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Mk4 front suspension Rattle


TurboZed
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Hi Guys!

The Mrs has just bought a T reg Fiesta Ghia that has a front suspension rattle on both sides. It happens mainly at slowish speeds on roads that have a slightly rough surface. I jacked up the front and had a look and both the front CV joint boots were split and quite dry, and also the rear bushes on the wishbones were split. I have fitted new CV joints and replaced the rear bushes. It drives alot better now, but the rattle is still there. Is this a common problem? I'd really like to cure it because other than that car runs like a dream.

Thanks,

Jim

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I had a similar problem with my (S) reg.

The first thing to consider, if your 100% sure the problem is with the front suspension is, does the Fiesta still have its origanal front suspension springs and does the fiesta have alot of miles on it. If its a yes to both, i would replace the springs.

If your not 100% sure, theres two other areas worth having a look at..

1) Just check both brakes on the front for any sign of damage or even a slight warp in the discs. (normally if the brakes are warped the steering wheel will shake/vibrate when braking)

2) Get you tapets re-ajusted, because belive it or not they make one hell of a rattling noise when they are unset.

I checked these areas on my car and they cured the problem.

Hope this was useful. ;)

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I had a similar problem with my (S) reg.

The first thing to consider, if your 100% sure the problem is with the front suspension is, does the Fiesta still have its origanal front suspension springs and does the fiesta have alot of miles on it. If its a yes to both, i would replace the springs.

If your not 100% sure, theres two other areas worth having a look at..

1) Just check both brakes on the front for any sign of damage or even a slight warp in the discs. (normally if the brakes are warped the steering wheel will shake/vibrate when braking)

2) Get you tapets re-ajusted, because belive it or not they make one hell of a rattling noise when they are unset.

I checked these areas on my car and they cured the problem.

Hope this was useful. ;)

Thanks for that. the car has done 48k miles and it has a zetec engine fitted (hydraulic tappets??) the springs look fine, I did check them as I have changed many springs on mainly Fords and Vauxhalls in my mechanic days (why is that? can't ever remember changing one on a rover or a vw etc....). the brakes are fine, pull up evenly and smoothly, it looks like it recently had new disks and pads. I thinking drop links? the reason been it seems much worse when one side of the suspension moves more than the other, if you hit a speed cusion so one wheel goes over it and the other doesn't at about 15 mph theres a hell of a loud clunk.

Cheers

Jim

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  • 2 weeks later...
Thanks for that. the car has done 48k miles and it has a zetec engine fitted (hydraulic tappets??) the springs look fine, I did check them as I have changed many springs on mainly Fords and Vauxhalls in my mechanic days (why is that? can't ever remember changing one on a rover or a vw etc....). the brakes are fine, pull up evenly and smoothly, it looks like it recently had new disks and pads. I thinking drop links? the reason been it seems much worse when one side of the suspension moves more than the other, if you hit a speed cusion so one wheel goes over it and the other doesn't at about 15 mph theres a hell of a loud clunk.

Cheers

Jim

If it was the drop links theybe be broken, try checking the lower arm ball joints, they clunk when you hit a small 'divot' in the road at low speeds.

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  • 6 years later...

My Fiesta rattled unless I was on the motorway, but as I brought her with this condition, I knew it was not going to be long before I had to deal with it.

There are 3 things to check on to work out what needs sorting

1. chock the back wheels and jack up the side of the car that rattles (either if you hear it on both sides), stick your trusty axle stand underneath and with the steering straight, try to see if you can feel and play in the wheel placing your hands on top and bottom of the wheel (Bottom hand will need to be able to "Pull" the wheel toward you if you are directly in-front of that wheel). Try pulling the bottom toward you as you are pushing the top away from you, if you feel any "give" in the wheel beyond the rubber tyre and any rattling sounds, your lower wishbone bottom swivel joint is shot (Yes you can replace just that join, but I would swap the whole wishbone, as it covers the 2 other points that can fail on the wishbone simultaneously)

2 If no play is noticed (Or clonking sound), get the car back on the road as normal and crack the wheel nuts, as you will need to remove the wheel for the next checks. Once in the air and on the axle stand, check the drop links next (The rod that attaches from the suspension leg, to the roll bar), you should be able to make this link rock slightly on its 2 knuckles (1 top and 1 bottom), but you definitely not be able to separate either knuckle from the bolt that is bolted into it! If you can, then your drop link is worn (Normally you can see splits in the rubber "boot" that covers the knuckle if it is that worn). A worn drop link can create that rattle and pass that shock onto the steering wheel if really shot.

2. With the wheel still off, look at the two rubber bushes (the rear one is known as a rose bush) that connect the wishbone to the suspension mounting points. You should see rubber between the wishbone and the bolt that secures it and that rubber should show no signs of tearing anywhere, if you should see tearing on the one nearest the rear of the wishbone, that will create give in the movement of the wishbone as the car exits the potholes and will be felt when you turn a lock and reverse (a loud clonk)

3. This one depends on the vendor of the drop links...Some will have an allen key in the center of the drop link bolt to hold the bold as you undo and tighten the fastening nut and others will have an open ended spanner shoulder on the side which has the knuckle itself and the rubber boot that protects the coupling from dirt (Yes you cannot see it, but if there is no allen key hole in the bolt, it is there!). Once you figured out which one you have and you have either captivated it with a spanner, or have the allen key inserted, undo the bottom of the two drop link knuckles and detach the drop link from the anti-roll bar. Once disconnected you can twist the anti-roll bar up and down, but although there is some movement, you should not be able to see the roll bar lift up within the anti-roll bar rubber. if you hear any noise when you lift the anti-roll bar and feel any give in that movement, the rubbers are worn and will need to be replaced.

If you car is eating the inside of the tires, you will most likely also have knackered shock absorbers, so if you have to change the wishbone, change the shocks at the same time! You WILL need to replace the two big bolts that hold the wishbone in place, as they have a nasty habit of stripping the thread if they are not undone with WD40 or equivalent lubricant. I found that some wishbones do not come with the two bolts, so head on down to Dees, or a ford parts shop and ensure you get the following bolts and nuts (All Ford part numbers)

.1007951 Bolt
.1038960 Bolt
.6797866x2 Nut
.6080625 Bolt
.1505594 Nut

These are the yaw bolt (the one at the back), the torsion bolt (The big long bolt at the front) and the pinch bolt (the one that passes through the bolt swivel join on the wishbone to suspension leg)

Hope that helps all you MK4 Fiesta drivers out

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