Defekticon,

Thank you for the info. I will pass along your insights to the shop.

 

Update:

I finally tracked down the service manager for my local dealer. He acknowledged that I have a receipt that shows I took the truck in on October 4th, 2016, complaining that the differential vent hose was hanging below the vehicle. The receipt further shows that it was re mounted.

His response to this was that he has no proof that the vent was placed in the wrong position, and that anyone could have put it there. He also argues that there is no way I could get water in that hose, even in its current position, unless I submerged the vehicle.

He went on to say that, even if that were his mechanics fault, it took more than one year to cause any damage, thus it is not his responsibility. His final stance is that it is no fault of the dealership, and they cannot help me further.

Very discouraging, to say the least.

I authorized a different dealership (the one I purchased the truck from) to make the $4,500 in repairs. They should have it finished by the end of the week. They have also provided a document stating that the mis location of the breather hose is likely the cause of water contamination.

I intend to file pursue this in our local small claims court, since West Virginia allows up to $5,000 in damages to be adjudicated by a local magistrate. I hate having to press the issue in this way, but I am convinced that the error by the dealer is the root cause, and I am amazed the service manager will not acknowledge even the slightest of a chance they they were responsible.

Hell, when I had them refill the rear end so that I could drive it to my purchasing dealership, they still left the hose in the wrong spot. (and for those of you who asked, the sound from the drive train was the same after they replaced the diff fluid.)

When I get the truck back I will let you all know if the fix remedies the noise.

Thanks again for all of the help!

 

I'm sorry Art, but I'm absolutely floored someone is willing to pay $4,500 for an axle rebuild. That is absolutely highway robbery.

 

I'm a little floored too. If I were you I'd pay a local offroad specialist a few hundred bucks plus parts to rebuild it himself in his garage. Tons of people rebuild axles as a hobby on the side to make a few bucks.

 

I have a friend with a Nissan Titan, they were quoted $4500 to replace rear end as well.

I've had new lockers installed for about $1k each, including the locker (tru-trac) why agree to $4500??????

 

Did the second dealer that is doing the rebuild confirm the differential is what is making the noise?

 

The second dealer did confirm it was the differential that was making the noise.

 

Regardless of whether or not you've got $4500 sitting around to fix these sorts of problems, I've got some experience that says throwing money at problems isn't the best idea. If you still have time I'd recommend getting a second opinion from an independent shop with motives that aren't connected to either the Ford dealer that re-connected the breather or the dealer you bought the truck from. I didn't catch if you bought the truck from a different dealership and that's who quoted you $4500?

If you think you've got a good case against the dealer, go for it. But at least pay a lawyer to consult for an hour before making that decision to waste time and heartache to process in small claims court. Been there and again experience says no matter who wins, everyone loses by having to deal with the court.

Good luck either way, I can sympathize with being at a point where you just want your truck to work and biting on the 4500 bullet is the attractive solution.

 

I agree.. if you have the time.. and access to a second vehicle..

independent shop.. as the noise "Could" be a single bearing or TWO..... not $4,500 ...

as some water in gear oil is not fatal to the gears, clutch pack... only if it SAT for some time.... or 10's of thousands of miles.

 

Assuming they're just replacing the entire axle, the Ford list price on BC3Z-4026-B (New or remanufacturered Diff with case, side gears and pinion gears) for a truck w/ 3.73's w/Limited slip SRW is 1,563.68 with a 750 core charge and 4.2 hours customer pay labor to replace it. That's still less than 3,000 if you include diagnostics time, gear oil, shop supplies, etc.

DRW is going to add another 500 bucks roughly to that price. I don't see a different part number for an axle with e-locker, but that could certainly add to the price.

I will note, that I'm now going to change my Diff oil and get a cover with a magnetic drain plug given your experience. Drain and fill once a year. Ford claims that you'll never need to service it throughout the life of the vehicle, but that seems like a dubious claim given that it's possible for that breather tube to become disconnected or fall out of place.

 

I hate dealerships like this, I hope you burn them in court and you should send out bad reviews anywhere possible to steer other folks away from that place.

 

Diffs are tough.. Unless there is hard part damage.. Clean out and fill with new oil (synthetic) might be the way to go.


All claims has to first get through the initial pointing of the finger.


All claims will first be met with each party trying to show blame.


All claimants must prove fault. The burden is on the claimant. Any grey area will likely go to the merchant, unless they are very nice.

 

I’m going to concur with others, there is no way to get significant milkshake in the differential unless the axle has been submerged for an extended period of time. My differentials have always been brown/black fluid with a touch of milkshake on the edges of the cover - though never overfilled with water even after 10 years of use.

Someone traded that truck in at 31k and it was sold at auction for a reason....

Sorry. Add fresh fluids and drive it until it self destructs - which will never occur unless all the fluid is lost.

 

It blows me away that people buy a used vehicle “assuming” that everything is fine. The first thing I do is to change all the fluids so that I know the baseline.

 

There is no demand for super duty axles because they last forever. Used low mileage axles are cheap on ebay. I've been trying to sell a pair of 4x4 dually axles out of my 2015 for $1K each because they are 4.30 ratio. If they were 3.73 they'd be cheaper.