I am sick of this crap......

last week, I bring my 02 L into the dealer for the 2nd time to fix a leak in my power steering gear box. This time they change the whole gearbox and when I get the truck back and on the drive home I notice that my steering wheel is way off center to the left. I call them and they say no problem.....bring it in monday (today). So again today after 3 hours of waiting (and them saying it is on the alignment rack and I swear this time the wheel is straight), I get it back and now it is off center to the right! Dammit I am so pissed over this and quite honestly I do not want to waste anymore time at the dealer on this. I will do it myself if need be.

Am I wrong to expect to get my truck back the same way I brought it in?

Anyone know the best way to center the wheel? Can I disconnect the steering shaft and move it one tooth?

Tom

 

your prob. gonna need a puller.

 

The alignment on these things is naturally *****ty. Cam bolt kits, and 3 alignments later, mine still pulls to the left...

The slightest bit of pitch in the road causes these trucks to pull to either side. Annoying but I got used to it.


Jon

 

If they changed the whole steering box and when you got it back, the steering wheel was WAY off, they put the Pitman Arm on in the wrong position. Before you brought the truck in for anything, was the steering wheel dead center?? No you cant disconnect the shaft and turn it one tooth, as easy as it sounds. The shaft fits into the steering box in one position and thats it. It will either have a squared part or a rounded part and is made to only fit one way, so dont even bother trying cause it will not work, trust me. Mike

 

Hummm No problem here...

PEaCE..............

 

Take it to the dealer again that is!!! Had a leaky PS hose on mine. Took it to the dealer....Two days later they finally had it fixed... Or so I thought. They didn't tighten the fitting into the steering box!!! Now I have a good hose but I still have a leak. If I hadn't stayed there both times and watched like a hawk they would have taken her out and ran the *#*# out of her. Don't ask me how I know...

 

Which dealer was it? River Oaks,Art Hill or maybe Webb Ford...Let me know and I'll put it on my dealer to avoid list... :-)

 

yeah, dealers suck.....

or something.

 

Unless absolutley necessary, I WILL NOT take my L into a dealership for service! Too many bad experiences already and if I ever catch a certain person of that dealership in a dark alley...........

I was a service writer for a dealership for 3 years, trust me, the techs just dont care about your vehicle!!! Even if you know the people personally, things happen. I took my L in to have the right side head replaced because it was leaking. The only reason I took it was because my best friend was a tech there and I knew he would take care of it. Well, even he busted the right front wheel on it pulling onto the rack and me and the service mgr. went round and round cause he wanted to patch it up instead of replacing it. As a service writer, Ive seen everything from grease in brand new seats to having a customers car totaled when the porter took it for a test drive!!

If at all possible, Ill fix it myself, and have on several occasions.
Chances are when you drop your baby off at the dealership, your NOT gonna get it back in the same shape you left it in. Im sure there are exceptions, but not around this area.

 

yeah what dealer??

 

1-800-fordsvt

I'm sure they would like to hear your story....

 

Toe alignment is most likely out of spec. If you pull the steering wheel and try to align it in that manner you'll throw off your s/w revolutions lock to lock and turning radius in one direction or another. I don't beleive it's possible to screw up the sector shaft to pitman arm interface since it probably mates in only one manner due to the spline design.

You can set the toe by parking on a perfectly level floor, unlock the column, bounce the front end a couple of times to settle the suspension, loosen the tie-rod end pinch bolts and adjust the sleeves until you have 1/8" toe in with the steering wheel centered. Don't forget to retighten your pinch clamps!

FX

 

It was River Oaks ford and these guys have been good up to this point. Bear in mind that my alignment is good...the truck does not pull at all (and it didn't before this). It is just that while traveling on say a flat road, the steering wheel is off center about say 20 degrees. I was thinking the pitman arm too but the fact that they said they had it on the alignment rack made me think they would do it via the tie rod ends (it is usually done this way). Wrong.

I am a mechanic by trade and they think that I won't notice this stuff I guess.