A Ford tech's take on "THE CLUNK" (THE ONE and ONLY CLUNK THREAD)

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Aussiesvt

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So I did exactly what the video said to do...

CLUNK ELIMINATED!

The grease cost me $12 from Amazon and about 30min of my time.

To think that ford wanted $450 to do this job!



I have plenty of it left over if anyone wants to fix their clunk in the Bay Area, let me know.
 

FordService

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...Yes I sent you a PM. I will try Mathieu, thanks.

After a second shift at work the clunk is pretty bad again, probably about 80% of when it was at its worst...so lame. I'll see what Mathieu does/says about it.

Good deal, Fivenines; I'm sure Mathieu will do all he can to assist.

Crystal
 

Fivenines

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So I did exactly what the video said to do...

CLUNK ELIMINATED!

The grease cost me $12 from Amazon and about 30min of my time.

To think that ford wanted $450 to do this job!



I have plenty of it left over if anyone wants to fix their clunk in the Bay Area, let me know.

I did this as well and the clunk was gone for me as well....for a few hundred km. Then the local dealer did the same and used the Teflon grease and replaced the seal/boot. this took care of the clunk for a few thousand km. The problem arises when your rear suspension travels through more range and starts to wipe or push the grease off the most travelled range on the slip yoke. This leaves the splines dry and they start to hang up and you have the clunk back. Ran into another Raptor out in the field at work, 2014 with over 100,000 km, he runs lease roads the same as I do and he said he has never had the clunk. It seems like not every truck has this condition. To me, that says possible machining error on the mating components. Aussie, do you off-road your truck much?

Thanks Crystal, I'll wait to hear from Mathieu.
 

Aussiesvt

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I did this as well and the clunk was gone for me as well....for a few hundred km. Then the local dealer did the same and used the Teflon grease and replaced the seal/boot. this took care of the clunk for a few thousand km. The problem arises when your rear suspension travels through more range and starts to wipe or push the grease off the most travelled range on the slip yoke. This leaves the splines dry and they start to hang up and you have the clunk back. Ran into another Raptor out in the field at work, 2014 with over 100,000 km, he runs lease roads the same as I do and he said he has never had the clunk. It seems like not every truck has this condition. To me, that says possible machining error on the mating components. Aussie, do you off-road your truck much?

Thanks Crystal, I'll wait to hear from Mathieu.

Not as yet. Worst case scenario I'll tap a grease nipple into the drive shaft.
Yeah I'll need to replace the seal at some stage. I didn't buy on but I'll get around to it maybe next year.
Our don't need to replace the seal if it's still good.

I packed a whole tube of PTFE ford grease into it. If it starts clunking again I'll burn the truck.
 

grantoser

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grantoser: your dealer is giving you BS. Reading from the Ford notice I received JUN 2011, it says: "Ford Motor Company is providing a no-charge customer satisfaction program (program number 11B25) for your vehicle, with VIN shown above.." And, the notice had my VIN. It goes on to say Ford has authorized your dealer to inspect the driveshaft and if necessary, replace it free of charge (parts and labor) under the terms of this program.

Technically it may not have been called a "recall", but it clearly provides the dealer the OK to replace the driveshaft it it is exhibiting the clunk. My recommendation is elevate it someone at that dealership that has common sense and customer service skills. If that can't be found, find another dealer. Might help to contact the original owner (if possible) to see if he received that notice from Ford.

Hello again!

Still working on this issue... could you possible take a photo of that notice they sent you? That would be a HUGE help I think. I went in and the service guy I talked to was a real jerk and said "I shouldn't even MENTION" getting my driveshaft replace... he cut me off when I was explaining how you guys were getting yours fixed by installing a fixed drive shaft under a customer satisfaction program... he specifically cut me off by saying "DON'T even go there. We will just grease it for you but it will NOT be covered by Ford." Lol this guy obviously has some serious customer service skills. @FordService

After that convo I was so annoyed I haven't been back to the dealer... its been about a month. If I can get a photo of that notice I am going to try a different ford dealer this time so I don't have a run in with the same jerk...

Just to reiterate... My truck was built under the dates listed that received that notice from ford about the customer satisfaction program... I just didn't own the truck at the time so I do not have that notice. Figured this would be an easy fix since I am in the build date range and I have the old drive shaft part number.

@FordService There isn't a way you could get a copy of this notice is there?
 
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FordService

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... @FordService There isn't a way you could get a copy of this notice is there?

Hi grantoser,

I don't have access to service bulletins or technical documents; when you head to the second dealer for diagnosis, they should be able to see any applicable alerts when they run your VIN in our system. Have you had your appointment yet?

Crystal
 

grantoser

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Hi grantoser,

I don't have access to service bulletins or technical documents; when you head to the second dealer for diagnosis, they should be able to see any applicable alerts when they run your VIN in our system. Have you had your appointment yet?

Crystal

No I haven't been in yet... I will let you know when I am able to get it in for diagnosis! At the last dealer he said there were no alerts, and he also said that he would not honor a tsb because any random tech could put it up in the system. Is that true? Is there no way to get them to honor what it says? Hopefully this guy was just a jerk and it will be better at the next dealer.

Can anyone on here get access to this bulletin so I can show it to them? @SOCOMech ?
 

mmaterni

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Clunk be gone!

My truck is finishing repairs following an accident involving water. The rear driveline clunk became more than I could bear today. Pulled my rear shaft and checked the splines. No signs of any scarring or damage but the splines were wet and most of the grease had been washed away. I have the new shaft and so I greased that baby up and ohh so sweet the sound of silence. No more clunky clunky. I'll post how many miles I get out of it in 30 days or 500 miles or until it shows back up.
 

Fivenines

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My truck is finishing repairs following an accident involving water. The rear driveline clunk became more than I could bear today. Pulled my rear shaft and checked the splines. No signs of any scarring or damage but the splines were wet and most of the grease had been washed away. I have the new shaft and so I greased that baby up and ohh so sweet the sound of silence. No more clunky clunky. I'll post how many miles I get out of it in 30 days or 500 miles or until it shows back up.

Try to get some off-road time in, make that rear suspension work through some of it's travel. I believe this is when the problem really arises as the grease is pushed away from the splines where they travel the most. If you only drive around in town, the grease will stay in there a lot longer. Actually just running down gravel roads and over washboard or stutter bumps, etc will do it. It takes a bit of running, but not much. I am home from 2nd or 3rd shift since I had Ford do the Teflon grease and new seal/boot and clunk is 100% as bad as it was before they "fixed" it... lame.
 
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