Driving my 96 850 wagon around today I experienced a sudden onset of a loud clunking noise in the right rear suspension. It seemed to happen when I went over a large bump, and now it clunks whenever I go over any bump. Handling seems pretty much unaffected. I've been on the interstate since, and it seems to drive OK at 65+, but it's clearly worrisome. Any thoughts at to what this is? Maybe a shock absorber gone south? Might this be unsafe? Do I need to get this fixed, like, TOMORROW, or can I wait a week or two? Any thoughts much appreciated.

Jabez

Could just be that one of the spring bumpers have come loose. It's sort of common on the 850's. The plastic retainer clip breaks. Cheap part but a little awkward to replace. You'll probably find it loose inside the spring.

It might also be the upper shock mount. My 97 wagon suddenly made the kind of noises you describe (my wife was worried "the rear end is falling off"), and it turned out to be the right rear upper shock mount. Conveniently, you can access it from the cargo area, no need to get under the vehicle. Lift up the carpeting in the cargo area above the wheel in question. You will see the shock mount, it is kind of oval and held in place by two bolts. Bounce the car up and down a bit, and look at the mount, you might hear a rattle or clonk and see the mount moving. If it moves, it's broken. In my case, the fracture in the mount was very obvious.
One piece of advice should you need to replace the mount (it's inexpensive by the way). The two bolts (12 mm wrench) holding it go into nuts that are welded to the underside of the sheet metal. The bolts tend to be rusted in. I applied excessive force, and the nuts popped off the sheet metal... The bolt and nut were now spinning freely and I had to cut the bolt with my Dremel and get a new nut and bolt. A retention washer saved me from having to get a hold of the new nut from underneath. Try and avoid this drama by spraying the bolt and nut well in advance of putting a wrench to it. Use PBlaster or Liquid Wrench etc.
--
'97 850 n/a Wagon, 125K mi

Thanks for the tips. OK, it's not the spring bumper, I have now checked for that. I'm trying to check the shock suggestion, but I'm having a little trouble getting the "carpet" up in the cargo area over the rear wheel. It's really more like fuzz-covered plastic trim, and it doesn't seem to come out that easily. It looks like I have to take a large section of the lower inside wall covering of the car out. Is it just a matter of yanking it out, or is there a trick to it? I'm a little afraid of doing irreversible damage...

Thx,

Jabez

Don't know if this reply is too late for your issue or not.. I just had the same issue as you. The "carpet" doesn't come up. The entire wood panel the carpet is attached to does. There are four 10mm bolts holding it down. Remove them by lifting up the hinged panle ahead of the cargo panel. The leading edge is held in place with is clip on either side. Pull very hard towards the back of the car and it will slide out. The PB Blaster is a good idea but if you shouold break a nut, I found the easiest fix was a stainless steel 3/8X3/4 inch long bolt with a broad flat washer under the head. Then, I mixed up some JB Weld and applied it to the washer and bolt and slipped it up from the bottom holding them in place against the underbody with another nut and washer and left them in place for an hour while they set up. Bingo New studs that wont rust. I did use a ny-lock nut as well when I bolted the flange in place. By the way, I found it easier to attach the shock to the mount first then drop them down.

Thanks for the tip! I just came in from the car having discovered exactly what your helpful post described. I was going to post how to get that panel out, but you saved me the trouble.

Sure enough, it was a broken shock mount. Fortunately in my case the bolts weren't rusted and came right out. Piece of cake! Now I just have to wait til Monday to get the part...