Front end popping 2009 Taurus

[Armstrong1006]

I have a 2009 Taurus limited that has a popping noise when you turn, mainly right. I have replaced the struts three times in the past month (complete sets from Monroe), control arms and bushings, tie rod ends, everything and still have the noise. The coil spring seems to bind when turning. I’ve had the car to the local ford dealership and they said the struts are bad even though they are new. Need help....losing my mind! Am I missing something else??? Thanks in advance.

[XB70]

The front struts on this series of Taurus are not known for longevity. My 09 Taurus Limited made it to about 30,000 before the front end heaved up and down like a ship on rough seas. It didn't have to be a huge pothole. Just a simple dip in the road was enough to cause the front end to oscillate for a half a block after the dip.

Replacing the struts with Motorcraft units fixed the problem until 60,000 miles. End of story until I decided to try the Monroe Quick Strut replacement on my 08 Taurus. The clunk occurs without even being in motion. Fortunately the Monroe warranty is going to deal with the defective unit.

According the repair shop owner, Monroe knows about the problem. The defective parts are within a certain date of manufacture. The strut bearing fails within a couple of months. The strut is fine. You've probably noticed that the ride is fine. But the coil spring is not moving freely. It binds up just as you've observed. Then it lets go and produces the popping sound you're hearing.

I suspect your repair shop replaced one Quick Strut with another defective unit. The shop owner said Monroe wants to replace the bearing only. That's fine by me. But the parts delivered were wrong. Hopefully next week this gets fixed. I'll update this after the replacement is made.

[XB70]

I meant to add a video showing the coil spring in action. You can clearly see it bind up and release.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khZ16AOztT4

[warment]

Did they replace the upper strut bearings as well? I would guess this is your problem.

[Armstrong1006]

Thanks for the replies. They have replaced the entire assembly each time. This is the bearing, spring, strut all together. It hasn’t costs me anything each time but it is getting old. Could the bearing be too tight? Could you loosen the nut on top to fix this? Just a thought.

[Armstrong1006]

I forgot to add that this car has 185,xxx on it and this is the first problem I’ve had. Normal oil changes, brakes, and tires is all that’s ever been done to this car.