2001 Taurus - Creaking Noise

[karilyn1982]

Hi there. My name is Kari, and I have been to this forum in the past for automotive questions. I came back because I am currently having another problem with my Taurus and I've gotten good responses here in the past.

Here's the situation:

I have a 2001 Taurus SES with roughly 72,500 miles. About two weeks ago while driving, I noticed a "creaking" sound in the front end of my car.

I can only hear the noise when I am driving at city speeds (say under 45 mph) and only when I hit a dip or a pot hole. Also, if I get in my car while it's not running and move around a little bit so the front end will move up and down, I can hear the noise.

To me, it sounds like it may be the shocks (or at least coming from that area). It mostly sounds like it's on the driver's side, but it could be both sides.

Other than that, that's all I notice. The creaking noise can be quite loud, especially when I'm driving through our neighborhood with our bumpy streets. When I'm on the highway, the noise is gone.

Any ideas of what this could be? It's becoming annoying! The "mechanic" down the street said that I shouldn't worry about it...it's probably just something just rubbing...some "mechanic" he is...lol.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read,
- Kari

[TaurusKing]

Creaking or rattling?? Swaybar links are notorious for failing right around the mileage you have, of course there's bushings, struts, any number of moving parts could be doing it,, check the easy first, like the links. Check the subframe bushings also.

[karilyn1982]

Hello TaurusKing - thank you so much for your very fast reply.

Most of the noise is a "creaking" sound...but now come to think of it...there may be a little bit of a rattling noise as well, though I think that noise is mostly drowned out by the creaking.

I did have my swaybar link & ball joint (on the drivers side) replaced about 3-4 months back. The mechanic I went to told me that I only needed to replace the driver's side.

(I always thought that you had to replace them all at the same time so they wear evenly???) Of course I could be wrong...I know nothing about cars.

The mechanic I went to is a guy that lives down the street. After dealing with him, I came to realize that he is a little shifty.

If it turns out that it is the swaybar links or ball joints, should I have both sides replaced at the same time?

Thanks again for the reply. I really appreciate it!

- Kari

[TaurusKing]

Only replace parts in sets that require it, one ball joint is bad, only replace the one. Recheck the link that wasn't replaced, could be it's time now.. hopefully it's easy to find the issue.. you could always squirt a little bit of wd40 or equivalent on the rubber bushings in an attempt to knock down the noise, do one at time, if other parts are not the problem..

[karilyn1982]

TaurusKing - thanks once again for the helpful reply.

I will have my passenger side swaybar link checked to see if it needs replacing. My dad also suggested WD40'ing the rubber bushings. Guess we'll have to look further and see.

Thanks again for the reply!
- Kari

[shorod]

On my '98 I had a creaking noise, mostly as I approached stops and had the brakes applied. A couple weekends ago I removed and inspected the subframe bushings. There was sand trapped between the bushings and the subframe (I live in Iowa where they salt and sand the streets in the winter). I cleaned the surfaces well and applied a light layer of lithium grease. I then applied Loc-Tite to the bolts and torqued them. The creaking noise is gone!

A few years ago many Fords had a problem with squeaky outer tie rod ends and bushings. Usually these would squeak during turns. A quick squirt of aerosol grease into one rubber boot at a time would indicate which one was the noisy one. I haven't heard many of this on Fords newer than 1994 though.

-Rod

[karilyn1982]

Sorry...I am back again with one other observation I made with my Taurus today.

While driving into work, I noticed that when I turn my steering wheel (left or right) I also hear the creaking noise. The steering wheel is not hard to turn, everything else is as usual.

[shorod]

I suspect your noise (or at least one of them) is probably dry outer tie rod ends or ball joints. If you want to determine which it is so you don't replace a bunch of parts that you may not need yet, find a can of aerosol lithium grease. Use a sharp pick to puncture the rubber boot of outer tie rod ends and ball joints, just large enough that you can feed the straw from the aerosol grease into the boot. Give the component a couple quick bursts of grease and take the car for a drive. Do the components one at a time so you can determine which is the problem component. If the component is not loose, just dry, and the noise goes away after the application of grease, you can get a few more miles out of the part, but the squeak likely will come back. If any of the parts are loose, replace them.

Outer tie rod ends are pretty easy to replace, ball joints take a bit more work. Replacing any of them should be reason to have an alignment performed afterwards.

-Rod