So the Ford dealer just called me and said that they got it all back together. They took it out driving and on the fourth drive it started making the knocking noise again. They are going to have the regional engineer come in and look at it now.

I've been sitting here wondering what the heck it could be wrong with the car. Again, it only does it after driving for a while and when you turn the car off and back on it stops the noise. Do any of you think that it could possibly be the alternator, ac, vacuum, or any other belt driven accessory? I had the thought that it could be this from the beginning. The only other thing I can think of is a rod bearing or a shaft bearing. The dealer is going to feel real stupid when the engineer comes in and it ends up being something simple to fix. I'm going to be pissed too because they would have taken the motor out and messed with it for no reason at all. Any ideas yet???

 

Ben, I feel for you man. I know how annoying it is to have a problem that none of the technicians can fix. My specific situation is when you turn on the A/C on a hot day there is a high pitch whine noise when you accelerate. Took it to the dealer 5 times and had a Tech from california come out, he said he found the problem and at first it went away but it's back and I have given up on fixing it............and thats why it will be the last Toyota I ever buy. Every company has lemons and problems, don't believe me? Go to any dealership and look in the service department if there are people then there are problems, look at the age of the cars in the service bays most are new 99& up. I know everything will work out for you in the end and the problem will fade as the pavment peeling miles rack up! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/04.gif[/img]

 

The dealer called today and said that the regional engineer will not be able to come in until next week some time, but in the mean time he wanted them to get the car to knock again and run some test. The technician said they took it out driving for about an hour and the car never knocked today...it figures that when they want it to knock, it doesn't!

I was just sitting here thinking though. It's not very hot outside today compared to the past couple of weeks, so he may not have turned the A/C on. The first day the car knocked was the first day of the Spring that I turned the A/C on. It was also on every time that we drove it since then and it knocked. I am going to call and ask him first thing in the morning. Do you guys think that it could be something to do with the A/C at all or is this just wishful thinking?

 

The only other thing I can think of that is different now than before is the gas. The day it started knocking I had filled up with gas at a little country BP store. It was almost on E when I drove it last so they have had to put gas in it before they drove it yesterday. You don't think bad gas could make it knock that bad do you? Another thing that made me think about gas was when they did the first repair they got a misfire code on #4 and gas can do that, right?

 

bad gas can definately make a car ping/knock like there is no tomorrow. Causes the car to run extremely rough. I have even seen cases where cars would constantly stall or would barely even start the gas was so bad. Oh the joys of spending my days as a youth working at a gas station. I can almost still smell the gas evaporating off of the concrete as customers over-filled their tanks [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]

 

I had a new Pontiac in 84 that was blowing gray smoke out the exhaust. I took it in for service and they couldn't find the problem. It went away after I refilled. Gas may very well have been the culprit. I hope it is. Maybe you could stop by the dealership and drive the car around for a while yourself and see if it still makes the noise before they return the car to you. The only puzzling thing is the inconsistency of the noise, even with the bad fuel.

 

I went and picked it up last Friday. I drove, and drove, and drove and no noise. I brought the car home from the dealer and still no noise. I'm not sure what fixed it, but something sure did. I then took it and traded it in, so I'm no longer a Mustang owner. Sorry guys I'm sure I'll probably miss it, but I needed something a little more practical anyways.

 

Aww Ben, sorry to hear that. But you did what you felt was right. No need to apologize. Still, you should've asked what was done to fix the problem - might help those with similar issues. Anyways, if you don't mind me asking, what did you trade it in for? Just curious.

 

They replaced the head and it knocked right after that, but then it hasn't done it since. They aren't positive themselves what fixed it. It even could have been just the gas that was in it, cause it didn't knock after they put different gas in it.

I really missed my 03 Xterra that I traded for the Mustang, but I hate the new body style. I wanted something 4x4 yet classy. I ended up with a 2006 Toyota 4Runner Sports Edition 4x4. I guess I'm more of an SUV kind of guy. The Mustang was fun while it lasted though and I still admire them a lot. I still get my fill of Mustangs from my uncle's '69 Boss 302 and I will own a classic one day in the near future.