Well, 13K miles later and I've got a few minor quibbles that are getting annoying. And this time around, I think I'm gonna throw myself at the mercy of one of the two Ford dealers in town instead of trying to fix it myself.

1. Steering wheel shimmy. It's gotten a little worse since I got the truck. I roadforce balanced all the tires myself with a GSP 9700, so I'm pretty confident the tires are squared away. Mine is pretty late build '04 too, so I think it has the latest level rack and pinion in it.

2. Rear end noise. I have a very slight tip in whine at around 55-60 mph. It's not like the rear end is falling apart or anything, but I hear it.

3. Rattles. This is bugging the hell out of me, and I'm not very good at fixing squeaks and rattles myself. I've got one in the center of the dash that goes away if I press down on the defroster vent ahead of the storage tray, and one that's started to manifest itself somewhere in the passenger's door.

4. Steering wheel controls. This one is probably the weirdest of them all. Every now and then, usually when making a turn, the volume will go up real sharply, like maybe 4-5 ticks, then come back down to where it originally was.

5. Brake pulsation. Some in the steering wheel, some coming from the rear. Feels like driving over rumble strips when I'm hauling it down from highway speeds.

I think I'm going on vacation sometime next month, so I'll drop it off then and see what happens. Kinda interesting to be the customer this time. :o

 

I dont know if its related, but somtimes my radio will do somthing similar. I will have it at a moderate level, then bam it goes full loud, then back down again right away. I thought it was a malfunction in the speed volume, so I turned it off. I did it twice more, so I ruled out the speed volume. When I had my truck into the dealer for the tire nibble (which they fixed completly by replacing two bad tires, and RFB them), and I told the service writer about the stereo, and he said he never heard of them doing that, but he would pull the stereo, and send it to Ford to be checked out. He said it would take 3-4 weeks, (of course leaving a big hole in my dash, and no tunes).... I of course said no way, and I will live with it. It has only done it a few more times in the last month... I just call it my stay awake system.....

 

I keep the speed control volume on about 3 or 4; I'll turn it off and see if it makes any difference. It's the damnest thing. It's not a big problem, it's just annoying more than anything. There's a trick to sending the radios out as well; if your dealer does business with Gulfstream Audio in Florida (I think that's what they're called), they can usually do overnight turn arounds provided you leave your vehicle at the dealership.

 

I got the feeling from the service writer that he did not want to do it, and that it wasnt worth his time to deal with. It seemed kind of odd that it would take 3-4 weeks to send it in, have it fixed, and shipped back..... If that was the case, then there are more people having problems with their stereos. Oh well, im thinking about putting in an AVN2454 Eclipse DVD/Navigation anyway... now I can use that as an excuse for my wife

 

3-4 weeks? Through normal channels, we usually get them back in 3-4 days.

 

I have a similar problem with the radio. When I turn my wheel my radio, temp, and cruise controls on the steering wheel cease to function. I have also noticed at night when I turn the wheel the lighting on these controls go out. My belief is that this has nothing to do with the radio and something to do with the wiring for the controls. Check it out, I bet we have the same problem. When we turn the wheel for some reason the steering wheel controls lose power.

 

wernst, sounds like you have a problem with the clockspring. In any case, I'm pretty sure I'm going on vacation early next month, so I'll take it in then.