• Sign Up! To view all forums and unlock additional cool features

    Welcome to the #1 Fiesta ST Forum and Fiesta ST community dedicated to Fiesta ST owners and enthusiasts. Register for an account, it's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the Fiesta ST Forum today!


Shift Clunk Half Shafts

Messages
7
Likes
2
Location
Victor
#1
Hi guys!
Don't post much but I thought I'd mention this. I've got a '16 that I picked up at the end of December and it's had a fairly loud clunk since the day I got it in between gears usually when granny shifting. It seemed to be really at times when the motor would be rocking so I figured it was a wonky motor mount. I was suspicious of it though because my dad also has a '16 and his doesn?t make any noise at all. I had the car in yesterday for its first oil change and had them check it out to see if it was the motor mount (I'm putting a Cobb RMM in next week anyway). Turns out the half shafts needed to be replaced. I poked around and saw a few issues but there is definitely a TSB on it now. My dealership replaced them no questions asked so if you guys are still on warrantee and are dealing with the clunking between gears, I'd swing over to the dealership.

On another note, has anyone heard anything on the 'car overheats, cracks the block, spews fluids, and lights on fire' recall they finally issued? It calls out '13-'15 but my dealership said they have no fix and they've been provided no information from Ford.
 


OP
B
Messages
7
Likes
2
Location
Victor
Thread Starter #3
I search around for a couple of hours the other day and I found a variety of cooling issues but didn't see anything specific to the recall.
 


OP
B
Messages
7
Likes
2
Location
Victor
Thread Starter #4
Found the thread. Idk how I missed that one. Still confused as to which cars make the cut and why. Must be a combination of all the past issues.
 


OP
B
Messages
7
Likes
2
Location
Victor
Thread Starter #7
Alright so when I left the car they told me they had a TSB on it but it was actually an SSM (Special Service Message). I don't know much about the dealer network so I'm not sure how that differs from an actual TSB but like I said, my dealership didn't bat an eye at fixing it for me. They replaced the half shafts on warrantee. Got the car back last night and it seems to have taken care of the issue. There is still a little clunk when the engine is rocking on clumsy shifts (maybe my RMM will eliminate that as well idk) but the bulk of the noise is gone.
Now that I hear just the normal engine rocking clunk I can tell that it was a combination of sounds. The half shaft issue sounded more like a clack where the engine noise is more of a thump.

at any rate, it's fixed and its SSM 45814. The interesting thing is, from what I can tell, that SSM is related to automatic trans. So I'm not sure if they expanded the scope or what.
That's all the info I have.
 


Messages
340
Likes
183
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
#8
Alright so when I left the car they told me they had a TSB on it but it was actually an SSM (Special Service Message). I don't know much about the dealer network so I'm not sure how that differs from an actual TSB but like I said, my dealership didn't bat an eye at fixing it for me. They replaced the half shafts on warrantee. Got the car back last night and it seems to have taken care of the issue. There is still a little clunk when the engine is rocking on clumsy shifts (maybe my RMM will eliminate that as well idk) but the bulk of the noise is gone.
Now that I hear just the normal engine rocking clunk I can tell that it was a combination of sounds. The half shaft issue sounded more like a clack where the engine noise is more of a thump.

at any rate, it's fixed and its SSM 45814. The interesting thing is, from what I can tell, that SSM is related to automatic trans. So I'm not sure if they expanded the scope or what.
That's all the info I have.
Second this, I just had both half shafts replaced under SSM 597997. The part number are below, not sure if they are different then what came on my 2016. The noise has greatly been reduced though, still some audible noises when shifting but it seems like that is mostly just the actual transmission now (same noise you hear stationary if you row through the gears).

It took me two unnecessary trips to the dealer. First to do a ride along with the tech as they told me after having my car for a week that it was fine. Second trip was returning the car after 2 minutes after picking it up because they forgot to torque the sway bar end links so the car was making a racket driving home. Pretty ridiculous as seem they do not do any sort of quality checks on work performed, I will be double checking and re-torquing this weekend.

C1BZ-3B437-C : LH
C1BZ-3B436-G : RH
 


OP
B
Messages
7
Likes
2
Location
Victor
Thread Starter #9
Interesting. Different SSM. Seems like a more generic drive train noise complaint. When I got mine done they said it was due to improper installation at the factory. Missing retaining ring or something so they would chuck in and out a bit.
I've put 10k on them since they re-did them and the noise has not returned. I feel like they're a little louder then when they first got fixed but it could well be my imagination because I'm listening for it.
I hear ya on the dealership though. I try to avoid the dealership at all cost. Mine is pretty good but they still managed to take a chunk out of my side skirt getting it on the lift while they had it. :/
 


Messages
92
Likes
13
Location
Charlotte
#10
I went throught he same process. Though it was the RMM and had the dealer take a look before I started throwing parts at the car to stop the noise. I had them replaced about ~3k miles ago and it seems to have gone away. I still occasionally hear a light clunk, but it's not nearly as loud and dosen't seem to be getting worse. I'll be continuing to monitor as the car approaches 5 digits on the odometer.
 


me32

1000 Post Club
Messages
1,829
Likes
264
Location
fairfield
#11
So clearly the half shafts have been changed through the years. Seems 15-16s had the most issues
 


Messages
340
Likes
183
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
#12
After putting some more miles on the car, the clunk seems to be coming back a bit...still better then before. My opinion, if your car is under warranty and you have a good dealer (not sure if those words ever belong together) take it in. If I had to do it again I probably wouldn't have gone through the hassle.

While rechecking the work performed today I noticed oil residue on the RMM and traced it back to the axel seals...great. I am going to let that one go for awhile and see if the weeping gets worse.
 


Intuit

3000 Post Club
Messages
3,603
Likes
2,208
Location
South West Ohio
#13
Second this, I just had both half shafts replaced under SSM 597997. The part number are below, not sure if they are different then what came on my 2016. The noise has greatly been reduced though, still some audible noises when shifting but it seems like that is mostly just the actual transmission now (same noise you hear stationary if you row through the gears).

It took me two unnecessary trips to the dealer. First to do a ride along with the tech as they told me after having my car for a week that it was fine. Second trip was returning the car after 2 minutes after picking it up because they forgot to torque the sway bar end links so the car was making a racket driving home. Pretty ridiculous as seem they do not do any sort of quality checks on work performed, I will be double checking and re-torquing this weekend.

C1BZ-3B437-C : LH
C1BZ-3B436-G : RH
I took it in with the same note about the noise, asking them to check it. But it's intermittent; I suspect based on the way you land on the shaft and whether you have the windows rolled down. I noted the windows being rolled down part but in ~600mi and a week they said they didn't hear it. Of course I heard it the minute I turned out of the lot. But I don't have time for multiple persistent hounding *itchy visits to any service center; free repair or not.


Alright so when I left the car they told me they had a TSB on it but it was actually an SSM (Special Service Message). {....... and its SSM 45814. ........from what I can tell, that SSM is related to automatic trans. So I'm not sure if they expanded the scope ...}

................. The half shaft issue sounded more like a clack ....................
It's great to finally get some reference to documentation. But if the noise is just going to come back, I'll wait until it becomes a real issue then replace them myself; as there's no sense in taking the risks in having someone do it on the clock rushing to "get'er done" and driving it with 2,000 RPM clutch take-offs at 6,000 RPM shift points.

Other threads...
http://www.fiestastforum.com/forum/...clunk-on-shift?p=273186&viewfull=1#post273186
http://www.fiestastforum.com/forum/...-always-clunky?p=276637&viewfull=1#post276637

I had described it as the same; there's a ton of slack in the drivetrain. Jack the front wheels off the ground and slowly turn them while watching shaft movement. That sound is a quieter version of the same clack sound that you get on the 1 to 2 engagement, as you load the trans on clutch release. 2nd gear engagement is typically much harsher than other gears because the ratio jump is much more significant.
 




Top