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

[HornedFrog05]

Still no PM from Noemi. I guess she gave up on me... Oh Ford, how I loathe thee.

[12FocusTI]

Hello,

I'm new to this site and happened to stumble across this fourm as i'm having what seems to be the issue that the rest of you are experiencing. I just purchased a 5 door Hack Ti Focus with the Sports Package. I have 1000 miles on the Focus now and been hearing this noise since the day I drove the Focus off the dealers lot.

I'm posting as I have a question for the rest of you with this issue. I recently had a 2005 ZX3 Focus Roush edition that had a simlair issue and it turned out to be the End Links.

After over looking the new Focus I can tell this is not a noise coming from the end links. Has anyone tried shaking\pulling the half shafts\Axles? Reason I ask is my driver side axle seems to have alot of play and when I shake\pull on the axle it makes a very similar noise to what I hear when i'm driving the Focus. If my mind serves me correctly I don't remember my 05 having as much play within the CV's as this is where I hear the clunking noise.

I'm thinking about removing the CV boots and pack the CV's with a grease to see if this will make a diffrence. At this time I haven't had the time to get to this.

If it's not to much trouble while your focus is on ramps can you check your cv's for any play or noise?

Delfino

[HornedFrog05]

Originally Posted by 12FocusTI

I'm thinking about removing the CV boots and pack the CV's with a grease to see if this will make a diffrence. At this time I haven't had the time to get to this.

If it's not to much trouble while your focus is on ramps can you check your cv's for any play or noise?

Delfino

I'm curious what you find out. The Ford CSM recommended I take my car back for service at a different dealership, so I will keep everyone updated with what they find out. Hopefully a fix!

[fcbaldwin]

Originally Posted by HornedFrog05

I hear that! Although, it's pretty loud even when I'm by myself. So glad I got the Sony sound system. It's pretty good at drowning out the sounds of my clunkbox Ford.

Yes, I like the Sony sound system too. Now that I've received my CSP notice from Ford for the 12B37, I hope that by the time I do my next service and have that fixed, maybe there will be some progress on the clunk/squeak/rattle/pop/clank in the front end.

[FGLLMX]

I just got a 2012 Focus SEL HB (200miles) .

As soon as I left the dealership and after going over some bumpy roads, I heard a noise/clunk from the front end whenever hiting small road imperfections at low speeds. It sounded like something was loose somewhere at the front of the car.

After reading about many different and unsuccesful repairs done to so many Focus Fanatics cars and believing that my specific noise had nothing to do with the suspension system itself, I decided to take a detailed look to the front end of the car.

Everything underhood seemed fine, as well as, everything under the car.

Then, I took my time to look at the body panels and their fit. I found that the Left fender was misaligned with a 1/4" gap between it, the hood and the A Pillar. The Right fender was only 1/8" at the A pillar and touching the hood.

It was obvious that the hood and the Left fender were not aligned properly. The hood was really leaning hard on both the Right headlamp and fender.

I though that maybe these parts being so close, could be banging together making noise while the suspension was going over bumps, still very few miles to notice any discoloration, paint damage or contact marks.

I took my car to the dealer and their bodyshop properly aligned the Left fender, the hood and the Right headlamp, everything looks properly aligned and the noise is gone for now.

I thought to share my specific experience, I hope it is useful to some of you.

BTW I like my Focus very much

Fernando
Cheers

[HornedFrog05]

There's another post on here where some owners have installed Mazdaspeed Mazda 3 rear engine mounts on their Focus and they have reduced engine movement and clanking. I'm debating trying this method but I don't really feel I should have to buy aftermarket parts to get my car to work properly.

I'm taking the vehicle to another dealer tomorrow so hopefully their service team can make some progress. I'll update after I get the car back. Fingers crossed.

[ricomtl]

Originally Posted by FGLLMX

I just got a 2012 Focus SEL HB (200miles) .

As soon as I left the dealership and after going over some bumpy roads, I heard a noise/clunk from the front end whenever hiting small road imperfections at low speeds. It sounded like something was loose somewhere at the front of the car.

After reading about many different and unsuccesful repairs done to so many Focus Fanatics cars and believing that my specific noise had nothing to do with the suspension system itself, I decided to take a detailed look to the front end of the car.

Everything underhood seemed fine, as well as, everything under the car.

Then, I took my time to look at the body panels and their fit. I found that the Left fender was misaligned with a 1/4" gap between it, the hood and the A Pillar. The Right fender was only 1/8" at the A pillar and touching the hood.

It was obvious that the hood and the Left fender were not aligned properly. The hood was really leaning hard on both the Right headlamp and fender.

I though that maybe these parts being so close, could be banging together making noise while the suspension was going over bumps, still very few miles to notice any discoloration, paint damage or contact marks.

I took my car to the dealer and their bodyshop properly aligned the Left fender, the hood and the Right headlamp, everything looks properly aligned and the noise is gone for now.

I thought to share my specific experience, I hope it is useful to some of you.

BTW I like my Focus very much

Fernando
Cheers

Interesting... FGLLMX did you hear the clunk/rattle when you were driving by yourself at low speed or with a front passenger? The noise goes away as soon as I drive alone, but with a passenger, there's a clunking symphony in the front end that I need to cover up with music!

Going in at the dealer next week, and I feel like it won't be easy to pinpoint the root cause (based on this thread).

[VelociRacer]

Originally Posted by VelociRacer

Just a hunch but has anyone checked if the hood is touching the headlamp lens when you press down on the hood just above the headlamp?

There are 2 large round pads on each side of the radiator that are adjustable and control the position of the hood when closed. Everyone should make fine adjustments as there's huge variation from factory.

Screw them down all the way and you can see a little gap to the hood if you shine a flashlight. Unscrew them up a few turns at a time until they barely touch the hood when closed. The correct height would be 1 or 2 turns up from that point, no more, no less.

EDIT: A strip of weather seal foam (closed-cell) on the hood edge (headlamp area) should take care of this issue as well.

Originally Posted by FGLLMX

I just got a 2012 Focus SEL HB (200miles) .

As soon as I left the dealership and after going over some bumpy roads, I heard a noise/clunk from the front end whenever hiting small road imperfections at low speeds. It sounded like something was loose somewhere at the front of the car.

After reading about many different and unsuccesful repairs done to so many Focus Fanatics cars and believing that my specific noise had nothing to do with the suspension system itself, I decided to take a detailed look to the front end of the car.

Everything underhood seemed fine, as well as, everything under the car.

Then, I took my time to look at the body panels and their fit. I found that the Left fender was misaligned with a 1/4" gap between it, the hood and the A Pillar. The Right fender was only 1/8" at the A pillar and touching the hood.

It was obvious that the hood and the Left fender were not aligned properly. The hood was really leaning hard on both the Right headlamp and fender.

I though that maybe these parts being so close, could be banging together making noise while the suspension was going over bumps, still very few miles to notice any discoloration, paint damage or contact marks.

I took my car to the dealer and their bodyshop properly aligned the Left fender, the hood and the Right headlamp, everything looks properly aligned and the noise is gone for now.

I thought to share my specific experience, I hope it is useful to some of you.

BTW I like my Focus very much

Fernando
Cheers

Told you so

[ricomtl]

Originally Posted by VelociRacer

Told you so

Are you saying that your noise is completely gone with the hood adjustment?

[fcbaldwin]

Originally Posted by ricomtl

Are you saying that your noise is completely gone with the hood adjustment?

I can't see anything out of alignment on mine, but even it was, I can't see how having a passenger in the front would make a difference in the intensity of the noise if it were due to a mis-alignment. And mine is definitely a more intense noise when there is a passenger present. (I can still hear it when alone as well, it's just not as loud).