Hey guys,

I have a 04 xlt supercab 4x4, and its been at the dealer for 3 weeks already, I got a call today that said 'well there isnt a fix, but ford is working on it.

Talking to teh service manager he told me that the ford tech that he talked to, supposidly had a 'quiet vibration free truck' well my service manager tells him about my vibration (around 3800rpm till red line in all gears) tech is like replace the driveshaft, well my service tech had already sent out my driveshaft to have it checked and rebalanced, it came back fine. Well still there, and he goes on to tell the regional ford tech how to produce the problem, tech tries the same technique in his 'quiet' one, and the tech mentions 'thats a new one, never seen that before...' So aparently the tech drove 3 others on a nearby lot and ALL of them had this problem.

So they offered me my truck back to drive till there is a fix, question is, do I take it back? or let it sit at teh dealer to help make it easier for a buy-back? My concern is they cannot tell me what it is, and it doesnt sound healthy, and I sure dont want to get stranded anywhere. My second concern is that if i continue to put miles on it the lemon law may not impact it as well. Its got 4100 miles on it and it just at 4.5 months old, and has been in service for 3 weeks.

Who has done a buy-back with teh lemon law? How long did it take, was the vibration considered as part of the buyback? or was it something completely differarnt?
What should I do??

Thanks for your help!
Brandon
crazyone@svtparts.com

 

For lemon law information call the Ky Office of the Attorney General at (502) 696-5300 and ask for the consumer protection division. They will mail you a packet of information with all you need to know about the requirements of the lemon law. Make certain you have the dealership document everything, especially if they say it can't be fixed-get that in writing on the service order. I sure am sorry to hear you are having those kind of problems getting the dealership to fix your truck. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

 

I'd try another dealer. Preferably one that has a Vetronix Vibration Analyzer. It's not in wide spread use like the Electronic Vibration Analyzer, or EVA, but it's a really accurate setup that takes a lot of the guesswork out of locating and isolating vibration concerns. The main problem is finding someone that has one of these; last time I checked, they're about $4000 and they were released not too long ago, like 3-4 months ago.

 

I went through the same thing you are goimg through. After a bunch of no fix-crap .I meat with a ford rep at my dealer. I took a ride with him in my 2004 F-150 supercrew 4x4 lariat ,within 1 mile he said you got the vibe's ,so back to the dealer we went and he started the lemon law buy back,They gave me a 100% buy back . I would not drive the truck off the lot.I had the ford dealer- service manger sing for my truck, and they were to turn my truck over to ford moter when the buy back came through. I then went on there lot a bought a F-250 psd lariat fx4 4x4 ,so far this is one great truck to me it rides much better than my F-150 and NO VIBE'S. It took ford 3 weeks to get me a check for my 2004 F-150.
Stand your ground but but be nice.Good luck

 

Quentin,
My dealer got their analyzer from ford to check the vibration, so i assume its the good one (maybe)


Catfish Mike

How did they work out sales tax? Or was it simply a check for the total truck ammount or was it total purchase price?

Thanks in advance, and for the good answers
Brandon

PS I left my truck at the dealer, let the days accumulate.

 

my dealer hear says that the vibration is becuase of going off road basicly telling me to shove it and they wont fix it.
the guy at the dealer told me to buy a leveling kit and that will fix it so
so i got an appointment next month with a rep to see if i can get this fixed

just makes u mad when u get a 40k truck and it shakes

 

Yes it does! I ended up picking up my truck today, obviously unfixed, with documentation that it cannot be fixed that ford is lookin into the problem.

My service guys are great, just wish my truck followed suite. The regional ford tech supervisor will be at my dealer on the 2nd of may to drive two other trucks that are showing the exact problem mine is, one is very very slight (has 30 miles on it) Mine is in the middle with a good amount of vibration and the last one has 30k miles on it and its nearly undrivable. So its something that gets worse.

I will keep ya in tune, APARENTLY the crew cab does not have this issue (we drove all the ones on the lot, all were quite) but out of 5 Scabs, 4 of them showed this problem. Guess thats what I get trying to get for not getting the crew cab eh?


Brandon

 

Left this list with my service manager.


1. Constant Vibration starting from 40 MPH up.

2. On inclines right at 40 MPH, severe missing,sputtering, etc.... Have to gas it to keep it from dying.

3. Hard shifts from 1st to 2nd in the mornings and sometimes during the day.

4. Tires wearing already. Had the tires rebalanced because of shaking and the tire place told me I had front end issues.

5. I put it in 4wd and the engine failsafe came on. I let it sit for about 10 minutes and started it up again and it was gone.

6. Something is between the headliner and the roof and rattles when I go down bumpy roads.

I believe that is all for now. Anyone else experiencing anything like these problems??

2004 Lariat SuperCrew 4x4 - 5,400 Miles

 

I have screw a 05 model xlt and have vibration problems. It has less than 1500 miles and has been to dealer for two fixes. The fixes were rebalance and rotation and "road force balance" Still have vibe problem at hwy speeds . Going back to dealer on Tuesday. So scab are not the only ones with problem!

 

I had some slight vibration problems - took it in - and they replaced the transmission mounts - no balancing of tires or anything - I was very skeptical - but it seems to have done the job - it is rolling smooth now for sure.

Kirk

 

56Fordlvr - I have # 2 as well. It will only do it on one certain hill, and only if I drive there from my house, if I turn around and go down and back up again it won't do it. This problem is so intermittent that I have not been able to replicate it for the dealer. I am hoping that it either goes away or gets worse so I can show them. Let me know if you get yours fixed.

 

You are exactly right. There is one hill on my way to work everyday that it will miss right at 40 mph. It has started happening more frequently lately. I will give them a shot at it.

 

When they tell you that Ford is "working on a fix" they're lying.
They told me the same thing from February of 2004 to December of 2004. I'm now in the middle of a battle to make them buy my 2004 F-150 back.
They tell you they're working on a fix because they want you to drive it for a year or so. Then when you try the buy-back it will appear you were happy with the truck since you drove it for a year.
My advice, get out of that truck now!

 

Called the dealer yesterday and they said my truck was ready. I drove it before I unloaded my stuff from the loaner. As expected the vibe was still there when it went past 40.

Lemon Law Strike one. I went to ask the finance manager for a lemon law book and the owner of the dealership was in her office. He wanted to know what the deal was and I explained the vibe at 40 on up etc... He said: "Let me drive it and see what is going on" so we put about 10 miles on it while he trouble shooted the vibe. He thinks it might be the torque converter or perhaps a sticky valve in the tranny. We'll see. But now that the main man is on the case I don't expect to get my truck back until it is fixed.

So, until then, I have a really sweet Crown Vic to cruise in. This thing rides great!!

 

Well, The truck has been in for a total of 13 days. Results: "We have done everything the hotline has told us to do. It appears that this is an inherit trait of these trucks."

So, if all trucks have this problem then that makes it ok. I don't think so. I called the Customer relations line and they will be looking into my claim. I told them I want it fixed or buy it back. We will see what happens next.