Front end clunking

Okay I am woman and I am just tired of getting ripped off, my Dad in the past has taken care of my vehicles but he is now in the process of getting intense radiation for prostate cancer. Anyway, I have 1997 Mercury Mountaineer, had a "Clunking" noise in the front end was told by a co-worker that it was CV joints, had them both replaced, did not solve the problem. I was then told it was the bearing had them both replaced, and then told it was the pumpkin, 2000.00 later and 10 days .. front end still clunking. It sounds like something is binding up in the front, the clunking used to go away after you get going down the road but now it is constant. My mountaineer is AWD, 5.7L V8, had brakes on the big price tag too, Please help... the shop is now telling me it may be the transfer case..... I don't have the money to keep playing the what if game.... Please help !!!!!!!!

Welcome to the forum!

When do you hear the clunking noise, while driving, only when hitting bumps, only when turning, only when accelerating, etc.?

Is the clunk periodic, or completely random? If periodic, does it change with engine speed? Is it more of a rumble?

-Rod

Thank ffor the welcome,

It started clunking when you first took off and then when you would get up to speed around 40 or so it would be gone, now it seems as though it is lasting longer and it is more radom but more at times when you accelerate or sometimes when you break. But even slowng down without braking it can clunk. When it clunks you can feel jarring too. The gas mileage throughout this time has gone way down hill. I also seeing more slipping on the road like perhaps it is not AWD , I can sometimes try to stop and end completely sliding doing a
360. The tires are decent about 8000 miles on them, although we live in "Snow Country" shouldn't be sliding if it were AWD. Thanks for your reply. :banghead:

Well, AWD will not help you during braking. If you are sliding around during braking, that is more related to your ABS or standard brakes. You may have a caliper that is not releasing completely, or one that is not working at all.

Do you know if your Mountaineer has rear disc or rear drum brakes? If rear drum, you may have a leaking wheel cylinder or axle seal that is causing the brake shoes to become contaminated and grab.

I don't know that any sort of traction control was available on the Mountaineer in 1997, but if yours has traction control, you may have a wheel speed sensor that is not working and causing the clunking (traction control attemption to compensate for a what it thinks is a non-rotating wheel). Such an issue could also explain the poor fuel economy.

Your "clunking" also be due to a misfire, but I would suggest inspecting the braking system first.

If you're comfortable inspecting the brakes yourself, start by pulling wheels and making sure the brake pads are all wearing evenly. If rear drum brakes, pull the drums and inspect for contamination from brake fluid or axle grease. If either, you'll need to fix the source of the leak, then replace the brake pads. You'll never be able to get the pads cleaned up well enough to not grab or make noise.

-Rod