hi i have an 04 mounty. v8 awd. when i drive over bumps like a speed bump or big curb, etc. the front end makes a noise. is there something to grease in there. has anyone else had this?

I havea '03 mountaineer. 60k miles. I havethis issue. I have had it now for about 8 months now. The dealership could never replicate the noise when they drove it. It seems to make the most noise when it is about 50 degrees outside. It sounds likea worn out mattress. That kindof squeaking noise.

that is exactly what i am experiencing. i spoke with a manager at a tire kingdom. [img]smileys/smiley5.gif[/img] while i was getting an alignment on our van. he said it was the shocks. but now it has warmed up here. the noise has gone away or not as noticeable. let me know if you get this resolved.

The dealership is replacing the front ball joints to fix this problem. Hopefully this fixes it because I have 8,000 miles left on the extended warranty.

let me know if that fixes it.

The ball joint replacement did not fix this problem. I think it may be the bushings?.?

There's no way you will get an valuable answer to this question, cause it lacks pretty much every important detail a mechanic would need to know.


Not to mention that a diagnosis from far away, in a forum, is simply impossible, as the noise can not be heard.


That brings us to the essential of the issue: What kind of noise? It can be a clacking, cracking etc. etc. noise, it can be metal to metal, or a soft one, it could be squeaking or rattling, or lots of other ways.


I had my front end redone a few months ago (see other posting), due to a noise at my front end (which went from squeaking to rattling, thru clonking).When I went over even the slightest bump in the road, it made a clonking noise, metal to metal, which appeared to come from the right front.


As you can see in belows diagram, the ball joints on top and bottom mainly guide the wheel in its movements around. Easiest way to check if they are worn is to grab the wheel and push/pull it sideways, meaning toward and away from the car. If you hear a clonking noise, either your hubs need to be adjusted (at some models possible, to a certain point), or your ball joints are bad. This can be verified by grabbing behind the wheel (or better: get underneath the vehicle) and move the control arm to see if the noise comes from the ball joint mounts.


Again, from belows diagram, you can see that the bushings are at the bottom of the whole front suspension, and mainly guide/attach to the stabilizer bar, and therefore are exposed first to any kind of wear.


If you get the vehicle on a lift, with the wheels off the ground, you can easily check where the noise comes from. Just grab the different moving parts and, well, move them around. If the noise it that bad that you notice it from inside the vehicle, you will certainly notice it when standing underneath.


Greetings!


[img]uploads/92Mercury/EZ3_0900823d800dc361.gif[/img]


[img]uploads/92Mercury/0900823d800c748d.gif[/img]Edited by: 92Mercury

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I have a 2002 Mountaineer that seems to have the problem listed in this thread. I would describe the squeaking/squawking sound as similar to a goose honking. It comes from the front end.


I tookmy Mountyto my local mechanic a little over a year ago, thinking that my shocks were going bad. They said that they were fine, and couldn't seem to replicate the noise (?!?!). A couple months later I had it at the Ford garage for some warranty work (extended warranty), and asked them to check out the noise. Of course they said it would be a $93 diagnostic fee, which I paid, since this noise was driving my wife and I crazy. They said that the front stabilizer/sway bar bushings were dry, so they removed and lubricated them. Problem solved, for a few months anyhow, then the goose honking returned. I've procrastinated taking it anywhere for the past nine months or so, but my wife has really had it with the annoying sound.


I did some researching last night on this and a few other forums, and deciding to investigate the issue myself. I crawled under the Mounty this morning, and thoroughly sprayed down both front stabilizer/sway bar bushings with WD-40, bounced the front end several times, then sprayed again. Problem once again solved!!!


I'm going to experiment with spraying the bushings with WD-40 every time I change the oil (every 5000 miles), and see how that pans out. If that isn't enough,I'll remove the sway bar and bushings myself, grease them up, and then hope to have to repeat that maybe twice a year.


Hope this helps someone out...



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The sway bar rubber can be replaced. These can be bought at a parts store. I will be replacing the ones on my '97 Mount same time I replace the drive shaft. They cost around $25 pair.

I have an 03 mount. Same problem as you all describe, my problem was in front right as well. My mechanic found it to be the outer tie rod end. Replaced it and it took care of the problem. Check to see that there isn't a crack in the boot, and the grease is all gone. Hope this helps!