Well it’s difficult to determine where to begin with this one because this problem signaled the second round of suspension problems with my car, which only 15500 miles on it. After having had the front lower control arms replaced, the car ran quite good with no complaints up until the 15,000 mile mark when I began to notice what could only be described as a hollow knocking/clunking noise along with a squeaking noise coming from the rear end. When I first brought the car into the dealer, they denied the existence of both and it took the second attempt to get them to acknowledge the existence of the squeaking noise so they replaced the rear lower control arms and the connecting rod. The next day I noticed that both noises still existed so I went to my trustworthy mechanic and he diagnosed the problem as being the rear sway bar, while my dealer believed it was the shocks going. Well my mechanic took upon himself to explain what he thought was wrong to my dealer and he never took a dime for any of what he did. He allowed me to videotape everything as he also found an issue with what looked to be my rear axle leaking differential fluid. When I went back to the dealer they said they didn't believe my mechanic and they took me into the service bay with my car on the lift and I did the same thing my mechanic did and banged on the sway bar which produced the noise I had been hearing. They also believed the oil was coming from the vent which is supposed to be normal, apparently. Then a whole, how should I say this, battle of professional and careful chosen words occurred between me, my dealer and Ford. In the end, the two rear shocks were replaced as well as the sway bar and Ford gave me an extended warranty on the car. Although, I mean come on, a new car with 15,500 miles shouldn't have this many components replaced. Yet Ford basically said I was outside the lemon law parameters for my state and so long as they were fixing the problem, then there really isn't anything wrong…..yeah right Ford.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Well it’s difficult to determine where to begin with this one because this problem signaled the second round of suspension problems with my car, which only 15500 miles on it. After having had the front lower control arms replaced, the car ran quite good with no complaints up until the 15,000 mile mark when I began to notice what could only be described as a hollow knocking/clunking noise along with a squeaking noise coming from the rear end. When I first brought the car into the dealer, they denied the existence of both and it took the second attempt to get them to acknowledge the existence of the squeaking noise so they replaced the rear lower control arms and the connecting rod. The next day I noticed that both noises still existed so I went to my trustworthy mechanic and he diagnosed the problem as being the rear sway bar, while my dealer believed it was the shocks going. Well my mechanic took upon himself to explain what he thought was wrong to my dealer and he never took a dime for any of what he did. He allowed me to videotape everything as he also found an issue with what looked to be my rear axle leaking differential fluid. When I went back to the dealer they said they didn't believe my mechanic and they took me into the service bay with my car on the lift and I did the same thing my mechanic did and banged on the sway bar which produced the noise I had been hearing. They also believed the oil was coming from the vent which is supposed to be normal, apparently. Then a whole, how should I say this, battle of professional and careful chosen words occurred between me, my dealer and Ford. In the end, the two rear shocks were replaced as well as the sway bar and Ford gave me an extended warranty on the car. Although, I mean come on, a new car with 15,500 miles shouldn't have this many components replaced. Yet Ford basically said I was outside the lemon law parameters for my state and so long as they were fixing the problem, then there really isn't anything wrong…..yeah right Ford.
- Mike J., Johnston, RI, US