When I park my x-type in a parking bay and reverse out on my return I hear a loud thud/bang from underneath when I drive forward. What can this be?
It seems to only happen after the car has been left parked and does not happen again until left parked again.

 

Can anyone help me with this problem?

 

Hi Vikingdon,

I see you are a 2L vehicle, but you are bit shy on details of your engine and trans type.
Is that the 2.0 diesel model or petrol 2L V6 petrol?
Being a 2L model it is likely front wheel drive only as the 2.5 and 3.0 V6 variants were AWD?
Are you manual or auto transmission?

The thud/bang you are hearing....do you get any sense of it being at the front or rear of the car?
It is likely excessive suspension movement due to a failed bushing or bushings.
However you could start with a simple test, by trying moving your gear selection from forward to reverse while maintaining your foot firmly on the brake pedal to load and unload the engine mounts to see if you get the knocking (while not having the car rolling anywhere).
If that is quiet then you can start to focus on suspension.

If noise is in the rear end (and you are likely front wheel drive), then it is possibly a bad bushing in the rear suspension allowing upper or lower arms to move depending on a change of direction of movement.
The factory rubber bushings are prone to rotting out and can allow the suspension to move about. Irregular tyre wear will likely be a problem as alignment will be variable.
Check the upper and lower control arm bushings (inner and outer) and also the hub carrier arm bushing on each side. You are looking for any bushings that have the centre portion now appearing offset due to bushing collapse.
If you have a beefy screwdriver or pry bar you can perhaps check if any bushings have excessive movement.
Sway bar bushings are prone to knocking also, but they are evident when going over bumps and potholes not changing from reverse to forward.

If your noise is coming from up front, then you are checking front suspension bushings and also possible motor mounts (as mentioned before).

There is very little clearance to have a good look under the car, so it might help if you can narrow down the approximate location of the sound before you put it up on a hoist or jacking it up to give it a more thorough inspection.

 

Hi Vikingdon,
How did you get on....any updates for us on your progress?

 

Vikingdon, one other thing that I would check is your e-brake. I know I fought with a sticky caliper the whole time I owned the car. The test is simple. Park the car and set the e-brake. Now, let the car set for the period of time that will normally make the noise come in. Now, get into the car and release the e-brake and then immediately re-apply. Normally, you should feel the first 2-3 CM of lift being easy and then gradually getting more and more stiff as you lift higher. But, in this case, you are going to find that it is going to be really easy for say the first 8-10 cm and then suddenly get hard. If this is what you feel, then you will need to lift the rear of the car in the air and remove both rear tires (ensure car is properly blocked so it won't roll). From there, you can release the e-brake. If you look at the level on the calipers, one is going to be still pulled forward and one is going to be more back. The one forward is your problem caliper.