So about a year ago while driving my 2011 EL through a parking lot I started to feel a little vibration. I thought it was maybe the rear diff vibration that I used to get in my 2006 model, but after a little while it got bad .... real bad. The whole truck shook when turning a low speeds. It felt like it was stuck in 4wd with the lockers on, so I switched it from A4WD to 2WD and it stopped. At this time the truck had 57k miles on it.
This told me that something was going on in the t-case, or the t-case control module (TCCM). I took it to the dealer they tested the TCCM, got error U3000-49 (Control Module: Internal Electronic Failure). Apparently this caused the car to shift into 4WD even when not needed, destroying the clutches in the T-Case.
Since the electrical part was not technically part of the Ford drivetrain warranty (WTF, really? It CONTROLS part of the drivetrain) they wanted to charge me to not only replace the TCCM, but also to replace all of the internals of the T-Case. Well, after arguing with the service manager and talking to Ford they finally decided to cover the T-Case under warranty but still charged me $450 to replace the TCCM.
Fast forward almost exactly one year, and about 10k miles, and guess what I felt when going through a parking lot the other day? Same symptoms, but this time I knew to put in into 2WD before it got bad (maybe that will save the clutches?)
So now I'm left with the same crap happening again. I refuse to do business with the dealer who did the work (for many reasons). So I'm going to work with Ford directly and another local dealer who will hopefully try to properly diagnose the real cause of this issue. The interesting thing is that I leave the truck in 2WD unless it's wet out, or there's snow. All through the summer it's in 2wd, so the vast majority of those 10k miles are in a mode that can't possibly cause the issue.
Searching the internet and this site and I haven't come across a similar issue. Anyone else seen or heard of this before? Any suggestions of where to look for a culprit (other than Ford makes defective TCCMs).
We really love this EL, but after this we might be forced to take another good look at Suburbans. This is my 2nd Expy, our 2006 lasted 100k before we sold it with pretty much no problems (one plug blowout in the middle of nowhere). Is the quality really slipping that much that I have to replace the T-Case internals every 10k?
This told me that something was going on in the t-case, or the t-case control module (TCCM). I took it to the dealer they tested the TCCM, got error U3000-49 (Control Module: Internal Electronic Failure). Apparently this caused the car to shift into 4WD even when not needed, destroying the clutches in the T-Case.
Since the electrical part was not technically part of the Ford drivetrain warranty (WTF, really? It CONTROLS part of the drivetrain) they wanted to charge me to not only replace the TCCM, but also to replace all of the internals of the T-Case. Well, after arguing with the service manager and talking to Ford they finally decided to cover the T-Case under warranty but still charged me $450 to replace the TCCM.
Fast forward almost exactly one year, and about 10k miles, and guess what I felt when going through a parking lot the other day? Same symptoms, but this time I knew to put in into 2WD before it got bad (maybe that will save the clutches?)
So now I'm left with the same crap happening again. I refuse to do business with the dealer who did the work (for many reasons). So I'm going to work with Ford directly and another local dealer who will hopefully try to properly diagnose the real cause of this issue. The interesting thing is that I leave the truck in 2WD unless it's wet out, or there's snow. All through the summer it's in 2wd, so the vast majority of those 10k miles are in a mode that can't possibly cause the issue.
Searching the internet and this site and I haven't come across a similar issue. Anyone else seen or heard of this before? Any suggestions of where to look for a culprit (other than Ford makes defective TCCMs).
We really love this EL, but after this we might be forced to take another good look at Suburbans. This is my 2nd Expy, our 2006 lasted 100k before we sold it with pretty much no problems (one plug blowout in the middle of nowhere). Is the quality really slipping that much that I have to replace the T-Case internals every 10k?
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