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

[gtncpa]

Hi Noemi-

I am not sure if escalating it will help. It seems to be a very hard to fix problem. They are trying their best but have just not figured it out yet. I would not want them to "get in trouble" for a problem that is not fixable ... at least not yet.

[Zillon]

The biggest problem for me has been duplication of the noise.

My route to work every morning is a perfect test bed for producing the noise. Finding areas around the first dealership I took the car to where I could accurately duplicate the issue was a huge problem, on top of a service staff that was completely unwilling to cooperate or acknowledge anything outside of 'normal.'

I'm hoping I won't get stonewalled tomorrow morning by this new dealer and they're at least willing to listen to me. I also have the wiper gasket recall to take care of, plus an annoying issue with SYNC I'd like to have checked.

Noemi, I've already contacted my customer service rep about this, she's opened the case back up and will follow up with me on Thursday.

Something I've discovered on the Mazda forum:


The end of the coil spring is supposed to be aligned with the indexing tab on the strut bearing, as displayed in the image above. If it is not, it could (more like will) cause premature failure of the strut bearing due to the strut bearing not being aligned with the angle of the spring. There could be an issue with assembly at the factory where the coil springs are not getting aligned properly to the strut bearing, which would induce premature bearing failure. This is something that isn't hard to check yourself, either.

[ricomtl]

Originally Posted by gtncpa

Hi Noemi-

I am not sure if escalating it will help. It seems to be a very hard to fix problem. They are trying their best but have just not figured it out yet. I would not want them to "get in trouble" for a problem that is not fixable ... at least not yet.

agreed! after reading this entire thread, someone who's experiencing this issue is not really tempted to adventure in escalating to their local dealer. No one has walked away with a permanent fix, so who's really up to spend all that time at the dealer for some trial & error fun. On the other hand, it might take one of us who will eventually be up to his 100th visit at the dealer who will come back to report a successful fix.

glad we at least have this community here to share knowledge!

[gtncpa]

Since I have the extended warranty I am not concerned ... but if I were near the end of my warranty I would be really mad.

[Zillon]

I'm angry how much time and energy I've had to put into a BRAND NEW car to get this resolved. My Scion with 85k on it was trouble-free from start to finish, aside from problems that I caused myself.

Unfortunately, the old school way of thinking still prevails at the dealer level at Ford.

Simply ignoring the issue and hoping the customer will go away is not a solution. It would be one thing if McCafferty told me, "Yes, we hear it, but unfortunately Ford doesn't have a fix for it at this time," but they straight up refused to acknowledge anything, AND gave me attitude about it.

I work at one of the largest Toyota dealers in the central-atlantic region. That way of thinking doesn't fly here.

[Dysan911]

Originally Posted by Zillon

To further my previous statement, I'd place a strong bet on the strut bearings being the culprit behind this noisy mess.

I've been fighting with a slow server here at work causing my uploads to take forever, so I've had some downtime to research the issue a bit. The Volvo C30 and Mazda3 are basically platform twins to our Focus. The front strut bearing, from what I can see in photos, is very similar, if not identical to what is used on our cars.

One big difference I've found, is that our strut bearing is CHEAP in cost compared to the others. The Mazda unit lists for $50(OnlineMazdaParts & Rosenthal), The Volvo at $21 (MyVolvoPartsOnline), while the FoMoCo part lists for only $13 (Tousley). Regardless of cost, the Volvo and Mazda guys seem to be having the same issues, although theirs seem to be at a later point in ownership (not at ~600 miles, as mine has been from).

On the Volvo side, there is an aftermarket product offered under the Febi/Bilstein brand. This might be of interest to some of us.

This is something I'm continuing to look into, I just figured I'd put my thoughts and notes down in a post before I dive deeper.

Yo Z. Check out this thread.

http://www.mazdaspeedforums.org/foru...g-blown-57321/

Anything seem familiar?

[Zillon]

Originally Posted by Dysan911

Yo Z. Check out this thread.

http://www.mazdaspeedforums.org/foru...g-blown-57321/

Anything seem familiar?

Yep. I actually signed up for an account there just so I could read more topics about strut bearings, including that one.

Mine doesn't pop when turning, though, that's the one inconsistency I've found. The low-speed rattle/clunking is what I have.

[jjeremyy]

Well, unfortunately my clunk seems to be back. Those of you who told me to give it a few weeks after having the TSB applied (springs, struts, bearings, etc.) were right. At this point, I'm rather frustrated because not only am I having the low speed clunk problem, I'm also on my 3rd headliner which still doesn't seem to be installed correctly, and my engine is making a strange ticking noise.

I really don't know what to do with this car. I absolutely love the way it drives, but I honestly don't think it was properly put together at the factory. Part of me wants to cut my losses and trade it in, though I have no idea what I'd replace it with.

[Montana]

Took mine in this afternoon for a few things, DCT, Ventilation issues and the same noise most of you are experiencing. Mine will pop on turning and when braking. Will advise what I find out when they get back with me.

Montana

[Dysan911]

Originally Posted by Zillon

Yep. I actually signed up for an account there just so I could read more topics about strut bearings, including that one.

Mine doesn't pop when turning, though, that's the one inconsistency I've found. The low-speed rattle/clunking is what I have.

Yeah I found it quite interesting that one of the guys had the exact same symptoms I and others have.

The flange seems to be moving around while the strut attached to it looks good and tight. I hear some noise only when I have someone on the passenger seat, when I'm driving alone I can barely hear it from time to time.

Thats mine pretty much and someone even described it as rattling and clunking.



JJeremuy - Man that blows!. I was hoping on the possibility since you said yours was fixed that maybe Ford was starting to supply dealerships with an updated part.

So basically were all screwed until some big wig Ford Exec's Niece is given a Focus and her car has the same sound. Then this issue will be given total priority and we'll all get a fix.

Anyone that's sitting on the fence waiting to see what happens should schedule to have your car brought to your dealership for this issue. The more people that report the problem the more attention it gives us a a whole.

Also you'll want a documented history of this issue; The sooner the better so that when a fix does come out one day there will be NO debate that your car qualifies, etc.