Broken Intermediate Drive Axle Mount

[jzondor]

Anyone ever see this?

I went to change the oil on my wife's Explorer and noticed the mount was broken. I'm suspecting the bearing failed and caused it to break. But not sure how long it's been broken.

I'm debating doing the work myself. I consider myself a car guy and pit crew for a friend for a local race series. So I know my way around a car. But I'm not familiar with the Explorer's transmission and it's leaking around the axle:

The car is out of warranty so it'll be out of my pocket. Even if I work on it myself, I plan on replacing the axle and I'm assuming I'll have to replace the axle seal. I just hope there's not more damage than that as there seems to be a lot of play in the transmission side. Any suggestions on this repair?

 

[Sgt1411]

Are you sure that is not covered under the engine/transmission warranty that continues on past the bumper to bumper?

That seems to be rather significant and a fabrication failure of a part.

 

[dco43054]

Nope never seen that. How many miles?

 

[peterk9]

Power Train Warranty

Check with the dealer to see if that qualifies for the 5 year, 60k mile power train warranty.

Peter

 

[LukerDooker]

Wonder if this can cause any of the weird shimmys or shuddering people have felt when gassing it...?

 

[jzondor]

Yeah, it's outside the warranty... It has 65k on the odometer. I just checked with the dealer and they confirmed it won't be a warranty repair.

I also called around to a couple of salvage yards, and no-one has parts for this model yet.

Since I'm not sure what caused the bracket to break, I think I'm going to replace the drive shaft. Unfortunately, Ford only sells it as whole component (half, intermediate and cv joints).

I'm having difficulty locating the transaxle output shaft seal. Any good resources to find the part number?

 

[jzondor]

Wonder if this can cause any of the weird shimmys or shuddering people have felt when gassing it...?

No odd vibrations or sounds, I just drove it to the dealership and back. Asked the wife if she heard any loud thumps or felt anything and she doesn't recall. I can't imagine this happening due to hitting a pot hole... because there's plenty of movement in the CV joints...

 

[LukerDooker]

Yeah, it's outside the warranty... It has 65k on the odometer. I just checked with the dealer and they confirmed it won't be a warranty repair.

I also called around to a couple of salvage yards, and no-one has parts for this model yet.

Since I'm not sure what caused the bracket to break, I think I'm going to replace the drive shaft. Unfortunately, Ford only sells it as whole component (half, intermediate and cv joints).

I'm having difficulty locating the transaxle output shaft seal. Any good resources to find the part number?

tried the OEM search ? if you find it here then look at other sources for same part.

http://owner.ford.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Owner/Page/PartsAccessoriesPage

also on the mods thread for 5th gen, the posts regarding the Remote Access App - that post has replies from a Ford parts shop who seem to have it all as well.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/member.php?u=196402
Very responsive and knowledgeable...

g'luck

 

[jzondor]

tried the OEM search ? if you find it here then look at other sources for same part.
also on the mods thread for 5th gen, the posts regarding the Remote Access App - that post has replies from a Ford parts shop who seem to have it all as well.


http://owner.ford.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Owner/Page/PartsAccessoriesPage

Yeah, the OEM site where I'm looking first.

 

[jzondor]

Found it... of course they don't label it as "Transmission Output Seal" or something like that... thanks for everyones help!

 

[dco43054]

Why would you replace the driveshaft? Is it showing any signs of wear of failure?

If the break on the mount is clean, and you have a good weld shop nearby, you could probably get it put back together and strengthened in the process.

 

[jzondor]

Why would you replace the driveshaft? Is it showing any signs of wear of failure?

If the break on the mount is clean, and you have a good weld shop nearby, you could probably get it put back together and strengthened in the process.

I'm afraid the bearing has failed and you can't buy just the bearing from Ford. They only sell the whole assembly.

 

[jzondor]

All the parts came in today, except for the bracket :scratch:, but enough to get started.

Also, I got a better look at the carriage bearing and it's wobbling around... so I'm sure it's what caused the break.

 

[CLPorter]

2014 explorer with broken axle bracket with 20k miles

I took my explorer in for an oil change and they found the same piece broken exactly like photo of another post. Fortunately this is covered under warranty "now". I have had some major issues with this vehicle, like no other vehicle I've every owned...I've owned three Fords in the past, and then had Mercedes til I switched to Toyota. This Explorer has had more issues within 20k miles than ALL my vehicles combined over the years. Very disappointed, totally NOT impressed with this Explorer for $40k. Poor value.