Clunk clunk clunk

[Mrjam86]

Hey all new here

Also a new focus owner had the car for about 3wks now. 

Car model is 2008 Focus zetec 1.6 petrol think it's referred to as a mk2.5

Having driven it about for alittle bit now I've a few concerns. I cannot take this up with the previous owner as there now in a diffrent country and I had it for so cheap I'd be cheeky to even ask. 

 

Basically I've a list of things that I think are minor/major problems but I'm alittle unsure so hopefully someone with a bit more knowledge could maybe clear these few concerns up shed some light on the situation. 

1) if pulling off from a stand still in first and turning right (think u-turn) I get a hell of a clunk clunk clunk noise. This only happens going sharp right and giving it some welly. I've been told this could be drivers side cv joint would that make sense? 

2)upon changing gear whilst all ready driving so like 2nd-3rd or vise versa I get a strange knock this is not ever often but its there sounds like it's coming from bottom of gearbox middle dash area but could be wrong. Is this linked to question 1 or something else

3) if the car is started and in neutral upon moving the steering wheel from lock to lock I get a very weird rubbing noise this is very hard to describe it almost sounds like someone rubbing up and down rubber/plastic. I've checked wheels and nothing seems to be touching arches etc 

4) the car has a steering wheel shake at around 65-70mph the car came with 4 new tyres all of the same tread pattern and I've had my local nationwide balance and track but the steering wheel still shakes at given speed. 

 

5) if braking from a high speed say 70 down to say 20-25 I experience a wobble feels like its coming from drivers side brakes/wheel but again alittle unsure. 

That's about it for the problems I've done a bit of research and I've two questions that someone maybe able to also help with sorry for babbling just trying to get this all sorted before marches mot. 

 

1) I've looked into driveshafts and there ringing in at well over 250 for the pair but flea Bay has a company j and r trading Ltd I've read alot of reviews and seems hit and miss just wondering if anyone fitted to a focus like mine and the outcome? 

 

And finally last question which my haynes manual couldn't provide the answer or I've over looked it. 

 

I realise that drive shafts. Have the option for abs or non abs. And I know my car Has abs but it's withing the wheel bearing hub assembly and the sensor sits into knuckle (is this correct?) so would I therefor order a non Abs shaft complete with joints or would I still need an abs shaft with the teeth? I'm alittle confused as j and r says compatible and eurocarparts/ local factors all show pictures without that abs teeth ring. 

 

Thank for taking the time to reply really appreciate all your help and sorry for the lengthy post

[Dee_82]

10 hours ago, Mrjam86 said:

Hey all new here

Also a new focus owner had the car for about 3wks now. 

Car model is 2008 Focus zetec 1.6 petrol think it's referred to as a mk2.5

Having driven it about for alittle bit now I've a few concerns. I cannot take this up with the previous owner as there now in a diffrent country and I had it for so cheap I'd be cheeky to even ask. 

 

Basically I've a list of things that I think are minor/major problems but I'm alittle unsure so hopefully someone with a bit more knowledge could maybe clear these few concerns up shed some light on the situation. 

1) if pulling off from a stand still in first and turning right (think u-turn) I get a hell of a clunk clunk clunk noise. This only happens going sharp right and giving it some welly. I've been told this could be drivers side cv joint would that make sense? 

2)upon changing gear whilst all ready driving so like 2nd-3rd or vise versa I get a strange knock this is not ever often but its there sounds like it's coming from bottom of gearbox middle dash area but could be wrong. Is this linked to question 1 or something else

3) if the car is started and in neutral upon moving the steering wheel from lock to lock I get a very weird rubbing noise this is very hard to describe it almost sounds like someone rubbing up and down rubber/plastic. I've checked wheels and nothing seems to be touching arches etc 

4) the car has a steering wheel shake at around 65-70mph the car came with 4 new tyres all of the same tread pattern and I've had my local nationwide balance and track but the steering wheel still shakes at given speed. 

 

5) if braking from a high speed say 70 down to say 20-25 I experience a wobble feels like its coming from drivers side brakes/wheel but again alittle unsure. 

That's about it for the problems I've done a bit of research and I've two questions that someone maybe able to also help with sorry for babbling just trying to get this all sorted before marches mot. 

 

1) I've looked into driveshafts and there ringing in at well over 250 for the pair but flea Bay has a company j and r trading Ltd I've read alot of reviews and seems hit and miss just wondering if anyone fitted to a focus like mine and the outcome? 

 

And finally last question which my haynes manual couldn't provide the answer or I've over looked it. 

 

I realise that drive shafts. Have the option for abs or non abs. And I know my car Has abs but it's withing the wheel bearing hub assembly and the sensor sits into knuckle (is this correct?) so would I therefor order a non Abs shaft complete with joints or would I still need an abs shaft with the teeth? I'm alittle confused as j and r says compatible and eurocarparts/ local factors all show pictures without that abs teeth ring. 

 

Thank for taking the time to reply really appreciate all your help and sorry for the lengthy post

1, Quite normal, your probably hearing the ABS system do its thing, if you accelerate hard and do that it sounds like the engine has fallen off its mount

2, Mine knocks some times, I just put it down to the DMF, but I don't think the petrol has one of thos, still, its probably nothing to be worried about, other folk on here will have a better answer for this one.

3, it could be the assisted steering pump, I believe its electrical, this can have a negative effect on the available power from the alternator which in turn struggles to keep up with demand., might be something to do with that, I doubt its a problem unless your alternator is on its way out but that would have a number of other side effects

4,i had that issue on my car and like yourself I had the wheels balanced and realigned but curiously it wasn't until I asked them to centre the steering wheel / wheel alighnment, that it was fixed. My steering wheel was about 1-2d off centre axis, I had them centre the steering wheel THEN realign it. after that its been perfect.  I wonder if they actually do realign anything if its within a certain margin of tolerance.

5, could be a warped disc or it might be related to question 4

6, fleebay can be good, then again it can be garbage. you generally get what you pay for, if its too good to be true then it probably is, that doesn't meen you need to pay ford prices but id look at some of the bigger brands and decide, I picked up some cheap drop links and they were trashed after a few 1000 miles, so I then got some others which cost more and they have been fine for about 20k now. why do you want to replace the drive shafts?

7, same as Q6, why do you want to replace them?

 

Finally, welcome to the forum! :D

 

 

[Mrjam86]

40 minutes ago, Dee_82 said:

1, Quite normal, your probably hearing the ABS system do its thing, if you accelerate hard and do that it sounds like the engine has fallen off its mount

2, Mine knocks some times, I just put it down to the DMF, but I don't think the petrol has one of thos, still, its probably nothing to be worried about, other folk on here will have a better answer for this one.

3, it could be the assisted steering pump, I believe its electrical, this can have a negative effect on the available power from the alternator which in turn struggles to keep up with demand., might be something to do with that, I doubt its a problem unless your alternator is on its way out but that would have a number of other side effects

4,i had that issue on my car and like yourself I had the wheels balanced and realigned but curiously it wasn't until I asked them to centre the steering wheel / wheel alighnment, that it was fixed. My steering wheel was about 1-2d off centre axis, I had them centre the steering wheel THEN realign it. after that its been perfect.  I wonder if they actually do realign anything if its within a certain margin of tolerance.

5, could be a warped disc or it might be related to question 4

6, fleebay can be good, then again it can be garbage. you generally get what you pay for, if its too good to be true then it probably is, that doesn't meen you need to pay ford prices but id look at some of the bigger brands and decide, I picked up some cheap drop links and they were trashed after a few 1000 miles, so I then got some others which cost more and they have been fine for about 20k now. why do you want to replace the drive shafts?

7, same as Q6, why do you want to replace them?

 

Finally, welcome to the forum! :D

 

 

Thanks Dee_82 for the reply certainly touches on what I was thinking apart from the abs knocking rapidly upon giving it some welly.

How likely is it that this could pass the mot? 

Edit* is there a way I can test engine mounts? And any ideas how many where there located?  Thanks dee

 

And to answer the question about drive shafts. 

 

I've been told that the knock is most likely the driver side outer cv joint. 

 

I have checked and cannot see any damage to the boots on both sides outer and inner so am questioning this myself but I'm no mechanic only a fast learning diyer. 

 

The garage that I asked for alittle advise told me that the cv joints are pretty expensive in the region of 60-80 + vat quid a side and he'd most likely charge around two hours labour at 81quid

So looking around 250 to change both outer cvs. He said the problem with this is that with the age of the car there's no guarantee that he does the outers and then the inners go bad or apparently a bearing that sits on the shaft. 

He's told me that some of these parts are not available. And the haynes manual I have also says at time of writing no parts available and I've struggled to come up with anything.  

With doing some research Ive come up with these options and hit a wall. 

 

Garage charges 250 and changes both outer cvs. 

Garage charges 440. 81 quid of this is labour and he supplies and fits two new shafts (unsure of quality on new shafts cheapest he could find apparently) 

I could pay 81 for garage to fit and I supply these. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F282006324112

Or there's a set from jandrcvjoint.co.uk which come in at £60 for the pair which does sound very cheap but on the same note if they lasted another 20k I'd probably be happy cost vs useage wise. 

 

Or final option I fit myself and just pay for parts which I'm still researching and mulling the idea over.

I've done a bit of work to my old mitsubishi colt such things included

General service studf, rear coils, front struts, front n rear hub assemblys, brake discs pads, clutch plate n release bearing. 

But not alot to this focus yet apart from changed the both from bearing upon purchase due to them both rumbling  changed and been perfect in regards to rumbling. 

 

Thanks again for the reply and the welcome :) 

 

 

 

[Dee_82]

haha, I was meaning it metaphorically sounds like the engine has fallen off, meaning for some reason, if turn on the car, lock the steering to the side then accelerate hard, it makes a tremendous CLANG! sound :) its perfectly normal, albeit, somewhat bazar! it wont fail an MOT for that

As for the drive shaft, of course its perfectly possible that the CV join is dud but I'm not sure where his getting that opinion from, if its just the clang sound then its easy to double check, the ABS will only do it the first time once it hits a certain speed, I think its around 10MPH, so if you turn the car on, then turn the wheel and accelerate it will make the noise, without turning the engine off, come to a stop and do it again. if its is the ABS, then you wont hear it again as it only does it the once until you turn off the car. A knocking CV joint isn't an MOT fail either as long as its intact and not leaking!

the ABS makes the noise in a straight line as well but when turning its much louder, at least it is on mine!

if your considering doing it yourself then you might as well take a look at the control arms, the bushes will be perishing if they haven't been replaced already, since you need to do 90% of the work to get the drive shaft out, you might as well time it and do the whole control arm at the same time. taking the shafts out is a fairly large job so you might as well get as much done whilst they are out as you can.

 

[Mrjam86]

1 hour ago, Dee_82 said:

haha, I was meaning it metaphorically sounds like the engine has fallen off, meaning for some reason, if turn on the car, lock the steering to the side then accelerate hard, it makes a tremendous CLANG! sound :) its perfectly normal, albeit, somewhat bazar! it wont fail an MOT for that

As for the drive shaft, of course its perfectly possible that the CV join is dud but I'm not sure where his getting that opinion from, if its just the clang sound then its easy to double check, the ABS will only do it the first time once it hits a certain speed, I think its around 10MPH, so if you turn the car on, then turn the wheel and accelerate it will make the noise, without turning the engine off, come to a stop and do it again. if its is the ABS, then you wont hear it again as it only does it the once until you turn off the car. A knocking CV joint isn't an MOT fail either as long as its intact and not leaking!

the ABS makes the noise in a straight line as well but when turning its much louder, at least it is on mine!

if your considering doing it yourself then you might as well take a look at the control arms, the bushes will be perishing if they haven't been replaced already, since you need to do 90% of the work to get the drive shaft out, you might as well time it and do the whole control arm at the same time. taking the shafts out is a fairly large job so you might as well get as much done whilst they are out as you can.

 

Thanks dee makes perfect sense. 

 

I've been out to the car and tested the abs and can confirm when pulling off with lock that there's multiple knocks. If keeping the engine running and trying multiple times u get multiple knocks. 

 

Definatly sounds like its from the drivers side outer cv. Almost like a slipping causing a knock. 

 

Thanks for the recommendation with Control arm bushes just a quick question regarding. 

 

I've notice they sell bushes or whole complete arms. Not alot of cost added for the complete unit

What would be your recommendation? 

Time vs effort are the old bushes a pitta to remove and fit new would i require a press or any other special tool? 

 

And another off the topic question

Car was bought as is with no documents apart from the new v5c and one old mot slip.  I'm un sure of any service history apart from it was owned by days rentals. 

 

Is there anyway for me to tell or check if work has been carried out before. Car is currently sat at around 123k miles and I'm thinking about timing belt and other service items prob bit of a long shot but figured I'd ask. 

[Dee_82]

Ok, that does sound more like a CV joint issue. Regarding the control arm, you'll thank your self if you replace the whole arm, that will also cover the ball joint so it makes sense to do the lot. Mind there are two versions of the ball joint, a 19mm and a 21. You can tell the difference by a small coloured clip just below the ball joint, I think blue is 21 but I can't be sure , if you look at a new control arm picture you will see the coloured ring I'm talking about. You can find out MOT history. I'll post a link to you when I get home, but service history, no chance, unless perhaps the garage they did the MOST at kept records of services as well, in which case you could ask but I wouldn't hold my breath. At 120k timing belt would be top of my to-do list. If that goes then .... Well, game over with a car that old (mines the same age, different engine, changed my belt about 80k)

[Dee_82]

https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/?_ga=1.219117456.865417927.1477904396

 

type in the reg of your car, then select MOT history. 

I find out the results of my MOT before they even call me, its also really useful for checking the history of a car before buying it

[Micro]

5 hours ago, Dee_82 said:

haha, I was meaning it metaphorically sounds like the engine has fallen off, meaning for some reason, if turn on the car, lock the steering to the side then accelerate hard, it makes a tremendous CLANG! sound :) its perfectly normal, albeit, somewhat bazar! it wont fail an MOT for that

 

Only happens once per drive cycle unless you actually do slip the wheels (easier to do trying to turn hard and accelerate hard). Noises themselves I believe won't cause an MOT fail, only if there is excessive movement or failure of the joint/boot (allowing ingress of stuff).

If you watch this video (and watch him take it apart and analyse) you'll see that even with an intact boot, there can still be a failed/faulty CV joint. Eric's got a good load of videos.

 

[Dee_82]

oh of course, just because something passes an MOT doesn't mean its legit or road worthy! :)

 

[Mrjam86]

Thanks dee that's most useful to know about the diffrent size balljoint and I'll do some recon see what's been had mot wise later tonight.

Shame there's not some type of service system I was Actually thinking about timing belt as haynes manual makes reference to changing at 100k but without inside knowledge I wouldn't know how to tell if it has been changed recently before I got the car or not. 

 

Is there anyway to visually check if the timing belts been done already?  

Thanks for the input Micro that video is exactly the type of stuff I've been looking for helps me to understand a great deal more.  Bookmarked  cheers buddy

[Dee_82]

Not that I'm aware of, unless they helpfully wrote the date on the timing belt cover!

check the state of the Aux belt, if its on its last legs then there is less chance of timing belt being done. not that's a guarantee mind! 

[Micro]

Like Dee_82 said, there is no guarantee that it's been done if the aux belts look new, but it is prescribed to change the belt/s when doing the timing belt (as they need to come off, and are the "stretchy" type), so the markings should be present in some shape or form. My old belts (with 84k) were marking less when they came off along with being crazed all over.