Clunking/clanking From Drivers Side When Going Over Bumps

[Capesey]

Hi all

Got in the car (2010 Fiesta Zetec S TDCI) the other day only to hear a loud snapping/cracking noise as I sat down! Now, there is a loud clunking noise (a bit like there's a spanner rattling about) from the drivers side of the car when going over potholes.

It sounds like its coming from the drivers side wheel arch. After a bit of unscientific testing - driving over potholes on the passenger side the sound wasn't there whilst driving over potholes on the drivers side got the spanner rattling noise again.

I jacked the car up, took the wheel off and had a look at the suspension and gave things a good tug to see if anything was loose, couldn't find anything obvious so am now mystified what's up with it... Any ideas before I go searching for a garage that'll be open between Christmas and New Year?

Am supposed to be driving from York to Norwich tomorrow to visit some mates and don't really want to get stranded if something is likely to break!

Any advice gratefully received!

Merry Christmas!

Jeff

[DieselPig]

Sounds like a broken spring.

[Capesey]

I couldn't see anything obvious when I looked at it. Would you be able to feel if the spring was broken? I couldn't wobble it by hand and there didn't seem to be any obvious cracks when I ran my hand over it...!

[Gary.J]

Sounds like you've got a broken spring on the drivers side. You shouldn't drive it until you've had that sorted as the end of the broken spring could be doing all sorts of damage to either the damper, or the wing mounting. Unfortunately, to do the job correctly, you'll need to change both springs as the new ones will not be as compressed as the old ones due to age. To check, jack the car up , take the offside wheel off and have a good look at the spring ends. you may see as ours was, part of the spring entwined with the other part. Otherwise, it may be the broken end has fallen out.

Not a very Merry Christmas, unfortunately, but I hope you do have a good one, too.

[Capesey]

Cheers Gary, thanks for the info. Will take it into the local garage in the morning for confirmation. When I had a look I couldn't see an obvious crack, mind you I should've compared it with the spring on the passenger side to see if there were any differences when it was jacked up

[stef123]

I agree with the above, sounds like a broken spring to me. You might be able to see it without jacking the car up, usually they are obvious.

[Capesey]

It's definitely a broken spring - £330 for a pair of springs and fitting

Apparently the springs are £100 each as they are lowered and stiffened with it being a zetec s :o

Anyway nothing I can do as it isn't driveable without a spring so it's not going anywhere until it's fixed

[Gary.J]

Even though its a zetec S I think the perice is way over the top. Try eBay, as there are usually some good sellers prices.

[stef123]

£330 for a pair of springs?? Parts wise they are about £40 each. I can assure you the front spring on a mondeo 2.2 diesel is massive and thicker than a fiesta spring but they only cost £40.

[mike sharlot]

try looking at the wishbone rear bush

[Gary.J]

He's already found the problem. Was a broken spring.