Vibration

[XXXmustang]

So recently I've been experiencing an annoying metal vibrating sound when letting off after acceleration. At first i thought it might be my front license plate bracket that is the quick disconnect typed that mounts under the front air dam possibly due to it being scraped almost everytime pulling into the drive. That wasn't it. I took the car in for recent recall on door latch and asked for the tech to inspect. They came back saying they found it to be heat shield vibration around the flex pipe area and said they could not do anything about it. Well, they are not the ones driving it and know others can hear it as i drive by i decided to check myself. I never found any heat shield that appeared to be loose but what i did find was this. In the pic is the cat on the factory downpipe.

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[XXXmustang]

This is a shot up close and from other side.. You can see a hole in middle slightly to the right and if was to shine light on or at it you could see along the whole weld it is actually cracked and allows light in. In disbelief i turned car on and sure enough leaks like crazy. I wonder if this could be the source of the vibration? Btw i have an MBRP race exhaust set

up with factory down pipe. This being Sunday i can't contact the dealership but will be in the morning and asking how their tech could've overlooked this seeing there is soot along the holes and cracks.

 

[16EcomustangDIB]

That would do it!

 

[Cobra Jet]

Interesting, as I've never looked that closely at how the factory EB exhaust is mounted...

Am I seeing that correctly in your pic that there is a U-shaped bracket that is just welded sloppily to the exterior of the catalytic converter shell?? And to add to that, the bracket is attached to the side of what appears to be the transmission??

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On the subject of replacement, Ford will replace that under warranty due to the defect and premature failure by design... Plus if I recall, I believe the emissions component of the warranty is 5 years?

 

[XXXmustang]

Yes, it is pretty much a U shaped bracket which is mounted to the front bell of the transmission housing yes.
So i call Ford Service and tell them about what i found and the svc mgr sounds annoyed that i pursued it. He tells me that i need to take it to the local exhaust shop and have the guy look at it there....?? He said to have him see what i was talking about and then the exhaust shop would contact him and let him know what was needed to be done??? I didn't know that ford service was run by the local exhaust shop? Do they not trust their techs enough to clearly see the issue and fix it?

Interesting, as I've never looked that closely at how the factory EB exhaust is mounted...

Am I seeing that correctly in your pic that there is a U-shaped bracket that is just welded sloppily to the exterior of the catalytic converter shell?? And to add to that, the bracket is attached to the side of what appears to be the transmission??

---

On the subject of replacement, Ford will replace that under warranty due to the defect and premature failure by design... Plus if I recall, I believe the emissions component of the warranty is 5 years?

 

[Road Dog]

Ford Service shops don't normally employ Welders. That's something that gets subcontracted. Even if the SM took the car in for warranty it would still be taken out to a welder or muffler shop for the repair. That is unless you demanded a new unit, then it would be a part swap and done in house.

 

[Boostnonu]

It should be replace under warranty. Any emission control items are under 8 year 80k mile warranty.

 

[Cobra Jet]

It should be replace under warranty. Any emission control items are under 8 year 80k mile warranty.

100% correct ^^^^^

There should be NO question or telling you to take it to a muffler shop! They should see what you see and it's an instant replacement of the affected exhaust component under warranty.

Even if you have a catback aftermarket exhaust system on your car - any unmodified exhaust component FORWARD is still covered under the Ford warranty provisions. The downpipe which includes the catalytic converter pictured, terminates after the resonator, therefore that entire length of factory exhaust is susceptible to replacement as it has prematurely failed by description of the warranty that covers that specific part. Even if you had a catback, it still can't be and is not the cause of failure as pictured for the obvious manufacturing defect (lack of quality control) on the downpipe section of exhaust on the car.

Contact "Ford Service" on here and give your vehicle info and state your problem. They will escalate the issue to the local Ford CSR, who will then light a fire under your Dealers ass... they will replace that part.

 

[XXXmustang]

Well, my dealership still had not contacted me about the issue so I called and spoke to the service mgr. He stated that Ford would only cover it if it was "internally failing"? He said that the welds and failure of the outside was not covered and that was advised due to my catback exhaust it would not be something Ford would look at. I argued with him about it being cat-forward and the fact that they never saw it in person since they had me take it to an exhaust shop. I got the customer service number from him and called them. Spoke with a rep and she took notes then contacted the dealership to verify. She called back and said that they would not do anything blah blah about the same reasons. I was upset and explained the only thing modified was a bolt on catback but that didnt help so I asked for another number or person to speak to but she said that there wasn't anyone and that the only thing was for another advisor to contact me monday.

 

[XXXmustang]

So should i take time to slap factory cat back exhaust back on and go to different dealership or is it too late?

 

[Boostnonu]

I would do exactly that. Look for a mod friendly dealership and you may want to just come clean with them. And your looking for a second opinion. But I would throw the stock exhaust, that's a pretty quick job to save hundreds on a new cat.

 

[XXXmustang]

Well, after talking with the Ford Rep with Ford Service when they called back on Monday we both agreed to take the car to a different dealership. I ended up at the one I purchased the car from(just did not take to it originally since it was quite farther then the one in my town). They called today after dropping off yesterday and the service mgr agreed that it was covered by warranty and ordered a new part which will be in a couple of days. I guess I should have taken back to the original dealership knowing they probably would have taken care of THEIR customers! The service mgr even threw in a free thing of touch up paint when I told him that I just discovered that yesterday some dinged my passenger door and took paint off. In the end, a pleased Ford customer that knows better than to trust a local dealership just because of their location.

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