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

[TboneZX3]

Originally Posted by jsr72

What wheels and tires came with those cars?

I doubt that's a factor, since we've seen mass dampers on a wide range of vehicles, with 16"/Conti, 17"/Conti, and 18"/PS3.

[suss6052]

Originally Posted by TboneZX3

I doubt that's a factor, since we've seen mass dampers on a wide range of vehicles, with 16"/Conti, 17"/Conti, and 18"/PS3.

Precisely, my car has the o.e. 16" wheels and conti procontact tires, is a job 2 build, yet has the mass dampers where as others were reporting that they did not even for a similar build range.

[symbology]

Sorry if this has been answered, but...94 pages and counting is a lot to try to wade through.

Has anybody had the clunk fixed? Like some others have said, I had the strut bearings and springs replaced and I still hear clunks when going over a bump.

[Shade-010]

I don't think so and I also don't think FORD gives a Flying F'K if it gets fixed or not. Im gonna start calling again next week, just bug the hell out of them. Maybe even call an Attorney (one that doesnt get paid unless he wins) .

[hand-filer]

Originally Posted by symbology

Sorry if this has been answered, but...94 pages and counting is a lot to try to wade through.

Has anybody had the clunk fixed? Like some others have said, I had the strut bearings and springs replaced and I still hear clunks when going over a bump.

The short answer is no. I had both springs and bearings replaced and the noise returned in less than 1 month.
Ford is either clueless as to what the root cause is or they are fully aware of what it is and are avoiding the fix because of the cost.
I vote on it being the latter.

[DJ2BIG]

My car was built in may should I be concerned about this?


Sent from my iPhone the power of the Jedi

[hand-filer]

Originally Posted by DJ2BIG

My car was built in may should I be concerned about this?


Sent from my iPhone the power of the Jedi

Only if it starts making noise.

[hand-filer]

Originally Posted by hand-filer

I just came in from the garage. This rattle is pretty much driving me nuts! I removed the left front wheel and started tapping around with a dead blow hammer.
Everything feels and sounds solid.
Then I gave the inner fender a bit of a tap with my fist. Well that made a sound like the fender was going to fall off!!!
Not only is it loud, the fact that the inner fender is sort of kind of parabolically shaped amplifies the rattle considerably. I wonder if this might be my noise source?
It takes just the right road surface condition to cause it to happen, like bad expansion joints , 1" sudden drops where an approach meets the road etc.
I'm going to remove both inner fenders on the weekend and take a short drive to confirm if this is a problem. If it is, I'll find a way to isolate the points of contact. Might even consider applying sound deadener to the inner surface of the inner fender.
I'll report back at some point during the weekend and let you all know what I find.

Update: I traced the inner fender noise to loose fasteners. While under the car I noticed that most of the grease from the LH CV joint is now located on the frame. The boot is damaged.
This is what happens when incompetent technicians work on your vehicle. You take the car in to have one problem taken care of and you end up leaving with two. I am starting to hate this car.

[Lipshurt]

When I first started poking around for he clunk I thought it was the inner fender too. There is a lot of plastic attached loose-ish to the car, so I figured that was it. I insulated things in there pretty good, and could not make the clunk go away. Since the clunk is temperature related, this plastic stuff made sense to me as the source of the sound. That makes WAY more sense than springs and strut bearings. I never actually removed the inner fender, but that sounds like a very good step in a logical troubleshooting plan.
I had the TSB done, and the clunk did go away for a while but returned as soon as the temperature went below 72 degrees. I will say that steering is much better after the TSB. It was noisy, binding, lumpy, and all of that is one now. That would be the bearings of course, so he TSB is good for something. The springs are quieter going of speed bumps now too, so I guess that part of the TSB was worthwhile.
The TSB simply does address the clunking, loose, falling apart, 15 year old car vibe, which is simply not acceptable for a new modern car. At least it's hot enough lately to keep my noise to a minimum. Below 72 degrees is another story:) I live in ca, so I don't know the lower end of the temperature sensitivity.

[JNBradow]

I have the same problem as everybody else. A clunk that drives me crazy and the parts are on backorder. What I really would like to know is this a safety concern? Will the clunk get worse until the wheel falls off? Does the wheel need to fall off for Ford to fix the issue?