I have a 2009 Chevy HHR LT 2.0, and had the same front-end clunk that I've seen described on this site (low speed/uneven road/not caused by turning). Read your posts, consulted with dealer. This is what's been replaced trying to fix this:
July, 2015: Front struts, front strut mounts, rear shocks (NO CHANGE IN NOISE)
Jan., 2016: Lower Control arms (NO CHANGE IN NOISE)
Jan., 2016: Sway bar links (NO CHANGE IN NOISE)
Aug., 2016: Sway bar bushings (NOISE WENT AWAY FOR ABOUT A MONTH)
Sept., 2016: When noise returned, they "tightened loose control arm bolts" (NO CHANGE IN NOISE)


My husband wants to get rid of the car, but I love it (other than that freakish noise). Did anyone successfully get rid of the clunk permanently with something other than the above? I saw something about the bumper on another thread, but thought that wouldn't be it since the bushings actually did fix it.


Thank you for any suggestions or thoughts.

 

Are the sway bar links 9.86 inches center to center?

Anybody look at the steering intermediate shaft?

What about a loose front bumper?

There are rear control arm bushings.

How did the control arms become loose? If they left those loose it's a good chance they did the same other places.

There is a link in my sig that is a GM TSB about what and how to check.

 

Yes torquing the fasteners is a must , I've had people stop by and have similar complaints , just had somebody else replace parts and still rattles and clunks , 9 times outa ten the bolts weren't torqued correctly.
Everything from the rear lower control arm bolt just run in with an air gun and that's it to the front pivot bolts loose, I've seen the axle nut stripped because the mechanic was lazy and use his air gun to tighten it, then didn't torque it correctly.
Then there it loose bumper rattle as mentioned above. An afternoon and some hand tapping to get to and find the rattle ...priceless!!

 

I think we're just going to sell the car. I've brought up several of these things to the dealer, and for each individual thing, they just say "no, it wouldn't be that" without looking. I've even contacted Chevy, and they refer me back to the dealer. I'm tired of the runaround. I NEED new tires now, and I just don't want to put any more time into it. Regardless of how much I LOVE the car (other than the noise), I just can't sink any more time/money/exasperation into it.

 

Why are you going to a GM dealer shop?

 

Clunks are a finicky thing, sometimes you hear them sometimes you don't!
Check for a loose air filter box!

 

Sway bar bushings remedied my suspension noise clunk, I do have the intermediate shaft clunk still, but with how rock solid and reliable the rest of the car is, I wouldn't get rid of it due to a noise. Hell, I could trade it in for a newer car that came with its own annoying noise!

 

That HHR front end clunk is fairly typical of HHR's. I have replaced, struts, and later both lower control arms, which included bushings, and lower ball joints. None of this was done to attempt to eliminate the infamous clunk, which it didn't, but after towing the HHR behind our motor home, front end components just wear faster. The clunk, at least in mine, comes and goes, so since every thing is tight in the front end, alignment is good, I'm just living with it, at least for now. In general its been a great car, we still use it daily, while two other much larger and more expensive cars sit in the garage, most of the time.

 

A couple of questions for you......

Do you have ABS on the car? And what sway bar bushings were used?

 

Had the same issue. Drove me nuts. Replaced the upper transmission mount. GM only part, no aftermarket. Mine was visibly bad. It is right under the fuse box by driver side tire. Hope this helps.