Thumping noise while driving

[jamesmc]

Just bought a '93 Festiva L. Runs great and I love it, but there is an odd continuous thump noise in the floor (you can feel it.) The faster the car goes, the faster the thumping gets. This happens at any speed. I checked the wheels and there are no lug nuts loose or bent rims. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
James

[Lil-Red]

Welcome!

Where can it be felt? Under the driver, right rear, etc.? Have you taken a good look at the tires to be sure there is no separation? You may not even be able to see it, the steel belts inside the tires may be separating. Could the thumping be confused for a grabbing? Maybe the parking brake?

[freshtiva]

Does it have new struts on it ? Welcome to the site !!

[jamesmc]

Thanks for the responses. I took another look at it and there doesn't appear to be any separation. The tires are pretty old, but worn evenly. It doesn't have new struts either. As for where the thump comes from I'm not exactly sure. It seems to be coming from the front, maybe the left side. It can definitely be felt in the floor though.

[25Horseplay]

Check engine and trans mounts also.

[sc72]

James your not lost are you and driving through a crowded mall,that would give you that bumping sensation. Welcome to the site.

[batstiva]

James your not lost are you and driving through a crowded mall,that would give you that bumping sensation. Welcome to the site.

:laughing3::laughing3:

I hate it when that happens.

My money's on the tires. Either you've got a belt separating that is not causing a bulge yet, or they need to be balanced. Just my two cents, tho.

[deathegg]

..there is an odd continuous thump noise in the floor (you can feel it.) The faster the car goes, the faster the thumping gets. This happens at any speed. I checked the wheels and there are no lug nuts loose or bent rims.

I have almost the exact same thing happening on the DeathEgg; a continuous "thump" noise, very slight though, accompanied by a vibration that matches the sound.

On my car, it's a bent rim.

When I got my new rear tires a while back, I asked them to balance the RF wheel, since I saw that the wheel weights had come off. He called me back to the shop and told me he couldn't balance the RF, because the wheel was bent. He started up the balancing machine, and I could see then, when the wheel was turning, that it was out of round. I realized right then that the bent rim was causing my noise, etc. Your comment that you really can't tell where the noise is coming from is dead-on for what my car was doing too.

If you can't spot anything else, I'd take it to an alignment shop, and have them look at each wheel on the balancing machine.

[WmWatt]

Try rotating tires and see if there's any difference. If so then my monies on a tire or rim.
If not I'd try a piece of hose in one ear and the other on the floor in different spots to see where the sound is loudest. Cheap and worth a try.

[drddan]

Just bought a '93 Festiva L. Runs great and I love it, but there is an odd continuous thump noise in the floor (you can feel it.) The faster the car goes, the faster the thumping gets. This happens at any speed. I checked the wheels and there are no lug nuts loose or bent rims. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
James

Wow.. deja voo
Read my thread, and then read yours. Almost identicle!
http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=29640
If I were you, i'd look to see if the struts look oil soaked. They wont look "wet", but will look kinda like stained, where the oil has leaked out. Usually this is a dead strut and will also make the car bounce when hitting a pothole. Can be dangerous as mine leapt into the next lane on the highway when I hit a pot hole. Luckily no one was next to me!

[drddan]

jamesmc What was the thumping noise? Did you figure it out?

[jamesmc]

jamesmc What was the thumping noise? Did you figure it out?

Well, I did a tire rotation and the noise didn't change at all. My best guess is that it's coming from the driver's side front wheel. Since I think it desperately needs news tires anyway, I'll save up for those before I start replacing anything else. So I haven't figured it out, but I'll keep trying.

[92festie]

I had the same problem with one of my neons. Long story short the guy I had gotten the steelies off of pretty much gave me a bent rim. And it did the same thing your festie is doin.

[freshtiva]

Take the caps off that exposes the top frt strut nut and see if they are tight. Will only take a minute. 14mm I believe

[WmWatt]

Another way to locate which side is to drive next to a wall. The sound will bounce off the wall and by driving in both directions you can tell which side. One place to try is behind a mall.

Also if you have any speed bumps in your area they are good for diagnosing thumps.

After I replaced the control arms on my car one of the pinch bolts loosened creating a thump. Tightening the pinch bolt solved the problem.