single "clunk" when starting the engine
5 Year Member
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 59
Likes: 10
From: North Carolina
Add me to the club. 2018 3.5 FX4 xlt with 4K miles. Clunk is persistent on hot start ups only. Never heard or felt a clunk on a cold start up after truck was parked over night. Clunk condition is very annoying.
5 Year Member
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 380
Likes: 64
From: The Last Best Place
Well, that defeats the purpose of the parking brake. Ha ha. That clunk can be a little annoying, but perfectly normal and harmless. It's due to the little play there's in the shaft. It only happens when direction of torque is reversed, so either when parking uphill or downhill (don't know). I almost always park on flat surfaces (no parking brake), and my truck has never made the clunk in those conditions. I've only heard it once in 6,700 miles. It's better to let the parking brake do its job, than risking transmission issues due to a stuck parking pawl that requires tons of force to dislodge, but to each his own 
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5 Year Member
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 83
Likes: 18
I found this tonight:
https://www.classaction.org/ford-f-1...roblem-lawsuit
I havnt posted in a while, but here is a recap:
I can repro almost at will now. While the clunk can happen on a cold start after sitting overnight, its easiest to reproduce after the truck has been driven for a few miles, parked, then allowed to sit for 20-40 minutes. On my truck, 2017 4x4, it will happen almost all the time. For those of you that THINK the issue is due to gear lash, I can make the issue happen while the entire weight of the truck is resting on the transmission's parking pawl, no parking brake set at all, on a gradual or steep incline. While the clunk is not as loud when resting on the tranny, it DOES still happen and can still be heard and felt. For those of you that are ok with the clunk, thats fine, you can swallow what Ford tells you, and you can settle for having an expensive truck make a loud clunk, and I hope its never a problem for you, but me, I dont like it, its NOT normal, its NOT ok, and I dont plan on just living with it. Ford told the Fiesta owners that their transmissions were just fine, but a judge agreed that just wasnt true, and I bet once the right people are engaged and proves there is an issue to a judge, that judge will rule this is also NOT normal. When that day comes, I wonder if the people on this forum that will "just live with it" throw their hat into the ring for the resolution that is given to the people that joined a possible class action lawsuit, or will they "just live with it"?
Here are the videos I have seen and posted:
(RESTING ON TRANSMISSION in Park, no parking brake set)
https://www.classaction.org/ford-f-1...roblem-lawsuit
I havnt posted in a while, but here is a recap:
I can repro almost at will now. While the clunk can happen on a cold start after sitting overnight, its easiest to reproduce after the truck has been driven for a few miles, parked, then allowed to sit for 20-40 minutes. On my truck, 2017 4x4, it will happen almost all the time. For those of you that THINK the issue is due to gear lash, I can make the issue happen while the entire weight of the truck is resting on the transmission's parking pawl, no parking brake set at all, on a gradual or steep incline. While the clunk is not as loud when resting on the tranny, it DOES still happen and can still be heard and felt. For those of you that are ok with the clunk, thats fine, you can swallow what Ford tells you, and you can settle for having an expensive truck make a loud clunk, and I hope its never a problem for you, but me, I dont like it, its NOT normal, its NOT ok, and I dont plan on just living with it. Ford told the Fiesta owners that their transmissions were just fine, but a judge agreed that just wasnt true, and I bet once the right people are engaged and proves there is an issue to a judge, that judge will rule this is also NOT normal. When that day comes, I wonder if the people on this forum that will "just live with it" throw their hat into the ring for the resolution that is given to the people that joined a possible class action lawsuit, or will they "just live with it"?
Here are the videos I have seen and posted:
5 Year Member
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 83
Likes: 18
oh, and just in case y'all havnt noticed, when he driveshaft rotates to make the clunk, the driveshaft is rotating BACKWARDS, as in if you were backing up the truck, thats the direction the driveshaft rotates when the clunk happens.
5 Year Member
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 1,615
Likes: 536
From: Georgia
What does it matter? My truck does it almost every start, but it doesn't move an inch and no one has reported component failure.
5 Year Member
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 83
Likes: 18
It matters to me, because no one knows what the long term issues will be, and when is a metal clunking noise on a vehicle a good thing or something that can be ignored? second question, of the vehicles in your signature: 2000 Ranger 4.0 Offroad, 2003 F250 SD PS, 2007 Explorer v8 4x4, 2008 F150 5.4 SCrew
how many of them made this clunk noise? I'm guessing your truck stickered for 60-70K right? In your opinion, paying for a truck that retails for that price, its OK for it to make a loud clunk like the ones in the videos? What will you say if in 100K+ miles, your transfer case gives out, or your differential gives out and you're out of warranty and they tell you there was obvious excessive gear wear, what will you tell them? Ford isnt going to cover it. In my opinion its better to try to get it fixed sooner, have a record of them denying a repair should be made, then you would have a legitimate case for why they should repair your vehicle at their cost, not yours. Some people say, "I'll just trade it in", sure, you can do that, they wont give you much for the trade in, and they get your money.
how many of them made this clunk noise? I'm guessing your truck stickered for 60-70K right? In your opinion, paying for a truck that retails for that price, its OK for it to make a loud clunk like the ones in the videos? What will you say if in 100K+ miles, your transfer case gives out, or your differential gives out and you're out of warranty and they tell you there was obvious excessive gear wear, what will you tell them? Ford isnt going to cover it. In my opinion its better to try to get it fixed sooner, have a record of them denying a repair should be made, then you would have a legitimate case for why they should repair your vehicle at their cost, not yours. Some people say, "I'll just trade it in", sure, you can do that, they wont give you much for the trade in, and they get your money.
5 Year Member
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 1,615
Likes: 536
From: Georgia
It matters to me, because no one knows what the long term issues will be, and when is a metal clunking noise on a vehicle a good thing or something that can be ignored? second question, of the vehicles in your signature: 2000 Ranger 4.0 Offroad, 2003 F250 SD PS, 2007 Explorer v8 4x4, 2008 F150 5.4 SCrew
how many of them made this clunk noise? I'm guessing your truck stickered for 60-70K right? In your opinion, paying for a truck that retails for that price, its OK for it to make a loud clunk like the ones in the videos? What will you say if in 100K+ miles, your transfer case gives out, or your differential gives out and you're out of warranty and they tell you there was obvious excessive gear wear, what will you tell them? Ford isnt going to cover it. In my opinion its better to try to get it fixed sooner, have a record of them denying a repair should be made, then you would have a legitimate case for why they should repair your vehicle at their cost, not yours. Some people say, "I'll just trade it in", sure, you can do that, they wont give you much for the trade in, and they get your money.
how many of them made this clunk noise? I'm guessing your truck stickered for 60-70K right? In your opinion, paying for a truck that retails for that price, its OK for it to make a loud clunk like the ones in the videos? What will you say if in 100K+ miles, your transfer case gives out, or your differential gives out and you're out of warranty and they tell you there was obvious excessive gear wear, what will you tell them? Ford isnt going to cover it. In my opinion its better to try to get it fixed sooner, have a record of them denying a repair should be made, then you would have a legitimate case for why they should repair your vehicle at their cost, not yours. Some people say, "I'll just trade it in", sure, you can do that, they wont give you much for the trade in, and they get your money.
Good luck with your fight. Maybe it will help other owners. As for me, I'll just listen to the clunk, chalk it up to one more reason why I've been moving away from Ford in general, and wait to see if something actually breaks. Most of my previous Fords (6.0 PS excluded) never did actually fail and I put 100k-220k miles on many of them.
Last edited by sholxgt; May 24, 2019 at 11:20 AM.
