2000 ball joints, canadian LS - not covered by recall?

[Kevin]

My 2000 LS with about 90k miles on it has failing lower ball joints.

From what I understood, Ford had a recall on these parts.

My local dealer says there are no recalls outstanding on my LS, and the ball joints have never been replaced, and are shot.

How do I go about figuring out wether the car should be covered, and is there a way to press the issue?

The parts are $390 Cdn. per ball joint which I assume is the whole lower control arm, so I'd rather Ford repair the car since they did a poor design on the thing in the first place.

But, if I do have to replace it myself, is there a way to buy the balljoints seperately from the lower control arm? It looks to me that the ball joint is actually in the spindle, and goes down into the control arm.

 

[Kevin]

Just did a search, and discovered that there are 2 sets of ball joints the 2000 had - a 14mm, and a 16mm.

Could it be that one isn't covered by recall and mine is that one that isn't covered - which is why it doesn't show up on the Oasis report?

 

[2001LS8Sport]

I'm sure the reason it's not listed is they were never recalled. I've never heard of it anyway. There may be a TSB about them, but those are definitely not recalls and would be handled under normal warranty policies and procedures. Looks like you're going to have to foot the bill...and after that many miles, you should expect to. There are lots of threads here regarding this, as I'm sure you have found.

 

[ovsims]

FYI there was a recall on lower ball joints. In fact the only recall that the 2000 LS had. but I can think of a few things that should have been recalled. Here the info:

Recall Number: 00V359001
Dates Manufactured: AUG 1998 to SEP 2000
Number of Vehicles Affected: 82300
Date Owners Notified On: NOV 2000
Vehicle Description: Passenger vehicles. The front suspension lower ball joints were not tightened to specifications when they were attached to the lower control arms.
Consequence of Defect:
If the ball joint attaching nuts are not adequately tightened, they can loosen and, ultimately, result in fracture of the ball joint stud. If the ball joint fractures, control of the vehicle could be affected, increasing the risk of a crash.
Corrective Action:
Dealers will inspect the torque on the two ball joint attaching nuts. Vehicles with loose ball joint attaching nuts will either have the fasteners tightened to specification, or if necessary, the ball joints will be replaced.

 

[cj7man]

Kevin, I suggest you talk to James, the service manager and the owners son, at Mount Bridges Ford... I think thats close to where you are... He is very knowledgable on the LS and a very reasonable guy to deal with. If any dealer will go the extra mile to help a LS owner...he will. Show him what Ovsims posted. You can even tell him I recommended you to him...He might charge you double.LOL. Don

 

[Kevin]

Cool, thanks for that tip - I'll give him a shout in the morning. It's unlikely the car has had loose joints since Nov. 2000, but it's worth looking into.

 

[Cruznlife1]

yeah under warranty I just had my lower balljoints, lower control arms, steering knuckles, spindles, struts and an alignment all done because of bad lower joints. Total bill was almost 1800 bucks after labor but I didnt pay a cent.

 

[2001LS8Sport]

FYI there was a recall on lower ball joints. In fact the only recall that the 2000 LS had. but I can think of a few things that should have been recalled. Here the info:

Recall Number: 00V359001
Dates Manufactured: AUG 1998 to SEP 2000
Number of Vehicles Affected: 82300
Date Owners Notified On: NOV 2000
Vehicle Description: Passenger vehicles. The front suspension lower ball joints were not tightened to specifications when they were attached to the lower control arms.
Consequence of Defect:
If the ball joint attaching nuts are not adequately tightened, they can loosen and, ultimately, result in fracture of the ball joint stud. If the ball joint fractures, control of the vehicle could be affected, increasing the risk of a crash.
Corrective Action:
Dealers will inspect the torque on the two ball joint attaching nuts. Vehicles with loose ball joint attaching nuts will either have the fasteners tightened to specification, or if necessary, the ball joints will be replaced.

I stand corrected and thank you for the heads up! You may have saved this guy a bunch of money! I also don't think recalls have expiration dates, so if the recall was never done, I can't see why it should be an issue. Does anyone know if recalls do in fact expire?

 

[Kevin]

You may have saved this guy a bunch of money!

Don't I wish . Ford won't do a recall on this car, so I told them I've bought my last Ford .

Don, very good tip about Mt. Brydges Ford, James has been helpful and is also giving me a good discount on new parts for the car (and not charging double ).

We tried looking for just a ball joint without a spindle, but nobody has them - so I have to buy whole new spindles.

At least parts like these should last the rest of the car's life.

 

[SoonerLS]

Does anyone know if recalls do in fact expire?

Yes, recalls usually have an expiration date.