jc46002003

Hi Community,

Just wanted to plaster this all over the place for the world to see how terribly the Ford dealers fail.

I have a 2014 Mustang GT ( 6R80 auto ) and I was feeling from the car what one would could describe as 'wheel hop while cruising'. The car would also shimmy over bumps/paint/rough spots on the road. I finally drove the car enough to pinpoint the issue. So I was driving on the road and I did a rather slow lane change. The front tires went over the the paint strips with ease, no problems there. Then the rear drivers side went over the paint stripe, no problem there. Then the rear passenger side went over it. BOOM, car walked all over the road. This lead me to conclude that I had a bad lower control arm on the passenger side rear. Took the car to a FireStone and put it on a lift. The tech there put a crowbar in between the forward bushing and the chassis. He was able to move the control arm very easily. We then did the same thing to the driver's side rear and that bushing didn't move at all. At this point, I knew my bushing was bad. CONFIRMED PROBLEM. So then, thinking it was a 'no brainer' at that point, I took it to the Ford dealer and explained the symptom and troubleshooting I did and left the car with them. They called me back and explained 'we don't see anyting wrong with your car'. I responded...."ummmm, did you jack the car up and compare the driver's side and passage side slack?" To which they replied 'yes we did that your car has no issues'. I then replied back, 'OK, then I'll have to pay you to do the job, can you upgrade me to the Ford racing control arms'. They said would. The upgrade was around 320 bucks.

So after the control arm repair I picked the car up. Immediately noticed improvements in lane changes. Dramatic improvement in the car's handling. However, I still noticed the wheel hoping sensation. Since the control arms were now replaced and working correctly, I was actually able to feel the change in the car and feel exactly where the vibration was coming from. The vibration was a drive line vibration. I could tell because the steering wheel would shake and I could feel the vibration from the seat as well. I had a small suspicion that my front lower control arms were bad as well, since there was a TSB on that. Got the TSB completed. So now all 4 control arms have been replaced and I still felt the steering wheel shake. So I then had a suspicion that my carrier was going bad. I then jacked the car up at a 3rd party shop and we were able to move the drive shaft very easily around inside the carrier. I could even see light through the rubber.

So again, I took the car into a dealership and told them the symptom and troubleshooting I did and left it with them. Again, what I thought was an absolute 'NO BRAINER CONFIRMED PROBLEM' They said they drove the car and jacked it up and 'didn't find any problems'. I'm like "uhhhh, ok, are you sure? Because I just confirmed the carrier is bad myself on a lift, with a mechanic who agreed that the carrier is bad". They replied, "ok, we'll have the shop foreman check it and we'll call you back". They called me back and again said "there's nothing wrong with your car". So I gave up on that dealer and went to a different dealer. Ran into the same problem "there's nothing wrong with your car". So again, I told them, ok, sell me a drive shaft and a transmission mount ( because I could feel the drive line lifting up during torque converter unlocks ). Obtained the drive shaft and then found a third party shop to install the shaft and the mount. They did so and I test drive the car. ALL my drive line concerns are now resolved! Below is a video I took of the repair. I showed the video to the service manager at the last dealer I went to and he still thinks the original drive shaft's slack is normal!!

Would be nice if Ford would reimburse me for fixing my own car. It's under warranty! This repair cost me about 1000.00. That's with 5 days of rental cars ( 2 separate cars ) while I waited for the dealers to tell me 'there's nothing wrong with your car'.


List of repairs on this car:

1. Rear differential rebuilt ( ring/pinion, limited slip clutches and all bearings)
2. The lower end of the motor has been rebuilt due to the 5.0 engine tick problem. (#1 connecting rod replaced along with all the cap and crank bearings and crank shaft )
3. All control arms have been replaced
4. Drive shaft replaced
5. Transmission mount replaced
6. The body panels were all over the place, sticking past each other, ect. After 4 different Ford and third party body shops, I finally found a shop that fixed the body panels. Looks good now.

This took a total of about 5 dealers and about 4 months of time in shop days due to dealership incompetence.

This car has less than 5000 miles on it at the moment.

kylerohde

I'd have dumped the car by now. Good on you being so patient and going to such lengths to fix it. Wow.

jc46002003

Thank you for your kind words Kylerohde. One of my main motivations is knowing how many times I've proven these dealerships wrong. I will continue to do so till my car is working as intended by the designers.

I'll explain further.

I reported the infamous 5.0 ticking noise very early on, to the selling dealer. Selling dealer said 'it's normal'. I knew they were wrong so I took it to a different dealer. The different dealer agreed that I had an issue and then they tore into the motor. This type of scenario has happened over and over again throughout my ownership of this car. With various parts that I named individually to dealerships. I even tell them the exact part that I'm having the issue with. Example " yes mr. service manager I put the car on a lift and checked the control arm myself and it needs service". Only to be told 'there's nothing wrong with your car'

Imagine that you have this car and ALL the following parts are ALL bad at the same time and a dealership telling you there's nothing wrong with your car:

1. drive shaft carrier
2. incorrect friction modifier in the rear diff ( causing the car to hop when you turn )
3. bad passenger side rear lower control arm

I kid you not. These parts were all bad at-the-same-time and the dealers said 'there's nothing wrong with the car'.

Horrifying isn't it?

Horspla

I see you replaced the driveshaft with a OEM unit. How long do you think it will take before the carrier bearing bushing goes limp again and the vibration returns? Not trying to be a smarta$$ mind you because I have the same issue and have gotten the same response from Ford. Rather than spending $1000 on an OEM two piece driveshaft that weighs a brazillion pounds and will likely have or redevelop the same issue, I'm considering an aftermarket aluminum shaft.

I also have a lot gnicking, gnocking and gnacking coming from both my front and rear suspension mounts since I lowered the car. I am assumed it's because the new springs and dampers are stiffer and the stock rubber isolation bushings in the suspension mounts aren't up to additional load getting placed on them. I might have to put the car up on the hoist and have a closer look. I might find what you found in yours.

Glad you got your car sorted out...frustrating isn't it?

John

jc46002003

Hi John,

Thank you for your words.

I actually did consider the one piece and in fact, I even ordered one from ShaftMasters. This was after I had shown the first dealership the problem, who denied my issue. I canceled that one piece order because of a concern that came up over my transmission mount. The reason why I was concerned about my transmission mount was because started feeling from the car, what felt like the drive line hopping up a tad, when my torque converter unlocked for shifts. Incredible harshness was felt during downshifts ( using sport mode ). This symptom started to occur after I spoke with the 1st dealer and right after I ordered the one piece. That's when I decided to take the car to another dealer to see if I could get any progress. I didn't want to put on a one piece if I had a bad trans mount in case Ford came back and said something about it. Remember, these dealership are incompetent, fraudulent, or both. So my assumption is that the slack from the carrier was causing such a vibration and stress that the transmission mount might have an issue. That's when I took it to the second dealership who also denied the issue.

So with that, I ordered from them the OEM AND a trans mount. During install of both, the technician felt that the new mount sat a tad higher than the old mount. I can definitely feel the difference in the new trans mount. The rubber is much stronger and downshifts are a lot smoother now.

Thank you for your post and words.

jc46002003

Yay my 5.0 tick is back after I got the car back from today's Oil change done by Ford who said my car is "good to go" LOL. This video was taken TODAY.

Know what happened the last time I had this noise? WE FOUND A BAD CRANK SHAFT.

FordService

Will you be bringing it back to the dealer who did your last engine repairs, jc46002003? Be sure to PM me if you want me to escalate this for you.

Deysha

jc46002003

Hi Deysha,

My case is escalated to a supervisor above the CSM. I'm awaiting call back.

I will be taking the car to a dealer to document the noise and maybe they will even troubleshoot it. Who knows.

FordService

Great! Thanks for the info, jc46002003! Keep me updated.

Deysha

jc46002003

Hey everyone,

The dealership I took the car to, to report the engine tick, advised me that the "Local Ford Engineer" will not approve anymore repairs to the engine and that I should "File with the BBB Auto Line for Arbitration".

The Operations Manager at the customer service center said that 'the ticking is a normal characteristic of the engine'. He said the local engineer told him that. Some engineer. Maybe that engineer needs to go back to school. Or, the operations manager is just feeding me a canned response that he assumed the engineer meant. I'm thinking the latter since the Ford dealer told me they would like to go into the motor but Ford won't pay them. I mean c'mon, how can it be normal if the ticking wasn't there before the oil change then appeared after the oil change. There's no way that's normal.

My paper work, which includes a grand total of 140 repair days, is on it's way to the BBB.

Will be interesting to see. If the BBB agrees that the engine is working as designed, I'll probably have to pull the motor myself and prove the low end defects.

We'll see.

Horspla

Any warranty left? If so, drive it until it gets real obvious there is a terminal problem and then go back...or just run it 'til she blows, then they have to take care of ya.

John

Turbo302

Boy o boy! It seems like these engineers are taking lessons from politicians!

If Ford and its engineers believe this ticking phenomenon is normal in all these Mustangs, F150's etc... Let us know what the heck it is that is making this noise!

It seems like all these repairs have had parts thrown at the engines with hopes of a fix. Then some get a dealer rebuild or crate engine but we never really knew what the root problem is. Some say one thing, others say another.

Ford....let us know what the **** ticking noise is coming from (Pistons, Crank, Tensioners, Chains, etc, etc...). I'm sure an aftermarket fix would be easily created and solve!

I have a bad feeling it may be an expensive defect (like block/piston mismatch or crank flaw) that would nessesitate a complete rebuild/blueprint. Ford probably has some calculated failure stat figured in and a certain percentage will not cause catastrophic failure, so they are rolling the dice and most will probably make it past warranty ticking away! Kinda like the GM piston slap issues on late 90's early 00' engines GM just kept quiet as they knew the engines would run fine until warranty ran out, and they probably did, but was not really "right".

I don't really hear of any Aluminators or Custom built motors with "tick issues" so I'm thinking it's shortblock related. Why after an oil change...that's the odd part. My car has 2100mi on it and original everything. I heard it rhythmically tick once at a drive through window at about 900mi but I think that was more valve train noise or chains and not random like yours and most cases. I have yet to change my oil and am somewhat fearful even though it should not matter.

jc46002003

Updates for you guys,

I'm now going through the BBB process. As a result of this process, a Ford FSE came out to inspect the engine noise and a rear gear noise I'm having. He heard both noises.

The FSE advises that since the noises are not going cause me to be left stranded, he's not going to recommend any further repairs on the car. The FSE feels that the noises are within acceptable limits and he believes that these are just normal characteristics that I just simply don't like.

I will be able to dispute this answer through the BBB process, and I have just sent the rep from BBB an email.

I have no doubt in my mind that these issues are defect and the BBB will likely bring in a 3rd party for an independent opinion.. I think based off that opinion and other facts the BBB will either rule for me or for Ford. We'll see.

keltymd

Why do they not care about us? Why does ford want to stick it to us so bad. I can't let myself buy another one.

SpectreH

I'm glad I'm getting better service here. My puddle lamps were splotchy, passenger sun visor mirror lid didn't snap firmly shut, and my top had a wear spot on the binding about 1 inch long that most people would never spot. With 200 miles or 3 weeks left in my bumper to bumper warranty, I finally went in expecting the worse.

They fixed the first two items by lunch, but could not repair the top. Ford authorized a new top that is being installed this week. I was shocked that they would do this for such a minor blemish. I hope the result is as good as their attitude has been. I never even hinted I wanted a new top but they appear to want to honor the warranty and do everything right.

frank s

Seems to me they recognize a person of taste and discernment, and offer their best.

I wish I still had my 1965 Corvair Corsa convertible. I don't know what possessed me to sell it when my wife preferred an automatic car. Perfect pair: Corvair Corsa and Mustang GT convertibles. Good stuff.


From my Web page about the Corvair:

"I was so pleased with the Corvair. It looked good, sounded great, handled good, felt right to me. One day I was going down the Ulric hill from Linda Vista to Mission Valley, nice wide, four-lane road. Top down, sun shining, new duals sounding fresh. Fresh oil and filter in the engine a few days earlier. Sweet scene, fine prospects all around. I thought that was a good time to open it up in third gear, see how it cranked with that hill to aid and abet it.

"Gas pedal to the floor, decibels and speed mounted quickly, and at about 65 miles per hour I let off the gas. It kept going, flat out full accelleration! Ack! No panic, reached for the key and turned it off before putting in the clutch. Coasted to the side of the road and went back to see what part of the throttle linkage was stuck.

"Well, the linkage was stuck, all right. It was jammed open by the jack. The thing you use to lift the car when a tire change is necessary outside of the store. It was one of those swinging-peg-goes-in-a-hole kind popularized by European or British cars. In standard form it was mounted along the wall of the engine compartment, with the swinging peg part faced to the fender, away from the engine. I had not had it out, and whoever had last put it back put it back with the peg faced toward the engine and set so the peg could swing out under heavy acceleration. Heavy braking would just confirm its folded position.

"So there it was, swung into a position it could only reach under full throttle, by the only force that could swing it there: sudden, hard acceleration. It will make a good plot device in a murder mystery. I try to find something good in every circumstance. Silver lining, you know."

SpectreH

Good story Framk. I've owned a Corvair continuously since 1983, my current one being the nicest...had it since 2011. I always preferred Chevy products in the past, but I prefer the newer Fords today.

jc46002003

Thank you for the replies.

A few days after the FSE came and told me there's nothing to fix, I called the Ford dealer back and offered to pay them to troubleshoot the engine noise. I offered to pay them to do 2 things:

1. remove the drive belt to see if the noise goes away

2. If removing the drive belt does not change anything, cancel out one cylinder at a time to see if any one cylinder canceled, stops the noise

This is what they did the 1st time I had the ticking noise and most likely what they do for everyone else. They should do it now but have refused.

The Ford service manager said he wanted to run it by the FSE to get permission for me to pay for the troubleshooting above.

Why did he need permission to provide me with a service I wanted to pay for?

So the service manager called me back and advised that he feels that there's nothing to troubleshoot. He's wrong. The random ticking is very easy to duplicate.

So in the morning I'm going to a 3rd party to do the drive belt and cylinders bit. This will be the proof I need to turn the corner, I believe.

Say for example, I cancel cylinder number 1 like last time and the noise goes away, this warrants pulling the pan and checking the crank and rod caps. Just like they did before. This would be excellent proof for my case and would only work to improve my already high credibility for knowing my car, as I have proven from the control arms, drive shaft and rear differential issues.

The FSE thinks that I cannot be happy with this car. He's absolutely 100% wrong. If it was working as designed, I wouldn't be bothering them. I have proven this in other posts where I said I was happy with the 1st 2014 Mustang GT I bought that got totaled in a car crash.

ford4v429

the only thing worse than Fords concerns on quality is their warranty hassles. my06 had a vibration in the driveline, the carrier bearing is slotted, and was clocked fully one way, binding the bearing in its rubber isolator...realigned, smooth...while under, noticed the rear axle coil spring isolator was halfway out from under the lower end of the spring...fixed that and rear noise level quieted a lot... this was when car was a week old.

just watch the hood underside near the hem- it will corrode and bubble up- be sure to check underneath before 3/36 is up- it will most likely be bad by then.

OldF111Flyer

I am a new owner of a 1 owner 2014 Mustang GT/CS manual transmission with about 26800 miles on the car. Staring at about 48 mph and going up to at least 75 there is a driveline vibration I now suspect is the carrier bearing rubber isolator failing, becoming too soft.
Trouble shooting
- new tires, tires rebalanced twice.
- wheels ans axles checked for runout - all good. Checked wheels both on the tire balancer and mounted on the car, rear axle on jacks, idle it in 1st gear and the tires and wheels were good.
- put car in 6th and ran it up to 70 and the vibration starts at about 48 as before.
- put car in neutral with brake on and ran engine up to 2000rpm, smooth
- got under the car and pushed and pulled on the driveshaft and very easily got the the carrier bearing to move up and down and left and right - easily.

So looking for your community expertise, but I think the carrier bearing is bad and allowing the DS to vibrate.

My next decision will be do I replace with the OE Motorcraft DS or install a Ford Performance aluminum 1-piece DS?