98 Mercury Grand Marquis Worn Ball Joints Again

Three years ago (60,000 miles ago) I had my upper, and lower ball joints and outer tie rod ends replaced. Very expensiv job $750.00. I went back to my mechanic today to get snow tires and he told me that (1) Pitnam Arm is no good (2) Upper Ball Joints are worn and need to be replaced again (3) Tie Rods are also no good. I told him that he replaced the ball joints and tie rods 3 years ago. He said that the parts have a lifetime warrany so I would pay for labor only.

I would only need to pay for the pitnam arm. He also mentioned that the car is unsafe to drive with a worn pitnam arm and the ball socket could break.

My question is why should these parts that were replced 3 years ago wear out so quick?

Reply to
m
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They should not. Get a second opinion. Check the shocks. I would think that if you drove in conditions that would destroy those parts that quickly, then your entire car would be worn out as well.

Reply to
Paul

Some thoughts I'm going to comment on.

  1. First, I would get a second opinion.
  2. Quite often aftermarket parts have a "service" grade and a "heavy duty" replacement. It's possible that your mechanic used the "service grade" to maximize his profit the first time. Maybe he is now going to fix your car and either make money or break even just on the labor he charges.
  3. Do any of the replacement parts have a grease zerk? Are they greased too much, not enough or was a poor quality ever used? If your parts have a zerk, an EP grease needs to be used on these parts.
  4. Maybe you just use your car hard the the parts just wore out naturally........

I would ask your mechanic about thoughts 2, 3, and 4.

Reply to
Kruse

The parts do have a grease fitting and I gease them when I do an oil change. The mechanic said that the fittng were dry and maybe the warranty would be voided by the parts company. I'm not particularly hard on the car. My dauhter has been driving it to school every day and she will have to top using it unti I get itfixed. I'm particularly concerned abut the pitnam arm. It isan original part and the steering does felel sloppy.

I've never owned a car before that had such lousey suspension componennts. I've head from other poeple that they have had suspension problems on this type of car.

Reply to
m

I have not heard of this car being any worse than normal. Something is not right. You said that you grease the fittings but they are dry. Those things don't go dry in 60k miles under normal conditions. Do you submerge your car in water or drive in muddy fields?

Reply to
Paul

I just went out and checked the ball joints and tie rods. Should have done that yesterday. I found that the ball joints are tight the upper drivers side has a little play. Not sure how much is allowed. The tie rods are tight. I can see wherre the pitnam arm amy be worn since it is an original part with 160k miles. I willhae my mechanic show me why he thinks these parts are loose.

Reply to
m

Paul: No I don't drive in muddy fields (that's pretty funny). What happen was after I told the mechanic that he did this job 3 years ago, he said that the greese fittings looked dry and had not been maintained. I try to grease the ball joints at every oil change. I use synthetic oil so the change intervals are longer than usual, plus recently the car doesn't get driven a lot. The fittings have grease caked on them. I don't think they can justify lack of maintanance.

I do think that if the mechanic realized he had done the job three yeas ago, he wouldn't have diagnosed the car with bad tie rods and ball joints. Like I said in my last post, about an hour ago I went out and jacked the car up and checked for my self. Everything seems tight enough. I do know how to check ball joints. In fact I had found the problem 3 years ago and told the mechanic to replaceall of that stuff at that time.

By the way,he is using Spiccer parts.

With the economy going so badly, I can see why they may tend to exagerate conditions to ge more work. (not that I'm accusing of course) M

Reply to
m

In my previous post, I mentioned that it's possible they were greased to little or too much. We all know that too little can wear out a part. (And remember some parts do NOT have a zerk) A ball joint can also be wore out by greasing it too much. Here's why: A lot of ball joints have the rubber boot on them that will not let grease out. If they are greased too much, the rubber boot pops, and in reality, the ball joint is ruined because dirt and water get inside. Without seeing it, I can't say that is what happened, but you did mention that you greased it at every oil change. ( 6,000 to

15,000 miles I presume?) If the boots did not let grease out, that is too often. Once again, I can't make judgement on your car, but I've had personal cars go 300,000 miles without wearing out a ball joint and the front ends on these cars were probably greased less than 10 times. And once again, use an appropriate grease.
Reply to
Kruse

Sounds like a plan. The pitman arm could very well be bad. I used to replace those every now and then when cars still used them. Having grown up on a farm, I have experience with driving cars through muddy fields. LOL. :)

Reply to
Paul

A short arm/long arm Ford product?

It must be ancient, and they did have all kinds of front suspension part wear problems.

I'm sure your mechanic used a second or third rate front end part, because the Moog and TRW ball joints were warranted, no questions asked.

Reply to
Refinish King

WOW there's a name I ain't seen in a while.

Reply to
Steve W.

Hi Steve:

After a few bad health scares, and a stroke on top of it all.

I might start mak>> A short arm/long arm Ford product?

Reply to
Refinish King

They probably haven't worn out at all. Ball joint replacement is an area where mechanics frequently take advantage of Customers. You need to find someone you trust who understands that different manufacturer's have different performance specifications for ball joints. It is very easy for mechanics to either deliberately or inadvertently apply the wrong specs and checking techniques to ball joints, making it seem as it they need replacement, when in reality they don't.

Take a look at

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. Ed

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

The sterring probably felt sloppy when the car was knew (at least the ones I drove always felt that way - it was just the nature of the car).

My parents owned two Grand Marquis (a 1992 and a 2000), which have the identical suspension. Neither ever had the ball joints replaced and neither had grease fittings on the ball joints. So I have to wonder why you are having so much trouble. I suggest finding a different mechanic.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

Yeah, there are plenty of gripes to be had about the handling and suspension of the old Ford Panther platform, but ruggedness and durability are NOT on the list. The cars are tanks, and the suspension lasts forever. Even when cops and cab drivers pound on them around the clock for a few hundred thousand miles.

Reply to
Steve

That sucks. Hope things are getting back to normal. Strokes can be a VERY nasty thing.

Steve W. Near Cooperstown, New York

Reply to
Steve W.

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