with my Clarity plug in.
Regardless I am glad they were able to find the issue. Well, hopefully what was the issue. I haven't driven it the last few days because I have been driving dealer cars. I will post again once I get to drive it a few hundred more miles and confirm the problem is fixed. Since I could manipulate the mount so easily by hand I am confident this was my issue. If I can move the rubber portion of the mount with just my fingers there is no way it can hold 200+ horsepower or torque being applied to it. Hopefully this is the only cause of the clunking noise I have been experiencing. Time will tell. With that said did the rubber mount just prematurely fail or did something else cause it fail? That is the million dollar question?
 
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Casey Martin said:
I have been working in the car business for Honda for over 25 years but in sales not service. I have seen my share of bad engine mounts. In fact on any v6 appraisal I do i lightly power brake it so I can tell if the engine mounts are bad. Odyssey's are notorious for bad mounts and they are not cheap to replace because some of them are electronically controlled.
Anyway, my initial thought was my issue is a bad engine mount. Since you can't really power brake a Clarity plug in I couldn't duplicate the issue. When I had it on a lift all the mounts looked good. We also tried "driving and braking" while it was up on the lift. There was no signs of excessive driver train movement or the loud clunking noise I would sometimes experience. That is one of the reasons it took this long to diagnose. Everything appeared to be normal. If you have ever seen a v6 Honda with a blown engine mount and you power brake it you know what I am talking about. The motor moves dramatically in the engine bay. It is very easy to spot and not something any decent mechanic would miss. That was not the case with my Clarity plug in.
Regardless I am glad they were able to find the issue. Well, hopefully what was the issue. I haven't driven it the last few days because I have been driving dealer cars. I will post again once I get to drive it a few hundred more miles and confirm the problem is fixed. Since I could manipulate the mount so easily by hand I am confident this was my issue. If I can move the rubber portion of the mount with just my fingers there is no way it can hold 200+ horsepower or torque being applied to it. Hopefully this is the only cause of the clunking noise I have been experiencing. Time will tell. With that said did the rubber mount just prematurely fail or did something else cause it fail? That is the million dollar question?
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I really appreciate your leading us through the process of discovering the (possible) source of this problem. Thanks!
 
insightman said:
I really appreciate your leading us through the process of discovering the (possible) source of this problem. Thanks!
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You are welcome. I imagine this thread will help many people as their Clarity plug ins start to accumulate the mileage I already have. Since most dealerships don't see these often, especially those with high mileage like mine, the more data we share will help future owners with issues like mine. I don't plan on getting rid of my Clarity any time soon. Hopefully it continues to be just as reliable as it has been the first 100k miles for the next 100k miles. I am nervous since there aren't many with the high mileage I have already out there in the world but my fingers are crossed!
 
Casey Martin said:
With that said did the rubber mount just prematurely fail or did something else cause it fail? That is the million dollar question?
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Should this be considered a premature failure? Honda would probably consider anything within 3 years and 36,000 miles to be premature. You’re at nearly 120,000 miles and 4-5 years. How many times has this part been stressed? Have your driving habits placed more stressed on the part than someone else’s driving habits?

We’ll never know, but this type of part failing at this age and mileage isn’t that unusual. If it’s the same compound that Honda uses on their V-6 engine mounts it’s likely to become a common failure.
 
Landshark said:
Should this be considered a premature failure? Honda would probably consider anything within 3 years and 36,000 miles to be premature. You’re at nearly 120,000 miles and 4-5 years. How many times has this part been stressed? Have your driving habits placed more stressed on the part than someone else’s driving habits?

We’ll never know, but this type of part failing at this age and mileage isn’t that unusual. If it’s the same compound that Honda uses on their V-6 engine mounts it’s likely to become a common failure.
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I agree. An engine mount failing after 120k miles is normal wear and tear.
 
ClarityBill said:
My Clarity is at 223K, and no engine mount failure. I drive most of my vehicles to 400K+, and I do not expect engine mount failures.
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Different driving habits play a major role in the longevity of these parts. They don’t magically fail at 120K miles.

Someone who logs 100,000 miles in 2 years by driving primarily at sustained high speeds, will not have put much wear and tear on an engine mount. On the other hand, a typical driver might need 6-10 years to put 100,000 miles on a car. In all likelihood, the engine mounts on the latter vehicle will have endured much more wear and tear than the former vehicle. Additionally, they will have been exposed to a potentially corrosive environment for a period that is 3-5 times greater than the other car.

It is similar to some owners wearing down the OEM tires at 20K miles while others are getting 40-50K miles from the tires.
 
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I will be the first to admit I am an aggressive driver. Most of the time I am in sport mode with the regenerative braking set to high. Maybe that contributed to the engine mount failing?
I have been driving more in normal mode lately. I still use the paddle shifters for the regenerative braking but not every time I slow down or stop. That is why I prefer sport mode since it keeps the regenerative braking setting. That might not be the most efficient way to drive but I like the consistency of how it slows down when I release the gas pedal. I have driving several Tesla's and I prefer how you can set the regenerative braking on them.
 
Casey Martin said:
I have been driving more in normal mode lately. I still use the paddle shifters for the regenerative braking but not every time I slow down or stop. That is why I prefer sport mode since it keeps the regenerative braking setting. That might not be the most efficient way to drive but I like the consistency of how it slows down when I release the gas pedal.
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With the Clarity we just use the accelerator and brake pedal the same as we would in an ICE vehicle. It’s never in Sport mode and always in Eco. The 4 chevrons is still pretty weak in my opinion, so I just live with the default, 1 chevron of regen. The 4 chevrons just feels like another half assed Honda effort at trying to create another “convenience” feature. The brake pedal can produce significantly more regen than the 4 chevrons, although the same reduction in speed probably produces the same amount of regen regardless of how it is achieved.

The Jeep 4xe has a default regen that approximates the slowing of a conventional car much like that in the Clarity. It also has a Max Regen button/switch that remains set until disabled. I’d estimate that it is 2-3 times more powerful than 4 chevrons on the Clarity. I like that amount of slowing, however it drives my better half absolutely bananas if I neglect to disable it when I park the car.
 
I have put about 200 miles on it the last couple of days. Not once has it made the loud clunking noise while braking. Not at all actually. I did apply the brakes hard once because of a sudden slow down by the car in front of me and nothing. I will be putting another 200 to 300 miles on it over this weekend. If I experience no issues by Monday I am going to say the problem has been fixed.
 
Casey Martin said:
I have put about 200 miles on it the last couple of days. Not once has it made the loud clunking noise while braking. Not at all actually. I did apply the brakes hard once because of a sudden slow down by the car in front of me and nothing. I will be putting another 200 to 300 miles on it over this weekend. If I experience no issues by Monday I am going to say the problem has been fixed.
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No clunks still? I'm still having a similar experience after replacing every motor mount.
 
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