Lately I have been hearing what sounds like grinding coming from the front end of my 4 door north american focus. It is not road dependent as it is present no matter where I drive. It is high pitch and I start hearing it whenever I go faster then 20km/hr. I know that the focus is noisy but I don't recall hearing this noise when I first purchased the car. I don't drive it often as my wife usually has it. Any thoughts on what this could be?
I see you're from Canada - I know on my 2000 wagon I had several notices about either the wheel bearings or the sealing of the wheel bearings. Due to the fact I was in PA. where salt is used on our roads causing problems...I'd check to see if that involved your year and your car...I think mine was done early on so I never really even heard anything at all....Good luck. Linda
Sounds like a it could be a tire. If it is a bearing or CV joint it would vary with speed and also change noticeably when you go around a corner. Look for uneven wear, something stuck in the tire, a bulge in the sidewall, abrasion damage, and air loss. If you don't have a pressure gauge, it's a good thing to have in the glove box.
On Tue, 3 Aug 2004 08:30:52 -0400, "Dave Gower" wrote: km/hr.
An interesting input. You are right that the sound does not vary with speed and I never notice a noise problem going around corners. I will have a close look at my tires. I only have about 26k on the car so I hope the tires are not the problem. Thanks again.
Thanks for your input. I recall (no pun intended) reading about the wheel bearing problem when I was researching the focus. I thought that the problem had been solved in the 2002 model year. I am thinking about taking the car into the ford service department and have them see if they can pinpoint what the problem is. I just hate the time it takes for the problem to be checked out, for them to determine if they can hear the problem ect.... Again thanks for the help.
re front end noise:
Just recently announced, a solution for front-end clunking, noise, and/or vibration. TSB 03-20-2 discusses possible remedies for this situation.
You were right. I took the car into the dealer and after a 5 minute test drive the technician knew that the problem was a bad bearing. He indicated that the problem was a bad bearing on the front wheel axle (the center one not the ones at either end). He also showed me a special bulletin notice from ford with regards to the problem and that Ford replaces it with a better one.
Thanks aga>>
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