Is it just me...

[kgd102]

Or do I have the worst Ford service center on earth? I've got this front end clunking noise that has been driving me nuts for the longest time now. After reading several posts here I decided it's got to be the torsion bar adjusters. I call my dealer and tell them I want to bring it in to get new adjusters and they tell me "OK, it'll cost around $200.00 total for both sides". I bring it up there at 7:30 last Saturday morning only to have them tell me "we don't have the time to replace your adjusters and even if we did, they are not bad so you'd be wasting your money." I asked them how they knew this and they told me that "there is no way on God's green earth you would have been able to drive the vehicle if the adjusters were bad because it would be totally slammed on the ground and not driveable." Is this true? From what I've read here I don't believe it is.

I also asked them about the whistling/whining noise coming from directly below my vehicle (in the area of the transmission) and they told me that "it's the planetaries spinning around and over time they have become worn and there is no possible fix for it unless you want to spend the $1,500.00 - $2,000.00 to get a new transmission which you'll have to do in a few years anyway because they will become so worn that it will not be driveable." Anyone hear of this or were they basically telling to go away?

Either way I guess I'll just deal with the noises for a while until I can talk my wife into letting me get a Dodge Ram 1500 with the sport package. I will definitely never own a Ford after the fiasco I've goen through with this one.

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by kgd102
I asked them how they knew this and they told me that "there is no way on God's green earth you would have been able to drive the vehicle if the adjusters were bad because it would be totally slammed on the ground and not driveable." Is this true? From what I've read here I don't believe it is.

I will definitely never own a Ford after the fiasco I've goen through with this one.

That service person is grossly missinformed. With the adjusters removed, the drop is a few inches.

Don't necessarly blame Ford, it sounds like your dealer is out to lunch. Try another dealer or a good mechanic.

Good luck.....

 

[Stephen]

I like Ford trucks, but I hate dealing with Ford as a company, they're the worst out there. I started a thread about the front end clunks too, I'll ask my guy about the torsion bar adjusters. If its not warranty work, dont take it to Ford. I still service mine at a Ford dealer, but thats because I've known the service writer and his team for a long time and they do great work, on the whole though, just find a good, reputable, independant mechanic like Al says.

 

[Robert]

Do a search under the Suspension Forum for a thread I started about 1 1/2 years ago for the torsion bar adjusters. Do a search using "torsion bar adjusters" and you should come up with the thread. Print out the picture I posted and show it to your Ford Service Advisor. It will make a clanking noise when the Kevlar patch wears out causing metal to metal contact whenever the suspension flexes. My picture shows what a worn out one looks like and what a new one looks like. When the patch wears out, it does not cause the vehicle to "be totally slammed on the ground and not driveable". Mine didn't drop at all but definately clanked on anything but glass smooth roads. If you are mechanically inclined you can replace them yourself in about 2 hours, quicker once you've removed your torsion bar a few times. The adjusters run about $27 each at Ford. I think I posted the part number in my other thread. If you don't find it let me know. I still have the old ones in my garage with the part number.

 

[Texan01]

Mine clunked when I made sharp left turns, turned out to be the upper control arm on the drivers side was loose at the pivot bolts. Check those to see if they are loose.

After working at Carmax last summer I gained new appreciation for dealers who care, the BMW dealership that we used was full of nimrods who couldn't find their way out of a paperbag. the Porsche,MB, Audi, VW, GM were good, the Ford dealer we used was okay as far as service went, but their parts department was less than useless.

 

[kgd102]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I don't know why I have such problems with the Ford dealers in my area but I have gone to every one in my area and none of them seem to be helpful. So it may not be a Ford thing but the Ford dealers around here have given me a bad taste in my mouth that I'd have to be really desperate to ever buy another Ford product.

Robert - I have read your thread on many occasions and that is why I came to the conlusion that it has got to be my torsion bar adjusters. I really want to get them replaced just so I can go back there and point out how wrong they are. I'm somewhat mechanically inclined but I'm not sure that I want to tackle that job. I might have to though if I can't get someone around here to do it.

 

[TarHeel085]

well mine has been in the Ford repair place 2 time for this now an it still aint gone. the last time they said a caliper was lose and charged $75 for it. im not payin it so im gonna get them to FIX it this time with regards to you adjuster post. the only prob is that i have to drop the truck off in the morning and i have school. but im gonna march my a** up there next week on spring break and MAKE them fix it. before they said it was the rear sway bar links. my rosy white :mattmoon: it was. its in the front end but their to stupid to figure it out. im really pissed about this. cause i made my dad tel them last time about the kevlar patch and the guy said "well ive never seen that on an explorer only on a F-150. i can gurantee you they didnt look at it. :fire:

 

[Robert]

Tell your Ford dealer to check with the NHTSA. If they did they would find out that their company has issued the TSB below for that very reason.

Make: FORD TRUCK Model: EXPLORER Year: All years

Service Bulletin Number: BC5155960901 Bulletin Sequence Number: 55 Date of Bulletin: 09/96

NHTSA Item Number: SB049757
Component: SUSPENSION:INDEPENDENT FRONT TORSION BAR
Summary:
THUMP/CLUNK NOISE IN TURNS OR OVER BUMPS MAY BE CAUSED BY THE KEVLAR PATCH WEARING THROUGH ON THE TORSION BAR ADJUSTERS. *TT

 

[kgd102]

Robert - Thank you for the info. I called the service team leader up today and pretty much got into a shouting match with him, the service manager, and the technician about the whole thing. They do not believe me that there is a TSB or any other info about the torsion bar adjusters as you gave to me and the tech still claims that even if the kevlar patch is worn down that bad it would cause the whole vehicle to crash down to where the frame would bottom out on the ground. I told him that he was a liar. But anyway, do you have any more information about the stuff you posted last night? The service manager asked that I fax it over to him and I want to so I can rub their faces in it.

 

[Jason_25]

Man I have never seen a dealer than didn't want easy $$$. I think Ford dealers are bad particularly in the south. The ones in my area are just so horrible that I never go unless it's for off the wall stuff like door handles, etc.

 

[IgotTwo]

kgd102
its not you!!!

I have no idea how the system of dealership and their seedy reputations have endured and worst of all, prospered for years, and years , and years.

if the alien space ship landed in your backyard..... how could you explain it?

"Well, They take you money to fix your car...then they really don't fix it ... and you have to bring it back and they tell you it was something else and you have go back and pay them again!!!! You not only have to show them what is wrong but how to fix it. And then it still may not get fixed. Understand? "

You can't make this stuff up!!!!