Soooo, here I sit on Sunday morning. I have Sundays and Mondays off, and planned to head east of the Cascades this morning. Last week I had to cancel a trip in my Sportsmobile because of a large oil leak and a drivetrain vibration, both of which I found as I was leaving town for four days. Ford fixed the oil leak under warranty (it was an O ring on a cam sensor that was leaking. Nothing like having a 10 cent part kill your trip...). Ford had installed a new turbo a week before that, (turbo number three in 40,000 miles on this van) and I suspect the O ring damage was caused during the turbo repair. Ford also told me they found the front hubs were locked, and they unlocked them and the vibration was gone. I glance at the hubs from time to time to make sure no joker has locked them on me. Somebody had at some point recently, I guess. I know I haven't used the front axle in months, and I know it was unlocked last time I looked. I have driven the van on the freeway with the hubs locked in the past and had no vibration, so should have known better than to believe Ford when they said that unlocking the hubs had fixed the vibration. I had a busy week this week and didn't drive the van on the freeway. This morning after packing up I hit the freeway and right away knew the vibration was still there. First thing I'll do is have the tires rebalanced. After that, it's off to the drivetrain shop here in town to have them look over the driveshafts and U joints. I'm trying to remind myself that the van is just a machine and things will go wrong from time to time... But I am really sick of the trouble this van has had in it's 40,000 mile life. You ever feel like laying on the floor, kicking and screaming like a little kid? Might make me feel better right now... Brian |