Suspension "knocking" noise...

[kma]

The front left on my mondeo is making a dodgy knocking, banging noise when i go over speed bumps and large potholes. The thing is, it seems to be a lot worse first thing in the morning, and even if it hasn't moved all day it doesn't seem to be that bad on the drive home. It feels OK, and the history says it had a new spring in january on the front right.
I was thinking maybe shock absorber or bushes.. The car didn't cost that much so i don't know if it's worth spending too much money on, I'd like to know if there is anything i can do/check/fix myself?? I'm not mechanic but i've got a haynes manual and a toolkit lol.

The thing that really got me confused is why it's bad in the morning but not that bad later in the day, and actually once i've gone over the first few speed bumps in the morning it's not that bad. Any ideas what can be causing this?

[amir_j]

Check the cap on top of the shock if not leaking/spring fine.

[leorest]

My guess would be dampers, but its a bit of a stab in the dark.

Are you sure the first part of the journey to work isn't more bumpy than the first part of the trip home?

The cheapest way to get it checked out is an MOT. Downside is if it fails you cant use it till it's fixed.

[Spragnut]

Not sure what model mondeo it is but I've seen a similar problem on a MK2, similar noises to what you describe.. It mainly happened whilst cornering but you'd get a knock from one wheel when hitting bumps aswell..

It turned out to be the anti roll bar bushes had failed and the bar was moving left to right.. everytime it moved the lower arm was hitting part of it causing the noise.

Might be worth checking and if it is the cause and its a MK2 get someone else to change them because there a big time PITA...

[Hooli]

kma said:

It feels OK, and the history says it had a new spring in january on the front right.

Inspect the ends of the lefthand spring, could have broken that one to match. It's not exactly unknown, after all the car has had one spring already.

[kma]

Spragnut said:

Not sure what model mondeo it is but I've seen a similar problem on a MK2, similar noises to what you describe.. It mainly happened whilst cornering but you'd get a knock from one wheel when hitting bumps aswell..

It turned out to be the anti roll bar bushes had failed and the bar was moving left to right.. everytime it moved the lower arm was hitting part of it causing the noise.

Might be worth checking and if it is the cause and its a MK2 get someone else to change them because there a big time PITA...

It is indeed a mk2, the knocking/banging noise is more of a 'creaking' sound as the suspension compresses, and then more of a 'knock/bang' sound as it unloads after the speed bump. Haven't noticed any problems when cornering, just when large potholes and speed bumps are taken at anything more than a very low speed.

Hooli said:

kma said:

It feels OK, and the history says it had a new spring in january on the front right.

Inspect the ends of the lefthand spring, could have broken that one to match. It's not exactly unknown, after all the car has had one spring already.

Sorry, it appears I am a retard, I should have said front right at the begining of my first post, that's why I mentioned the spring being replaced as I thought that can probably be ruled out.