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Slow speed "Clicking"--Cured!

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  • Slow speed "Clicking"--Cured!

    This all took place the other day, and was cured on the weekend. I thought to share it with everyone as soon as I had a minute.
    While driving home from Fencing practice, Wednesday night, my *03 T Bird developed a loud speed sensitive "clicking" from underneath the car and threw a Check Engine Light. I was only a few miles from home, on the freeway- so I got off and took it slow and easy the rest of the way home. The car had the normal feel and drive, but 1-38mph had a speed sensitive click that only happened with the car in "D." Got her home, called the dealership the next morning- Saturday at 09:00 was the first available appointment- in it went. The dealership was instructed on the clicking and the check engine problem, and what I was willing to authorize above the ESP. I also told them to do the oil change, rotate the tires and use my ESP for anything needed. The Tech was happy to see how clean the car was for just breaking 107,000 on the odometer- not very many older cars that clean come in for service very often. 16:00 rolled around on Saturday, the dealership called laughing and said to come and get it. I hopped into my Fusion and ran down to get her. Upon arrival, the service department greeted me with a big smile and said that they gave my car a clean bill of health. The Check Engine code was just a bit of corrosion on the O2 Sensor Harness- code cleared. The "clicking sound"...this was discovered after experimentation, I gave them my clue on my explanation at drop off. He heard the sounds during the test drive, and checked everything he could, but nothing. He took off the tires to rotate and check their balance.. and the problem reveals itself in one rim. The chrome was the culprit. It was peeling in such a manner that it would only peel up under force at certain wheel speeds. The tire balancing machine found the problem for the Tech! The loose chrome edge could not be seen or felt by hand or eye just under normal inspection. The Tech was chuckling, as this was my tip to him at drop off..pealing chrome touching the disc brake. I paid the bill, $10.95 for the service call-oil change- tire rotation, and went home absolutely happy to be an Owner Advantage Club Member and have my baby back in time for the weekend. This was a good thing in my mind: A nice inexpensive service call for me, and a simple lesson and experience for the dealership Tech. Now I can get back to putting more miles on her before I start sailing this season. If this helps some of the readers here, great- or if they just laugh a bit that is fine too. Just thought to stop and share my little story, it is not everyday that a T Bird can be fixed for so little. Ganley Lincoln in Middleburg Heights, Ohio is a fine place to go in my opinion, if you are in the area in need of service.
    2nd Mate Tom Banar

  • #2
    Re: Slow speed "Clicking"--Cured!

    WOW...first time I've heard of peeling chrome being the cause of a clicking sound. Learn something new everyday. Glad it's back up and running.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Slow speed "Clicking"--Cured!

      You got all that service for $10.95?

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Slow speed "Clicking"--Cured!

        Great story Tom and with a happy ending. What happened with the peeling chrome wheel ? Still on the car ?

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Slow speed "Clicking"--Cured!

          About 12 years ago I had an odd thumping sound on my old 84 civic, usually at about 70mph. Could not find it anywhere and didn't want to take a chance so left it at my mechanics for him to figure out. He kept it all day and finally called and said he'd found it and bring $40 to pick it up. When I get there and ask what caused the noise, he threw something at me. I caught it and looked. It was the pink antenna ball someone had given me to support breast cancer. The way the antenna was angled, it took 70mph for it to connect with the top of the car to make the thumps. He was laughing but still said he wanted $40 for the time it took him to figure it out. I didn't argue, just gave him the money and left. The antenna ball went in the trash.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Slow speed "Clicking"--Cured!

            WOW,

            I am glad to hear that someone actully fixed a conector corrosion problen rather than replacing an oxygen sensor (whereas the act or disconnecting the old O2 sensor and re-connecting the new O2 sensor would also fix the corrosion problem but would cost money).

            HKS

            Originally posted by Banar View Post
            This all took place the other day, and was cured on the weekend. I thought to share it with everyone as soon as I had a minute.
            While driving home from Fencing practice, Wednesday night, my *03 T Bird developed a loud speed sensitive "clicking" from underneath the car and threw a Check Engine Light. I was only a few miles from home, on the freeway- so I got off and took it slow and easy the rest of the way home. The car had the normal feel and drive, but 1-38mph had a speed sensitive click that only happened with the car in "D." Got her home, called the dealership the next morning- Saturday at 09:00 was the first available appointment- in it went. The dealership was instructed on the clicking and the check engine problem, and what I was willing to authorize above the ESP. I also told them to do the oil change, rotate the tires and use my ESP for anything needed. The Tech was happy to see how clean the car was for just breaking 107,000 on the odometer- not very many older cars that clean come in for service very often. 16:00 rolled around on Saturday, the dealership called laughing and said to come and get it. I hopped into my Fusion and ran down to get her. Upon arrival, the service department greeted me with a big smile and said that they gave my car a clean bill of health. The Check Engine code was just a bit of corrosion on the O2 Sensor Harness- code cleared. The "clicking sound"...this was discovered after experimentation, I gave them my clue on my explanation at drop off. He heard the sounds during the test drive, and checked everything he could, but nothing. He took off the tires to rotate and check their balance.. and the problem reveals itself in one rim. The chrome was the culprit. It was peeling in such a manner that it would only peel up under force at certain wheel speeds. The tire balancing machine found the problem for the Tech! The loose chrome edge could not be seen or felt by hand or eye just under normal inspection. The Tech was chuckling, as this was my tip to him at drop off..pealing chrome touching the disc brake. I paid the bill, $10.95 for the service call-oil change- tire rotation, and went home absolutely happy to be an Owner Advantage Club Member and have my baby back in time for the weekend. This was a good thing in my mind: A nice inexpensive service call for me, and a simple lesson and experience for the dealership Tech. Now I can get back to putting more miles on her before I start sailing this season. If this helps some of the readers here, great- or if they just laugh a bit that is fine too. Just thought to stop and share my little story, it is not everyday that a T Bird can be fixed for so little. Ganley Lincoln in Middleburg Heights, Ohio is a fine place to go in my opinion, if you are in the area in need of service.
            2nd Mate Tom Banar
            2002 TB Motor Trend COTY Blue/White/Full #24737 (One of 291)
            2021 Explorer XLT Sport 2.3L 300HP/310FP color RollingThunder
            2015 Passat SE TDI 150HP/236FP (40MpgCity47MpgHW) 720MR
            26Mpg in traffic jam. Skill required to get 40+mpg in town.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Slow speed "Clicking"--Cured!

              Sorry if I missed this in your post (I did read it again) but what did you do about the wheel? Peel off the chrome, replace it, super glue it down, ???
              Scott
              2002 torch red

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Slow speed "Clicking"--Cured!

                The service was originally $52.61 for parts and labor to do the oil change and tire rotation. I am an Owners Advantage Club Member- a free plan that this dealership has to reward loyal customers with for return servicing of your vehicles, of which I have four. This plan gives you a percentage of monies spent on previous service visits to be used at a later date. I had a $41.66 credit coming my way from the last T Bird service, front shocks and valve cover gaskets. Even at $52.61, I would have been happy. Ganley Lincoln likes my car, as it is like most- very clean and nice to work on, so they really do take care of me and my car. The service tech removed the loose chrome and cleaned up the inside of the rim to make sure no other peeling should take place for a while. I do believe that he said he peeled it back, lightly ground into safe chrome, wiped it clean and spray coated it in a clear polyurethane coating to help seal it for the time being. This is not a permanent fix as time and weather will play it's little tricks to try and bring this back. The chrome plating on our rims is not the best that I have ever had, but it will have to do until I break down and buy my Dayton 80 Spokes from Aaron TBC. My rims are in good shape, but I guess that I need to remove them to polish the insides more often than I do/have. So checking for secured chrome is on the to do list now along with everything else. This should answer any of the questions I may have failed to answer in my Reader's Digest first post. I was trying not to get too verbose in any one post, if there are any other questions -feel free to ask.
                2nd Mate Tom Banar

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Slow speed "Clicking"--Cured!

                  Very strange but have had strange stuff over the years too. The loose chrome at such a high speed I would think would be more like a buzz than a clicking sound, just based on wheel RPM.

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