Ford Mondeo Mk4, Front Shock Absorber Strut Top Bearing /Bush Replacement. How to replace and align a ford mondeo mk4 front suspension strut top mount assembly.
Thanks mate... I'm doing both sides on my Mondeo mk4. along with new struts, springs, boots, track control arms, track rod ends... and anything else that I find when I tear it down. As a very old Ford trained mechanic, I was trained in Cortina, Capri, Granada, escort, etc. This will be my first Mk4 Mondeo total front suspension, so I found this very helpful... Good man...
I bought a mk 4 mondeo titanium X last week where the previous owner hadn't aligned the marks up properly. The squeaking noise was unbearable. Thanks for the videos, especially this one, they're a great help! 👌
Just wanted to thank you for this video really helped me and my dad today I actually found who ever changed a damper or spring fitted drivers side damper 90degrees out 👍 thanks bud top man
Thanks for the video Alan. I have changed the strut bearing after watching your video. The biggest problem I had was with the ball joint. Needs a fair bit of muscle and a good method...
I found the strut top nut most difficult, gave the ball joint a few whacks with a big hammer and it popped loose with pressure from my foot. Someone told me it's the shock with a hammer that loosens it, trying to lever it to break the taper will get you nowhere
Informative vid, but I don't understand why you are removing the entire assembly. Why not just remove the bolt for the damper on the hub then pull the entire hub assembly down with a bar and drag out the damper and springassembly
Very informative! Its really nice and super handy you are making these videos, kudos for doing so mate its very aprecciated and super helpfull. I need to do this myself too but i have no shock vice thingy to compress the spring and i'm hesitant to do the job. I was wondering how many of these have you already done since you have soooo many Mondeos at Steve's? I really like the fact you explain how any particular issue affects the car and its performance beacuse i learned about issues my car has i wasnt avare it had. I was aware of the fact something was wrong but i had no idea where exactly to look and i was almost about to buy a whole shock absorber assembly for this.... In another words you saved me some money. Thanks! Another of my problem with my 2007 S-Max 2.0 Tdci engine is that engine is jerking a bit at 1300-1600rpm in 3 or 4 gear while trying to hold a steady speed at 50 km/h, it stops if you add or release accelerator pedal. I took it to a shop, paid them to have a look, they didnt find an issue and suggested i replace the turbo, simply because of my statement that i noticed some boost drop at 2000 RPM in OBD graph on my phone while driving. Car also hesitates for a sec at the same time but pulls strongly onwards. I have no idea on where to look for... could it be turbo boost & vacum solenoid/valve? I could manage to replace it myself if needed and its not that very expensive part. Is there a way to know/test the solenoid valve without multimeter or even disassembling the valve it self? Should i replace it?
My mechanic didn't do it properlywhen put new shocks and bearings in and it coased funny steering, thanks to your video I managed to find issue and fix it myself, thank you
Thanks for all the videos but a Vice grips on the strut 2" above the seal. You've just killed the shock. The whole purpose of the plastic gator is to prevent damage to the polished surface of the ram and in turn the seal keeping oil and pressure in the shock.
thanks for pointing that out lol....yeah not the best practise but i will say those strut rams are some hard metal and even vice grips would struggle to mark the shaft.....the thing is i put the grips on every shock i do in the same place and never had a problem.... it is too much aggravation to try and hold the ram from the top where it should be held and undo the 18mm nut..so i go for the easier option, i will carry on putting grips there but yes, probably best to put the grips higher up lol, thanks..good comment
Gary Brown I used an 18mm off set ring (imperial equivalent because I've no metric off set rings) with an Alan key. If I was using a vice grip I'd likely grab it up at near the bolt. If that part goes through the seal you've just done a General Lee and written off the car anyway😊
@@alan4x I was about to point out the same thing...Anyway, if you put vice grips on there, do it at the top of the shaft because that part never goes inside and if it gets damaged, then no problem, at least thats how I do it. The top also tends to be corroded because of the bump stop there collecting moisture around it.
@@alan4x I insert that new non slip rubber material between the jaws of the mole grips, not only does it stop the teeth damaging the ram, but because it's so grippy, you don't even have to put the grips on very tightly.
Hi Alan, about the rusty bearings. My car has big problems with those strut bearings. 35.000 kilometers and they will have to be replaced. The second time I had to replace the strut bearings, I asked for and got the old strut bearings back, took them apart and guess what - rusty raceways and balls. I got new bearings, took them apart, wiped of the grease. Then I did apply salt water resistant grease (used on boats) and reassembled. The bearings were still fine 110.000 km later when I did replace the strut assembly due to a broken spring. I did regrease the new strut bearings - sure. Bad grease sells new parts....Good grease saves money...
Any dents will damage the oil seals and leak. If it were a new replacements the warranty is voided if you have dents on the struts. The top strut nut has a place for a hex key to hold the rod to remove 5.45
great video. I've got the same problem and I'm looking at doing it myself. I don't have a spring compressor though, so have you got any helpful hints on how to do that at home?
Can you believe that I bought an MK4 which had receantly the shock absorbers changed in the dealership and they put the bearing wrong ? Both of them. The tabs on the right were put facing the front of the car, and on the other side with them facing to the boot. You cannot imagine how disastrous the steering was, could not go strait whatever I did. Put them back the way you explained and everything is excellent. Thanks for these tutorial videos that you are doing. Maybe dealerships should take a look here also.
lol... yes when the top bearings are fitted in the wrong position they sit at the wrong angle they are intended to sit at and cause havoc with the steering and quite likely to fail very quickly as in the bearing casing breaking.cheers
Thank you Alan for great videos. After replacing struts and springs my mk4 😊have lost stability, grip and is tracking. I notice new springs is somewhat longer than originals were as new. Any ideas? Or shoul I take it directly to control wheel alignment?
When you turn the steering Wheel, with damaged shock absorber Stut, do you hear the sound in the car and/or on the shock absorbers? I have the following problem: when my 2.2l diesel is cold, you cant hear anything, but after a while, when you drove a bit, the turning of the steering wheel sounds like metal rubbing on semi wet gum. The mechanic, i speak to told me, it could be the dhock absorber stut or the wishbone dampeners.
Does the alignment marks on this car apply to a Focus Mk2 front suspension ? I actually have a Volvo C70 II but this has the same suspension set-up as a Mk2 Focus !
Hi Alan I have a what I can only described as marbles rolling around when I turn the steering wheel or rock the steering wheel only when the car is under power, when Parker no noise at all do you have any idea what it would be thank you
Hi Alan, I’m having some steering issues with my mk4, generally loose steering and it bump steers when I hit a bump with the left wheel, steering will pull to the left. Could this ge a worn top bearing do you think. Thank you in advance
I did one of these shocks today, but I forgot to slide the bump stop onto the bearing. The bump stop is still inside behind the boot like yours was, will it be okay seen as it is still there on the shock?
I have the same car but it has a factory sports suspension that I cannot stand far too hard, does any one knows if its just a case if getting new springs fitted to make it a softer ride or it it more complicated.
Noooooooooooooooiooo. I had to unlike the video. Never put grips where the rod will travel. That’s a new damper straight away. Should of put it at the top where the rod will never travel
Just spent £90 on kits for both sides, with new top bearings, rubber bumper, and damper dust covers from Ford for S-Max/Galaxy; they arrived branded SKF. If you want to save money for OEM quality you can buy the same pair of SKF top bearings elsewhere for £25.
lol, i try to think simple....do you know what...never ever have i replaced a mk4 mondeo temp sensor.....let me know what engine you have and i will locate it as i have two different peugeot 2litre diesel engines on the floor
It's a 1.8 tdci 125 diesel. Wasn't it's the cylinder head temp sensor... reading on the subject seems there is a coolant temp sensor and a cylinder head temp sensor... n your vids are informative When working on a car...
hi that is a 3/4 drive which i used for buses some years back as i broke my cp 1/2 inch air gun...it is a bit heavy for cars but its all i have ....its a minefield to buy a good air gun but cp has always been a good brand
changed front suspension struts top bearing and bush together with shock absorbers related to steering wheel wooble on high speed and weird turning on low speed,but the result is the same...wheel perfect balanced....i dont know what else to do
In my volvo s40 II I only unscrewed stabilizer link, half axle bolt , schock holding bolt (15mm) and 3 bolts on top. Not make a sense to dissambly it all.
hi... good question...its now just the way i prefer to do the job...i find the shock absorber is sunk into the hub quite deeply which means pushing the lower arm down a long way or removing the lower ball joint anyway and separating the hub on the car but these taxis have been around too many steam cleaners and the 15mm bolt holding shock to hub tends to get seized so for the extra trouble thats how i do it now lol
The lower arm does not go low enough to clear the hub from the strut anyway. Guess you could compress the spring while it is still in the turret, its only about a inch you need to gain.
@@alan4x what you say makes sense, but is it not a good idea to try to remove that bolt connecting the shock absorber to the hub assembly first and if it comes loose ok then you can remove the strut from the car without the hub attached. It would surely make it easier to refit the strut if the weight of the hub assembly was not still attached to it.
Nice video Alan. One other thing that could be related, when I roll along the m/w and ad and release accelerator pedal i get sligh bang under the car towards gearbox/driveshaft near side. Will it be a shaft or gearbox mount or perhaps engine mount. Video about this problem would be much appreciated. Thanks man👍
those shock absorber shaft is case hardened steel..the pliers won't leave a scratch...if you ever get an old shock absorber..clamp some pliers onto the shaft and try to damage the shaft...then you can answer your own question and know the answer for sure, thanks,
I was gonna ask why your taking the ball joint and driveshaft out til i seen how the bottoms attached, what a pain. How do you stop your mole grips turning around with piston
I have had new front shockers on my mk4 mondeo but there was a squeaking noise I took it back to the garage they said the mounts need replacing. Charged me another £90 on top of the £180 I paid originally. Should these have been changed when the shocks were fitted...or at least checked? I would appreciate the advise. Great video as usual.
Hi Alan. Maybe a silly question but is it always necessary to remove the whole strut complete with hub?....I was thinking you could just undo the 2 bolts clamping the bottom of the shock? Cheers.
on these cars the strut slides into the hub quite a way so removing it from the hub in the car is difficult...i just find it a lot quicker with this design to just remove the whole lot
@@alan4x I can see where you're coming from. I treated myself to a laser tools 6396 this week and boy what a great piece of kit. Separating and installing the lower arm really is child's play now and although I haven't tried it for this yet, itv also pulls the strut out of the hub too but I've heard the arm doesn't drop quite low enough to lift the strut out of the hub. Maybe need to compress the spring in situ to get the extra 25mm needed?...Need to do that job yet to comment. The tool isn't cheap but took me just 27mins to complete the job of replacing the lower arm ball joint boot including all prep and jacking.......and I didn't loose any knuckles lol. Keep up the vids btw, love watching. Still can't face changing my clutch yet.... Ssssoo much to dismantle!!! Atb
Hi Allan great video just need a bit of help my car failed it s mot due to the off side front strut bracket no longer works and fouls on the wheel which has caused groves can't find the part of code
Если пользоваться обычными стяжками пружины, При разжимании пружины, могут метки уйти на опорном подшипнике, будьте внимательны.у меня в гараже нет таких приспособ,
If you use the usual spring fasteners, When uncoupling the spring, labels can go on the support bearing, be careful. I have no such adapters in the garage, That's a translation for you all.
I did 4 shocks and springs on a mk5.5 escort back in 2000. It was around £12 per shock and just over £10 per spring motorcraft from the main dealer. Those were the days i bought the anti rolebar (£52) but gave up trying to fit it. Could not figure out how a length of metal with so many sharp bends could fit over the steering rack and behind the engine. Ford had it done in 20mins and charged me an hours labour around £60
Just replaced the struts and bearings on my Mk4 2.0 dsl. €134 for the two struts from Ford. I got Febi the bearings for €30 from the local motor factors.
Anyone searching for this in the future, it is the same fotlr the s max but on the s max you also have to undo and move one windscreen wiper arm and the wiper motor to get to the top strut screws.
Nice one, heres a suggestion to help us budding amateur enthusiasts, could you think of handy scale of how difficult this stuff is because you make it look very simple! Perhaps something like a scale of How many pints you need to drink to even consider doing the job...
hi, thats an interesting question, i might just do that in future vids...but don't expect it to be very sensible lol......i will say jobs like this one ...taking it apart is the hard part...cleaning the rusty threads etc..having the right tools and not missing your target when swinging a hammer helps..also, using the proper spring compressor as those cheap ones i would not use on these springs, but any questions, just ask, thanks for your comment
I think most of these jobs is about having the space and the right tools. I would love too work there with Alan. The worst thing is trying to tackle these jobs on a driveway. You need to have some mechanical skills which some people just don't have these days
@@alan4x Cheers mate, just wanted to double check. I've just had both front strut top mounts replaced under warranty. When I questioned about the tracking they said it doesn't need to be done.
I was refitting a entire shock absorber at school, I was saying to my teachers 'Could i have some help' He said no i can do it myself i was annoyed because i knew i could do it with one person but it's much easier with 2.
I thought those strut mount bearing balls are too big, but they are the size of the bike bar bearing, i cant believe what i just saw. The size of the bike bearing bar.
yes it does but because the shock slides into the hub you would have to bend the lower arm down too far to get it out... i just find it easier with this setup to remove hub and shock together
Had to watch this to see what the garage I took my car to did wrong - I’m 99% sure the knock/rattle I have is down to either the wishbone ball joint not being put back correctly and/or the turreted rubber ring you take from the old top mount and put on the new not being put back correctly. I might just have to do it myself this time…
I have an issue. When I break my whole steering wheel starts to wobble. I had this issue long time ago already. I guessed it was the break disks and that they could be bent. I had to change them anyways, so I did. It seemed like it helped for a while but actually the vibration on the steering wheel came back shortly after. Now time has passed and the steering wheel is moving left and right quite a lot when I break. Lately I had to change my tie rods and I changed the tie rod ends too. Thought maybe it will fix my wobbling steering wheel. Nope.. still there. While I had the tie rod ends disconected I noticed that my (right side of the car) of the shock absorber(the whole assembly with the breakdisks and the hinge bearing) . The whole thing seems to be kind of soft and it doesnt seem as stisf as the other side. It seems it has play somewhere, when I turn it left and right. Can this part of the car cause heavy steering wheel movement while breaking?
@@alan4x if this is the case would it be new shock absorber? Mine are electric adaptive suspension which are expensive if that's the case I'll just buy all new and do away with the adaptive system.
@@damoblake6000 i would check the rest of the suspension first like anti roll bar ball joints etc but if you can't find anything wrong then i would go for a new shock absorber
it's unbelievable that such a "professional" as you put a pair of pliers on the chrome telescopic sliding rod. this is how you can destroy a good factory shock absorber. bravo
why dont you come out from behind your keyboard and clamp some grips to the case hardened shocker rod and see if you can even mark it..but you wont will you...just stay behind your keyboard and have mummy clean your mess up
@@alan4x when i was 17 years old i also did it. I know and learned from it. You should too...I can see you cant handle critism. Then you are angry with me and cry like a little child. Holw old are you pro?