as my warranty (36K miles) expires!

I've had a problem with a rotational squeeking noise on my truck that I've been fighting for about 30K miles. You could particularly hear it at low speeds while coasting. It would go away if you lightly applied the brakes. Furthermore, my brakes were quite noisey overall and the braking didn't feel smooth.

Let's see what the dealer tried:
1. lubed caliper pins
2. turned rotors, replaced pads
3. replaced front rotors, pads
4. I told them the front right hub was bent, they said I needed new tires
5. replaced left rear axle, lubed brake pins, claimed Ford Eng. said problem (SSM 16172) was related to the brake groaning problem with 17" steel wheels and was pending resolution.
6. There were also a couple "couldn't reproduce/not a problem" in there.

So maybe I should've tried to lemon it by this point - well luckily, bad luck struck me and I started to notice a low speed shudder, esp. while turning or under load. So I brought the truck in, and they also suggested they would take a look at that squeek again. I only had a few hundred miles left on the warranty at this point.

Well, when they replaced the left rear axle, they didn't fill up the rear end with friction modifier! Ouch!! At this point my luck changed, and the shop foreman took over my case. At first the svc. advisor acted like all it needed was more friction modifier, but the shop foreman decided to tear down the rear diff. gear box. He found that a circular plate in there with 2 "ears" on either end, had one broken off, and the other was fractured. So new gear box time. He also discovered that the right front and rear hubs were bent, so new front right hub and rear axle. Also re-surfaced rotors.

Unbelievable the difference! the truck felt like it was on rails riding home and no squeeking. Plus the braking is now very smooth.

I'll spare you the story of my frustration of waiting a week for the truck to be fixed, them ordering parts, getting behind, etc...(right before we left for Christmas vacation) and having to drive a Dodge Neon death trap of a rental for the week.

I talked to the shop foreman for a good while the night I picked up my truck. He's a really top notch guy. It is amazing how much you lose out by not being able to interact with these guys - you realize how inadequate the svc advisors are -

Aside from the shop foreman, the other hero of this story is our own Jeff Laws who correctly diagnosed the problem last spring. Of course, when I told the dealer what the problem was the first time, they said the hubs were fine, I needed new tires!

 

Congrads on sticking to it and getting your issues resolved. Now if we could all figure out what that damm "clunk" noise is...

 

I think the service advisors are trained well but, they shouldn't be the ones to diagnose your problem. That's why the dealerships employee mechanics. Let the mechanic replicate the problem and let him/her figure it out. The advisors are there to do the initial paperwork and understand what the customer wants and needs.

Just my buck fitty...


RP

 

Just a followup on service advisors - perhaps it is more of a big dealer problem - but there is a disconnect between you and the mechanic when everything goes through the service advisor. I always write up my problems, with details and steps to reproduce and give them to the service advisor. I don't know if he gives them to the mechanic or not. The biggest drawback is that in working with the service advisor it is typically a one-shot deal - "here is my problem" - when you can talk to the technician, it is more interactive and personal (and of course time consuming).

The shop foreman who fixed my problem(s) placed 2nd this year in the SE Region Tech competition (1st in the hands on part) and in talking with him, I genuinely felt in awe - this guy is amazing and of course, very busy with 48 techs to watch over.

I was just blown away with the difference in talking with him and the amount of information and "straight story" that I got versus have it all filtered through the service advisor.

 

Always good to have a great tech at your disposal. Of course, I know where you'll go to have all the rest of your problems diagnosed.

On a lighter note... relating back to the thread title... "My Problems Are Solved.... I wish mine were... ... My stomach is KILLING ME! LOL!

RP