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IMPORTANT: ALL MK3 Focus Owners, I could use your input.

48K views 302 replies 49 participants last post by  FordService 
#1 · (Edited)
IMPORTANT: ALL 2012+ Focus Owners, I need your input. Survey inside.

Alright everyone, I hate to be a bother, but I (and everyone else with the clunk issue) really need your help.

I've been heavily involved in trying to get rid of the suspension clunking issue that plagues the vehicles of many users here (see the master clunk thread HERE), including my own. I've replaced several parts on my own dime, with limited success. However, the noise has always returned.

Recently, a fellow member with a new 2013 Focus (late-August production) brought to light a discrepancy between strut tower braces used on Foci of various production dates. Under my own research, I have found that the updated strut tower brace has been issued different part number (#DV6Z-16A200A)

So, in an effort to hopefully correlate clunking suspensions with specific strut tower versions, I've developed a survey. However, to give you some background before you complete the survey, please view the following:

The following photo is from an early August production Focus ST (FF member: earthling_david, suspension does clunk)


And here is photo from a late-August production 2013 Focus ST. Take note of the reinforcing plate added below the factory strut tower brace that is conspicuously missing from the previous photo. (FocusST.org member: Kragbax, suspension does not clunk)


If your suspension clunks, please complete this survey: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDRLWE90cEVzcThkUVFjRkIyRVB1Zmc6MA#gid=0

If your suspension doesn't clunk, please complete this survey: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDRLWE90cEVzcThkUVFjRkIyRVB1Zmc6MA#gid=0

If you completed my old survey, please complete this survey: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDRLWE90cEVzcThkUVFjRkIyRVB1Zmc6MA#gid=0

Thanks, everyone. Your responses are greatly appreciated!
 
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#229 ·
Thanks a lot!!!

ZILLON, I sympathyze with you very much [cheers].
All what you have done to solve this issue is great but unfortunately it has not been the definte solution, you must be really tired of this S--t [mad].
I have been following this thread and the other one for a long time since my 2012 SEL HB had the clunk since day 1, right after I picked it from the dealer. I am currently working freelance so I had a lot of time to take it to the dealer, which I did for well over 15 times. They were very pro-active but no matter what they did, the noise was still there. They complain that FORD Mexico (I live in Mexico) doesn´t seem to care to provide the right solution, not surprisingly since FORD USA doesn´t either [rant].

To make a long story short, I got fed up and took a big loss trading it on something else (even though I loved my Focus with a great Sony stereo, engine power, economy, gadgets, AC, ride and overall confort) I could not go on another Ford call it Focus, Fusion or Escape since they all are very new, and I am a risk averse person.

The lack of support from Ford corporate pretending they don´t know the solution to this issue turned me down completely. That is what I believe we can also expect from them if the Powershift blows into pieces, the DI 2.0 clogs with intake valve residue, MFT dies right after the warranty expires, etc., thank you FORD for the nice cars but you will not get my $$$ again!!![deviltail]

Good luck if you decide to trade it in some other car, every one has its quirks but it is nice to know that at least other manufacturers seem to have issues that are much simpler to solve than this one.

Not wanting to put with this any longer (6 months 8,000mi) I traded my Focus on a 2013 Audi A1 [driving], which Audi does not sell in the US, it is a neat little car (about 2,100 pounds), a little bigger than a Mini cooper (see enclosed pictures). I already have over 1,000 miles on it, averaging 42MPG, it drives and handles great with a 1.4 TSFI Turbo (147 pound-feet of torque 1,500 thru 4,000 rpms), very slick 7 speed S-tronic (dry clutch) transmission and start-stop. It has been solid as a rock, and way more refined in everything than I can think about than my Focus.

Good luck guys [thumb].

I made friends at the Ford dealership, so I will be following this great forum and let the dealership guys lnow of any new advance in this matter.

Pictures of an Audi A1 (sorry I have not taken any from mine yet)
 
#230 ·
The chassis ears that amazon has are transducers not mics. At least that is what I understand. Should work well.

I said "high school dropout" becuase that would be better than what ford has working on it now, which is zero people. I guarantee that if they had even one person working on it for two hours we would be farther along. Chassis ears, trial and error for half a day, find the spot, wegde a piece of rubber in there, write up a procedure, check spelling, DONE. One day, maybe two days max.

Cory, I'm not buying it. I have sent my VIN and info to every forum moderator that ford has come on here. It's all BS. They are not interested at all. They would rather dump literally millions of dollars down the drain. That TSB must have blown up in somebody's face. How would like to be the team that came up with that?

I should say that I lke my car a lot, and the couple of minutes of noise is ok now with the credit card stuffed in there. It was insane though. Drives great, and I get lots of compliments about the quiet ride. I always have the radio on for the first few minutes if I have a passenger:)
 
#247 ·
...Cory, I'm not buying it. I have sent my VIN and info to every forum moderator that ford has come on here... I should say that I lke my car a lot, and the couple of minutes of noise is ok now with the credit card stuffed in there. It was insane though. Drives great, and I get lots of compliments about the quiet ride. I always have the radio on for the first few minutes if I have a passenger[:)]
I sent you a PM, Lipshurt; please see your inbox for the details.

We are all pretty upset by this set of circumstances...
BlazeFocus,

I wanted to check in to see if you’re hearing the noise more than when you spoke with Stephen. Let me know via PM and I’ll lend a hand.

...I've had my case re-escalated to my CSM, since the noise returned...
Please keep me in the loop, Zillon.

...I'd like to give ford another shot when the weather gets hot. I recently had the dealership replaced the strut mount again. That was the 6th attempt. The clunk was somehow improved. But I can still duplicate it on the driveway in front of my apt, if I drive slowly enough over some cracks...
tang122,

I see you already talked about the resolution of the concern with Kimberly.

I was finally able to talk directly to the rep who I've been dealing with via voicemail. I'll be booking the Focus in at work and am to let him know when I have...
Let me know if you want any info forwarded to your CSM before your next follow-up, Twenty.

Cory
 
#231 ·
So, after I went to test drive another Focus ST this evening, I decided to give the troubleshooting another shot.

I tried applying some silicone adhesive to the underside of the strut tower brace tonight, to see if I can eliminate the strut brace as the culprit. I'm going to let it cure and see what happens over the next day or so.
 
#233 ·
Seriously, I think we should begin to do something different. We can either contact a lawyer or contact a writer from Edmunds., Motor trend, Customer reports...etc. So far, all we have discussed here is how to solve the clunk. That is exactly what Ford wants us to do, so they can easily send a CSM here to maintain this situation. The "2012 Titanium Front Strut Low Speed Noise (Clunk/Rattle)" thread is a evidence. 164 pages but no solution. This one only has 24 pages yet...

I'm not going to contact a lemon law lawyer this year. I'd like to give ford another shot when the weather gets hot. I recently had the dealership replaced the strut mount again. That was the 6th attempt. The clunk was somehow improved. But I can still duplicate it on the driveway in front of my apt, if I drive slowly enough over some cracks. I post two videos here.
http://youtu.be/F5hvHBVBego
http://youtu.be/mBZ2A1TtJD8
These two videos were recorded between the last attempt and a 3weeks full time service. If you guys have time, you can post your videos to let more people know how annoying it is. I've tried the credit card trick, no luck.

This noise is not a CIA or FBI classified. So, Cory, please tell your boss that if they don't give us the truth, they will loss many potential and loyal customers.

I also made some assumptions. Maybe 2012 is a bad year for ford so they don't want to add any more expense to the rest of 2012, so "hopefully" they can release a TSB in earlier 2013. Maybe they are not working on that. Maybe this noise is just too costly to fix.

Thanks for all the works you have done Zillion. But we should realize that this clunk is not our responsibility.
 
#234 ·
I'm not going to contact a lemon law lawyer this year. I'd like to give ford another shot when the weather gets hot. I recently had the dealership replaced the strut mount again. That was the 6th attempt. The clunk was somehow improved. But I can still duplicate it on the driveway in front of my apt, if I drive slowly enough over some cracks. I post two videos here.
http://youtu.be/F5hvHBVBego
http://youtu.be/mBZ2A1TtJD8
These two videos were recorded between the last attempt and a 3weeks full time service. If you guys have time, you can post your videos to let more people know how annoying it is. I've tried the credit card trick, no luck.
Sounds like you drove over two speed bumps at something over 25 MPH in that second video. True statement?
 
#235 ·
Of course this clunk shouldn't be our responsibility. Unfortunately for us, the manufacturer refuses to take responsibility, or even let us know what kind of developments are going on. We're completely in the dark here.

I've had my case re-escalated to my CSM, since the noise returned. Not sure what that's going to do for me, considering the work I've done and the parts I've installed, but hell, what do I have to lose at this point?

The ST I drove last night was rock solid and silent. There's no excuse for this.
 
#239 ·
I was finally able to talk directly to the rep who I've been dealing with via voicemail. I'll be booking the Focus in at work and am to let him know when I have.

Round 1 will be inspection for any loose bolts/parts/obvious errors I think.
 
#240 ·
I had a clunk in my 2008 cobalt that was like your describing. After getting front struts changed clunk continued, still from the front. The solution turned out to be the rear struts were no good and by some trick of sound from inside the car the noise came from the front
 
#241 ·
Wish it was that easy. I've replaced the rear shocks and sway bar. Checked all fasteners underneath the car. Still, the noise persists.

Just went for a test drive again tonight. Temps have dropped significantly to the mid-30s. It's tougher to reproduce, but the clunk is still there on the same bumps. So frustrating. [V]
 
#244 ·
Well Shite....[scratch][scratch][scratch][scratch] seems like this problem is [smackbum][smackbum][smackbum][smackbum]
 
#245 ·
Yep. This damn issue is impossible to track down.

Why it keeps reoccurring first on one side of my car no matter what I replace is what really troubles me, though, and leads me to believe it's a structural issue and not a component issue. [paranoid]

When I disconnected my sway bar, I took a look at where the front subframe attaches to the body and it sure appears to me that the subframe shifted. My front subframe bolts were not tightened to the 115 N-m they were supposed to be, but they're tight now. One of the few things I haven't done yet is replace the subframe bolts and bushings or check the subframe alignment, but I don't have the Ford subframe alignment pin tools, and the bushings are $30+ each.

My driver's side seems to be 95% OK. Occasionally I might get a slight noise out of it, but the main complaint is with my passenger side. Breaks in the pavement, rippled pavement approaching stoplights or stop signs, manholes, sunken sections of pavement where a patch job was done, concrete curbs on driveway entrances; they all create the same noise. It's a hollow sounding clunk that sounds a lot like a bad LCA bushing, a bad strut, or a bad connection at the top of the strut.

My girlfriend's heard it, and my dad was the first one to say something about a clunk at ~600 miles right after I purchased the car. He was then afraid of telling me again that he heard it shortly after I installed the ST struts and strut mounts in September. It improves in cold weather (below 40°F) and gets significantly worse when temperatures rise above 50-55°, so getting the conditions right for reproducing the noise to a Ford service manager is next to impossible.

The whole situation sucks. I bought the car because I loved the design, the feel, and the initial quality of the vehicle, but every morning on my way to work, I hit cracks in the pavement, bumps, and manholes that make me completely regret my choice of automaker and vehicle. I work for a Toyota dealer, so I'm very familiar with customers complaining just for the sake of hearing themselves complain, but that's not what I'm doing here. I have better things to do aside from trying to track down an issue that Ford won't even tell us the truth about.

I just want to fix the car.
 
#246 ·
How about using a good camera to take video of various components while being driving? Something like a GoPro should work...not sure how much room would be available, though...and lighting would be a concern.

Another option is to put witness marks on EVERYTHING. See if any parts that shouldn't be moving, are.
 
#248 ·
Hi, Cory.
I did talk to Kimberly yesterday. I told her that the noise is still there,but it is much better now, so it's OK for me at this moment. Which means that if I really want to hear the noise, I certainly can. I appreciate all the works the dealer have done. When the noise gets worse again, the first thing I'm going to do is repeating the TSB. But I think there's nothing more you and the dealership can do. The solution should be given by Ford. As Zillion said before, what we need is just a car that won't make its driver angry. To be honest, I'm afraid to drive my car now, I'm afraid to hear the noise again. If you really want to help us, please ask a Ford tech to join this thread. Thanks for trying to help us!
 
#263 ·
...I did talk to Kimberly yesterday. I told her that the noise is still there,but it is much better now, so it's OK for me at this moment...
I’ll continue to do everything I can to help with this, tang122. It’s important to me that you’re proud of your ride.

...Only once have i been reassured that id be taken care of and that ford is concerned with the way i(we) feel about our vehicle(s)...
Bogey,

You have my reassurance this is being addressed as I type.

Mine is booked for tomorrow. It's such a slight rattle that I suspect it may not be to the extent some of you have...
I see you spoke with Thomas two days ago, Twenty. I know he’ll take care of you.

I'm putting my car back to stock on Saturday and I'm going to make a service appointment for next week...
Zillon,

Marilyn has a follow-up call scheduled already, so please keep me in the loop.

Prolly not, all the dealers I have dealt with besides where i bought it (dealer closed) have been Major PITA's. Never know...
I’m very interested in helping you, stang74shelby. I don’t see your information in my tracker or inbox. Please PM me your VIN, mileage, dealer details, phone number, and full name.

Cory
 
#249 ·
This and other concerns have raised alot of questions to whether or not we made the right choice. Only once have i been reassured that id be taken care of and that ford is concerned with the way i(we) feel about our vehicle(s). For 25 k i thought things would of been better, and its more expensive in canada... Idk why. Cory we need public reassurance that this will..... Be taken care of properly in a way where us as the consumer and over all reason why your corporation is in existence will be treated as such with respect to our feelings(emotions), financial investment of your product. With consumer soverignty the deciding factor to if we choose ford again.

Have a great day and a safe one.

Sincerely:

Bogey of the great white north.
 
#250 ·
Mine is booked for tomorrow. It's such a slight rattle that I suspect it may not be to the extent some of you have.

My rsb is also really bad, that grease did not last long. That's on the fix list.
 
#256 ·
Zillon i would be interested as well, it kinda feels wrong to say something like this at this time. keep me in the loop, id do the same bud but i dont have that financial option to take the hit. Ty for all your ambitious work to try and help us.
 
#258 ·
Okay, I'm printing out certain posts to take with me to work tomorrow. I'm hoping it can get in early so that I can work with whoever inspects the Fofo to try and pinpoint any concerns.

I'm taking printed copies of these:

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4482355&postcount=195
http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4471404&postcount=156
http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4464401&postcount=122
http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4456626&postcount=67
http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4453533&postcount=1

(I went through the thread back-to-front in case you're wondering. [hihi])
 
#268 ·
That’s great to know, Twenty. [:)]

Will do this evening.
stang74shelby,

I’ll be on the lookout for your PM.

Yep, she'll be getting back in touch with me next Thursday. I'm going to try my best to find a shop that will work with me on this in the next week. I'll let you know.
Thanks for the heads up, Zillon.

Idk if this may be a clue but concerning the clunk/rattle, when the brakes are applied the sound is short and sweet, instead of it sounding like it is reverberating i am not a mechanic so idk it seems w/e is causing the sound its deff the front end linkage for me.
Bogey,

I see Thomas is working on your case as well; let me know if you want these details forwarded to him.

Cory
 
#267 ·
Idk if this may be a clue but concerning the clunk/rattle, when the brakes are applied the sound is short and sweet, instead of it sounding like it is reverberating i am not a mechanic so idk it seems w/e is causing the sound its deff the front end linkage for me.
 
#269 ·
Today's progress:

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=272835&page=49

-Originally had slight rattle sound, as if something was loose in the right front strut area. Occurred over bumps at low speeds (i.e. speedbumps).
-Inspected car, found a few loose bolts and tightened them.
-Initial test drives were good, driving a few hours later showed potentially a slight reoccurrence of the noise.
 
#271 ·
Do any of the bolts on the Focus use Loctite? or some derivative?
 
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