My turn, at 29,280 miles my PTU and who knows what else is toast. This $60k 'Platinum' is becoming quite the Service Bay Queen, my repair folder is a big one.
We were shopping about 25 miles from home and while parking the car a very loud 'bang' sounded from under the car, right under my feet. Later, I kept that noise in mind as we headed home on a freeway. I started smelling gear lube (propane smell) and told the wife what I think was happening (I read this Forum,
), after about 15 miles the dash console alert comes on "4x4 is disabled", now the gear lube smell in the car is intense.
As my local Ford service advisor is on speed dial I ring him up with the in-car bluetooth while driving towards home and the Dealer's direction. I tell him the situation and ask him what to do next, bring the car to him or just go home? It's Saturday, no mechanics available at the Dealer so we head for home, it's closer anyway.
Back to being on the freeway - we're heading for home and now the car starts to buck and surge, at this point I could have just pulled over on the busy freeway and waited hours for a AAA tow truck. Instead, I slow down, put on the emergency blinkers, get on the freeway shoulder and slowly limp the 1-2 miles left - with all the windows open because of the putrid gear oil smell.
At home I called Ford Roadside Assistance and scheduled a tow truck for Monday morning for the car to be delivered to the dealer first thing.
I parked in the street and noticed that no oil is dripping from the car, I guess it's blown all over the bottom of the car now, what a stench, hope they can steam clean it off.
The car still has the 5 year/60k power train warranty and I have a Ford ESP warranty with 1st day rental so I'll get a loaner, supposedly.
It's hard to be optimistic after all the shop time this car has had.
BTW, there were no prior symptoms, no smell, leaks or noises.