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

[12 F-O-C-U-S]

I got a call from the dealership to take a ride with a tech. I just got back from test drive and the tech said "Yes there is someting wrong". They are ordering parts. Im just happy they confirmed that they can hear it. I emailed FOMOCO and posted an angry posting on Fords facebook and they sent a letter to my dealership the tech said. So it couldnt hurt to do the same.

[Nutty 5.0]

Originally Posted by TiPilot

Dropped mine off at the dealer this morning. Brought printouts of the service receipts posted in this thread - thanks again for sharing those. Service advisor drove around with me for a couple minutes and he heard the noises. They said there might be a TSB out for something related, though I've never heard of one mentioned here on FF.

Will update when I hear from the dealer...

No problem from me; glad to help. I know I hate getting the run around. They said they had TSB for this clunk but didn't fix it. So hotline told them to keep putting on suspension parts until it did lol (more or less!)

Originally Posted by 12 F-O-C-U-S

I got a call from the dealership to take a ride with a tech. I just got back from test drive and the tech said "Yes there is someting wrong". They are ordering parts. Im just happy they confirmed that they can hear it. I emailed FOMOCO and posted an angry posting on Fords facebook and they sent a letter to my dealership the tech said. So it couldnt hurt to do the same.

I did the exact same thing. Its nice that they're listening and agreeing. I'm not usually one to gripe about anything, but there's obviously an issue and we all know it in this thread!


Thanks to all those posting pics, etc. The more that's out there, the sooner they may start being pressured to fix this permanently.

[dyn085]

Originally Posted by 12FOCUS S

take it offline...this is NOT HELPING at all......my car rattles man..

PERIOD!

I will re-post this for you seems how you don't seem to have read far enough back and think I only cause problems.

Have the dealer check the strut top caps. Mine (and others) came apart in pieces when I replaced my springs. My car still clunks because I haven't had time to order a replacement (I don't care to have Ford do it). Not saying that is definitelyyour issue, but a good starting place. They won't know for sure unless they take the cap off.

[fcbaldwin]

Originally Posted by dyn085

Have the sealer check the strut top caps. Mine (and others) came apart in pieces when I replaced my springs. My car still clunks because I haven't had time to order a replacement (I don't care to have Ford do it). Not saying that is definitelyyour issue, but a good starting place. They won't know for sure unless they take the cap off.

dyn085,
what are you going to order and not have Ford do?
I had the springs and strut bearings replaced about two weeks ago (I think this is the standard hotline fix being prescribed) and the clunking and squeaking have returned. No rattle yet, but I'm expecting that as well. I can't see taking it back in until Ford comes up with the REAL FIX whatever that is.

[clacasse]

I just dropped mine of this morning for first oil change, transmission update (customer satisfaction program), and get this clunking fixed.

Thanks everyone for sharing their experiences. Now that I see how many people are having this same issue, I'll be sure to see it through until it's fixed. If the dealer tells me they can't reproduce, they are lying.

[FordCustomerService]

Originally Posted by HornedFrog05

This is the second dealership and the place where I purchased the car. The first dealership I took it to could not fix the problem, they acknowledged the sound but gave up...

Originally Posted by jrn146

...I have a 2012 SE with about 900 miles on it and I hear a lot of strut noise on low speed bumps but I'm not overly concerned about it at this point...I'll wait till there's a definite fix and/or TSB on it before I bring it in. What is upsetting is the response of some dealers and Ford at this point. I don't know exactly what Natasha is doing or who her reports go to but it doesn't seem like Ford is listening yet. How many people need to have a problem before there's a TSB and updated parts? I'm not being negative because I love the car...

Originally Posted by jjeremyy

...My Titanium hatch with the handling package is back at the dealer again for the clunk. I had the same struts, springs, bearings, etc. replaced a couple months ago only for the noise to come back. I kind of gave the dealer a hard time about it, and for the fact that I'm on my 3rd headliner and it's still rattling, so they gave me a free rental. My rental is a 2012 SEL sedan and it has the same exact clunk my car does, though it doesn't sound as bad. Ford needs to get it together and figure out what the problem is.

Originally Posted by Bames_Jond

...But the suspension problems I've experienced with my 2010 SES (purchased new) are spot-on similar to the ones you folks are experiencing with your MY 2012s: a noticeable clunk/knocking noise when travelling over broken pavement/bumps at low speeds as well as an incredibly annoying squeaky metal-on-metal scraping sound when backing out of the garage or entering parking lots/driving over pavement seams and approaches. This all started when the car had just a couple thousand miles on the clock and has been aggravatingly omnipresent ever since...

...I never had the opportunity to bring it in to a service dept. to address the issue(s) until very recently (it helps that I currently reside within walking distance of the local Ford dealer)...

..I picked up the car this evening (3rd service visit for the same problem - the only parts replaced at this point have been the sway bar links) and the dealer is now pivoting from a "we can hear it; we just have to figure out what's causing it" stance to a "it's normal; they all make that noise" position. Yeah, right! If it was normal, they all WOULD make that noise...

...Ford has about 5750 miles to get this solved or when I go to trade it [before the warranty expires], it won't be for another Ford product...

Originally Posted by Zillon

...I, too, thought Ford had finally gotten it with this car. I think I was just spoiled with my Scion, though, which had only 1 problem that wasn't self-inflicted over the 85k miles I owned it. I just hope that we'll see a guaranteed fix to this issue soon.

HornedFrog05, jrn146, jjeremyy, Bames_Jond, and Zillon -

Making it a well-oiled machine is so important. Hearing about this noise does not please me at all. Please shoot me a PM which includes your VIN, mileage, phone #, and dealer info. I'll look into it and forward to your region's Customer Service Manager for review. By the way, we're monitoring this thread very closely and are hard at work with compiling information from all customers.

Originally Posted by 12 F-O-C-U-S

I got a call from the dealership to take a ride with a tech. I just got back from test drive and the tech said "Yes there is someting wrong". They are ordering parts. Im just happy they confirmed that they can hear it. I emailed FOMOCO and posted an angry posting on Fords facebook and they sent a letter to my dealership the tech said. So it couldnt hurt to do the same.

12 F-O-C-U-S -

I love your dedication here! How long has this noise been present?

Originally Posted by 12FOCUS S

...My car rattles man..

PERIOD!

12FOCUS S -

I certainly understand your frustration. How many times have you seen your dealer about this rattle?

Originally Posted by TiPilot

Dropped mine off at the dealer this morning...Service advisor drove around with me for a couple minutes and he heard the noises. They said there might be a TSB out for something related, though I've never heard of one mentioned here on FF.

Will update when I hear from the dealer...

TiPilot -

Thanks for keeping us in the loop. Your CSM will follow up with the dealer on Monday.

Originally Posted by clacasse

I just dropped mine of this morning for first oil change, transmission update (customer satisfaction program), and get this clunking fixed.

..Now that I see how many people are having this same issue, I'll be sure to see it through until it's fixed. If the dealer tells me they can't reproduce, they are lying.

clacasse -

We'll see this through as well. Before jumping to this conclusion, let's see what your dealer says. Please keep me updated.

We'll try hard at restoring faith in the Focus. If anyone else is experiencing a suspension noise, please reach me by PM. As I've stated to others, please include some details (VIN, mileage, phone #, and dealer); I'll forward it along for further review.

In the know,

Thomas

[Uppsala9496]

I took mine in 2 weeks ago for it's first oil change and transmission reprogram. Told the dealer to look into the clunking noise (driver side front). They said they couldn't reproduce the noise.
It's really obvious and annoying when turning right at low speeds (ie., into a parking spot).
Becomes even more obvious when it is a bumpy surface. I'll wait a few more weeks to take it in since it's a pain driving to the dealership and waiting.

[Lipshurt]

It's nice that ford monitors this site, but the talk about escalating to a higher level and being contacted by some sort of regional manager is total BS. Please stop posting this stuff on the forum. I sent my VIN etc months ago, and zero happened. You are just trying to pacify us until someone figures it out. That is probably not going to happen, because it would mean admitting to bad struts on all the cars, which would've about $800 per car for ford to shell out. Somebody has to die for that to happen.

So here is a question:
Has anyone ever been contacted by a regional service person and been told hat he problem will fixed? Of course not. All we are told is that all the cars do that, so it's normal for the car.
If that is the way it is, ford should get on the forum and simply tell everyone that the car simply makes that noise, and get over it.

I know that ford is paying these people to read these boards and post reassuring things, and it just happens to be their job, but come on, it's just not true.

I told my dealer I wanted them to give me a rental car and keep mine until its fixed. They totally balked at that. They refused to work on. That was North County Ford in Vista ca.

[Nutty 5.0]

Originally Posted by Uppsala9496

I took mine in 2 weeks ago for it's first oil change and transmission reprogram. Told the dealer to look into the clunking noise (driver side front). They said they couldn't reproduce the noise.
It's really obvious and annoying when turning right at low speeds (ie., into a parking spot).
Becomes even more obvious when it is a bumpy surface. I'll wait a few more weeks to take it in since it's a pain driving to the dealership and waiting.

I feel your pain. There’s so many lazy dealers and/or techs out there. Its evident that Ford’s much more serious than in the past paying Ford Customer Service to surf the forums helping people. If nothing else, they’ll help to light a fire under the lazy ass dealers and techs!

[clacasse]

Originally Posted by FordCustomerService

clacasse -

We'll see this through as well. Before jumping to this conclusion, let's see what your dealer says. Please keep me updated.

I got the call back. They said they couldn't hear anything. I hear it every time I drive the car, so this tells me they didn't try hard enough. Now they want me to come by and drive with the tech, which does not fit my schedule.

It would be great if Ford would aggregate these types of complaints and educate dealers about fixing these problems. I'm always amazed when the dealer service personnel are not familiar with recurring issues. Their job is to know what's wrong with their cars.