Steering making a knocking sound on turns
 

Hi all

SHould I worry I have a 2001 UK ford focus. No probs but it has started making a singl clunk/ knocking sound as I make a turn. I do not believe it has before but I tend to have the stereo on loud.


Do not want to take it to garage unless I have to !

You have a bad CV joint, which down the road could lead to its failure. If that happens at speed, you won't like the results.

The good news is that it's an easy fix that doesn't take much time to do - all the shop will do is replace the axle and you'll be good to go. That works out to between 80 and 100 dollars here in the states. Not sure what the conversion rate is, but it's not an expensive fix at all.

Thanks for that will get it booked in


cheers shakran :thumbsup:

Not hard to do urself either, the axle should cost about 50$ plus core charge. takes about an hour to do if u know how. Raise your hand if youve broken an axle! <<<<Raises hand.

Could be a bad axle boot.

I remember back when I work in a Dodge dealership I had to fix a Dakota that had a problem like that...and it was the collar peace inside the steering column that the airbags contected to (kinda like a gyro on a BMX bike) but maybe Ford's are different.

I've seen wheel bearings cause the same problems, pretty easy diagnosis, just jack up the car and spin the wheels by hands, you should be easily able to tell if its a cv joint or a wheel bearing.

Don't overlook the possibilty that it could be a bound strut bearing. When the bearing goes bad it will make a single thump when it gets so far into the turn. Easily check by jacking wheel off the ground and turning the wheel left or right manually, you will feel the thump :)

My friend curbed his wheel HARD a couple days ago from sliding in snow. He bent his lower control arm, and his inner tie rod, that thing clunks ALOT in turns. I think u might know if it was somthing that serious in your car.

It's most likely a bad CV joint. You might want to get that fixed as soon as you can otherwise you won't have much a front end soon.

A single clunk sounds more like a worn strut bearing, swaybar bushing, or ball joint going bad. The first two aren't extremely serious, but if a ball joint goes then your suspension at the affected corner will collapse and the wheel will smash into the fender. Needless to say you'd be well advised to get it checked out and find out what the noise is.

A CV joint is also a possibility, but usually when one of those goes bad it's more of a "knock knock knock knock" as you begin to accelerate around a turn.

a bad cv makes a repeadeted clicking noise while corenering.

single click/klunk:
tie rod
ball joint
strut bearing plate
wheel bearing lateral movement
control arm pickup bolts
loose swaybar mount/endlink

a dry steering intermdiate shaft wil also make noise, but it will do it over bumps, regardless of turning.

identifiey which side the noise is coming from, jack upt hat corner and remove the tire. try moving the various suspension bits and steering gear to see if anything is loose. if you can't visually identify anything and nothing feels loose, then you will need ot take it in.