Vibration between 50 & 70 mph

[Jim05]

I'm having the same issue as ElRuso, and have been through much of the same except for BBB. I've been working with a Regional Director, but have yet to get results. So far, they have:

- Road force balanced all 4 tires
- changed the Driveshaft
- Checked the front struts
- Blamed the steering mode -- apparently, if you are in Sport mode the car is designed to vibrate (per the Ford engineers)
- Changed 2 tires (a month after the road force balance)
- Found a misinstalled bearing in the differential case that shredded the inside of the case (1-inch long metal shavings and oil that looked like it had 100k miles). New case is on order but there are none available since the case is not being produced. Apparently, Ford is no longer producing Mustangs?? I seriously doubt that, but Ford will not provide a replacement part to the dealer.

The car is currently at the dealer torn apart, and the best they can offer is "we'll keep working with Ford and hope they can provide a part sometime. In the meantime, please enjoy your free rental F150 that is at least the same color as your Mustang."

I guess the next step is BBB, although it appears they will be of no help. Below are a couple emails to which I've gotten no reply from the Regional Director.

11/19:
Thank you, <Name>. I'm looking forward to driving a Mustang vice the many other vehicles I've been driving. And I will try to be optimistic that the problems I've had are not just the tip of the iceberg. On a positive note, every time I get to drive it it feels like I'm getting into a new vehicle I've never driven. I apologize for the lack of confidence and slight bitterness, but I can't remember ever having this number of problems in a new vehicle, let alone a used vehicle. Frankly, a top that cuts holes in itself and still occasionally pops (literally) when going up, a bad driveshaft (well documented in forums), two bad tires, a differential that wasn't far from a catastrophic failure -- all within 6 months -- do not lend themselves to create confidence in Ford's ability to deliver quality.

I know you can't do this with 100%, but I hope someone can provide me with something that improves my confidence that another failure isn't right around the corner. Again, I apologize for my tone, but I am seriously worried about "what's next", and am frustrated at the lack of quality in this particular vehicle. I feel like I paid Ford a Li if money to alpha or beta test a vehicle thru its development stages.

11/20:
I just spoke with my SM, and he passed on the bad news that Ford does not have any differential housings available and no plans to produce any. I'm very surprised since that indicates that Mustangs are no longer being produced. After all, these differentials are used on Mustangs on the production line. If there are no differentials, there must be no more Mustangs. Would it behoove me to find one on eBay, or is there another alternative available, please? As a retired Air Force aircraft maintainer. I understand that sometimes components of next higher assemblies are sometimes not available. When we ran into that situation, especially when it was important to our customers (US citizens) for a mission to fly, we ordered the next higher assembly. If the differential is not available, is the rear suspension assembly available? If not, is a different Mustang? It seems that there are options that simply have not yet been explored. Please let me know if these might be available, or if there is some other option I should explore. Thank you, and have a great weekend.

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[speedfrk]

Why would they order just a housing instead of the complete diff? I would insist on a complete diff unit and a new pinion flange if it isn't part of the assembly.

Your state will have it's own lemon law requirements. Check with the dealer as to how you file. I don't think you need to use BBB unless your state requires it but they do seem to get the job done faster in some of the states.

 

[347CobraII]

It's not that there not making housing just don't have any in part system right now.

 

[Jim05]

It's not that there not making housing just don't have any in part system right now.

That's what i thought, but when I asked the response was, "not only are there none in the system there are none planned to be produced." My guess is that there are none of the cases planned for the Ford parts chain, but there are plans for the next higher assembly. As I (mis?)understand, the dealer can only order what Ford authorizes them to order. Whether the dealer asked about a NHA or not is a mystery.

 

[GT Pony]

- Blamed the steering mode -- apparently, if you are in Sport mode the car is designed to vibrate (per the Ford engineers).

Wow, that's a new one. My car doesn't vibrate in Sport mode ... it must be broken. I should take it in and say "Hey, the Ford engineers said my car should vibrate when in Sport mode, but it's as smooth as silk ... can you fix this problem?" :headbonk:

 

[GT Pony]

- Found a misinstalled bearing in the differential case that shredded the inside of the case (1-inch long metal shavings and oil that looked like it had 100k miles).

That could very well be the source of the vibration. If it was mine, I'd let them fix the differential then if that doesn't fix the vibration go down the BBB/buy-back route.

Ford should be able to supply a whole differential assembly ... tell the dealership to order a complete differential.

 

[Blacklaw]

That could very well be the source of the vibration. If it was mine, I'd let them fix the differential then if that doesn't fix the vibration go down the BBB/buy-back route.

Ford should be able to supply a whole differential assembly ... tell the dealership to order a complete differential.

In my instance, after I complained to Ford, the BBB and escalated the issue past the CSM, they shipped out a new differential from the assembly line. You just have to keep complaining.


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[Jim05]

It never ceases to amaze me the kind of things people and whole companies will make up to cover up for poor design and execution. It makes you wonder how they sleep at night.

 

[TWild]

I reference to the post by Jim05...I'm having the same issues as everyone else and the local dealership has done much of the same to my 2016 EB. What I find interesting is that about a week and a half ago I was told a new differential/rear-end was ordered for my car. I went by the dealership yesterday (11/21) and I was told the part arrived on Friday (11/20) and it was scheduled to be installed on Monday (11/23).

The dealership had told me that Ford was going to have to assemble a differential from the individual parts, as no complete assemblies are available. Hmmmmm?

I'll post the results of the differential/rear-end change as soon as it's complete.

 

[speedfrk]

I reference to the post by Jim05...I'm having the same issues as everyone else and the local dealership has done much of the same to my 2016 EB. What I find interesting is that about a week and a half ago I was told a new differential/rear-end was ordered for my car. I went by the dealership yesterday (11/21) and I was told the part arrived on Friday (11/20) and it was scheduled to be installed on Monday (11/23).

The dealership had told me that Ford was going to have to assemble a differential from the individual parts, as no complete assemblies are available. Hmmmmm?

I'll post the results of the differential/rear-end change as soon as it's complete.

Just for info, ask them if the new diff comes with the pinion flange installed or if they swap it out from the old unit. I mention this because some people have had diff replaced and it not fix the problem but a couple of us have had just the flange change and it did fix the problem.

 

[DrDing.Muscle]

Thanks for the summary.



Today I took my replacement (2016 Mustang GT, 350 miles in) to Jones Ford for the vibration issue, they test drove it, gave it back to me without inspecting it and gave me their Service Report, which says: "Test drove and could not verify concern. Checked oasis, no tsb/ssm for concern. Performed 2nd test drive with service manager, again no problem found. Did find that the steering was set on sports mode. Relearned to normal mode"

I almost lost it when they were trying to explain how "Sport Mode" (Steering) might cause the vibration on the steering wheel etc. I immediately told them "Don't worry, I'm going to take it to Palmetto Ford". Palmetto Ford was the dealer that acknowledged my old 2015 Mustang EB's vibration, but were only allowed to balance the tires.

I will go through the BBB again if these 3 dealers don't fix my replacement on the 3rd time. I'm going to request my money back this time and stay away from Ford.

/end-of-rant

Wow this is crazy. All the issues people are having with vibrations and there is still not an oasis report or TSB about it? Come on Ford get your heads out of your asses. My wife is still in a rental car for hers that she bought back in July. It has been going on 3 months and Ford is processing a buyback for her car. They are very bad about contacting us when they say they will. Ford definitely gets an F in the customer service department.

 

[speedfrk]

Someone posted some time ago on this thread that their vibration wasn't as bad at 80MPH+. I just did that today (85MPH) for a good 5-10 seconds and the car was smooth as heck... then slowed down to 60MPH and it came back.

speedfrk, do you know if that's a characteristic of a bad pinion flange?

Hard to say, but certainly possible. The flange has holes drilled it it that are obviously there for balancing. Any run-out on the flange will also cause vibration. And, it can be both- run-out and imbalance! Vibration from run-out is different than vibration from imbalance. Generally, run-out will cause the vibration to increase as the speed goes up. The flange and 2 piece DS are a pretty complex assembly. The assembly and each component of the assembly have a natural frequency that they like to vibrate at- just like a wind chime. On a DS it is called the critical speed. Once you are above or below that frequency the vibration will fall off. Dana has a good white paper on DS design here... It's not as simple as people think, lol. The engineers at Ford understand this but the guys at the dealership level most certainly do not!
http://www2.dana.com/pdf/DSAG-0200.pdf


My car also got smoother at 80+. I would push the dealer to use the vibration measuring equipment to identify the cause/frequency of the vibration and then try the flange. The flange is a quick and cheap repair compared to a new DS assembly- plus, it doesn't seem like a new DS has fixed the problem for anyone on our forum but the flange has.

 

[347CobraII]

1

 

[Jim05]

This is all the "emotional roller coaster" described elsewhere, and hopefully the promises will be kept. It turns out that a diff case is on the way, as I found out after pressing for info (why is it so hard to communicate and keep us customers informed?). The bearings turned out to be a separate long pole in the tent and won't be available until Monday (here's where the "hopefully" comes in). So, I might be back in a Mustang vice the "near look alike" F-150 they have me driving. On a side note, if you're going to get a truck, get one with an actual bed -- 5.5 feet barely carries a couple bags of mulch.

 

[69mach1-395]

^My dad has the mini bed on his truck and I made fun of it when my fishing rods had to lay diagonally to fit...
Good luck on the vibes.

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