Hi everyone, newbie here looking for help please

My 2014 Ford Fiesta started with a knocking that sounded like it was coming from the front passenger side, but only when cornering to the right and sometimes on straight but very bumpy roads (but mainly when turning to the right).  So we jacked the car up and checked for play in various areas but as we know, these things can be tricky to pinpoint.  So fast forward a few weeks and we have replaced: Tie rods, Track rod ends, Drop Links and Top shock mounts.

Now the knocking has not gone but it has changed......it's now not making any noise under right hand steer (yey) but is knocking all the time (boo) over any bumpy surfaces.  It seems to be worse at low speeds and under deceleration and now the noise sounds more central than it did before.

Next thought is the CV joints but we are getting close to running out of ideas if that doesn't work, so any and all suggestions from the experts here would be very welcome 🙂

 

Check for broken springs, hidden in the cups or worn shock absorbers

There's no broken springs but will get in properly and double check the shocks again, thank you

Have heard of an instance where the sideskirt fitted against the outer sill behind the front wheel was insecure and was knocking. Don’t know if you have the plastic side skirts on your vehicle

It does have them yes but this isn't where the noise is coming from, we have checked and double checked this but thank you for the suggestion :)

Mine had a knocking noise on front right - MOT fail on 'Offside Front Lower Suspension arm ball joint excessively worn'.  Apparently quite common on the mk7.

I bought a pair of Lemforder wishbone/lower control arms for about 60 GBP each and just replaced the arm rather than faffing with the ball joint.

But instead of guessing, why not take it for an MOT and they should tell you?

3 hours ago, orangecurry said:

I bought a pair of Lemforder wishbone/lower control arms for about 60 GBP each and just replaced the arm rather than faffing with the ball joint.

That's probably the cheaper option, if you're not doing the job yourself, too. 👍

Given you say it now sounds more central and you have replaced drop links I would strongly suspect ARB bushes, known to go on these, can be difficult to detect the play as a small amount can be pretty noisy under load the vehicle puts upon them 

15 hours ago, orangecurry said:

Mine had a knocking noise on front right - MOT fail on 'Offside Front Lower Suspension arm ball joint excessively worn'.  Apparently quite common on the mk7.

I bought a pair of Lemforder wishbone/lower control arms for about 60 GBP each and just replaced the arm rather than faffing with the ball joint.

But instead of guessing, why not take it for an MOT and they should tell you?

It's been in to a garage but they couldn't find the source at the time, I think it will have to go back in because as you say, guessing is costing us money!

11 hours ago, swelding said:

Given you say it now sounds more central and you have replaced drop links I would strongly suspect ARB bushes, known to go on these, can be difficult to detect the play as a small amount can be pretty noisy under load the vehicle puts upon them 

Thankyou, we'll check this out (or maybe ask the garage to do it if we take it back in) 

My OH used to be on the spanners so he has very good knowledge, he just doesn't have the tools and equipment to be able to do a lot himself anymore, so we're limited on the amount of work we can do ourselves  

1 hour ago, FordFriend said:

It's been in to a garage but they couldn't find the source at the time, I think it will have to go back in because as you say, guessing is costing us money!

Unless you really trust the garage, take it somewhere else, as they really should be able to find the problem, unless it's a pair of sunglasses in the glove box.

If you've had a recent MOT, take it back to them and ask if they remember anything... if you haven't, then take it to an MOT-only specialist - they'll do a thorough and fair job (as they don't do any actual repairs) and if they can't find anything, it's almost certainly NOT structural, so you can take your time finding it.

Sounds like a failing ball joint in the wishbone to me. Can be difficult to diagnose due to the suspension spring keeping everything in a state of tension, and it only takes a very small amount of play to cause a noise that gets amplified through the wishbone and connected subframe.

I would've suspected this before all the things you've replaced as the wishbone ball joint take a lot of battering when driving and also sits in a disadvantaged position at the bottom of wheel hub/knuckle thus prone to getting a regular soaking. The split collar design of the knuckle on the Fiesta also increases opportunity for water to get inside the ball joint cover where it is then unable to escape.

If it is the ball joint it'll gradually get worse, and will eventually cause an MOT failure once picked up.

Alternatively, it could be the anti-roll bar bushes wearing out and either allowing the bar to knock inside the hole or move side-to-side. Again another very common failure point. Prior to knocking, a telltale sign of impending failure is squeaking over the winter as the hardened rubber fails to grip the bar as tightly as it normally would. Given the suspicion of it coming (even originally) from the front-left though I'd still be suspecting the wishbone ball joint first.

Mine had a similar knock from new and after 6 visits to the dealership and many suspension parts replaced a faulty engine mount was found to be the cause.

It might be the same in your case?

Thank you again everyone for your suggestions

It's due to go in the garage tomorrow to be looked over again.....this time we are using the garage that always does our MOT's so we fully trust them

And if they don't find anything.....it may just have to remain one of life's (very annoying) little mysteries 🙄

 

On 6/26/2024 at 12:42 PM, MJNewton said:

Sounds like a failing ball joint in the wishbone to me. Can be difficult to diagnose due to the suspension spring keeping everything in a state of tension, and it only takes a very small amount of play to cause a noise that gets amplified through the wishbone and connected subframe.

I would've suspected this before all the things you've replaced as the wishbone ball joint take a lot of battering when driving and also sits in a disadvantaged position at the bottom of wheel hub/knuckle thus prone to getting a regular soaking. The split collar design of the knuckle on the Fiesta also increases opportunity for water to get inside the ball joint cover where it is then unable to escape.

If it is the ball joint it'll gradually get worse, and will eventually cause an MOT failure once picked up.

 

You were absolutely right!  This was the problem and the garage had time to do the repair today so it's all fixed now and beautifully quiet again 😌

Thankyou again for all of your suggestions everyone, hopefully this thread can be of use to someone else in the future and this forum will be my first port of call for advice in the future 😃