Scratch Repair / Cra**y Service

[capt512]

Morning all,

Went to my local dealership the other day to have a defective lumbar reapaired and when I git hime I found a 2" narrow scratch ion my hood just behind the grille. Looks like a buckle scratch to me. I'm sure the dealership will deny they did it so I've got to figure out the best way to fix it myself.

They were also supposed to fix my trans. shifter linkage but it just as it was. Sometimes it goes into reverse, sometimes not. As far as rough idle they said that it needs 2 to 3k on the motor
to really run right.

Thats a good one huh.

Anyway I need to find a good LM or Ford dealership in the Kansas City area so if any of you know of one please let me know.

In the meantime any tips on the best way to repair this scratch would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to just blob some paint on there.

Everyone have a great day!

Thanks,
Mike :banana2:

[Mark McQuaide]

The Turtle Wax Color Cure works OK. You might want to try it, if it doesn't work for you then no harm done. Sorry about the sh**ty dealer service.

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by capt512
As far as rough idle they said that it needs 2 to 3k on the motor
to really run right.


I'm not defending your dealership in any way, but I will admit that my idle has gotten much smoother over the past few thousand miles (I'm past 7000 miles) and the morning 'hesitation' has disappeared almost altogether. If this continues into the coming winter, I will have to say that I do not in fact suffer from the cold-start hesitation with my current s/w configuration... it was indeed a question of break-in mileage, in my case.

For reference, I'm a Feb '03 build date running "CRD1" PCM s/w version and supposedly the latest calibrations for that version.

Of course, I have no idea how rough your idle is.

[WolfeBros]

TTA I am betting that your ambient temperature has also increased a tad over the last couple thousand of miles as well.
Not flaming but I bet there is a chance on a coorelation.
Poor/rough idling does not get better with mileage in my experience. If someone can explain why it would I am eager to listen and learn.

Sorry Capt but you are on the right track by finding another dealer. That linkage problem will not fix itself either.

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by WolfeBros
TTA I am betting that your ambient temperature has also increased a tad over the last couple thousand of miles as well.
Not flaming but I bet there is a chance on a coorelation.
Poor/rough idling does not get better with mileage in my experience. If someone can explain why it would I am eager to listen and learn.


I absolutely agree on the above points, I was just wondering if what I experienced was indeed linked to ambient temperatures or not, since there are still folks on here complaining of rough running during today's temperature ranges and I am no longer experiencing that (hence, maybe what I had wasn't s/w related, but more break-in related). Of course, if it returns once the temps drop, then I'll know it's an ambient-temperature thing.

Poor/rough idling is a tough thing to qualify over a written medium. In my case, I just occasionally "noticed" the idle being more pronounced (even in hot hot weather) and now it's smooth as glass at all times. My favorite dealer tech was telling me how those 4.6l DOHC motors were so smooth, you could put a dime on its edge on the manifold... yadda yadda yadda, you know the story. I'm like "ummm, okay...." as I didn't think it was THAT smooth. But now it's pretty much undetectable at a stop, very even and smooth.

But if capt512's idle is much rougher than what I had and they refuse to address the issue, I'd find another dealer FAST before these guys have the chance to mess something up!