I have found out the only reason we buy new cars is so we can have the new car smell ... and ability to buy OE parts from the manufacturer to fix stuff that should be warrantied.
It's a pretty common problem on Focii to have the hydraulic passenger motor mount fail. My Focus has started to get a bit ... vibrate-y and growl-y. Hard to explain, but the engine vibrations are transmitting into the cabin pretty good.
Exact symptoms of a bad hydraulic motor mount. Mine is a 5 speed with 47000 miles ... So, it's due for a motor mount. The hydraulic ones work great ... but they dont last that long.
I figured I'd bring it in to the dealer and get it fixed under warranty while I'm still under powertrane warranty. It is covered under the powertrane warranty.
I call the Ford dealer (I won't name names) and they say they have never heard of a Ford Focus with a bad motor mount, and that the passenger one is not hydraulic.
Whatever, I get there 8AM sharp. I'm walking around the parking lot looking at all the pickups that cost more than a small house. I see my focus move. They idled it out one side of the garage and into the other.
GREAT! I thought. They determined the motor mount to be bad quickly enough and are replacing it!
Nope. I get a call from the service manager telling my the motor mounts are in great shape and there's no vibrations at all.
I ask them how they determined it just by idling the car around. The vibrations that I experience all the time, apparently, do not exist.
He says that Focuses get "buzzy" when they get older. NO $@@@@ SHERLOCK, IT'S BECAUSE THE MOTOR MOUNTS ARE BAD!
I understand that this is a nicer part of the area, so a 25 year old with a $14K Ford Focus isn't exactly going to be your best customer ... and that they'd rather get 20 hours to do a 10 hour headgasket job on a 6.0 powerstroke, but just blowing someone off is unacceptable.
The good news is, if I buy a new Ford ... I know where I will NOT be buying it from.
So I get home and I did a bit of research. Turns out that you can actually see the motor mount fail. So, I popped the hood and took a picture. Guess what - the motor mount is collapsed, you can see the fluid trail where the fluid ran out, and the metal part that connects to the engine is directly touching the part that touches the fender. That's were my vibrations are coming from!
I called the Ford Dealer that I bought the car from. They were a bit nicer to me. I started to describe the problem and the service manager instantly said that my passenger side hydraulic motor mount collapsed and failed. I sent him pictures and a video and he said he would have a tech look at them to make sure it is bad before I drive 70 miles there for diagnostics.
... I haven't heard back from them yet. That was Saturday right before they closed at 12:00 (11:45 I sent the email) and they are closed Columbus day. I'll give them a day or two before I call again.
Anyway - here is a picture of my collapsed motor mount. If the dealer had opened the hood, they would have seen it. I can actually wiggle the engine around by hand!
Orange Circle: Where the metal part that connects to the front of the engine is touching the fender.
Red Circle: Fluid from motor mount.
If you compare to this one - this is how it's supposed to sit. Mine has clearly collapsed. Ebay
If the dealer I bought the car from does not replace it under warranty (it's likely that the first one 'blacklisted' me in OASIS) I will buy the whole set myself and replace.
Then I will send a "nice" letter, with pictures, to the first dealer and let them know that I will not be buying a Ford from them.
It's a pretty common problem on Focii to have the hydraulic passenger motor mount fail. My Focus has started to get a bit ... vibrate-y and growl-y. Hard to explain, but the engine vibrations are transmitting into the cabin pretty good.
Exact symptoms of a bad hydraulic motor mount. Mine is a 5 speed with 47000 miles ... So, it's due for a motor mount. The hydraulic ones work great ... but they dont last that long.
I figured I'd bring it in to the dealer and get it fixed under warranty while I'm still under powertrane warranty. It is covered under the powertrane warranty.
I call the Ford dealer (I won't name names) and they say they have never heard of a Ford Focus with a bad motor mount, and that the passenger one is not hydraulic.
Whatever, I get there 8AM sharp. I'm walking around the parking lot looking at all the pickups that cost more than a small house. I see my focus move. They idled it out one side of the garage and into the other.
GREAT! I thought. They determined the motor mount to be bad quickly enough and are replacing it!
Nope. I get a call from the service manager telling my the motor mounts are in great shape and there's no vibrations at all.
I ask them how they determined it just by idling the car around. The vibrations that I experience all the time, apparently, do not exist.
He says that Focuses get "buzzy" when they get older. NO $@@@@ SHERLOCK, IT'S BECAUSE THE MOTOR MOUNTS ARE BAD!
I understand that this is a nicer part of the area, so a 25 year old with a $14K Ford Focus isn't exactly going to be your best customer ... and that they'd rather get 20 hours to do a 10 hour headgasket job on a 6.0 powerstroke, but just blowing someone off is unacceptable.
The good news is, if I buy a new Ford ... I know where I will NOT be buying it from.
So I get home and I did a bit of research. Turns out that you can actually see the motor mount fail. So, I popped the hood and took a picture. Guess what - the motor mount is collapsed, you can see the fluid trail where the fluid ran out, and the metal part that connects to the engine is directly touching the part that touches the fender. That's were my vibrations are coming from!
I called the Ford Dealer that I bought the car from. They were a bit nicer to me. I started to describe the problem and the service manager instantly said that my passenger side hydraulic motor mount collapsed and failed. I sent him pictures and a video and he said he would have a tech look at them to make sure it is bad before I drive 70 miles there for diagnostics.
... I haven't heard back from them yet. That was Saturday right before they closed at 12:00 (11:45 I sent the email) and they are closed Columbus day. I'll give them a day or two before I call again.
Anyway - here is a picture of my collapsed motor mount. If the dealer had opened the hood, they would have seen it. I can actually wiggle the engine around by hand!
Orange Circle: Where the metal part that connects to the front of the engine is touching the fender.
Red Circle: Fluid from motor mount.
If you compare to this one - this is how it's supposed to sit. Mine has clearly collapsed. Ebay
If the dealer I bought the car from does not replace it under warranty (it's likely that the first one 'blacklisted' me in OASIS) I will buy the whole set myself and replace.
Then I will send a "nice" letter, with pictures, to the first dealer and let them know that I will not be buying a Ford from them.