Rear End Whine Saga Continues ...Jim?

I hate to even broach the subject but you may have the grounds to utilize the "lemon law". I don't think we have this option in Canada so I'm flying blind here.

Others can step inhere and take up the slack but Craig deserves the benefit of actual experience rather than anecdotes involving your "wifes haridressers cousins dog-groomers brother in laws mechanics girlfriends recollection of her aunts exboyfriends fathers proctologists" summary..... AFAIK, lemon laws in the states are a state governed thing - I may be wrong. These sorts of laws give the manufacturer and/or it representatives (in this case the dealer) a finite opportunity to solve a concern. I am not sure of the requirement for the number of repair attempts nor the time span involved.

From here, I am totally in the dark as to the process involved... I do know that it will involve the buy back of your current vehicle with some sort of credit to a replacement vehicle.... sorry I can't tell you anything more.

In your techs defence, he sounds to have had the best intentions but may have come across one of those things that just defies repairs. In Fords defense, they may have never been notified of the concern... or it could be just "stone-walling".... we may never know. Whether your concern is resolve satisfactorily or not depends partly on the time you are willing to invest in persuing the issue and your dealers desire to invest the time to resolve the issue.

From here, you could involve another dealer (be sure to make no mention of the first dealer even though the repair attempts will show up on OASIS - but, if they ask, don't lie... answer any and all questions honestly - just don't offer anything other than current symptoms freely). If you stick with your current dealer, you will likely need to move up the food chain.... first stop service manager... next stop dealer principal. Don't be afraid to ask for the phone number of their DOM (district operations manager).

HTH

There was a recent TSB on this that talked about a kit of new parts to be installed to fix the problem, which I suppose is what they did for you. But, the other reason Ford issued a TSB with this parts fix was to STOP dealers from doing complete rear axle replacements, which is what some dealers had done for customers. Dealers cannot do a rear axle replacement under the TSB. One hand giveth, the other hand taketh away.....

The info I have seen on this problem is that the rear diff housing is now aluminum, and simply is not as solid as the old cast housings. The housing allows the rear pinion bearings to move enough to eventually cause a problem. In many cases, replacing the pinion bearings, gears and other parts per the TSB will fix it ( tho I think many of these vehicles will end up doing another repair well before 100k) in other cases you must replace the rear diff housing or they rear ends keep going bad.

So I would insist on a new rear diff assembly - they will giive you a reman one if they can.

As far as getting a response, stay professional, it does work better. It is a fact that better customers get better service from FORD. If you do not do any service work at the dealer, but only go in with warranty complaints, that is in FORDS OASIS system and if the dealer does not go to bat for you as a good customer, the wheels at FORD often seem to come to a stop.

If I were you I would stop in at the dealer and have a chat with the service manager. Face to face works best always. Ask him to follow up on your ticket so you know the problem is being addressed, and talk to him about how the issue would typically be resolved, including a new rear diff. assembly. Take the service writer out of the loop, and talk to the service manger only on this issue.

You may want to start doing some oil changes, etc. at the dealer as an excuse to stop in and talk to the service manger.

I think you will get the result you want if you keep reappearing at the dealership. Much harder to blow you off in person.

Thanks Guys.

I looked up the lemon Law in Illinios and it looks like they have to be unable to fix it within the first 12 months of ownership.

So it looks like it is back to face to face at the dealership ( I have paid to have the tires rotated and the rotors turned) get an oil change, and keep stopping in and bugging them.

I did find another guy on another Ford NG before I posted this who has exactly the same problem - so perhaps another dealer checking it out would help.

Thanks Again

Well, not to say Jims idea is a bad one. If you are getting close to the end of that twelve month time period, you may want to lay low and keep tjose fingers crossed!