I have two goals here. First, and most importantly, I wanna find out what is wrong with my baby ('04 F-350 crew cab SB). Second, and probably unnecessary, I want to vent a bit.

The problems:
1) 4x4... Where to start? Shift-on-the-fly is supposed to work at speeds up to 88 km/h, mine has to be at a dead stop before it makes a NASTY grinding noise, followed by an equally disturbing clunk from the front driver's side wheel. Then, when I am finished crying about that, there is a constant clicking noise which gets louder as I go faster, up until I decide that, black ice or not, I can't take this torture anymore.

2) Oil leak up top. This has already been diagnosed by two others as a common occurance. Just a boot that joins together two aluminum lines. Drying out, and cracking.

3) This one just happened today. Transmission? I love the sound of my 6.0, but not so much when I put it in reverse! All of my driving gears are silent, but as soon as I put it in reverse there is a small clunk noise, followed by steady vibration all through the truck, as well as a low pitched "whirring" noise.

Now I can vent. WHEN YOU SELL A USED TRUCK, MAKE SURE YOU DO A PROPER INSPECTION!!! I haven't put more than 9,500 km on this thing since I bought it at the start of december.

It goes into the dealership tomorrow morning to get checked out. But if anyone can tell me what might cause these problems, please let me know. I would like to have an idea of how much this is gonna hurt tomorrow! And whether or not I should get a rental for work.

 

It almost sounds as if there's one hub that's sticking.. Thus the clicking when you go to 4x4. Simple lube/maintenance should take care of this. Dirt or other contaminates could have caused this. All it takes is for the previous owner to get it stuck in some deep mud some time ago.

The tranny? There were several recalls for the torque shift transmission in 04'. Maybe it didn't get the updates.

-Steve

(and I could have said that you should have bought a truck with a ZF6spd!)

 

Hub is out of the question, that was our first guess, we replaced it with another ford hub that had just been "restored" and it made no difference. Good call on the tranny, I will have to mention that to the ford guys. And the more I think about it, a 6 spd would have been the better option. Especially when your tow/haul button stops workng!

 

I hate to tell you , that awful noise coming from the front might be the drive axle. I had to replace mine about aweek ago.OUCH!!!! As the front axle has a univeral joint included, or a constant velocity joint. Butting your truck into 4*4high, puts a lot of stress on this joint. Also make sure you let off the throttle when switching your truck into4*4 mode.

 

That was another thing I was told, a guy I work with drives the same truck and his did the exact same thing. Did it cost a ton to fix, or was yours warrantied?

 

Total job was about$1400, this included some other front end work. No my warranty is expired, but this one of few major expenses on the truck. She just turned over 150 000km. Still awsome truck!!!!!!!!

 

Well, the results are in. 4x4 solenoid, and front drive shaft. 4x4 alone is gonna be $975.00 . The diesel tech will be in this afternoon to take a look at the oil leak, but I'm sure it will all come in around the $1,400.00 mark. Good news is, my job got moved to friday, so I can have my baby back in time.

 

How much is the solenoid?? Change it yourself.

And the drive shaft too! Go to a driveline shop and have them make you one if need be. What blows me away is, how damaged a front driveshaft needs to be before you need to replace one. Was this truck abused before you got it? Often a ticking sound coming from the drive shaft is usually a blown or dry Universal joint.

Or.. Did they say "Drive Axle"?

Ask to see the bad components and compare to the new parts.

-Steve

 

It was drive shaft for sure. The solenoid was 185.00 and they decided to change it before consulting me first! I would just do it all myself but I am on an extremely tight schedule. They figure the driveshaft will be in by 8 so hopefully I can have my truck back by 10 or 11. I have a ton of stuff to do before I go back to work tomorrow.

 

Sorry, just woke up.... it is the drive axle! The truck didn't seem like it was abused in its previous life. I believe it was a fleet truck, probably some oil company buying in bulk. I am pretty nice to it though, except when I am pulling my 15,000 lb test vessel. I'll let everyone know what the actual issues were in a few hours.

 

I'm glad you're the type that would normally do this yourself. I wish there were more of us. But I think you're getting raked over the coals with the labor.

OK. $185 for the solenoid. One hour shop time to install. I'm going to say it's a... $275 job.

I'll admit, it's been a while since I did this...
Axle removal:

• Remove tire/wheel
• Remove caliper
• Remove hub
• Remove Rotor
• Remove Spindle
• Remove axle set
• Replace axle set ($450 total parts. Just guessing, but it's a Dana60 for crying out loud.)
• Repack bearings
• Reassemble

I guess I don't see $700 worth of labor in that. (Even with currency exchange rates.)

-Steve

 

the 185.00 for the solenoid was labor inclusive, as was the 795.00 for the axle. The oil leak will still be on warranty, I can't remember what the deductable charge is anymore, 100.00 or 25.00??? Either way I am getting raped here. But like I said earlier, I go back to work tomorrow and I need to tow!!! I'm not too worried about the cost either, I get paid a RIDICULOUS amount of money to drive. Thanks for the walkthrough there as well. hopefully next time this happens I can do it for cheap!

 

Well, I was wrong! It was in fact the front driveshaft. Don't know exactly what was wrong with it, but they changed it and the noise dissappeared! The oil leak was EXACTLY what I had suspected. One minor concern that I have is the 4x4 solenoid they replaced... My complaint was that the 4x4 wouldn't engage at speeds above 30 km/h. They "diagnosed" it as the solenoid not getting communication, proceeded to replace it, and claimed that the problem was fixed. As it turns out, it made no difference!!! I am going to be "in touch" with the ford garage on monday to sort this issue out.

Apart from being a little grumpy about the unnecessary work. I was pleased with the cost. It came in $200.00 lower than I had expected, at $1,160.00