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I have a ’96 Contour GL (Sport) with a 2.0L Z-Tech engine and a 5-speed gearbox. This is my project car, and daily driver, which I bought on Craigslist about a year ago. I know I have a lot of issues to address with this vehicle, and I look forward to fixing them myself. I am just a hobby mechanic, if at all. I have already replaced the brakes all around, the right lower control arm (A-pillar), ball joints on both sides, all 4 engine & trans mounts. The car was in bad shape when I got it, but, the price was right.
I have been trying to get rid of a noise, that starts off being annoying , with increased intensity to about 45+mph, it practically becomes unbearable in the front end. There is a thumping that goes along with it, this all happens when driving in a straight forward direction, or when curving to the right, but when turning to the left or when the road curves to the left, the sound decreases. my best guess is the CV joints going bad, because of the thumping sound, and because I have practically replaced everything else in the front end that I can think of that would make that kind of sound.Am I on the right track with my assessment?
If so, while I’m at it, I also need to replace the seals from the gearbox, because it leaks fluid (brake fluid), which controls the clutch, and there is a clutch whine when I step on the pedal.
What do you think?
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The easy way to test the CV shafts, after you visually inspect them, is done in a flat empty parking lot. Turn off the radio and aircon. Roll both front windows down all the way. Turn the steering wheel all the way to one side while stopped, then let off the brake and clutch and let the car pull itself through a full circle. Do the test in both directions from a dead stop. Did it feel like it was going over lumps in the road that weren’t there? Did it make a steady clicking sound? That is the clearest sign of a bad CV shaft. It wouldn’t hurt to raise the front wheels off the ground safely and securely then grab each shaft and try to push it side to side, up and down to see if there is excess play or clicking.
Check those front wheel bearings while you have it in the air. With engine off grab the tire and see if you can move the hub right and left or up and down. If they seem tight see if you can put the vehicle in drive and let the wheels free spin in the air and see if you can hear the bearing grinding.
As far as the brake fluid leaking check and see if your slave cylinder is leaking. With the noises you have described and the lack of maintenance you might want to consider replacing the clutch sooner rather then later
Thank you! I was coming to the same conclusion about the clutch also. Actually I forgot to mention earlier that I have replaced all four hubs and bearings already. I’ve done so much to this car that sometimes I forget what I have already done, although trying to get the bearings out of the steering knuckle was quite a challenge, without a machine shop. I can’t believe I forgot about that! 🙂
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