I bought a 2017 Ford Escape SE that looked very well maintained with less than 82000 miles on it. After driving it for a while, we began to notice a bumping/clunking sound when going over bumps in the road. These sometimes sounded as if the struts were bottoming out. I did some research, which appeared to indicate the stabilizer link bars were bad. So I replaced them. I did a test drive, and though the noise has seemed to lessened, I do still hear it at times. I especially noticed it when slowing in the drive way. I noticed when applying the brakes to stop at very slow speeds, a clunk sound immediately sounded and again when released. Not saying the brakes are my culprit at all since the sound happens while driving over bumps, but is it possible the sway bar bushings themselves went bad due to bad link bars left unaddressed? If so, where are the locations of these bushings? I noticed the sway bar went above the control arm in back behind the engine housing, so are these going to be a beast to deal with? Any help is appreciated and thanks in advance.
I dunno, once a stabilizer link goes bad, the stabilizer bar kinda just sits there not doing as much as it usually does. It sees more stress with good links because they’re doing their job and transmitting forces to the bar. That’s not to say the bushings aren’t bad, and you should certainly check them, but I’d find it odd for 3 year old bushings to die, even on an Escape which is not the best-built car out there. I’ve had cars with factory stabilizer bar bushings that hadn’t gone bad after 20-30 years.
I’d be looking at things like ball joints, strut mounts, etc. And I’d be doing it quick-like, and taking it to an expert if I couldn’t find something fast, because some things that go “clunk” in the front are warning signs that you’re about to have a significant suspension failure, which could make you crash.
I here it when applying the break and putting the car in gear. Not so much when moving. Just went out an checked again.
Not sure about the links going bad after 3 years, but everything I have seen on the net indicates they are prone to failure. The old moved easily and the new ones were stiff.
Believe I found my problem. Bolt missing out of the lower control arm and is laying on the dust shield. SMH. This was apparently worked on previously, but not very well…
Ok, found the right side was missing both bolts that bolted the lower control arm to the front of the frame and it was dangling. Replaced those, checked the other side and one missing their also. Replaced it. 95% of the clunking/banging is gone, however, still have a clank when I hit a big enough pot hole/sudden difference in pavement level. What am I missing? I noticed a brace going up towards the motor, is this a motor mount issue?
Wanted to follow up. I ended up taking the car back to the dealership twice. The problem ended up being the motor mount bolts were lose allowing the engine to shift. Once I got the car back from the dealership, they left the rear splash shield off and I noticed a missing nut and a loose nut on the other side of a cross member support behind the engine area. All has been replaced/tightened and car drives as it should, for the time being/fingers crossed.
The control arm was not bolted to frame? Hard to believe. And other bolts were loose/missing? Sounds like you made no fuss at service counter and manager was glad to see you go. Hey Pedro, got any left over bolts from last job?