dont slow down
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- December 1, 2014
- Messages
- 177
- Reaction score
- 6
- City, State
- Elizabeth City NC
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2022 Explorer Limited
I have posted a few things in other threads about a clunking noise we have been chasing on our 13 Ex for nearly two months. The dealer we bought it from was doing the warranty work and things started off good but this last visit really went down hill.
The car was originally clunking during slow right hand turns such as into a drive way or parking spot. The first visit they performed a TSB on the passenger CV axle and installed a shim to take up play that they said was causing the problem.
It came back about a week later so we took it back in. They ended up replacing the tie rod end on the passenger side. A week later it was back
The third time they replaced the entire rack and pinion system as well as both tie rod ends. Noise came back a week and a half later.
The fourth time they replaced the bolt that connects the steering shaft to the input shaft on the rack and pinion. Two days later the noise was back.
At this point I was still somewhat satisfied with the work the dealer was doing, they did something every time we took it in so I give them credit for that. This time the noise came back worse, much worse. It sounded like the front of the car was going to fall off. I had a buddy crawl under the car while I turned the steering wheel back and forth (which made the most noise). He took a pretty surprising video of the lower ball joint which was moving side to side. I was pissed. I had asked them to check the ball joints and they had done an alignment after installing the rack and pinion. How did they miss bad ball joints this whole time?!
Took it back in for the fifth time and told them what I found. The car was there for 12 days. They ended up replacing both lower control arms, both CV axles (boots were torn), both sway bar links, and the hardware for the LCA mounting substructure.
I picked the car up yesterday and drove it, noise was gone, for now. However I noticed the steering wheel was not straight. They had just performed an alignment on it again, how was this missed too!? I took it straight back and they took it back to fix it. The tech came out and said the toe was way off. Again, it had just had an alignment!!
All in all I'm done with that dealer. It was Ferman Ford of Countryside in Clearwater, FL. The service advisor was good but their techs are incompetent and lazy (hence the steering wheel). Their attention to detail is non-existent and their service manager (who promised us he would drive the car and didn't) was worthless.
I just hope this isn't a sign of things to come with this car, we really do love it. At least now it has an entire brand new front end.
Edit: Sorry left out some details. We have owned the car for one year and it has 32300 miles on it. Our 3/36K warranty expires on Feb 21. All work that has been performed so far has been under warranty and they did provide us a rental car.
The car was originally clunking during slow right hand turns such as into a drive way or parking spot. The first visit they performed a TSB on the passenger CV axle and installed a shim to take up play that they said was causing the problem.
It came back about a week later so we took it back in. They ended up replacing the tie rod end on the passenger side. A week later it was back
The third time they replaced the entire rack and pinion system as well as both tie rod ends. Noise came back a week and a half later.
The fourth time they replaced the bolt that connects the steering shaft to the input shaft on the rack and pinion. Two days later the noise was back.
At this point I was still somewhat satisfied with the work the dealer was doing, they did something every time we took it in so I give them credit for that. This time the noise came back worse, much worse. It sounded like the front of the car was going to fall off. I had a buddy crawl under the car while I turned the steering wheel back and forth (which made the most noise). He took a pretty surprising video of the lower ball joint which was moving side to side. I was pissed. I had asked them to check the ball joints and they had done an alignment after installing the rack and pinion. How did they miss bad ball joints this whole time?!
Took it back in for the fifth time and told them what I found. The car was there for 12 days. They ended up replacing both lower control arms, both CV axles (boots were torn), both sway bar links, and the hardware for the LCA mounting substructure.
I picked the car up yesterday and drove it, noise was gone, for now. However I noticed the steering wheel was not straight. They had just performed an alignment on it again, how was this missed too!? I took it straight back and they took it back to fix it. The tech came out and said the toe was way off. Again, it had just had an alignment!!
All in all I'm done with that dealer. It was Ferman Ford of Countryside in Clearwater, FL. The service advisor was good but their techs are incompetent and lazy (hence the steering wheel). Their attention to detail is non-existent and their service manager (who promised us he would drive the car and didn't) was worthless.
I just hope this isn't a sign of things to come with this car, we really do love it. At least now it has an entire brand new front end.
Edit: Sorry left out some details. We have owned the car for one year and it has 32300 miles on it. Our 3/36K warranty expires on Feb 21. All work that has been performed so far has been under warranty and they did provide us a rental car.
