I suppose this is kind of funny, but only because it didn't really harm anything permanently when it was all said and done. I don't want to slag this dealership out too badly, because my impressions of them so far have been, by and large, favorable. They really need to remove Pigpen (Charlie Brown's dirty little buddy) from "new car detailing" duty, though.

Anyway, I took the Lightning in for the famous front-end clunk about a month ago. They denied any knowledge of the problem, even though they've sold a good dozen or so Lightnings over the last two years. They also didn't think SVT's "star washer fix" was worth a damn, so they went their own way and removed the bolt/washer, stripped off all the undercoating in the affected area, roughed up the metal on the arm and washer, re-installed everything with a good clean metal-to-metal contact, and torqued the bejeezus out of the bolt (you'll find that setting on some high-end torque wrenches). They had the sense to re-paint everything black, which was nice. Anyway, the fix has held for a month (700 miles) of hard driving, and I really believe it's going to continue to hold (if by only sheer force of will). All good, right? Not quite.

I did an oil change this past weekend (first one so far - 1000 miles on the clock). Everything went smoothly until I tried to remove the filter. It was absolutely, completely, unyieldingly frozen in place. My big, fancy 3/8-inch-drive "oil filter socket" was twisting and slipping and bending, but the filter wouldn't budge. I got on it with two of the old-fashioned "band-type" filter wrenches, got the wife under the truck on one of them and me on the other, and we finally got the thing broken loose. I spun it around half-way, and what did I find? The filter was crushed/caved in very badly on one side (the side opposite the "clunking" bolt. I'm talking about really mangled. The damage looked a lot like something you could do with a really big wrench and/or a breaker bar. Whoever inflicted such damage (can't imagine who/how) was also considerate enough to spin the filter around a third-turn (tighter) to conceal such damage from the normal driver's-side sight line. My fancy oil filter wrench wouldn't grip the filter because IT WASN'T REMOTELY ROUND. The black paint overspray on the filter (folks get sloppy when the "patient" isn't theirs) was on the side OPPOSITE the "clunking" bolt.

I'm just glad that the sealing surface of the filter stayed straight, and that I got the filter off and discarded before any trouble developed. Ever have something like this happen to you?

------------------
Silver Y2K Lightning
Bone Stock w/ Duraliner, Ford Hitch Cover

Silver (matching) Y2K ML320 Benz
Burl (ML430) Shift ****

Beater 1992 Grand Prix
Commuter Mule

 

Makes you wonder why they wouldn't just put on a new filter?.... They smacked it, right?



------------------
Rich
1999.5 SVT Lightning - Red. Super Chip. K&N Filter. Viper Alarm w/remote start, Sir Michael's roll pan, smooth corners and steps w/billet inserts, clear corner lenses, Cervinis Ram Air hood, Momo billet pedals, cd changer, cover, Phantom boost gauge, MTX Thunderform w/ 2 10" MTX Thunder 4000 subs. 5-channel 500w. Clarion amp.(APA5241), (4)Polk Audio 3-way, 130w. DX 7's, Color-matched Muth signal mirrors, Soundproofed cab, BedRug, AIM 2" Drop, Trenz billet grills, etc. Build #2755
TampaSVT@Tampabay.rr.com

http://web.tampabay.rr.com/tampasvt/...Lightning9.jpg


1999.5 Expedition XLT
2001 PT Cruiser Limited on the way!!!

 

When I took off my oil filter for the first time (500 miles) the f*$#er was so tight that the first time I tried to get it off, I just crushed it completely. Needless to say the filter wrench wouldn't work. I had to get some of those 2 ft. channel-locks. I got it off, but did enough cussing for a dozen sailors. I can't for the life of me understand why the filter needs to be so tight. At least your dearlership made an effort to fix the lower a-frame bolt, my dealer said a fix doesn't exist. And this is after SVT told me over the phone that the star washer is the correct fix for now. Yeah, I think that they could have at least replaced the crushed oil filter.

 

Today I spoke to SVT and my dealer talked to the tech hot line but not Jack Doss. the latest fix is to strip off all paint and wax around both bolt surfaces and to torque the hell out of it.I still want to know why there is no I.D. or numbers on the control arms that are supposed to be SVT specific. redlite said in his post that the new control arms he got for his truck had some I.D. and that they looked more heavy duty than the ones that were replaced. makes you wonder and it makes me pissed off. the fight with ford is on. I will not stop until I am satisfied.

 

95rcobra, wait a minute isn't Quality Job #1 at Ford ????? Good Luck. I am going to have to fight the same battle with these guys. Why don't they post a service bulletin and put this issue to rest??