Focus Fanatics Forum banner

2012 Titanium Front Strut Low Speed Noise (Clunk/Rattle)

645K views 3K replies 293 participants last post by  alex_5161 
#1 ·
My 2012 Titanium has an annoying low speed strut rattle. When it was new it wasn't there. It took a few weeks to materialize. It's only heard at low speeds. While turning or braking it is super noticeable. The service department freely acknowledged the sound was there. I must give them credit for not denying it.
We took the car to the dealer ship, and found nothing "technically" wrong. They greased the front strut bushings and the sounds went away for about two weeks. Yes. It really wasn't there anymore. I was thrilled.
However, it returned at the same exact rate and loudness as when I first bought it.
Now that it's been a couple months the sound is back full and loud.
The sound IS strut related. I know enough about automotive mechanics not to to be fooled by other sounds and noises. Since the grease made the sound go away for a short time the issue is clearly a strut issue.

Does anyone else have this problem?
The solution so far is only very temporary. I'd like to know if others are getting this noise.
Will Ford or the strut manufacturer make right on this? That remains to be seen.
 
See less See more
#599 ·
From everything I've read and from where the noise is emanating, my vote is for the bearing/top hat assembly. And if all they're doing is replacing a faulty part with the same non-redesigned part I don't see this "fixing" anything unless it's an indexing/alignment issue at install and maybe the machine was just off in the factory.
 
#602 ·
That's why I'm curious as to whether ricomtl's clunk comes back. If it does, I would imagine that there will be a change to the parts list in the near future...
The reason I bring up misalignment, though a longer shot than weak parts, is that it could be causing premature failure to the bearing/race assembly. Or maybe the bearings are not the size that they should be...or a torque issue...
Many, many variables[:(]

1) the sound is a rattle, or sometimes when it's a clunk, it's really just the first part of a rattle or a very very short rattle. That means that two things are touching each other that should NOT be touching. Not something that needs to be tightened.
I admire your thought process and attempts to rule out components, but I can assure you that my clunk (and I'm sure others on here as well) is indeed suspension related. I can (and unfortunately do) replicate it every single day by pulling into my driveway. I have stood next to the car while my gf drives it and can tell without a doubt that it is on the right hand side near my wheel. This can also incorporate steering components, but that system falls under suspension as well. Coupled with the condition that my strut top cap assembly came apart when changing my springs, it leads me to believe that (at the most) the problem in my car resides between the strut bump-stop and the upper strut mount on my car.

If you are hearing a rattle, you may not be having the same issue as those of us on this thread, idk[???:)]
 
#600 ·
Yeah! where's my paycheck?!
I've been trying to figure this one out for a while now, and to take a bit of heat off the techs, it's more complicated than we think. First of all, it's sounds suspension related, so they check all the suspension parts.... No problem found. If you look around under there, all is tight as can be. So I think the suspension is a dead end, and here is why based on these clues:

1) the sound is a rattle, or sometimes when it's a clunk, it's really just the first part of a rattle or a very very short rattle. That means that two things are touching each other that should NOT be touching. Not something that needs to be tightened.

2) when it's colder, it's more likely to actually sound like a rattle, and when it does there are about 4 cycles to rattle, and they are at a frequency of about 8 cycles per second. That means that the pieces are moving pretty far, like a couple millimeters or more. Anything with any tightness at all will never move that far.

3) when it warms up, my sound all but goes away, a least it is much less obvious. When you first get in after it's been sitting for a couple hours, it's pretty bad. The weird thing is that when it gets warmed up, that process takes about 15 minutes or more. So it's not water temperature, and it's probably not exhaust temperature (although it could be! I'm not sure how long it takes for exhaust pipes to come up to temperature but I suspect it's not more a a couple minutes..right?), but it seems like its related to the general temperature under the hood. So some parts are maybe tightening or more likely actually moving apart as they get warm. That's not suspension.

4) it's not the calipers either, although that is the most obvious thing that gets hot, and gets tighter when it gets hot. It does it while braking as easily as when coasting.

5) I have a manual trans, and I can make the sound happen by lugging the engine by starting in 2nd or third gear! It's the EXACT same sound as when going over small bumps at slow speed. By the way, the bumps most likely to trigger the sound are NOT bumps, but places in the pavement that suddenly drop DOWN, kind of the opposite of a bump. Since I can make the sound by lugging the engine (when it lugs, it moves around in the engine compartment more) it means that something is touching the engine, or the trans, or the exhaust system, and it either should not be touching, or is not tight enough. As I said above I would say its more likely that the pieces should not be touching.

6) here is big clue..... Nobody can find it by looking under there! That means that either everyone is totally incompetent, dumb, or uninterested.....EVERYBODY? That seems unlikely.....or it means that everyone is looking in the wrong places, and that seems plausible to me......or it means we all have a different sound which is also possible.....or it means.....

7) the sound itself is the sound of metal touching plastic. If its metal moving against plastic, it's probably the exhaust moving. If its plastic moving against metal, it's probably some line like a brake line or fuel line or bundled wire that is moving. There are a LOT of suspended wires hat are meticulously insulated and suspended so they don't rattle. I have insulated a LOT of those things and never found the one that is the culprit. Probably one that's not too visible.

8) things that make the same sound under the hood include:

the hood prop rod. Flick it with your finger and it makes the same sound. That's not it though!

The battery cover....also not it
The washer bottle....wrong
The under lining of the wheel wells and the plastic under the engine compartment.....wrong too, I insulated all this stuff

The actual hood, which I spent a LOT of time insulating. It rattles with the same sound but it's not the issue either

On the manual, the actual shifter is right on top of the trans and easy to see and touch, you can wiggle it up and down on it makes the EXACT same sound. I can't figure out a way to insulate it and still let it move freely. That could EASILY be it, but I don't know if the DCT has a similar kind of shifter. It's a weighted thing that swings side to side to select the gears in the trans. It looks like a fancy golf putter. You can move it with your hand, and it's pretty loose and has a lot of play......Hmmmmmm. If you start out in first gear and then accel hard but push the clutch in when you are still accelerating you can make it make the sound when the trans goes from stressed to not stressed quickly.....Hmmmmmm

All kinds of wiring and other random stuff hat I insulated to no avail

9) it's nothing that shows or is visible. You can't see the top of the strut towers without removing some plastic...could be there. Can not really see the exhaust very well either. Could be there......

10) the engine mounts have been mentioned, and that seems plausible given the fact that you can reproduce the sound by lugging the engine, but when the engine is stressed it seems to work great. If it were the mounts wouldnt it get worse as the engine is pushed harder?

The dealers and techs and engineers don't have the advantage of being obsessed with this minor rattle (it is annoying but honestly, it's pretty minor) like some of are:)
 
#601 ·
Given that the noise (temporarily) disappears for some after getting suspension parts replaced, makes me believe that whatever the cause, it is definitely isolated to the suspension.

Since the Volvo C30 and Mazda3 are basically kissing cousins to our Foci, platform-wise, I've spent some time searching around the respective forums for those cars. While they use the same exact strut bearing and mount, I have noticed that there is no rubber spring isolator in the spring bucket for those cars. While I don't think it's directly to blame, I do believe it contributes to the issue, since it does give the spring room to vibrate. Perhaps this isolator isn't damping the spring vibrations properly, and the vibration is traveling through the spring to the strut mounts and bearings... causing the clunking we are hearing. This lack of vibration damping could be causing premature bearing failure in some cars, which is why the noise disappears when the bearings, springs, and struts are collectively replaced.

Lipshurt, you said that your noise occurs on sudden drops, such as a recessed manhole cover, or perhaps cracks in the pavement. I have the same exact characteristic. However, mine actually gets better with colder weather. It gets worse the higher the ambient temperature is. This would correlate with the spring isolator not doing it's job properly, as rubber stiffens up considerably in colder temperatures.

Again, this is merely a hypothesis. But it's definitely something worth considering.

If I had the time, and if the front suspension wasn't such a female dog to work on, I'd test this hypothesis out myself by removing the spring isolator and recording my results.
 
#604 ·
Your symptoms mirror my symptoms to the "T" including the temperature having an affect.
Most rubber components have excellent thermal properties so I dont know if the isolator is the cause. I am convinced that it is suspension related as the problems seem to be corrected albeit temporarily for some that have had the parts replaced.
 
#606 ·
Hello everyone -

I'm in the process of compiling information for all who are still experiencing issues after having the 12B37 Customer Satisfaction Program completed. The program I mentioned specifically deals with transmission and hill-start quality.

After viewing this thread, I'll also include information concerning the clunking/rattling of the suspension in the 2012 Focus. If you're still experiencing these issues after visiting your dealer, please send me a short PM with your VIN and a brief description.

After I have all of the details properly documented, I plan to forward both issues to our engineering rep.

Hope to hear from you all soon,

Thomas
 
#608 ·
Zillion....
That rubber isolator is under a lot of tension already. It would be hard for it to move much. And it seems t would move more under more stress, and be less likely to move Nader low stress of small bumps and slow speed.

Several things have seemingly made my noise disappear for a while, like getting the tires rotated, getting a new wheel, having that fender replaced, all made the nose stop for a certain length of time.....or so it seemed.

I just had a Mazda tech come over and we talked about it for a whole.
His take was, it's not suspension, and most likely plastic moving against metal. He also said that the techs have zero to gain from working on it. He said he has spent whole days riding around in trunks, putting on microphones, etc, only to never find a rattle or clunk, and also make NO money doing it.

He also said that the strut bearing is the least likely thing to give a slow speed sound. Those things are tight. He described the conditions of strut bearing failure and it's nothing lke a slow speed sound that happens over small bumps.

He said the thing that is the biggest clue is that I can make the sons happen by stress the trans and/or suddenly de-stressing the trans. He said the thing to do is put it on a lift, and hold the brakes and rev it while someone is under the car and watching what moves. He said it might take two people in the car one to hold the brake, or maybe hold the brake down with a piece of wood or bar.

He put his money on heat shielding hat is moving into contact or is in contact with something it should not be contact with.

He also said that ford will eventually get it figured out, and that when the district service rep gets involved things should start to happen pretty fast. The dealer and the dealer techs simply have very little to gain money wise by working on something like that. It's just the way the money is set up. They gain by replacing parts and charging standard labor costs, and that is why hey will throw money at it by replacing expensive parts like struts before they get under there and ride around with one tech driving and the other with his ear pressed to the floor, and mounting mics and moving them bit by bit. That can cake 100 tries and actually take days, and sometimes you can't even mount a mic in the spot where it would show exactly where the sound is. Basically they hate finding sounds and you cant really blame them I guess. I have another friend with a shop and he might be into finding it, but I would have to pay him something.

I would rather let the engineers a ford get it figured out. That will jus take time. For now, I just turn the fan up one more notch and it drowns out the sound pretty good.
 
#611 ·
Dropped mine off again today at the new dealer, wasn't gonna have it in this soon as we only have the Focus. But a Ford Corp rep called the dealer and told them to get me a loaner/rental vehicle (on the house), so I'm sporting a 2013 Ford Escape SEL. Pretty nice (lots of Focus trates). Its an auto but oh well. Still. Loaded and sporty, might have to look at one next year. [woot][woot]
 
#617 ·
Have you been following the thread?
If all of these competent techs looking at the suspension can't fix the problem, maybe it's not the suspension.

Rattles and sounds come and go. That is why when you take it to the dealer hey can't replicate the sound. Have you been reading the accounts of this phenomena on this thread?
My point about the tire rotation etc, is that tHe sound was not related to rotating the tires, it just SEEMED like it, because sounds come and go. When someone replaces the struts and the goes away, you think that was the fix. UNTIL it comes back, that is. Was it it fixed? Or did it just go away for a time?

As far me starting my own thread, my posts are as good as anyone else's on this thread.
 
#624 ·
I got my car back the other day for this issue and after the initial inspection (I had to take the car back for a weekend trip) he said it was the struts, that parts were ordered, and it was something Ford was aware of/said there was a bulletin out. (I'll look at the sheet again for a number or more specific reference)

That said, 2 days after going back in and getting it fixed, it sounds great now. But ... as always, we'll see how it goes over time since this wasn't an issues for the first couple of months anyways!
 
#622 ·
Misto, I had that same noise. My dealer at first said I was crazy and that there wasn't any noise. After 6 months and a half dozen visits I finally got a mechanic to ride along with me. He heard the noise immediately. They replaced the front strut mounts. After they fixed it I drove it to the Honda dealer and traded in my Focus Titanium for a CR-V. Peace out.
 
#623 ·
Half a dozen Visits? Sorry, I don't get it. noise aside, my 5speed Focus is a great car, a few little bugs won't deter me from keeping it. If you have problems with it, and you have it in the shop 3 times in the first YR. for the same problem, JUST LEMON LAW IT... why take a loss, make them pay you all u got in it and take the car. DUH, seems like a no-brainer to me
 
#627 ·
Thomas, with all due respect, I brought mine in today and after 2 hours of checking and tightening the front end they couldn't find anything so they took a new one off the line and drove the same "test track" dirt road behind the dealership and it made THE SAME NOISE. You don't need our vin numbers, just tell the higher ups to pick any one and go for a ride. They called the hotline about mine and are waiting for a response as am I.
 
#690 ·
Thomas, I have the noise too... 2/13/2012 build date... SE Sport Pkg... I'm not bothering to take it in til there is some sort of fix. So... What are we to do?
jrn146 and Sonic_HedgeHog -

Have you called your dealer's about the new front-end information yet? If you'd like, I will need your VIN, mileage, phone #, and dealer info to loop in your Customer Service Manager's.

I just got off the phone with the shop foreman at my dealership. They now have a tsb out for this issue covering cars manufactured through April 2012.
The new TSB is 12-6-17.

As stated previously, the front spring and strut bearing are replaced.
hand-filer and Kabigon -

You both are correct! [:)] I'll talk about the TSB at the end of this post.

I hope that the TSB that deals with the strut bearings and springs is NOT THE ONE that they used for my attempted repair on 6/14/12 (or thereabouts). It does not work. My dealership service manager knows this now (today is 6/30/12) and has emailed Ford engineering about this.
fcbaldwin -

Please keep us all updated on the progress at your dealer! [thumb]

Mine said the same thing. TSB out, parts ordered. I had my SEL Hatch serviced last week and so far so good. Nice and quiet... for now...
HuskerFocus -

Excellent; when do you go in for service? If you haven't sent me your info, please PM your VIN, mileage, phone #, and dealer; I'll forward these details to your Customer Service Manager.

This is great news. I hope the parts they're installing are updated, or you might be right back in again for the same issue...Please try to get a copy of the TSB if you can.
TboneZX3 -

Your dealer will be able to fill you in on the Technical Service Bulletin. Do you need to schedule an appointment with them?

Rotated my tires and if I'm not color blind, I had yellow tags (Ti handling pack here). I haven't taken my car to any dealer yet.
wilsonfocus86 -

I recommend in doing so as soon as possible. Please send me your VIN, mileage, phone #, and dealer; I'll fill in your Customer Service Manager.

Having the same clunking issue as everyone else it seems Titanium Hatch without sport package. Had it to the dealership twice, first time they acknowledged the clunk and replace a tie rod end, second time was me going back saying that fixed absolutely nothing, them looking at it again and saying we cant replicate the problem, there is nothing wrong.
Going to call them tomorrow and ask about the TSB.
SaToX -

As you can see, other Focus owner's have experienced this. I'd like to let your Customer Service Manager know the details; please PM me your VIN, mileage, phone #, and dealer info. Schedule a service appointment with them immediately.

Glad to hear there is a TSB addressing the issue, I've noticed the clunk becoming more and more prevalent. Time to call the stealership.
DarinS -

We will continue to monitor this thread; thanks for keeping us updated! [headbang] If you'd like, PM me your VIN, mileage, phone #, and dealer info; your Customer Service Manager will then coordinate with you and the dealer.

For all, thanks for the feedback on the front-end noise. After many posts and threads were made about this, we contacted our reps. This TSB was just announced last week. If anybody is experiencing a front-end noise, please schedule an appointment with your dealer as soon as possible. If you all need anything, you know how to find me. [cheers]

Later,

Thomas
 
#628 ·
Thomas, I have the noise too... 2/13/2012 build date... SE Sport Pkg... I'm not bothering to take it in til there is some sort of fix. So... What are we to do?
 
#650 ·
I test drove a SEL (built May 2012) DCT, hatch up in Canada with my Dad. I did not hear anything like we are all experiencing. He ended up ordering a Titanium.

Dumb question but can someone explain why you hear it at slow speeds only? On the highway I dont hear anything over rough/uneven pavement. Is the highway noise masking the sound?
 
#652 ·
Tsb out....

FYI, took my SEL in for the recall and drove the lead tech around in my car so he could hear the strut noise....turns out there is a TSB out for the springs(or struts) and strut mounts. I think he meant struts but said springs. My service adviser appeared to have zero technical knowledge about cars([scratch]) so when the parts come in, I'll post details. He also said something about the spring or strut being green in color means it needs to be replaced......
 
#653 ·
FYI, took my SEL in for the recall and drove the lead tech around in my car so he could hear the strut noise....turns out there is a TSB out for the springs(or struts) and strut mounts. I think he meant struts but said springs. My service adviser appeared to have zero technical knowledge about cars([scratch]) so when the parts come in, I'll post details. He also said something about the spring or strut being green in color means it needs to be replaced......
I can verify this, I just stopped into my dealership this morning. I didn't look at the full screen, but it is definitely the springs and the strut bearings. I think the rest was bolts and the top cap nut.

It's listed under the steering/stopping section on their computer, I believe the TSB is 5-17-12. I was kind of in a rush, but the springs and strut bearings were definite because I was trying to verify whether or not these are upgraded/different bearings than what came from the factory.

I don't want to buy bearings just to have them fail the way the stock ones have...[werd]
 
#659 ·
I would assume that they didn't consult this TSB for your car if that did not fix it. The computer said to use the chassis ears. Theoretically, they would have followed thay direction from the TSB.

You should have a copy of the work completed and parts replaced. What does it say?

Edit: There is also the possibility that your car has a different issue. But just because you had work done does not necessarily mean that the TSB doesn't work at all. Ford engineers would not issue a TSB that has a very specific parts replacement list if it was just on a whim. They have either located a weakness/flaw or have documentation that supports that these parts have fixed the majority of issues.

I honestly hope you get your car fixed in the same way that I hope I get my car fixed.
 
#667 ·
This is great news. I hope the parts they're installing are updated, or you might be right back in again for the same issue.

Please try to get a copy of the TSB if you can.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top