I've had this C-Max mk2 (Ecoboost petrol 1.6 110kW, 2012) for 6 years now, and I'm really happy with it. However, I ran into a strange problem.

Since about a year ago, when driving in a sharper left curve, a rhythmic knocking can be heard somewhere between the front wheels. A friend who services my car located the problem in the homokinetic joint on the right half shaft. He ordered a half shaft (it comes with two joints) by chassis number.

However, when the half shaft arrived, we found it was different from the old one, so we did nothing. Since it is not a critical problem, I drove like this for a couple of months, but the sound got louder and louder. I would like to mention that before you could hear it only after driving maybe some ten miles, but now you could hear it immediately.

The friend ordered the half shaft again in another place, according to the chassis number, car model, year, but the wrong one arrived again. When the inner joints are aligned, the inner arm of the old half shaft is longer and the outer arm (with the outer joint) is shorter, which can be seen in the attached picture.

A friend disassembled the joints on the old half shaft and lubricated them, but the knocking is again present, albeit more quietly and again after driving maybe ten miles.

Does anyone have experience with this, and how do I go about ordering the correct half shaft? We already contacted the authorized Ford service, but they were of no help.

Parts catalogue:

https://catalogs.ssg.asia/ford/?lang=en#bWFya2V0PT1ldXJvfHxjYXRfaWQ9PTExMTA3fHxjYWJicj09R0NCN3x8dGhrPT0zfHxzdD09NjB8fHN0cz09eyIyMCI6IkV1cm9wZSIsIjMwIjoiRm9jdXMgQy1NYXggQ0I3IDIwMTEtMjAxNSIsIjQwIjoiMiBDaGFzc2lzIiwiNTAiOiIyMDUwNCBDaGFzc2lzLkRyaXZlc2hhZnQgLSBGcm9udCBBeGxlIiwiNjAiOiIyMDUwNDEwRCBEcml2ZSBTaGFmdCAtIEZyb250IEF4bGUgRHJpdmU7IDEuNkwgRWNvQm9vc3QgU0NUaSAifXx8QUM9PUFDMEIwfHxEUj09RFIwQTB8fEVOPT1FTkpRMHx8YWxwaGE9PTJ8fGdyb3VwPT0yMDUwNHx8c2VjdD09MjAwOUFFVXx8c2V0PT1CNzIwNTA0fHxpbWc9PUswMjIyNjgzMDN8fGYxMj09LTMyNzEyMzcxMisxMzE%3D

Receiving the wrong shaft is a well known problem on the Focus MK3 / C-max MK2 with 1.6 ECOboost engine. Aftermarket part manufacturers seem not able to supply the correct shaft.  

The only way to obtain the correct shaft is by ordering it from Ford.

Wow, thanks a lot people! Now I finally have the right part number. I will now try contacting my local Ford dealer.

Damn. The genuine Ford part costs some 600 quid! What do you think, if I only purchase the joints from third party, can they be fitted on my old axle?

1 hour ago, mandicr said:

if I only purchase the joints from third party, can they be fitted on my old axle?

Probably not.

You could always buy a complete axle from a scrapyard.

9 hours ago, unofix said:

Probably not.

You could always buy a complete axle from a scrapyard.

Unfortunately, C-Max is not very frequent car model in my part of the world so I doubt even better equipped scrapyards have C-Max parts. If it was a VW it would be a different story...

5 minutes ago, mandicr said:

C-Max is not very frequent car model in my part of the world

Have you checked the part number (finis code) that you need, to see if the Focus uses the same drive shaft ?

If I were you, I would try a website that sells scrap parts. I would preferably pay with PayPal and contact the seller beforehand to explain the situation and provide the measurements of my driveshaft.