My father has a 97 continental which has a bumping which sounds like it is comming from the rear deck or upper shock/strut mounts. The dealer claims it is something which you have to take the back seats out to access. The car does have at least one of the rear dampners leaking fluid. However my mother has a 99 sable which is now making the same sound. So I am thinking it definatly is suspension and not the rear tray which the sable doesn't have the amp, tuner etc.. that the continental does. I couldn't find anything under or behind the rear seats. I did find some large black thing on top of the shock which has a top like a nut it's probably a good 5 inches high and seems to be isolated from the shock by a rubber bushing. I know continetnals seem to be a car most mechanics know just about nothing about. Since the car shares the basic frame/unibody with a sable I am thiking it is some type of suspension flaw. But I can't find anybody who has any idea about it for sure. And since dealers aren't exactly cheap I don't want to throw money at them whicle they guess at solutions at 50-75 an hour plus parts. The dampners are several hundred to replace and are about level with the middle of the wheel and horizontally mounted Also they are not on the sable.
rear suspension noise on 97 continental?
- Thread starter purelux
- Start date
First rule stay away from the dealership.... Secondly, I dont know much about conti's specifically, but at first sound, it sounds like the rear shock mounts, which often go bad in ford products.
Im not sure if your mechanically inclined, but if not, find a local mechanic, who will usually diagnose the problem at no additional cost........and are alot cheaper per hour.
Im not sure if your mechanically inclined, but if not, find a local mechanic, who will usually diagnose the problem at no additional cost........and are alot cheaper per hour.
Is it going to be obviously visually broken or would it look fine unless you took the shock/strut out and looked at it? I know you don't know specifically about the conti but is the fix simply a rubber bushing or isolator type of fix or the metal mount itself usually?
Joeychgo said:
Again, im not familiar with the conti -- but it could easily be the rubber bushings which need to be replaced, but I think its usually prudent to replace the whole mount while your there....
MonsterMark
Dedicated LVC Member
Take a look inside the trunk. Try to get at the shock tower. Have someone on the outside shake the car side to side and up and down in the rear. You should be able to hear and feel the shock move. Simple fix. It is the rubber bushing on top that goes bad. About $15-30 for parts and a couple of hours start to finish. I'll try to find more info or maybe someone else will chime in.