pez
02-21-2007, 09:34 PM
Hello all,
I picked up my "new" '03 Canadian Marauder (12/02/03 build date) Friday! Nice to be driving a Panther again.... After a bit of a drive on the weekend, it has about 1500 KM of powertrain warranty remaining, as well as a 2 yr unlimited mileage bumper to bumper used car warranty, with zero deductible...
So, here's what happened:
1. T/C clutch shudder -feels like driving over rumble strips when shifting under part throttle after warmed up, especially to O/D
-I figure it just needs a flush and fill with new Mercon V, but I'd rather not pay for it, if I can avoid it, so I played dumb and took it to the dealer...
-they couldn't duplicate it after a day, and by the time I got back to pick up the car, the transmission guy was gone
-went back next day, and drove it with him, showed him the shudder, and he claimed it was a transmission issue and they'd have to pull the transmission (fine by me, maybe I'll get a new one?)
2. Axle shafts - build date is 2 days before the cutoff for the non-hardened shafts - there is a whine just barely audible under light load at highway speeds, from the back left corner, that disappears when coasting.
-dealer could not duplicate
-told them to pull shafts and inspect, do under warranty if unusual weare, if not, I pay, and end up with new diff oil, which is certainly not a bad thing
3. Electrical - at idle in gear, with headlights, foglights and HVAC blower running, and signal light flashing, dash brightness about mid way, radio and HVAC head lights flicker, voltmeter drops to 11V (13-14V on highway, did not check with multimeter)
-dealer could not duplicate
-showed transmission guy on test drive, he agrees this is not normal
-I know this is being picky, and the vehicle is at high electrical load and low RPM, but it should still have enough to NOT have the dash lights flicker, I mean, c'mon!
4. Winter tires/rims - 16" steelies, 225/70R16 rear, 215/65R16 front Pirelli Scorpion Ice (I'm very impressed with these tires!)
5. Oil change, had the dealer do it with Motorcraft filter and oil....much as I hate the idea of not having a full synthetic in the cold, I don't feel like changing it this time of year, and it was just easy.
As for why THIS dealer, much as I'm starting to lose faith, they have the contract to do all the CVPIs for the local police dept, and also work on a lot of trucks - most other dealers in town deal primarily with FWD Fords... The service manager was aware of the axle issue, where none of the others in town are, and the mechanics that usually do the police cars have done the swap multiple times.
Cheers,
Colin
I picked up my "new" '03 Canadian Marauder (12/02/03 build date) Friday! Nice to be driving a Panther again.... After a bit of a drive on the weekend, it has about 1500 KM of powertrain warranty remaining, as well as a 2 yr unlimited mileage bumper to bumper used car warranty, with zero deductible...
So, here's what happened:
1. T/C clutch shudder -feels like driving over rumble strips when shifting under part throttle after warmed up, especially to O/D
-I figure it just needs a flush and fill with new Mercon V, but I'd rather not pay for it, if I can avoid it, so I played dumb and took it to the dealer...
-they couldn't duplicate it after a day, and by the time I got back to pick up the car, the transmission guy was gone
-went back next day, and drove it with him, showed him the shudder, and he claimed it was a transmission issue and they'd have to pull the transmission (fine by me, maybe I'll get a new one?)
2. Axle shafts - build date is 2 days before the cutoff for the non-hardened shafts - there is a whine just barely audible under light load at highway speeds, from the back left corner, that disappears when coasting.
-dealer could not duplicate
-told them to pull shafts and inspect, do under warranty if unusual weare, if not, I pay, and end up with new diff oil, which is certainly not a bad thing
3. Electrical - at idle in gear, with headlights, foglights and HVAC blower running, and signal light flashing, dash brightness about mid way, radio and HVAC head lights flicker, voltmeter drops to 11V (13-14V on highway, did not check with multimeter)
-dealer could not duplicate
-showed transmission guy on test drive, he agrees this is not normal
-I know this is being picky, and the vehicle is at high electrical load and low RPM, but it should still have enough to NOT have the dash lights flicker, I mean, c'mon!
4. Winter tires/rims - 16" steelies, 225/70R16 rear, 215/65R16 front Pirelli Scorpion Ice (I'm very impressed with these tires!)
5. Oil change, had the dealer do it with Motorcraft filter and oil....much as I hate the idea of not having a full synthetic in the cold, I don't feel like changing it this time of year, and it was just easy.
As for why THIS dealer, much as I'm starting to lose faith, they have the contract to do all the CVPIs for the local police dept, and also work on a lot of trucks - most other dealers in town deal primarily with FWD Fords... The service manager was aware of the axle issue, where none of the others in town are, and the mechanics that usually do the police cars have done the swap multiple times.
Cheers,
Colin