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Odd knock sound.

5K views 32 replies 12 participants last post by  Gabe2010SE 
#1 ·
Ok I have an 09 SES sedan and whenever I jiggle the steering wheel while the wheels are straight, I hear this weird knock sound. It sounds like its coming from my front right wheel/suspension area. And it mostly happens while in park. I'm lost, I was thinking tie rod? Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: its coming from the front left
 
#2 ·
It is your swap bar endlinks, has been a known problem. Take it to the dealer and they will inspect/replace if necessary.
 
#6 ·
Yea haha my typing has been horrible today.
 
#10 ·
It's always the passenger side one isn't it..?
My car is an 09 and has 48600 miles on it I'm on my 4th set of front sway bar endlinks.
Stock, MOOG, MOOG, and DominantEng.
Let's hope the dominant ones will be my last set. lol
 
#11 ·
I have an 08 at 53k and haven't replaced anything so far except for the intake and throttle body. Though once I broke a wheel and had to replace the hub assembly/wheel bearing on that side. The only clunk I have is every now and then when I hit a bump just the right way. I believe there was a service bulletin on the front suspension of this generation.
 
#12 ·
My 08 has had no problems either at 26,437 miles and still going strong!. Of course with mileage this high I am thinking of buying a new car. I hope the dealer gives me at least $5000.-$6000. trade for this one!
 
#15 ·
Gotta check the subframe bolts ... one or 2 of mine were tightened when I recently had the car in the shop for a couple of things, and a banging noise I had in the right front when turning to left over bumps is now gone, unless I'm a complete moron and goose it like crazy over the bump(s) ...
 
#16 ·
ok guys thanks for all of the replies. now i was just wondering if someone could tell me the location of the sway bar endlinks because i want to see if i just need to tighten them or replace them.
 
#18 ·
my passenger side went at 40k then the drvier side at 60k. i was totally miffed. but nothing 20mins couldnt solve. did it yourself and save the 100 dollars.

when you change it out make sure to also have a jack under the control arm. this will allow you to equallize the pressure on the bar and bring it up to the correct height for mounting.
 
#19 ·
Ok guys I checked my end links and they are tight as can be and they don't appear to be broken in any way. Anybody have any other ideas? I have noticed that it happens a lot when I pull in or out of my driveway.
 
#20 ·
It is the ball sockets on the link that have some slop in them. There is nothing you can do to fix the noise. So live with it until the link fails or replace the link.
 
#21 ·
Im lucky that I have yet to get this problem on my 08 with 40K miles. Only problem I am having right now is a failing rear engine mount. But with all the drag passes I used to do I dont see how it would have lasted.
 
#22 ·
I just dropped my car off for this exact issue. Dealership is charging me $550 to replace it. I just bought the car 5 months ago certified pre owned from a different dealership and they wont help me out. FML I traded in my E500 Mercedes for the focus so I wouldnt have to keep paying thousands of dollars a year to keep the damn thing running...
 
#24 ·
Apparently the Certified pre owned coverage plan does not cover this specific part. Also my steering wheel fluid was brown which needs to be replaced for $110. I bought it at a dealership in moscow Idaho where I was going to college and moved back home to Seattle. Thats bullshit that the dealership I bought it from matters. Am I not allowed to move because of my ford warranty. thats BS. Ford is Ford Motor Company, not an individual dealership. The company should respect its brand and honor their cars as a whole company, not just a dealership in bum[:)][:)][:)][:)][:)][:)] Idaho. Im not driving 5 hours to get something fixed that should have been replaced when I got the car in may.
 
#27 ·
Buying a "Certified Pre-owned" car gets you a warranty, yes, but it's not much more than a powertrain warranty ... the dealership runs the VIN # on Ford's website and then they punch it the part # and the site tells them if it's covered or not.

I was a Service Advisor for over 9 years ... I've done the above procedure thousands of times ...

And the warranty is good at any dealer, if it's a Ford warranty, but like I said, the Certified warranty is very limited in what it covers ...
 
#25 ·
I took mine to the dealer for this a while back and they said that said noise was from the dash when it clearly was from the front end of my car.... Mine is still well under warranty but due to being lowered they said that they couldn't tear into it to see if there was a further issue. The dealer here in my college town is the one that told me that, but im going home for the holidays and im going to take it to the dealership that I bought it from while im up there just to see what they can do
 
#26 ·
Hey DJ,

I do not know if FMC covers certified vehicles or it is the dealer. I agree with you that you should not have to pay. I would suggest to contact the dealer in Moscow and work with the CS person. You could PDF them the bill and discuss that a part failed and due to your new location, you took it to a closer Ford dealer. I think you should be reimbursed. Also, you may want to contact Ford CS itself to discuss what happened. Opening a friendly dialogue without getting upset will go a long way to resolve the situation in your favor. It is clearly not correct for you to pay when you have a certified vehicle and that you should be compensated for it. Does this make sense?
 
#28 ·
I have a metal on metal popping sound coming from my front drivers side wheel when I am driving forward and turn right followed by a quick straightening of the steering wheel. It also makes the same noice every once in a while when I am going over bumps.

I get a similar sound when backing out of my driveway from my front passenger side if the wheel is turned when I hit the dip between the road and the driveway.

I read a bunch of posts and thought it was the endlinks so I replaced them with some MOOG's but the noise persists.

So Here is what I am thinking:

1. It is not the endlinks
2. Strut Tower bolts are tight

** Must be the control arms (bad bushings) but I have no clue how to tell if they are bad [scratch]

Any other thoughts?
 
#31 ·
Ya I paid like 300 something to get it fixed. They also said my steering wheel fluid was black. I don't know why this was not addressed when I got the car but they also charged me for that.
 
#33 ·
Warranty repairs are done at a lower hourly-labor rate and at discounted parts prices, AND at fewer hours charged than if the customer pays for the repair.

The place I worked at was charging about $5 more per hour for a "cash" repair, and the parts were significantly more expensive than if it was a warranty repair.

Ford allows a 40% mark-up on parts on warranty repairs.

The place I was at made sure that no customer-pay part was sold for anything less than double the cost, sometimes more than that if misc hardware ...
 
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