My 04 Nav Issues List

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Strawfordt

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I really love this truck. I bought it used in Aug 06 with 39k kms, But....
What a troublesome vehicle. Here is my list of things that have had to be fixed already.


1. Replaced Tranny. They found metal shavings and a snap ring in the pan when they went to change the tranny oil.

2. Replaced drivers door cladding. It would creep up and interfere with the front 1/4 panel when closing

3. Replaced Drivers seat cushion

4. Replaced Drivers seat heater

5. Replaced Nav / 6 CD changer because it would not volume adjust.

6. Repaint the trim. Stealer had blacked out the grey plastic and there is something on the paint like SILICON. Not Ford fault but then again the Stealer is an arm of Ford.

I also have other problems that I will wait awhile to fix. If I can get a little closer to the warranty expiry date I can get a little more coverage for the replacement parts

1. The deployable running boards are malfunctioning. Drivers side does not stow completely and pass side is grinding terribly. Pass side probably has a bad Norglide bushing.

2. 3 of 4 Window regulators make VERY loud clunks when they reach either full up or full down.

Does anyone else have these nagging quality issues?

Vehicle Comfort and Ride.... Great
Vehicle Quality.... Dubious

Tom
 
My 03 Ultimate had a few issues but not as much.

AC/heated seats (fixed myself after 3 trips to 2 different dealers),
AC not working properly in auto mode, Cladding noise, power liftgate reverse problems....

Otherwise shes been fine. Picked her up with 38K miles, now near 60K.
 
My 04 has 24k miles and the only thing has been a problem is the cladding.
It was ALL replaced without question when I commented on the top gap on the front doors.

What was wrong with your front cushion? Mine does seem to be wearing bad.

Other than that this ride has been trouble free for 2 years now.
 
KSnav said:
My 04 has 24k miles and the only thing has been a problem is the cladding.
It was ALL replaced without question when I commented on the top gap on the front doors.

What was wrong with your front cushion? Mine does seem to be wearing bad.

Other than that this ride has been trouble free for 2 years now.
Click to expand...

My heater element had a short that would trip the circuit. The heater would work for about 15 seconds on the drivers side.

I forgot to mention that I have had service for front drivers door wind noise. They adjusted the striker position and presto...I still have the same problem.

Anyone else?

Tom
 
My 2003 was Hell on wheels. We picked it up with 17000 and dropped it off at 43000 after losing a lemon law fight with Ford by arbitration. Literally my list is too long to start. We had over 76 days documented in the shop. From rust to seals to tires to electric motors coming loose. Literally every week something new went wrong with it. From the posts I have just read, consider yourselfs lucky.
The Navigator was my dream car and probably the only one I will ever get a chance to own. It is very unfortunate that I have nothing but bad memories about my ownership.
Oh yeah, the dealerships that I had taken it to to get things fixed-wanted to give me thousands less than the trade-in for my area because "we know the car has some repair history..."
The day before we traded it in the 4x4 light was flashing randomly and the seat heater went out.
I lost ten thousand dollars trading it in on a Zephyr. This time I leased, that way if the thing becomes a problem when the lease is up it's Ford's problem not mine.
 
My Dream Vehicle Also!!!

I am wondering if LincolnLuebbe and I were just unlucky. I truly love the truck. Rides nicely and has presence. Give the way Ford conducts business and product development it was the only Ford product I would ever consider owning (well I do love the look & sound of the new mustang).

I'd like to hear from those that are reallyt satisfied with the quality of the Navigator. Tell me your year so I can discern the what type of Nav you are talking about.
Maybe I just need to trade for a new or different one.

All the best.

Tom
 
enskanker said:
My 03 Ultimate had a few issues but not as much.

AC/heated seats (fixed myself after 3 trips to 2 different dealers),
AC not working properly in auto mode, Cladding noise, power liftgate reverse problems....

Otherwise shes been fine. Picked her up with 38K miles, now near 60K.
Click to expand...

I took mine in twice and they tell me the seats work fine but they do no get warm at all.

I'm curious to what you did to get yours to work. There's 5 setting and on 5 I can't feel the heat at all.

On my Bimmer they get piping hot.

Other than that I have a 03 Ultimate and haven't had any problems with it at all. We got it with 44k and we now have close to 60K on it and it still runs really good and everything works ex the seats (I think).

Now my doors do have some rattles going over some big bumps though. I'm going to take them apart and go inside of them myself.

My cousin has a 02 Escalade and I think the doors close better and rides better than the Navi, but the features on his are really lacking. The Gator has way more options than his.
 
Here is what I found.

Both of my rotory (1-5) dials had broken contacts. The fans would blow but the system heat or cold is based on amount of voltage the Peltier device(s) receive and that was not happening. Using a Ford service DVD (ebay $20-$25) is a big help here.

Since the dealers (2) insisted said everyting was fine, I discovered this after taking the seats apart and checking everything myself. I finally got down to the switches... took apart and fixed the little rotory switches myself. Its an easy fix, superglue to re-seat the copper spring contacts back onto the plastic dial. Also a new foam seat cushion for under $50 online helps tremendously also. The seats weaken fast and the air channels in the seat get blocked. The dealers were a waste of time and vehemently denied any problems with my seats....all the way up to the service manager. What a shame Ford/Lincoln/Mercury dealer system is such a circus. I have had no satisfaction from my selling Lincoln dealer and none from a nearby Ford dealer.

PM me if you need more details, etc.

Try those ideas on the seat heaters/coolers....good Luck and keep me posted on the rattles issue, got that problem too.
 
Straw - I took my 04 Navi in for 3 new problems this Monday 2/5, shes just turned 2 YO & has 29k.

1) The gas gauge has gone to "E" 3 times in this cold weather spell after filling it up. The next time I start it, it works? No answer on this yet.

2 The TPMS keeps showing check air each cold morning. My Murano doesn't have this problem. They are replacing all 4 wheel monitors.

3) and finally I started seeing differential fluid on my driveway last week & hearing a hum. Well I'm getting a whole new differentail, but its now Wednesday so 3 days later & they're not done. If its not done tomorrow they'll give me a loaner, I should have griped earlier.

The ride & style are great, but I really have some long-term concerns right now. :confused:
 
Just so you know, any time you have your lincoln serviced and it is under warranty you are entitled to a free loaner car. Many dealerships seem to "forget" this.
 
KSnav said:
Straw - I took my 04 Navi in for 3 new problems this Monday 2/5, shes just turned 2 YO & has 29k.

3) and finally I started seeing differential fluid on my driveway last week & hearing a hum. Well I'm getting a whole new differentail, but its now Wednesday so 3 days later & they're not done. If its not done tomorrow they'll give me a loaner, I should have griped earlier.

The ride & style are great, but I really have some long-term concerns right now. :confused:
Click to expand...

Keep us posted on this.
 
I finally got my Navi back on Thursday afternoon.
Wasn't it great for the "Service" rep to offer me a loaner on Wednesday afternoon after he had the Navi for 3 days. :mad:

Lubbee I wish I had checked back earlier, this won't happen again.;)

Everything seems fixed for now, heres what they did.

1) Fuel guage going to E after fillup. - They added Chevron fuel cleaner & told me that during winter months more "sulfer" is added to the gas mixtures & it is gumming up their contacts. This was per a SMM, something other than a TSB. If the problem persists then the replace the fuel pump.

2) For the constant TPMS "check tire pressure" warning problem they installed new tire monitors & flashed the software. For the last couple of 8 degree mornings I haven't had any problems.

3) on the most serious problem, the rearend hum they replaced everything in the differential: ring & pinion and bearings, etc & she is driving smooth & quite again!

Hopefully this will be it, but we'll see. The rearend problem really concerns me and its weird how this all seemed to occure at the 2 year mark.
 
KSnav said:
I finally got my Navi back on Thursday afternoon.
Wasn't it great for the "Service" rep to offer me a loaner on Wednesday afternoon after he had the Navi for 3 days. :mad:

Lubbee I wish I had checked back earlier, this won't happen again.;)

Everything seems fixed for now, heres what they did.

3) on the most serious problem, the rearend hum they replaced everything in the differential: ring & pinion and bearings, etc & she is driving smooth & quite again!

Hopefully this will be it, but we'll see. The rearend problem really concerns me and its weird how this all seemed to occur at the 2 year mark.
Click to expand...

I'm glad things look good now. My N laws have noise coming from the back of their 03 Navi and now I have some leaks N the garage under my diff. When I just did my brakes I looked up there and saw fluid on mine so I know it's leaking. I can't really tell if it making more noise or not but theirs is loud from the rear and since this post I bet it's the rear diff on theirs.

You still have a warranty on yours though right?
 
The rear end whine/moan hit me right at 30,000 miles. We had it in for repair and they replaced the same things. It took three different dealers to determinw what it was. But after reading the TSB it was an issue for all 2003/2004 model year Expy and Navi's as far as what I was told. Glad they could fix it for you! After they fixed mine I didn't have that issue again.
 
Time will tell....

Hi again,

Since the sudden appearance of winter the deployable running boards have become a real problem. They either do not deploy or do not retract. I'll be getting this fixed real soon.

I've also noticed that:

1) The auto dimming on the GPS map is malfunctioning and the map is dim in the bright daylight making impossible to read.

2) The whole power train seems to be in delay from when I press the accelerator to when the vehicle starts to move (with a lurch, I might add).

3) My ??? creates a whistling / almost squealing noise at certain speeds. This can be eliminated by speeding up the vehicle.
Could this be the known differential problem that I have read about?

I'm getting really concerned. I love the dang thing for ride and style but what will I do when it is out of warranty?

Tom
 
If you can hear the whistling/moan/howling when you hold a certain speed but it goes away when you accelarate (at least that's what mine did) then it is probably the notorious axle whine. If your dealership plays the "we have not heard of this before" game go to a Ford dealer ship talk to the service manager ask them to pull up a TSB (Technical Service Bullitin) on OASIS and read over it to specifically point out what is going on with you car. I had to learn the hard way that you pretty much have to hold the service departments hand to figure out problems on your car. Chances are if you tell them there is a noise while driving it you will get a call the next day saying the "could not duplicate" or "couldn't find anything". This is unfortunate being that Lincoln should, in my opinion, have a better service department that Ford. But the truth is most Dealerships are Ford/Lincoln/Mercury so the nine dollar an hour greaser waiting for his next break that they hired to change the oil and take service requests probably is about as knowledgable about your vehicle as a ----- as far as troubleshooting. Your best shot by far is speaking to the service manager or a Ford certified Master technician. Good luck!
 
Axle Whine

Thanks Lincoln Luebbe!
I'll be dropping the beast off for service in about three weeks. I'll let you know how I make out!

Thanks again!
 
KSnav said:
1) Fuel guage going to E after fillup. - They added Chevron fuel cleaner & told me that during winter months more "sulfer" is added to the gas mixtures & it is gumming up their contacts.
Click to expand...

That's a bunch of crap.

Average sulfur content in gasoline (outside of California) currently varies from 300 ppm to 350 ppm in the United States and Canada, with some exceptions such as Ontario which averages in the order of 550 ppm.

Diesels have been running 500ppm for ages, and there are very few fuel level sensor problems. Sulfur is a lubricant in fuels. Simple as that.
 
Frogman said:
That's a bunch of crap.

Thanks Frog. I thought it sounded like total BS, but it hasn't ever done it to me again. I had a Civic with the same problem & they ended up replacing the fuel pump in the tank.

None of the 3 problems have reoccured although the next time I take the Navi in I will see if they'll do something about the drivers seat, it seams to be crapping out. It looks 10 years old.
Click to expand...
 
Hey, I think i'm having that same rearend noise. didn't quite know what it was. I have an 04' Navi. Got it spankin' new w/ 33miles on it & now has 41+. One of the problems i've noticed is this humming noise/sound while driving on the freeway in full gear. It's hard to describe but it sounds like i'm driving in say 2nd gear the whole time. I figured something was wrong cause i don't hear it all the time. does my problem sound like what u had??? Also in regards to seat, i have a luxury model so i don't have the heated/cooling seat issue however, my driverseat will not adjust. the seat not the back is stuck fully adjusted back and will not move forward. My wife noticed it when she FINALLY (women don't take care of our toys like we do) got to drive it and she couldn't move forward. It works whenever it wants to and thats not often. I've turned off the "easy exit" seat option and then turned it back on & i think it worked temporarily but still currently have the problem. Other than those two issues, nothing else & i love my Navi. In my opinion, there is nothing currently out that would make me want to get rid of my Navi especially when comparing interiors(i'm an interior guy) but having all these problems will. KSnav let me how to explane the problemsound to the dealer cause the car will drive fine when i get it there like they all do!!!
 
Kay, mine was easy to show, becuase it was leaking pretty good & the humb around 60 was very noticable. I know there is a TSB on it also.

I must say I do like my 1st Navi, but at 4 years I may have to try another one. If the QX56 would add the "air" seats I would give it a try. I really am impressed with the Nissan/Infiniti power. I know the 6 speed got the Navi to 8 secs, but the Q is a 7 sec monster.
 
Check out the 2005-2006's I'm telling you that they from what I have read and heard, they ironed out many of the first generation bugs from the 03/04 body in the 2005's. Plus more of a warranty left!!
 
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