1st year service, recall, and transfer case repair

[slumlord]

So I got the recall letter for an inspection on the middle row middle seat. Something about some bracket may not have been installed making it fly out of the car if it is in an accident. Yada Yada Yada don't let anyone sit in the seat unless its in the far back position unless it's your father-in-law. I waited until my 1 year service (was at just over 8,900 miles) Also while it went in I had them check out an issue I have had. When I put it in Excite I noticed a chug while accelerating. It felt like an engine misfiring, it was like a pulsing but it felt electronic. At first I thought it was maybe a program issue but then I realized it happened in Normal 4x4 mode as well. As soon as I put it back to normal 2H or conserve it was smooth. So I took the tech for a drive and he felt it as well. I kept saying it feels like a misfire (he agreed) but that doesn't make sense that it only happens in the AWD modes. Which would lead me to believe it's the transfer case or maybe even something in the front driveline or maybe something in the transfer case is sending some signal back and messing up the engine program. Either way it didn't feel mechanical (like a missing a tooth on a gear or slipping or something) We went back he told the service manager the same thing that it felt like a misfire but only in AWD modes. They had my truck for a few days and Lincoln Corp got back with "Replace the transfer case" so around $1800 later (all under warranty of course) got the truck back and it works good as new. I asked the Service manager if they took the transfer case apart to see what was actually wrong but they didn't. Lincoln wanted it back right away. He did say it took them 2 days to respond to replace it and that it must of hurt their pride a little but that also for them to say replace the whole transfer case without anymore tests he said they must have seen this issue before. Hopefully not too widespread but if you have a 4x4 model check the awd modes on a nice smooth road. 

[akirby]

Actually it sounds like they haven’t seen this issue before which is why they wanted the transfer case back to inspect and debug it.   That’s pretty common with a new failure.

[slumlord]

It pretty much did it since day 1 and it didn't seem to get any worse or any better over the time I had it. Since I don't drive in excite or 4x4 much it wasn't urgent,  but I figured since it was going in already for a few other things might as well have them check it out before something worse happens. I am curious to what was causing it, I have felt teeth missing before on old trucks and it wasn't anything like that.