Drive Motor clunking sound

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FFE888

Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2017
Messages
6
Location
Ontario
My 2017 FFE has been trouble free except for some intermittent clunking sounds coming from the front motor. This happens mostly during stop and go traffic. I think it's the motor because I brought the car in for a checkup but the local dealership could not duplicate the problem (not a surprise).

Clunking sounds also occur when the car is stopped and steering wheel is slightly turned left or right, but dealership says steering and suspension are fine.

Any insight would be appreciated since the dealership is of very little help. I'm actually hoping it gets much worse to the point it fails, at least then they will fix it.

Thanks
 
I had some clunking in my old FFE..not much and not very loud. I attributed it to the gears loading and unloading (as you go from propulsion to regen and back the torque on the gears switches direction so there is a moment with no load on the gears). It never really caused any problems and the inspection at lease end didn't find anything.
 
My 2013 had a clunking in the front end that mostly occurred at low speeds, pulling in and out of parking spots and such. 2 new lower control arms and it was gone. It was a 2013 but only had 10k on the clock. I think this clunk is fairly common on all gen 3 focus models. There are tsbs listed for it. Dont know if your year is affected.
 
jmueller065 said:
I had some clunking in my old FFE..not much and not very loud. I attributed it to the gears loading and unloading (as you go from propulsion to regen and back the torque on the gears switches direction so there is a moment with no load on the gears). It never really caused any problems and the inspection at lease end didn't find anything.

Yes, that's exactly what I think is happening, the loading and unloading of the gears, pity it is so loud to me. Our 2013 Volt makes no sound in that department neither did our 2014 Smart ED.

Still doesn't explain why when stopped, the steering makes a similar sound, perhaps because it is connected to the drive motor...
 
If it's that loud you probably have a bad motor mount or control arm or something. The gears aren't straight cut gears so the transition between torque directions should be un-noticeable or practically so.
 
triangles said:
If it's that loud you probably have a bad motor mount or control arm or something. The gears aren't straight cut gears so the transition between torque directions should be un-noticeable or practically so.

Thanks, that's something I can relay to the service technician to check for on my next visit!
 
I'm trying to remember if that foam thing is attached to the TCM (motor assembly) or not. I ditched it almost immediately after I got mine home. Anyway I'll assume it is attached to the TCM. You could pop the hood and have someone move your car forward and backward in a drive way and watch to see if excessive movement of the TCM accompanies the clunk sound.
 
Thanks to all who has helped.

Some more information and observations about the clunking sound. I no longer think it's the drive motor causing the sound as I've had it in park and can still duplicate the sound just by turning the wheel slightly left and right.

Morning drive to work is nearly silent, but the drive home the sound is most noticeable. The only difference especially with this current heat wave is that the afternoons are much hotter around here. So I've concluded that heat exaggerates the clunking sound and almost positive it's something to do with the steering linkage. Also, when the clunking happens, after turning the wheel slightly left and right about 20 times the sound goes away for a few km before coming back.

I decided to give my dealership another shot at fixing the sound since this week is super hot, but of course they could not duplicate the sound even after letting them know of all the symptoms. Forgot to mention, it takes about 5 km before the sound can be heard even in the heat, not something sitting on the driveway can duplicate. They did drive the car around as requested, but didn't hear anything of course.

To recap, sound can be heard after a few km in the heat from the steering linkage while stopped or going real slow if you turn the wheel slightly. After about 20 rotations sound goes away only to come back a few km later.

Right now tired of taking it in, will wait until gets much worse I guess.
 
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