Rattle in the left front suspension area

***FOUND IT***

I know that it is next to impossible to diagnose this kind of problem from afar, but I am going crazy and hope someone else has run into this.

I have a 1992 SC and it started to develop this rattle/clunking noise under the left front. I replaced the upper ball joints and the anti-roll bar links with no help. I then noticed the engine mounts were gone allowing the "safety" steel retainers to ground out and thought I had found the trouble. Replaced the engine mounts and if anything, the noise is worse.

I don't think it is in the suspension as bouncing the front end up and down emits no noise. While driving over a slightly rough road it sounds like something heavy is bouncing up and down making the noise. I've had it on the rack numerous times and can't find anything loose. Help, Help, Help!

Can you easily repeat the clunk??

I had one on my '91 (everytime i hit the brakes it would make a clunking noise.. Felt it in the steering wheel and everything.. swore up and down it was suspension.. Then one day.. Well trying to be more shure i had the dorr open, and could NOT get it to do it.. CLosed the door, there it was... I knew the hinge pin was worn but After replacing it, the clunk went away..

Now my '89 is doing the same thing.. and the Door hinge pin is worn on it too..

But both cases where a clunking like noise.. Not a rattle (Rusted out muffler kinda noise)

Just a thought..

Did you check tie rod ends, frame mount bolts......???

91 XR7 said:

Can you easily repeat the clunk??

I had one on my '91 (everytime i hit the brakes it would make a clunking noise.. Felt it in the steering wheel and everything.. swore up and down it was suspension.. Then one day.. Well trying to be more shure i had the dorr open, and could NOT get it to do it.. CLosed the door, there it was... I knew the hinge pin was worn but After replacing it, the clunk went away..

Now my '89 is doing the same thing.. and the Door hinge pin is worn on it too..

But both cases where a clunking like noise.. Not a rattle (Rusted out muffler kinda noise)

Just a thought..

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I can definitely repeat the noise by driving the car. I cannot repeat it on the rack or standing still. I will try the door thing, but I can't imagine it.

RadiumSC said:

Did you check tie rod ends, frame mount bolts......???

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Absolutely. I even had the mechanic that replaced the engine mounts (too big of a job for me) spend over two hours trying to re tighten every thing, and he couldn't find anything although he definitely heard the clunking when he drove the car.

Front End "Clunking"

I had this exact same problem on my '91 SC.....It made a fairly loud "clunking" noise coming from the front left. I could not duplicate the clunk with the car on the ground, and a trip to the rack revealed nothing obviously wrong, it only made the noise when actually on the road. It was fairly loud, and really bugged me. I detest any clunking or rattling noises in my vehicles, especially my SC's...
At first I thought it to be a broken shock, as that's what it acted and sounded like. I also had a "three-flash" signal, indicating a problem with the actuator in that shock.
Due to money restraints, and on the advice of a good "Ford Only" mechanic, I replaced both the L & R stabilizer bar links.
When you say "anti-roll bar link", I assume that we are talking about the same thing, that you mean the stabilizer bar. It's also commonly called a "sway-bar", and "anti-roll bar" but the shop manual identifies the proper terminology for it, to be the stabilizer bar, and the stabilizer bar links.
Anyway, I ordered replacement parts from SCP, had them installed for $50 both sides, and it completely eliminated the clunking noises.
It was far easier (and less expensive), than I thought it would be.
It's always best to replace these in pairs. They are Left and Right side specific. Replacing just one side doesn't usually do it, because the action on the bar from one wheel to the other, goes through both stabilizer bar links, and if they are worn out, they will usually have the same amount of wear on both sides. It can be hard to identify a clunk here to one specific side.
Since you didn't mention specifically whether you had replaced both sides or just the left side, I thought I'd mention it to you. Mine had the same problem, and it was frustrating for a bit, but was actually a relatively easy, and not very costly, repair.
Hope this helps you get your 'Bird quiet again........~Dave D.

If your door is soild (hindge pins not worn) dought it will be.. But it just ended up being so in my car..

Like over bumps it would clunk.. hit the brakes it would clunk.. and i seriously felt it in the steering wheel and even the brake pedal sometimes.. and it was slightly muffled, so i swore it was suspension too.. but going through everything, and find it to be good.. i was stumped.. untill one day moving it back and forth while jabbing the brakes, i had the door open, trying to see which end the noise truely was coming from and it wasn't there anymore...

It's a option, and when you said you replaced basiclly everything suspension wise...

Actually I did replace both sides of the "stabilizer bar links". Interestingly I thought this fixed the problem for a few days, but the clunking returned. I wonder if one of the sides could be defective. I am not sure how to check them. One interesting fact is that every time I look at the new links, they have rotated so the boot is exposing the link. I tried rotating them back and they just return. I figured if I kept the joints full of grease they would be OK.

91 XR7 said:

If your door is soild (hindge pins not worn) dought it will be.. But it just ended up being so in my car..

Like over bumps it would clunk.. hit the brakes it would clunk.. and i seriously felt it in the steering wheel and even the brake pedal sometimes.. and it was slightly muffled, so i swore it was suspension too.. but going through everything, and find it to be good.. i was stumped.. untill one day moving it back and forth while jabbing the brakes, i had the door open, trying to see which end the noise truely was coming from and it wasn't there anymore...

It's a option, and when you said you replaced basiclly everything suspension wise...

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I am going to check that this week.

91 XR7, you might be on to something. I just tried opening the door and pushing up and down at the rear. I couldn't feel or see any play, but pushing and lifting hard I was able to hear the clunking sound for the first time standing still. Pushing down on the left front fender does not produce the sound.

Later today, I am going to try opening the door while moving to see if that has any effect.

Darth said:

I am going to try opening the door while moving

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If the end links are loose and move easily, they are worn. I doubt new ones would go bad that fast, so I doubt that is your problem. Good luck with the door expirement, hopefully that is the problem.

I didn't notice if anyone mentioned this, but if you have clunking in the front suspension when driving over bumps check your strut rod bushings. When they collapse, you will get clunking and popping noise when making sharp turns or driving over bumps... (If someone suggested this already and I missed it, sorry about that.)

LJGriggs said:

I didn't notice if anyone mentioned this, but if you have clunking in the front suspension when driving over bumps check your strut rod bushings. When they collapse, you will get clunking and popping noise when making sharp turns or driving over bumps... (If someone suggested this already and I missed it, sorry about that.)

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Thanks,but that is one of the first things I checked. They can be checked while bouncing the front end up and down.

RadiumSC said:

If the end links are loose and move easily, they are worn. I doubt new ones would go bad that fast, so I doubt that is your problem. Good luck with the door expirement, hopefully that is the problem.

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Opening the door while driving did not eliminate the noise. But this got me thinking. Why could I duplicate the "clunk" by pulling the door up and down, but not the front fender. I noticed that pushing on the front fender bounced the front end up and down, but pulling on the door when it is open rocks the car from side to side. This leads me back to the stabilizer bar links. I am going to get the car back up on the rack and unhook the right hand link and see if I can get the noise by moving the stabilizer bar up and down. All new parts are not necessarily perfect.

95pearlbird, you mentioned that your car was "Left and Right side specific". Mine were the same for both sides, and a check of SCP also says they are the same???

Check your upper strut mount. I had both of mine fall apart. They looked fine, but the metal rod in the middle came loose from the rubber so it wasn't really much of a mount anymore. I had the hood open and was bouncing the fender up and down and noticed the shock was sticking up when pushed down on the car instead of compressing with the car.

There are pics in this post on page 3:

http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88073

struts...strut mounts...sway bar end links...strut rod bushings...all very common and hard to diagnose. One thing though, bouncing it won't cut it for the strut rod bushings. Visually inspect them, and pry them back and forth (compressing and uncompressing, respectively) looking for any excessive movement.

FOUND IT! My diagnosis after rocking the car side to side with the door turned out right. My "new" driver's side stabilizer bar link was bad. I disconnected the passenger side link with the car on a rack, and push-pulled the stabilizer bar and sure enough I not only heard the noise, but I could see play the driver's side upper link joint. Hopefully O'Reilly's will replace it (I have thrown out the receipt), but if they wont it will still be worth buying another new one to get rid of this clunking.

Thanks all for the advice. If it hadn't been for 91 XR7's advice about the door hinges, I wouldn't have tracked this down.

Never ignore obvious problems just because you have installed new parts.

I could be wrong about them being left and right side specific. If so, I know where I got that idea. I checked their price and availability on several different parts sites. There are many different manufacturers of the end links, and their prices vary widely, from 40 to 90 bucks each. Many of them have different part numbers for the L & R sides, so perhaps I assumed they were different, from side to side. Also I had previously read another post here on the SCCOA that the Moog ones were superior to the others, so I wanted to check that out,too.
If I was wrong, my bad, sorry about that. I ended up buying mine from SCP, as the price was right, and I trust them to carry the best available for the price, they know their SC's. Also, I've never had their parts crap out on me, like I've others have, and like you just experienced. Before installing, they did look the same. I didn't want to hassle it so I had my Ford-only mechanic install them for me. Having a rack makes that type of work so much easier than being on my back in the driveway.
I had a hunch that's where your clunking was from, especially when you said it went away, then came back. Glad you finally got it nailed down and fixed!
Valuable lesson about parts quality here. Sometimes paying a little more is better than doing the same job twice. I ran into the same thing when replacing the power steering rack on my '95SC. My mechanic (who sees a lot more T-Birds than I ever will) advised me which brands to stay away from. He had several re-man's from one manufacturer start leaking within a year, and that rack can be a real messy PIA to get in and out, not to mention the 200-300 labor cost, thats not covered.
Just like here, more people you talk to, more opinions and advice you get on any particular subject....and that's a good thing. Nothing is guaranteed perfect, not even the space shuttle, even when brand new. Another reason I never buy any vehicle first model year. Work the bugs out, put on some miles, see what breaks, fix them, ..........then I'll buy it.
Happy Cruising~ ~Dave

My parts were Moog too. I've never had one of their parts defective either, but anybody can have a bad one slip by. Nothing is perfect. I'm just happy that I found it and can have a quiet bird now.

For the records my moog sway bar end link failed on my car also. It failed on the top side of the end link on the drivers side. My moog sway bar end links are just over 2 years old. I had to dig out my receipt and Oreilly's warrantied both sides. Now it is nice and quiet again.