Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting what kind of problem could this be?

a friend's cougar is having a slight problem..
2000 v6 mtx...

when driving, especially on right turns, or if the wheel is straight there is a clicking/clunking sound coming from the front-left of the car someplace. speed and gear dont seem to have any impact on when this happens. it happens most when the car hits a bump or crack in the road or speed bump. It happens most when power is NOT being applied.

I dont think its a problem with the transmission, because its a different sound than the clunking i had a year ago when my diff blew... its just a clicking sound, you dont feel any kind of clunk.

We can make it 'click' by:
1) rolling car back and forth in gear while its off
2) hitting a bump while moving with wheel straight or turned to the right (no problem when wheel is turned to the left)
3) on a hard stop, when the car settles back from its 'nose dive'
4) when setting the car down from being jacked up

Any ideas on what this might be or what we might check? I checked all the engine mounts and they're all fine, none are busted.

Ball joint.

Sounds like the axle is in need of replacing,you should check to see if maybe the rubber boot on either end of the axle is torn.

I have the exact same problem with my car (67K miles) and just took it in to get looked at. They told me it was the lower ball joint in the steering.