grege

Will have them recheck in July. Dealer recently adjusted the hood, thinking there was a 50% chance the hood rattle was the culprit. Nope! Also now getting a repeat offender: the rear wheels are grinding/pulsating as if the brake discs are warped and rusted again. I can't believe the repeat problems with this car. Greg

2018 titanium hybrid bought new. Since 10,000 miles (now at 25,000 miles), still having a mysterious clunking noise under the front end. Dealer kept car for a week chasing different parts and ended up replacing the lower control arm, strut parts, and finally the two stabilizer links (which they thought was the ultimate culprit). Nope. Basically, when hitting ruts and smaller speed bumps, get this metallic clunk/thump/metallic slap just below/in front of the cabin area. Sound reminds me of older muffler hanger movement noise. Anyone have something similar? Frustrating, but don't know if they checked the motor mounts - hmmm... Will need to follow up with that... No other cmax I've driven does this and neither does my wife's, so...??? Would like a solution... Greg

2018 titanium hybrid and gotta say, while I like the way the car drives in general, the noises and loose parts since new are disturbing (for both our 2017 and 2018). Vehicle since day 1 sounds like an old sailing vessel. At 20,000 miles, just had the lower control arm replaced for a "clunking noise". Best of all, the noise is still there (after 2 attempts). Hitting some bumps, I get a "thump" almost as if the undercowling is slapping the chassis. Suspension links were reportedly ok, but not impressed with undercarriage parts failing so early (our 2017 suspension links failed, both sides). Greg

+1 for youtube diy video. It's straightforward, but only slightly tedious. Recommend being very careful when removing engine cover bolts bc I dropped one into the engine bay and there is not much room yet a lot of nooks and crannies (had to use a telescoping magnet to retrieve). Greg

A friend of mine used to drag-race cars during his misspent-youthful years. Racers would often safely pump and run tires at 3 times the max-rated pressure. Not sure about ideal conditions (temperature, sun, track surface) for that because I'd expect slightly lower pressure would grip better, especially for shorter runs. Greg

I used to run door-placard-manufacturer-recommended tire pressures until a couple years ago. I now use the max. tire pressure (as indicated on the sidewall). What amuses me is being told to use "cold" tire pressure settings. Should that technically mean using the coldest temperature of the day??? For example, in winter, naturally, the coldest part of the day is early in the morning, so should cold tire pressure be set relative to that or relative to some benchmark air temp??? (32F, 50F, 71F, ... ??? Somewhat minor and a bit anal I know, but an interesting question for me, espeicially given that every 10F-degreee swing in air temperature changes tire pressure by ~1psi. And then sun exposure is a whole-nother animal! Just yesterday (mild temps), my morning pressure on a different vehicle was 34psi; an hour later (as the sun came up), pressure was already reading 38psi. Crazy, but cool. Greg

I would recommend giving NTB house brand tires a look (some branded as epic, others such as aspen, etc.). While not for our cmax, bought a set for our minivan that we drive about 5,000 miles per year (epic tires with 40,000 mile warranty, so at 5,000 annually, more than I need) and so far quite happy with those. As with our cmax, I keep epic tires inflated to near-max pressure, so... worth a look IMHO. Greg

Degrandbob, I'd recommend posting audio of it. Our two will whine or grind a little every morning, but ours sounds more like overnight rust busting loose from the brake discs. Greg

Just did my wife's 2017 cabin air filter and need to do mine next (ugh), but yeah, the cmax cabin filter is a bit of a PITA. Even the engine air filter is a bit ridiculous to get at, although at least that can be done without being too much of a contortionist. Greg

I'm going to have to try this access with our 2018 cmax as that top center console panel (atop of the screen) rattles like a buzzer even on smoother roads. If I apply downward pressure, the buzzing stops, but it's become a regular passenger each and every drive. Greg

Oddly, yes, both key fob batteries had blobs of the dielectric grease. First one I opened it looked like the button battery had melted, but it was grease. Greg

2018 cmax with 14,000 miles. Since new, the key fob recognition has been "spotty". Occasionally I still get the "key not detected" with both key fobs and other times I have to press buttons far too many times to lock and/or unlock. I inquired with my dealer and their response was awesome, meaning, "that's interesting". I went ahead and replaced both cr2032 batteries and will see how things go. I'll harrass the dealer if it doesn't improve. Surprising to me when opening both key fobs is the blobs of dielectric grease on each button battery. I suspect the dielectric grease is actually interfering with transmittance (based on previous research), so will see what happens and report back. Greg

My car has ~ 12,000 miles and some lug nuts fit the lug wrench "normally" while others are definitely swelling already. I'll be trying DPAccessories single piece lugs (~$25 for 20). Greg

1.99 ??? Never seen even conventional oil going for that low a price in years... Greg

Thanks, After I posted, I learned about the odd two-piece, foil-wrapped design that has caused some consternation (among several brands) that included an attempted-and-dismissed class-action lawsuit somewhat recently. Unfortunate, but yes, I'll be shopping for a one-piece lug because all of mine are displaying "loose" cappings. Greg

This is unsettling to me, but might be normal: Went to torque all lug nuts on both of our cmaxes. Oddly, I can reverse the lug nuts very slightly with almost no pressure, which suggests they're loose, but...they're not; but it's unsettling that they seem to have some kind of "torque washer" (my term) or encased stud that allows movement. Can several folks please confirm this for me. I'm only used to lugs that seat firm and strong and do not move or "wiggle" any after being torqued (or even slightly tightened). Thanks! Greg

Have done few other car's brakes, but not a cmax yet. If I remember correctly, for rotational pistons, clockwise retracts it. Could parking brake be interfering? Wish I could be better help, but haven't done a cmax yet, so not sure of the setup. Hopefully, someone will chime in with deets. Greg

Dropped car at ford dealer and interestingly, they first resurfaced all rotors (front and back) and then ended up replacing the rear ones after measuring "below"tolerance. None of the brake pads were replaced at the same time. Did not expect or want the front ones resurfaced, so not sure why they did that since the problem reported was for the rear brake/tire noise. A little annoyed that a dealer would replace rotors but not the brake pads since you've already got the brakes apart. Oh well, 2 more years of warranty left, so if I hear other noises or warping, back it goes... Greg

Mine is definitely coming from the rear wheels. Small chance it's a wheel bearing; likely scenario is either a brake caliper not fully releasing for simply an uneven rotor. Sounds similar to driving the car after a few days of rust have built up on the rotors except that it occurs constantly while driving. I'll add that to my undercarriage rattle that's gone unresolved next service. Greg

Hi, When coasting (even in neutral), I hear a pulsating, metallic rubbing sound coming from the rear. I suspect it's the rotors rubbing against something, but correct me if I'm wrong - once any rotor rust is "busted" loose, there should be near-nothing in terms of rubbing until hitting the brake pedal, correct? It's different than the regen noise and as mentioned, does this coasting in neutral as well. Maybe a caliper is hung up or a splash guard is slightly bent, causing the rubbing, but...curious if anyone else notices this; it's most noticeable when all windows are up. Thanks, Greg

Tested it on mine and while it makes the constant electrical pump or "whine" sound when depressing the brake pedal, it does not make the rhythmic thumping sound. Greg

Backyack, Nice job loading video and sound. I agree with Plus3 with respect to the thumping sounding unusual; doesn't mean it's bad necessarily, but don't recall either of ours sounding like that, although I do notice my wife's brake pedal often "thumps" when taking your foot off it while mine will not. I will pay more attention the next few trips I make and let you know if mine sound similar to yours. If it bothers you enough, try one more dealer to gauge their findings. Cars today a lot more "odd" sounds than ever. Greg

Well, they definitely have not improved by the 2017 and 2018 models as both ours purchased new are failing around an average of 10,000 miles. Seems to be a known problem. Every time another one of mine goes, I'll be adding it to the NHTSA website to hopefully help initiate a recall. Greg

My 2018 titanium is now suffering from similarly bad strut braces that are now clunking. Just had both replaced on our 2017 energi cmax and now our 2018 is suffering the same. This is annoying because I thought FORD has upgraded this part a couple years ago. Ugh, Greg