Transmission Noise: Anyone have any Ideas what I should do next?

[PPOSS]

Transmission Noise: Anyone have any Ideas what I should do next? I've been working with the local dealer, Ford, and Jayco Motorized, and cannot get Jayco to authorized or even respond to our request to approve repairs to the drive train of our 2020 Jayco Redhawk. In early October we took the Redhawk to the local dealer for a drivetrain whining noise. After two weeks they referred us to Ford. Another two weeks to get Ford to look at it and they discovered the drive shaft is out of balance and may have damaged the transmission so they are not going to cover under warranty. So, contacted Jayco Motorized early November. Jayco needed to contact a third party who stretched the chassis for the motorhome and the Ford dealer which they did about 3 weeks ago. Now I cannot get Jayco to return our email or phone calls. When I call I get to wait 30 minutes in a queue before you can get to someone who can forward your call to a voice mailbox.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOBPaDvUFGE

[RogerR]

Have you checked with a Ford truck dealer in your area to see if it is covered under the drive train warranty??
I would have gone there first. Only reason they should not cover repairs is if it was the result of Jayco or subs alterations.

[PPOSS]

Yes, they're the one saying it not going to be covered under Ford's warranty as they believe the driveshafts caused the transmission issue.

Originally Posted by RogerR

Have you checked with a Ford truck dealer in your area to see if it is covered under the drive train warranty??
I would have gone there first. Only reason they should not cover repairs is if it was the result of Jayco or subs alterations.

[Stavman]

Lemon law

Sue everyone involved

It's under warranty, should be fixed

[GeorgiaRV]

Originally Posted by PPOSS

Transmission Noise: Anyone have any Ideas what I should do next? I've been working with the local dealer, Ford, and Jayco Motorized, and cannot get Jayco to authorized or even respond to our request to approve repairs to the drive train of our 2020 Jayco Redhawk. In early October we took the Redhawk to the local dealer for a drivetrain whining noise. After two weeks they referred us to Ford. Another two weeks to get Ford to look at it and they discovered the drive shaft is out of balance and may have damaged the transmission so they are not going to cover under warranty. So, contacted Jayco Motorized early November. Jayco needed to contact a third party who stretched the chassis for the motorhome and the Ford dealer which they did about 3 weeks ago. Now I cannot get Jayco to return our email or phone calls. When I call I get to wait 30 minutes in a queue before you can get to someone who can forward your call to a voice mailbox.

Mine makes a similar noise when under load, like going up a hill then disappears on level ground cruising. It has done this almost since day one we bought it new in Oct 2016. Now has 48,000 miles on it and still does it like it did day one. I am not sure if it is the same issue you have but I never really pay attention to it anymore.

[craigav]

It is hard to tell w/o listening in person, however if it was mine, I would take it to a driveline shop (such as the Fort Worth Gear and axle if you lived in the area) and have them check it out and fix the issue. You need to have this fixed and then take the receipt if the issue was a warranted item and ask the responsible party for reimbursement. The issue could be the driveshaft extension, or the transmission bearing ( or center bearing). In any case, they would know and you need to have this fixed now and go for reimbursement later (which means you would be out of pocket for at least the short term). I suspect that it wouldn't cost a lot, but you don't know what you don't know and a driveline shop could easily tell you what the issue is and what it cost to fix it. ~ca

[PPOSS]

Well, they finally called back today. Looks like they are going to cover everything but I'll wait until the dealer has written authorization before I celebrate. Dealer added that they will not release the RV until paid in full.

[CAG]

Originally Posted by craigav

It is hard to tell w/o listening in person, however if it was mine, I would take it to a driveline shop (such as the Fort Worth Gear and axle if you lived in the area) and have them check it out and fix the issue. You need to have this fixed and then take the receipt if the issue was a warranted item and ask the responsible party for reimbursement. The issue could be the driveshaft extension, or the transmission bearing ( or center bearing). In any case, they would know and you need to have this fixed now and go for reimbursement later (which means you would be out of pocket for at least the short term). I suspect that it wouldn't cost a lot, but you don't know what you don't know and a driveline shop could easily tell you what the issue is and what it cost to fix it. ~ca

If you pay upfront you are done as far as getting money back without getting a lawyer and going to court. There is no out of pocket for the short term. You are committed and they very well will leave you outside looking in.



Checking it out and getting an opinion, in writing with someone at a shop willing to go to court as a witness, is the best bet if you are going to go that route.



It appears that no vendor with this is going to take responsibility, and Ford has grounds to deny simply because there were after market mods done. If Jayco had the mods done, it is going to fall back on them, and ultimately the jobber who did the stretch or whatever they did but Lemon Law is going to be iffy. I would however talk with a Lemon Law lawyer and every state has them. If they cannot help they may have a recommendation as to direction.



This is a bucket of worms, and I feel for you because there is no fault on your part here but you are stuck with solving this. There may be a lawyer willing to take this on contingency because with Jayco, Ford and any jobber there are "deep pockets" involved and the lawyer can get a decent fee at resolution.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by CAG

It appears that no vendor with this is going to take responsibility,

He posted JAYCO and/or MOR-RYDE or LIPPERT are covering it. POST #7

[CAG]

Super! Did not see that.

[GCAT9110]

Looking at your video I see nothing wrong with the rear of the trans, extension housing or seal. I do see some movement in the center support bearing but it does not appear to be severe. BTW> Out of balance driveshafts seldom cause noise like you are experiencing. They mostly cause harmonic vibrations at certain speeds. Extreme out of balance shafts can create some very harsh dynamic vibrations and even shakes. Planetary gears in the trans can cause a wine but usually only in certain gears. Once torque converter lock-up occurs planetary noise should disappear. In the effort to see if you can at least change the problem I would try re-phasing the drive shaft. To do this first be on a level surface, apply the parking brake, chock the wheels and place the trans in neutral. Scribe a mark on the drive shaft for reference. Unbolt the rear drive shaft yoke from the rear differential yoke via the four bolts. Rotate the drive shaft 180 degrees then re-insert and then tighten the four bolts. In addition, lube the slip yoke located in the front of the rear most drive shaft. Its important the the slip yoke move smoothly on the splined shaft of the companion shaft, hopefully their is a grease zerk on the slip yoke. A binding slip yoke can cause all kinds of nuisance noises and vibes. I would also lube all the other zerks on the entire drive shaft. Hopefully this will affect some change in the problem then you can work from their.

[Joey55]

Hi, great documentation. Can you tell me if your universal joint bearing have grease fittings? If so, were they refilled?

[GCAT9110]

Originally Posted by Joey55

Hi, great documentation. Can you tell me if your universal joint bearing have grease fittings? If so, were they refilled?

If the u-joint has a grease fittings it will be most likely be located in the hart or center of the you U-joint. You can get to it with a flexible grease gun hose. However, some original equipment u-joints come without fittings. The slip yokes should have greaseable fittings.

[craigav]

Originally Posted by CAG

If you pay upfront you are done as far as getting money back without getting a lawyer and going to court. There is no out of pocket for the short term. You are committed and they very well will leave you outside looking in.



Checking it out and getting an opinion, in writing with someone at a shop willing to go to court as a witness, is the best bet if you are going to go that route.



It appears that no vendor with this is going to take responsibility, and Ford has grounds to deny simply because there were after market mods done. If Jayco had the mods done, it is going to fall back on them, and ultimately the jobber who did the stretch or whatever they did but Lemon Law is going to be iffy. I would however talk with a Lemon Law lawyer and every state has them. If they cannot help they may have a recommendation as to direction.



This is a bucket of worms, and I feel for you because there is no fault on your part here but you are stuck with solving this. There may be a lawyer willing to take this on contingency because with Jayco, Ford and any jobber there are "deep pockets" involved and the lawyer can get a decent fee at resolution.

I am still of the opinion that taking it to a reputable shop is where I would go first, the problem could simply be a lack of u-joint lubrication and the cost to repair this issue could be minimal. By the time required and taken while getting the run around and then hiring a lawyer, ppos could have been already enjoying his RV on the road and perhaps out a lot less money than the lawyer would ask for with a retainer plus who knows how much more... and the time... I would agree with you however if the cost to cure this was going to be hundreds or thousands of dollars. Having it checked out though shouldn't cost a lot and should answer the question as to where the problem and what it would take to fix it, is and then it would be easier to determine which party should cover the warranty work. Just my opinion though.

[Superseneca]

A key point here is. Has the driveshaft been altered after it left the ford factory. You would think jayco would order the correct chassis length for the application. If the frame and driveshaft are modified after delivery. It's not a ford warranty issue.

[Superseneca]

After seeing the great video. I'm thinking the hanger bearing in dry or worn due to lack of grease.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by Superseneca

A key point here is. Has the driveshaft been altered after it left the ford factory. You would think jayco would order the correct chassis length for the application. If the frame and driveshaft are modified after delivery. It's not a ford warranty issue.

90% of al E-450 MH's are on stretched chassis. Same applied to the 1st Gen SENECA's. MOR-RYDE or LIPPERT do the stretch.

[Superseneca]

My seneca frame has been lengthened but the additional length was added behind the rear axle. Therefore the driveshaft was never altered.

[PPOSS]

So, the RV goes in tomorrow to have the transmission replaced, all approved by Jayco. Gator Ford has confirmed they have all the parts on hand this evening. Jayco will be billing L&W Engineering for the work, it appears they now doing some of the chassis stretches Jayco.

The cause was an out of balance driveshaft, and it was at the transmission end. I've crawled under and verified it the only place that had work on it. With the driveshafts balanced the noise has decreased a lot.

My thoughts are why would they not just check the fluid and filter for metals and if a normal amount is found just replace the rear bearing? This is a 2020 with 18,000 miles.

[craigav]

I would not be a big fan of having the transmission replaced (with a rebuilt one), however that is what most shops do now days and they replace yours with a rebuilt transmission and then they send yours off to be rebuilt to be used by someone else in the future. The problem is that the one you get back could have had a lot of miles or or have had a lot of heavy usage on it and even though it is rebuilt with most parts replaced, you could be getting one with more wear overall and therefore less longevity for you in the years to come. I would ask if they could simply replace the rear bearing and seal or have a local shop replace the rear transmission bearing and seal and keep the low mileage transmission you currently have. I certainly agree with your thoughts on this. ~CA