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

[dyn085]

Originally Posted by Lipshurt

When I said it would take a year, that was for ford to figure it out.....
If I did it, I would use microphones to really find it. Then I would insulate with shims etc and find the exact location of the noise.
I fully expect that ford will tell me that they have done all they can do. Not sure what I will do when hat happens. "Brian" my regional rep is going to call me today he say, and I will find out more then....

If they are following the TSB, then they should be using whatever ears they have at the shop to locate the noise. My dealership decided to skip that step (the very first step, I might add) and tried to locate it by their 'technical expertise' and probably their 'calibrated ears'. Kinda hard to do on a car with a lunchbox delete...but mine is significant enough now to actually be felt through the car.

I need to stop by the dealer to find out if my parts are in yet so that I can take my suspension apart this weekend...

[Zillon]

Originally Posted by wilsonfocus86

I think a lot of us are going to watch your outcome of the rebuild. Keep us posted man! Just got off with the phone and told my CSM that although the tsb "fix" has made the car a lot better than it was, I can still hear rattle over some heavy bumps. Then he offered for the dealership to replace the springs again....HELLO IT'S NOT A SPRING RELATED ISSUE.

Oh, don't worry. I will. There's one other guy who has installed the Koni struts, but he disappeared and hasn't posted any updates since the initial install. He did say that the end result was favorable... I wish he would get back to me, though.

The one thing holding me back on this project is the lack of availability on the Motorcraft AD1094 strut bearings. Whenever they are available again, I'll get my build together. I'm hesitant to order the bearings from anyone who has an existing stock, because I worry about a bad bearing batch being the culprit behind this whole mess. So, I want the strut bearings I install to be as fresh off the production line as possible. The other option I have, is to buy the Mazda3 strut bearings, but they aren't cheap. zx3matt also mentioned that his significant other's MZ3 has a similar clunking issue, and she has a new Skyactiv 3.

I do know it's not a spring related issue at all; my noise didn't change whatsoever with the installation of my Eibach springs. I also have some experience in tracking down suspension clunks; my last car had one that ended up being the upper spring mount that wasn't keyed properly to the strut. On my Focus, it has gotten worse over time, which leads me to believe that the problem is most likely due to either the bearing or the strut, or a combination of the two parts going bad together.

[suss6052]

Originally Posted by Zillon

The one thing holding me back on this project is the lack of availability on the Motorcraft AD1094 strut bearings. Whenever they are available again, I'll get my build together. I'm hesitant to order the bearings from anyone who has an existing stock, because I worry about a bad bearing batch being the culprit behind this whole mess. So, I want the strut bearings I install to be as fresh off the production line as possible. The other option I have, is to buy the Mazda3 strut bearings, but they aren't cheap. zx3matt also mentioned that his significant other's MZ3 has a similar clunking issue, and she has a new Skyactiv 3.

The other thing about the MZ3 strut bearings is that its literally the same part right down to the Ford Motor Company branding on the bag, only they repackage it in a mazda branded bag and charge more money for the identical component.

If the bearings were bad it would effect both vehicles as they use the same parts.

[MAD916]

The clunk has started on mine a couple thousand miles ago now at 5200 miles. My Ksport struts came in yesterday and I'm a couple days away from getting them installed, will definetly give everyone an update. I understand they have their own upper strut bearings below the adjustable camber plate top, guess we'll see

[dyn085]

Originally Posted by Zillon

On my Focus, it has gotten worse over time, which leads me to believe that the problem is most likely due to either the bearing or the strut, or a combination of the two parts going bad together.

I agree. I know that at least one guy (probably of whom you speak) reporting, with pics, bad struts. My only hesitation in that is that people are reporting positively with the replacement of the bearings, even if the sound eventually comes back. That could signify Either bad batches of bearings, poor geometry causing premature wear of the bearings, or even a loss of torque on the nut securing the top hat causing bearing wear.

The temperature related qualities of some of these clunks could be an indication towards the strut or pillow mounts. If your strut/bearing replacement leads to no noise returning, I think we can safely assume a strut issue. I will be just doing the bearings, so one of us should end up with positive results.

If we both get noise back, pillow mount...

[dyn085]

Originally Posted by suss6052

The other thing about the MZ3 strut bearings is that its literally the same part right down to the Ford Motor Company branding on the bag, only they repackage it in a mazda branded bag and charge more money for the identical component.

If the bearings were bad it would effect both vehicles as they use the same parts.

Has anyone frequented their forums to see if the issues are there as well?

[suss6052]

Originally Posted by dyn085

Has anyone frequented their forums to see if the issues are there as well?

I'm not sure if anyone is tracking the forums, but ZX3Matt's girl's 12 MZ3 is allegedly not immune to the clunk as he reported in another thread when he was thinking about how he hadn't heard reports but then experienced it in her car which meant that it wasn't a matter of swapping the bearings out from the 3 onto the Focus.

[Zillon]

In my previous post, I forgot to mention that the base Focus strut mount could also be to blame by not evenly distributing the stresses from the strut bearing to the strut tower. So, I'll also be doing the ST top strut mount; I'm basically replacing the whole kit and kaboodle. It's a bit of a shot in the dark, but I'm also searching for a more performance-oriented suspension geometry (more camber, and maybe more caster), and the ST mounts are a different part.

Also, I have been searching c30world.com, mazda3forums.com and mazdaspeedforums.org to see if there's any similar issues between our cars and the Volvo/Mazda variants.

Ultimately, I've found that while some people have had strut bearing issues, it really doesn't seem to be as widespread an issue as with the Focus, nor is it an issue that many have from the factory. Some people have had premature bearing failures, but I've found that most people who do complain of strut bearing failure have altered their factory suspension with aftermarket components that they've installed themselves. zx3matt's girlfriend's car is an exception, though. I haven't really looked into the newer Skyactiv cars.

[Uptcv1]

Originally Posted by Uptcv1

confused...
the other day dealer called that parts were in (took 2 weeks) so I dropped it off... picked it up today (cant say much on noise yet as dealer is only maybe 2 miles to my house) but as I was just checking it looks like the gap from fender to tire is a little more than it used to be... (SE sport package)

checked ford etis wiht my VIN and this is showing:
BV61-5310-NG* Left Front Coil
BV61-5310-NG* Right Front Coil

-dealer service invoice though indicates BV6Z 5310 front springs...

- did they change the code numbers for updated parts?
or did they install the wrong parts (maybe for another configuration such as the SEL?)

ok, read the TSB again so these are the updated codes, maybe since springs are new they just need to settle?

[Zillon]

Well, after a bit more research, I'm not sure if the Mazdaspeed3 Konis will really work. There's an alignment tab that's welded onto the strut body that prevents the strut from sliding fully into the knuckle, which subsequently raises the front end to stock height with Pro-kit springs.

Not acceptable in my book; I'm not sure if I really feel like tackling the full removal of a welded on bracket.