New Recall - Differential Assembly

[fbitz777]

I will be getting close to 20,000 miles by the time they figure out how to get the parts.

 

[shniestEV]

I called in summer when it first came out... they told me Q4 2016 for parts... i called back in January 2017 when i never heard back and they said we will order parts... its now almost end of Feb and i'm told they still are waiting for the parts and have no ETA.

 

[triangles]

Didn't ford send out a notice that said you'd get a second notice when the parts were available? Wait I think that was the door latch recall. I would have though they'd do something similar with this recall.

 

[electrons]

Didn't ford send out a notice that said you'd get a second notice when the parts were available? Wait I think that was the door latch recall. I would have though they'd do something similar with this recall.

That's what they should have done with this Differential Replacement recall. They didn't. No transparency means we don't know what the hold-up is.

Since this is an official NHTSA recall, Ford needs to justify inaction to the feds and to customers ASAP.

i called back in January 2017 when i never heard back and they said we will order parts... its now almost end of Feb and i'm told they still are waiting for the parts and have no ETA.

Same here. I still need to ask my Service Advisor (and parts dept.) at the local Ford propaganda dealership about what I can do to ask nicely what is happening.

 

[electrons]

I can't remember getting two notices (one original, and then one when parts are finally available). Some text below indicates there was a parts supply issue at some point. There is a Ford customer service number to call in the paragraph below.

From https://www.cars.com/recalls/ford-focus_electric/ we have:

NHTSA Vehicle Safety Recalls
Recall Number
16V479000

Recall Date
06/28/2016
Component
POWER TRAINRIVELINEIFFERENTIAL UNIT
Summary
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2015-2016 Ford Focus Electric vehicles manufactured August 20, 2015, through April 13, 2016. The transmission's differential pinion gear shaft may overheat and fracture.
Consequence
A fractured pinion shaft could cause a loss of motive power and loss of the transmission park function, increasing the risk of a crash.
What Owners Should Do
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the transmission differential assembly, free of charge. Remedy parts are currently unavailable. Ford mailed interim notices to owners on July 28, 2016. Owners will receive a second notice when remedy parts become available. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 16S28.

 

[electrons]

From the NHTSA website: NOTE: Parts are currently not available in sufficient quantities to repair all vehicles. Part orders can be requested through the Special Service Support Center (SSSC) using the SSSC link at the bottom of the OASIS VIN report screen to repair vehicles that meet the following criteria only:  Customer vehicles that arrive at your dealership with the symptoms described above.  New in-stock vehicles with a customer sales contract. It is anticipated that parts will be available in sufficient quantities to repair all vehicles in the first quarter of 2017


It looks like we get another letter very soon:
Also from NHTSA disclosures: OWNER NOTIFICATION MAILING SCHEDULE Owner letters are expected to be mailed in the first quarter of 2017.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2016/RCMN-16V479-5205.pdf has the complete detailed parts list and some insider info.

Dealers will be notified via a DOES II communication if circumstances warrant a change in part supply strategy and when open ordering resumes. Parts Available – Open Ordering:
Part Number Description
Order Quantity
Claim Quantity
4S7Z-4B422-A Inner circlip - input shaft 1 1 CM5Z-1177-A Seal 1 1
W715491-S442
Ball joint bolt (1 package includes 4 bolts – 2 bolts required per vehicle)
1
2
W520415-S442
Ball joint bolt nut (1 package includes 4 nuts – 2 nuts required per vehicle)
1 2
CV6Z-3K050-A Ball joint seal shield 2 2
W790276-S900
Roll Restrictor bolts - horizontal (1 package includes 4 bolts – 3 bolts required per vehicle)
1 3
W717349-S442
Roll Restrictor bolt – vertical (1 package includes 4 bolts – 1 bolt required per vehicle)
1 1
DL3Z-19B596-B Air conditioning seal kit 1 1 6E5Z-19B596-A Air conditioning seal kit 1 1 TA-29 Silicon sealant 1 1 XT-10-QLVC Mercon ® LV 1 quart 1 quart

 

[electrons]

Background on what happened: Ford found this problem during their own durability testing and pointed the finger at Magna:

Supplier Identification :
Component Manufacturer Name : Magna Powertrain of America, Inc. Address :1870 Technology Drive Troy MICHIGAN 48083Country : United States
Chronology : February – May 2016: A future model Focus Electric vehicle encountered issues with differential pinion shaft wear and fracture during routine vehicle durability testing. As part of the normal development process, Engineering initiated an investigation into the issue.
On May 19, 2016, Engineering reported to Ford’s Critical Concern Review Group (CCRG) that this issue may pertain to transmission differential components that had been used in prior vehicle production. Engineering was requested to continue their investigation into the scope of this issue.
May – June 2016: On-going engineering analysis and development testing found that the supplier’s removal of a friction-reducing coating on the pinion shaft gear bores would result in increased heat and wear, which could lead to a fracture of the pinion shaft. Engineering and our supplier concluded that this coating issue could affect components used in certain production vehicles.
On June 20, 2016, Ford’s Field Review Committee reviewed the concern and approved a field action.

 

[ev4db]

Just to give an update on this, I have now had the recall done. I may have noticed a little clunkiness on a couple occasions from the transmission before the service, but I'm not really sure if it had anything to do with the recall (I only have about 5k miles). In any event, everything is fine after the service. Supposedly the technician had done several others before mine, but there was some delay and confusion about getting the parts.

If anyone's interested, here's the section from the invoice:

 

[electrons]

Supposedly the technician had done several others before mine, but there was some delay and confusion about getting the parts.
If anyone's interested, here's the section from the invoice:
http://www.wavpack.com/page1.jpg
http://www.wavpack.com/page2.jpg

Awesome, thanks, we should make a copy of that service report and give one to our Service Advisor, along with the parts list from the following PDF document to push them in the right direction: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2016/RCMN-16V479-5205.pdf has the complete detailed parts list and some insider info.
Trying to get them to order all these RARE parts (at least here in Colorado) ahead of time so no waiting.

Your CA location means the techs there have seen these, not so in the middle of the country as much.

 

[J_PATT]

Supposedly the technician had done several others before mine, but there was some delay and confusion about getting the parts.
If anyone's interested, here's the section from the invoice:
http://www.wavpack.com/page1.jpg
http://www.wavpack.com/page2.jpg

Awesome, thanks, we should make a copy of that service report and give one to our Service Advisor, along with the parts list from the following PDF document to push them in the right direction: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2016/RCMN-16V479-5205.pdf has the complete detailed parts list and some insider info.
Trying to get them to order all these RARE parts (at least here in Colorado) ahead of time so no waiting.

Your CA location means the techs there have seen these, not so in the middle of the country as much.

It scares me, I am not sure there are a lot of FFEs in Kansas City so hopefully the tech doesn't have issues when it comes time for me to get it done.

 

[electrons]

It scares me, I am not sure there are a lot of FFEs in Kansas City so hopefully the tech doesn't have issues when it comes time for me to get it done.

At least this is entirely mechanical, not electronic. Changing a differential is simple to these folks. Techs may simply need to consult Ford instructions anyway. Not this one, but the modem replacement recall, is the strange new electronic module one for Techs.

 

[henryfocus]

I just had this transmission recall work completed (after over a week at the dealer) and boy am I upset. My Focus now sounds like someone put a baseball card in its spokes! It had no problems before, so I feel like an idiot for fixing it when it wasn't broken.

After picking up the car, my first clue that something was wrong should have been how much force it took to shift it out of park.

As I drove home I kept thinking, "is that sound my car or the ICE cars around me?" Finally, when I got onto an empty street, I confirmed it was my Focus.

During acceleration only, there is a rhythmic knocking sound that increases its pace as the car gets faster. After about 30 mph you can't make out the individual knock anymore and it is just a dull hum. Something is likely hitting something else internally as this car was silent aside from the high pitched electric whine. I turned right around and dropped it back at dealership.

Has anyone else had this problem so I can point the service tech in the right direction? Concerned.

Thanks.

 

[electrons]

My Focus now sounds like someone put a baseball card in its spokes!

A guess: They forgot to put in lubrication fluid inside the differential. Or maybe not enough. Who knows.

Please write back when you find out what they messed up. Could even be just a bad part, since technically all the Ford dealership had to do was put some mechanical pieces together.

 

[henryfocus]

They put the car up on the lift and confirmed the sound was coming from the transmission area that they worked on. They agreed the sound should not be happening, the tech had done this recall before, but they didn't immediately know the cause. After a few days of back and forth with Ford for advice, they re-opened the transmission or electric motor (this was never clear to me, I heard both).

The technician found a bearing that was rough to turn by hand and metal debris in the gears.

I heard this from two service people there: one called the debris metal and the other called it magnet shards when he read it from the service notes. If it is magnet shards, to me that sounds like something motor related. I don't know where else there are magnets. But I have no idea why this would appear after differential work. So, I'm thinking calling them magnet may have been a mistake.

They are taking pictures and working with Ford for advice. They hope to have a solution in 10 days. After some initial delay, they are now definitely making me feel like it is a priority and are giving me regular updates every couple days. They also provided an ICE loaner for free.

To others with this problem, please forgive the ambiguity in the details. I am relaying things reported up through a few layers of people and have never been able to talk directly to the technician.

I'll keep posting as I hear more.

 

[electrons]

I heard this from two service people there: one called the debris metal and the other called it magnet shards when he read it from the service notes. If it is magnet shards, to me that sounds like something motor related. I don't know where else there are magnets. But I have no idea why this would appear after differential work. So, I'm thinking calling them magnet may have been a mistake.

Quite a story. As for the "magnet shards", they could mean metal shards found sticking to the differential body's pan magnet, similar to magnetic drain plugs (I use them on my ICE car's engine sumps and factory differential plugs are often magnetic to attract small debris).

 

[electrons]

A Ford engineer from the Wayne Plant in MI where the Ford Focus Electric is made talked to me yesterday at the Denver Auto Show.
I was surprised Ford sent actual factory people to our "usually not respected" auto show here! LOL

Anyway, he remembered the problem with our differentials, and did confirm that Magna, the supplier, simply failed to heat treat (harden) the pinon shaft (between the spider gears) properly. I should have talked to him longer, as it seems maybe a bit odd the 'cure' is to put on DLC coating instead of just proper heat treating processes. Whatever the case, I guess they want the assurance of the very solid DLC treatment to prevent any further problems.

Another Ford factory worker was at the Denver Auto Show, a very cute young lady who works on Mustang & Continentals at another Ford plant in MI. We walked around and she showed me what she did to put parts on the cars, a rare demonstration.

We all should visit the Wayne Ford plant for a tour before they change over to Ranger production. Most take a tour before April 2018 to catch the last Ford Focus Electrics coming off the line. After April 2018, no more. Ford is going to new models of electric cars. (Maybe the European Ford Focus Electric plant will continue on for a while, don't know for sure.)

 

[henryfocus]

After cleaning out the debris inside the differential, the tech discovered that the gears were damaged after all. Ford had them replace the entire differential and the bearings holding it.

Unfortunately, they reported that the original noise remains and confirmed that at low speeds it sounds like a baseball card in the spokes. They have it up in the air trying to locate the source somewhere between the differential and the motor.

At this point, they are trying to get a tech from Ford to come out and see it.

Anyone have any ideas I can forward to them?

 

[henryfocus]

They are replacing the electric motor next. It's still not clear how it went from recall work to this point, but here we are.

 

[fbitz777]

did you car run great before the recall?

I have not done the recall yet at 20k miles and no noises..but again I think the risk was a catastrophic failure of the differential.

 

[henryfocus]

Yes, the car was running great before the recall work was done: silent and quick, probably just like yours. Which is what makes me so curious how this recall work resulted in a wrecked differential and replacement motor.

At this point, even if replacing the electric motor solves the noise, I'm not sure I'm ever going to feel confident in this car not breaking down under acceleration. Which is a shame, I was a big promotor of it whenever I received questions about it.

Will continue to keep this thread updated for anyone else who has to go through the same.