Hello!

New to the forum, and can't seem to find much about this (similar things, but nothing exact).

I bought an S-MAX (2007 2.0 Titanium) three weeks ago, and all was going wonderfully until the last couple of days..

When turning the wheels to the left, no matter how small of an amount, a loud 'grinding/straining' sounds comes from the NSF wheel arch.
This has gotten progressively louder rather quickly (gone from an annoying grind three days ago that was barely audible, to a loud straining noise
today that overpowers the radio).

The noise is more audible inside the car than it is outside, as I stood by the wheel and got my partner to rotate the wheels left to right a few times.

The noise happens when the car is standing still or travelling, and isn't affected by speed.. but doesn't happen when I turn right.

I'm guessing it's something to do with the suspension, but my knowledge of mechanics isn't great, so I don't know where to even start looking or
what/how to check.

I really appreciate any help someone can provide, as I don't really want to spend money at a dealer if it is something I can tinker with myself!

Many thanks,

Craig

Sounds like its probably the bushings or a bearing i'm afraid.

Sounds like its probably the bushings or a bearing i'm afraid.

Thanks for the reply - are these components likely to be something that can fail without warning?

The reason I ask is that the vehicle was inspected by DEKRA (the company the AA use) before I purchased it, and all suspension/hubs/etc were 'fine' at the time of inspection according to the engineer.

I'm writing a complaint to them as I write this, given that I also had to get the battery replaced yesterday!

Many thanks!

They would more than likely degrade as opposed to getting in the car the next day and its broke.

Its possible that the conditions have substantially worsened it (i.e. your drive home was a bit more rough, the oil splashed out discreetly, or dirt was thrown in there and dried it up) which is always a possibility.

Also bear in mind that any inspector can only inspect what they see in front of them, and mechanical parts can be predicted to fail due to the wear and tear on them, however consumables like batteries etc are more difficult as the entire unit is sealed, and unless it was cracked on the casing you wouldnt necessarily be able to tell something was wrong...

iirc you have 28 days to contact dealer to have issues resolved,which does not effect any warranty given on the car.