[SSRusty]

I've had my Flex since mid November and love everything except the steering wheel distance from the drivers seat. One problem that I had was a grinding noise in the right front brake. It sounded like the pads were shot and metal was against metal. I took it to the dealer and they said they never heard of this problem. They then called me a said, "Yes, Ford had a bulletin about this problem."

They put a special grease behind the pads and all is okay. The noise would start just before the car came to a stop... around 5 or 10mph.

[jlforbes]

i've had my Flex since Dec 2008 and i noticed the same problem with mine. A grinding noise (like a brake pad has worn out) happens sometimes while slowing down like you said around 10 or 5 mph. i will take it in and mention this forum. does anyone happen to the TSB on this issue?

John

[rc_cola]

The TSB #: 09-13-03

attached for your reference.

-rc

Attached File(s)

•  tsb09_13_03.pdf (47.06K)
  Number of downloads: 170

[jlforbes]

Thank you!

Has anyone had/heard of any A/C issues? I've noticed that it is taking a lot longer to cool. it takes me around 20 minutes to get home and i have to have the blower on high the whole trip and it still doesnt feel comfortable in the car. i think the compressor is takeing longer to get going and cycling too often.

[rc_cola]

jl,

i, like some others have had A/C issues. for some reason, the O-Rings at the A/C compressor fail and all of the refridgerant leaks out. take it to the dealership, they should be able to diagnose the issue pretty quickly.

once i had my O-Rings replaced and the system recharged......good as new and no problems since.

-rc

[jlforbes]

Thanks RC!

I'll make an appointment for the brakes and A/C. I'll post later with the results of the dealership visit.

Thanks again.

JL

[jlforbes]

rc,

I took in my Flex this morning for the front brake issue. The service advisor hadn't heard of the problem so I showed him the TSB you had provided me. I just picked it up and they performed the service as described in the bulletin.

Thank you again for the information.

John

[rc_cola]

no problem John. glad i could help.

hope your A/C issue gets resolved too.

-Rich

[jlforbes]

rc,

i'll make another appointment for the A/C (just to have them check it out).

Question: if i have the A/C setting to 60 degrees (and it's 102 degrees outside according to the onboard thermometer) should the compressor be cycling? i notice bursts of hot air while driving with the A/C on MAX. I'm guessing the compressor is cycling off at that moment.

[rc_cola]

yeah, it should be, but the bursts of hot air is a symptom that i had before the A/C went completely out. you should possibly hear a "hissing" noise coming from the instrument panel too. if you do, sounds like your refridgerant is just about emptied.

-rc

[Waldo]

jlforbes, on Jul 15 2009, 08:10 PM, said:

rc,

i'll make another appointment for the A/C (just to have them check it out).

Question: if i have the A/C setting to 60 degrees (and it's 102 degrees outside according to the onboard thermometer) should the compressor be cycling? i notice bursts of hot air while driving with the A/C on MAX. I'm guessing the compressor is cycling off at that moment.

If it builds too much pressure it will cycle off for a bit, but I think leaking is one of the things that causes it to build pressure faster (ie more gas, less fluid).

[Planedriver_1]

Hello People,

I have been on here many times with issues on my flex from day one !! The A/C is a real issue now that the florida heat is here. YES there is a problem and there is a service bulletin on the a/c problem, BUT be careful it will make your a/c worse not better. These idiots are telling me stuff that just doesn't make sense. I'm not a licesned mechanic but i have plenty of electrical and refrigitation knowledge and not to mention i have owned many new cars in the last 30 years i know when one has a problem. The flex is one of them, the other was a ford big bronco. when it was real hot it would get hot and take forever to cool the vehicle down, when at a red light in florida the temp inside would climb like the heat was on, the other was a 95 2 door tahoe with a new 134 a refrigiration system and when they were using this for the first vehicles it really sucked. That lemon got sold in less than one year. The bronco was fixed by a very good ford tech. He remove the oriface tube filter/ screen and showed me some foriegn matter in it , then he flused the a/c system completely and then refilled with the R 12 back then 1989 model year, i owned it for almost six years and never complained again. A friend of mine bought it and it kept working for a few more years without fail. I have been to the dealer twice know for the a/c i don't think fords service bulletin is going to do it. I think it's going to take a good a/c tech to find the problem and just fix it. Soon i am going to go on a general forum page and just list all the crap that has happend to me with my flex since new last october 08. Dumb things like the steering wheel falling nearly off in my hand ect.

I am really pissed off about the car right now although it's a very good likeable type crossover for me i just can't deal with a lemon.

Florida has a law here and i'm about to take advantage of it if this continues. I have spent way too much time going 25 miles one way to my dealer for service.

Oh yeah the break service bulletin published on here is the ford exact copy and the bottom line about any objects wedged in between the rotor and the dust plate came because of one of my break issues from day 3 of ownership. I stood in the shop with the tech, the manager of service and two amazed other techs, the noise was a fender well hard plastic push pin that holds the mud gaurds in the wells. a robot or a
factory worker shoves them in and they haven't got tires on yet at that time and stuff falls down and they don't try to find it they just let it go.

The thing was wedged in and then you were breaking it sounded like metal to metal but actually was the hard plastic thing. They found it by removing the caliper on the passenger side. Right side for you that may have this noise on the right side. A flashlight is the only was to see it in the shop before the caliper is removed. A sharp tech/ service manager found it. I wouldn't have believed it but i was right there looking too.

Anyway sorry for the long note but darn i'm wound up tighter that a bango string ready to break on this flex..........But i do love it , i hope to hell they fix it so i can keep it.

Nobody else make a vehicle like this and it's so versital i would hate to back to big slug avalanche that i loved so much that was folks TROUBLE FREE !! YES believe it or not.......... best of luck to all of you.........will be on later.

planedriver

[Ratpack]

SSRusty, on Feb 6 2009, 07:42 AM, said:

I've had my Flex since mid November and love everything except the steering wheel distance from the drivers seat. One problem that I had was a grinding noise in the right front brake. It sounded like the pads were shot and metal was against metal. I took it to the dealer and they said they never heard of this problem. They then called me a said, "Yes, Ford had a bulletin about this problem."

They put a special grease behind the pads and all is okay. The noise would start just before the car came to a stop... around 5 or 10mph.

Just had this fixed today. Picked my Flex up on June 12th. The Mfg date was November and the bulltetin covers any Flex made prior to May of 2009. The dealer showed me the bulletin. The fix was new pads, grease the pins and turn the rotors. Problem solved in one trip. All coverd under warrenty and the Dealer agreed to work with me if my rotors needed replaceing at my "Really First Brake Job" RC Colas TSB is Spot On

Also: Isn't this thread about "BRAKES", How about listing your AC Issues in a seperate thread so it can be found later, and be useful. Why would I look in a Brake thread for AC problems

This post has been edited by Ratpack: 23 July 2009 - 03:46 PM

[Ratpack]

[quote name='Ratpack' date='Jul 23 2009, 06:41 PM' post='3871']
Just had this fixed today. Picked my Flex up on June 12th. The Mfg date was November and the bulltetin covers any Flex made prior to May of 2009. The dealer showed me the bulletin. The fix was new pads, grease the pins and turn the rotors. Problem solved in one trip. All coverd under warrenty and the Dealer agreed to work with me if my rotors needed replaceing at my "Really First Brake Job" RC Colas TSB is Spot On

Update to prior post.

Had it fixed on 7/23 OK for one day. Took it back on 7/24. They regreased the brake backing pads. Again OK for one day. Taking it back on Monday 7/27. Anyone have this much BS whith this issue.

This post has been edited by Ratpack: 26 July 2009 - 02:03 PM

[Planedriver_1]

Yep i have had a lot of BS with this issue and many others. One of the fine people posting here got it done right, I finally did......... it only took three (3) tries.

Then pulled in with it and they showed me the new bulletin, Replace pads, turn rotors apply the special ford
dam grease and wow ......like magic groaning, griding ect sounds gone.

read some of my other issues in here i have listed plenty. Go to the dearler and say look up bulletins on the flex, believe me unless they are just trying to get out of having to do it for little or no pay for working on the problem they should tell you when you ask. i got my dealer to show my and make a copy for me.
I did already have it from some other source .... Ha hah.........


good luck to you

planedriver

[jlforbes]

It's been 2 weeks for me since my brakes and they are still quiet (knock on wood). Hopefully it doesn't return until it's time for the real brake job.

it's going to the dealer next week for the A/C issue. I'm in Florida and I know it's not cooling like the way it used to; I'll post the results.

Anyone thinking of trading up for the e-boost version? Who knows what their problems will be...

John

[kyflex]

I'm now experiencing the same problem with my brakes. My Flex has about 4000 miles and is grinding right before stopping and seems shudder a bit at stopping. Getting really tired of the problems. Started to laugh at the latest Ford commercial touting their new-found quality!

[rmc523]

kyflex, on 30 August 2009 - 04:59 PM, said:

I'm now experiencing the same problem with my brakes. My Flex has about 4000 miles and is grinding right before stopping and seems shudder a bit at stopping. Getting really tired of the problems. Started to laugh at the latest Ford commercial touting their new-found quality!

Take it to the dealer and at least mention the problem and the associated TSB mentioned above. They should fix it for you.

[IZZYAZ]

Must be something magical about the 4000 mile mark. I see others saying they have brake issues at 4k miles. The wifes Flex just turned 4k miles and guess what, brakes are grinding and chattering. I guess I will be making an appointment to get it fixed. I was hoping to wait until my next oil change, but the way they sound, I'm not sure if I should wait 500 miles, let alone 2000 more miles.

Thanks for the TSB on the brakes. Really helps when you take it in to get it fixed right the first time. Plus when you hand the TSB to the service manager he can't say, "Nope, haven't heard of any problems with the Flex". I hate J/Os like that.

[kyflex]

Thanks to whomever posted the TSB on the brakes. I did take it in last week and we think they resurfaced the rotor. But, they didn't have any brake pads. So they fixed more loose trim. They also finally agreed that I wasn't crazy and that I did indeed have "overspray" on my windshield (from when I had them fix some paint problems on the frame) which is why I couldn't see in direct sunlight. They removed it with a steel wool. Well, most of it anyway. They said they ordered the pads and when we picked it up alluded to the fact that it was good to go. However, I still heard the same sounds after getting it home and driving the next day. Apparently the pads were not in and they did not replace them so it's back to the dealer in a few days to get that done too. F.O.R.D...Fix Or Repair Daily... sigh...

On a good note, I really can't be without a car so our dealership did give us a loaner.