3-27 Update
On Monday I was at the original dealer for 3 hours of round and round. Basically was told that the amount of play in my shafts was normal yada yada yada. I got the very distinct impression that the pride of the service manager was much stronger than his willingness to admit they missed something and he was standing by what they claimed. "My clunking sound when going over eneven pavement was from my "oversized tires rubbing the sway bar"
After putting stockers from another mounty on my rig it still clunked, and then upon comparison to another mounty my cv shaft endplay was far more excessive and loud. By far more I mean at least a half inch.
After a just fix the damn thing tirade and a heated conversation on the showroom floor the service manager offered to "look into" my leaky seals and see what else they find, but that it would all be another repair order and another warranty deductible even though they never fixed the thing right the first time. With the manual open I asked if they would be replacing the circlips on the CV's as I pointed to the warning and he replied they would have to "look into it" ... at that point I said order the parts and call me ... knowing I would not be going back. The helpfulness of this service department was about a zero and it seemed their righteousness was more important than the safety and integrity of my rig. The GM was not there but I left a message with his secretary detailing my concerns
To me having my vehicle fixed there was no longer an option ... so it was time to go 3 miles down the road to the ford dealership where they had no clue of the past experience and no need to give anyhting other than an honest oppinion ... and that is just what I recieved. I went prepared with a list of my concerns and a list of the repair history.
It took 3 minutes on the lift by the explorer front end specialist to diagnose the end play was not normal and that the clips that "lock" the shafts into place had failed, which most likey lead to the seal experiencing premature wear as the shaft was moving in and out. THe tech explained that the joint should have some play in it but the play between the shafts and the housing should be very very minimal. The tech also went on to explain that the movement of the shaft was probably causing the joint to wear abnormally. At this point I left and they let me know they would check everything out for me.
I picked the mounty up last night arounf 8 pm and am very satisfied. My noises are virtually eliminated. I will need to go back in a few thousand miles and have my cv shafts replaced. I still have a very slight clunk if I hit a bump or uneven pavement becasue the inner CV shafts have some, wear but not enough for the warratny co to authorize replacement. I also get a slight vibration going around bends at 65 but it goes away once starightened out.
I am not sure of everything they did becasue the computer was down and my service guys had gone home so I will pick up my sheet and info on monday.
All I know for sure is they found several minor things in addition to the seals and clips.
THey want me to drive it and report back. Which as I already reported is a thousand times better. I can notice the sounds of the cv starting to go, I having a pacing sound that changes tune with the changes in pavement, this is faint at this time.
One thing I noticed as another possible source of the minor clunk is the torsion bar mounting area on the lower contols arms. There is some corrosion in the holes and some space and it looks as though the bars are slightly rotated in the hex, as in they do not line up perfect like it appears they should, not exactly a hand and glove fit. I was thinking I would hammer a shim in there to take up the space and see if makes a diff.
The icing came on Friday when the service manager from dealer A calls me to let me know that GM had authorized him to refund the cost of my deductible as well as my alignment; if I did not feel confident in their ability to repair my rig; so I could have the option to have the work done somewhere else. I explained to him that would be great; as I had already taken it for another oppinion and the repairs were being made; because certain things were not "normal," so we made arrangements for a reund.
As if that did not make me happy enough ... when I pick my rig up on friday the service guy who gave me my keys tells me ... all set "there was no deductible on this ONE" I was like sweet ... I guess the warranty co decided to waive my deductible after I explained my stituation of double paying for the smae problem that dealer A never repaired ...
guess my refund gets the dealer B service guys some lunch and beers becasue they really put my mind at ease
