O/T Troubleshooting my 2008 Superduty

[My427stang]

First, only twice has someone worked on my 2008 Superduty besides me.

1 - Warranty alternator, right side of truck - This Ford dealer is now out of business
2 - Warranty radiator and centerlink - This Ford dealer, a different one, is also out of business

Second, I have only Snap-on tools

I would turn left, if going a decent clip I would hear a snap. Very repeatable, but didn't do it when I was going slow

Original ball joints, original brakes, original wheel bearings, aftermarket shocks that I installed. I was sure that I had a sticky ball joint, or worn sway bar end links, not unusual any time after 60-80K on a Ford 4x4.

Couldn't get it to do it standing still, couldn't get it to do it going slow.

Finally today I stripped it down, checked wheel bearing on that side, disconnected sway bar, took brakes off, worked everything hard.

Even decided to drill and tap ball joints for grease fittings (I would have replaced the ball joints if the snapping changed, I figured if they were bad and I pumped grease in, something would change and at least give me a clue)

Bounced the 8200 lb truck up and down, jiggled everything, pried everywhere, finally when I dropped it off the jack, purposely, I heard a snap/jiggle noise from the back of the fender.

Slapped the fender a few times, and there was my noise

Two 3/8 Craftsman short extensions and a 15mm Craftsman shallow socket. Sounds like tools needed for an alternator R&R!

Got to love it that the truck wasn't broken, but I can't believe a mechanic would leave their tools in a vehicle if they couldn't find them

Not sure where they initially landed, because it didn't make any noises for at least a year, which compounded my troubleshooting issue.  In the end, they worked their way down and made a good KER-SNAP now when the body flexed a little

Happy ending for me I guess, but sure took a while to find.  Goes to show, don't talk yourself into a solution!

[machoneman]

Good that you found the cause. The mechanic likely lost the tools unintentionally. I think we've all had tools drop off into a void, then spent an lot of time trying to fish them out.

Perhaps he figured it was a lost cause!

[jayb]

LOL!  I started reading your post and thought, "rattle unrelated to the truck".  The same kind of thing happened to me this week.  I started hearing this popping and clicking sound when I would go over a bump, coming from the rear view mirror area.  I'm shaking the mirror, the wires coming out from behind it, pressing on the windshield, messing with the sunroof, etc., but couldn't locate the noise.  Finally I picked up my coffee cup out of the cup holder, and...  silence.  Looked into the cupholder and there's a penny down there, and the coffee cup was bouncing up and down on it over the bumps in the road.  Sheesh...

[amdscooter]

Good find. Shame it cost you all that extra work though. I remember back in my USAF days when working on jet engine, if you we're up top and dropped a tool everyone froze to see if they could hear it hit ground. If not you spent however long it took to find the missing tool. Aircraft maintainers are not allowed to "loose" tools. They are accounted for at the end of every shift. It's a very good habit to get into. 

[WConley]

In my early days at Ford, I was sent on a dealer visit to look at an "unintended acceleration" customer complaint.  These were the days of the Audi 5000, so those two words stirred up a hornets nest!  We flew five guys out to New Jersey from Dearborn on half a day's notice.

In the service bay with the suspect Taurus was a new Continental with a noise complaint.  It was a clunking and clicking sound coming from the rear passenger compartment.  Those poor mechanics worked on it for days...  Finally somebody reached way up into the "C" pillar and found the answer:  A clump of washers was tied to a string with a note that read, "I bet it took you a long time to find this!"

As for the "unintended acceleration" Taurus, we instrumented and drove the snot out of that car for half the day.  Finally somebody got the bright idea to let the lady customer drive.  On the first hill the transmission kicked down a gear.  "Did you feel it!!??  The car suddenly accelerated!!" 

If you could have seen the faces of the four engineers packed in the car with all of the instruments...

[My427stang]

Man, I remember those days.  Someone comes in describing a noise and asks how much to fix it, wish candid camera could have been in there sometimes. LOL