98 Grand Marquis "Clunking" Noise Passenger Side Front

Hey Finite,

I may have just discovered a possible solution for you. I am not sure how much changed in the front suspension between my '95 and your '98 but I had clunking up front too. It seemed to be a rattle when I hit bumps and if I stood out front and bounced the fender, I heard it.

I crawled under the car and hit everything with a rubber mallet. Everything seemed tight. I did the ball joint check and checked the tie rod ends. Finally, I hammered the anti-sway bar and it clunked. Each side clunked but most of the sound was from the right side. The ends of the sway bar use odd links with ball joints at each end. The upper ones were worn. It was not too bad a job and a little under $50 for parts at the big-barn parts store.

No more clunk and, I may be imagining it but, I think it rides a bit better, too! Have a look - it couldn't hurt.

PoD

Robert, the Pitman (Pittman?) arm theory was mine as I have heard of them wearing on these cars.

When you say "clunking" do you mean a sound like a hollow, metallic impact or a very loud creaking noise like a door weighing a few tons whose hinges have never been oiled?

It might be a bad shock. Any evidence of oil leaking out of the shock on one side? That's a dead giveaway. When was the last time the car was aligned, they might be able to spot badly worn components when they go to do an alignment. Take another look underneath there and see if you see evidence of rubbing that might be occuring when the suspension is under load.

Another thing to look for are worn rubber parts where a bumper stop or bushing is cracked wide open, missing a chunk or missing entirely. That might allow some movement which just shouldn't be occuring.

Good luck,

--- Bror Jace

Check the sway bar end link...on that car i think it will look like a 6 inch small tie rod end going from sway bar end to lower control arm.