A Little Help on a Strange Occurrence

[BiGMaC]

Suggestions please... I had a very unusual occurrence with a clicking or better described as a ratchet noise... loud inside the car and same tempo as a ratchet wrench at 2-4 mph. I was making a left turn from a stop... rolled to the esplanade the turned the wheel and hit about 1/2-2/3 throttle quickly. The noise was the front of the car. I had just hit the throttle and the car lifted, then the noise and the car sat down with a loss of power. Engine kept running. Noise lasted 2-3 seconds tops and hasn't reoccured.  Then after I let off the gas, reapplied the throttle and off we went. Of course i went easy (for me) at first. no changes in sound or performance since. No CEL. Fluids are all fine and I inspected under the hood and around the wheels with no findings. sounded like gears that weren't meshed, but slower than an old shift without the clutch noise. All the grannies were on.

Any thoughts on this? Did I just confuse the car?...hubs?...other?

It is in warranty (7year extended Ford BTB) and I have 7 years prepaid maintenance through Ford... Oil and tires due in about 500 miles. I'd rather not change the MAP and flash to stock... but if I go to the dealer for the above complaint, of course, I will. I have tried to reproduce the sound and events, but can't.

 

[SHOnUup]

Maybe to much torque getting to the wheels while turned, gives the car the impression of rollover and cuts the power.

Rich

 

[SHOdded]

Well, thinking out loud, reasons for these sounds:
Blend door actuator
Hubs
Halfshaft

Now, if you had the wheels off recently, I would check the wheel speed sensors/brake lines for interference/binding.

You experienced loss of power but no CEL?  Codes could still have been set.  Don't know if the MyCal pulls these up?  If the engine had cut out, I would have added throttle body into the mix, doesn,'t seem the case here though.

 

[SHOnUup]

Think the noise could've been from the traction control?

Rich

 

[SHOnUup]

How about an audible reenactment of said noise via youtube for our enjoyment...I mean troubleshooting.

Rich

 

[BiGMaC]

How about an audible reenactment of said noise via youtube for our enjoyment...I mean troubleshooting.

Rich

When you were a kid did you ever put playing cards into the spokes of your bicycle tire to sound like a motor... sounded like that

 

[BiGMaC]

about 4500 miles since tire rotation, pretty sure it's not the environmental stuff (blend door)... that shouldn't have prevented getting full power.  Had the Half-shaft TSB checked with last oil change... told OK and no work done.

Hubs is my honest thought, but the car must have sensed something to pull all the power... It must be what the "limp mode" is like... Problem is that it was very quick and short lived, but potentially dangerous if not damaging to the car.  No vibration, just the noise and loss of power. Nothing unusual in a hundred miles since.  I may get in a parking lot and turn wheels fairly hard to the left then give it throttle again.... just don't want to break anything.

I will plug in the MyCal... it reads DTCs as a first activity... and see if it says anything.  Feel dumb for not having done it already.

Had a half full gas tank... think I could have sloshed feel away from the pump... still there was the noise.

 

[Spartn27]

I call hubs, I have the same powerless and clicking though my car finally threw the code for the hub. It's the driver side for me, you can hear audible noises while turning right. Found the OEM hubs for $90 so it's on my to do list.

 

[SHOdded]

Just to add to the confusion:  Rust on components attached to the wheel, and loose lug nuts (esp aftermarket) have been found to be culprits for this type of sound.  The CV joint/boot is also pointed to frequently.
http://www.fordf150.net/forums/#p686128
http://www.f150forum.com/f4/ratcheting-type-clicking-noise-coming-left-front-wheel-108657/
Tie rods, anyone?
http://www.fordfusion.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1312#p9116
http://www.revbase.com/BBBMotor/TSb/DownloadPdf?id=139722

 

[ZSHO]

I would check the strut tower/bearing,a bad strut will probably setoff the speed sensor and activate advancetrack,limpmode,also while back replaced the wheel hubs and TSB-13-5-14 for thrust washers,here is a sample video on the click sound courtesy of SHOboat  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUAaGRR7zIA&feature=youtu.be

 

[SHOnUup]

The clicking while turning is a very common noise that comes from the CV joint.

Hub would give you an audible hum while driving, with a change in severity based on turning direction.

I'm thinking you tricked the car with the TCS on. Made it think rollover and cut power, noise coming from TCS. I was informed when getting my tune, that I should keep the TCS off if I was planning on aggressive driving in traffic. The amount of torque created with the tune could produce this limp mode action with a hard turn combined with heavy gas pedal.

Rich