Just thought Id share a funny, yet expensive, lesson I learned today. Five months ago I bought a 2006 Jaguar STR. The car was making a clunking noise in the front end and the dealer said he would have his mechanic take a look at it. The first diagnosis was bad lower control arm bushings. Replaced at a cost of 106.00. Still clunked. Second diagnosis was a bad rack and pinion. Cost: 500.00. Still clunked. So the other day my dad an I put it up on a jack stand and played around with the front suspension. We looked at every possible component that could make noise. Everything checked out. Then I noticed that the strut moved up and down excessively in the strut tower when I pushed down on the fender...and made a clunking noise. I thought the strut mounts might be bad so I purchsed new mounts. Cost: 198.00. Then I took it in to Jag to have the mounts installed and they informed that there was nothing wrong with the suspension and the noise was coming from a "loose and torn belly pan". Cost: 404.00 I acutally didnt believe the mechanic that this was the cause of the noise, so I didnt have it replaced. When I arrived to pick it up, I had the service advisor fetch the mechanic so that I could demonstrate the excessive movement in the strut. His response? "There is suppossed to be some play in the strut mount as part of the normal operation of the strut." My response? Maybe.....but clunking should not be part of normal operation. Then the service advisor said that he had the foreman with "17 years experience working on Jaguar's" look at it and he confirmed that the movement was normal. A few days latter it occurred to me that maybe the nut holding the strut was loose and so with an 18 mm wrench I tightened the nuts on both struts and voila!!! Problem solved. Fixed free of charge (after 800.00). It reminded me of an old saying in medicine that doctors have when diagnosing illness. "When you hear hoofbeats, dont expect to see a zebra."

 

LOL! Dr. to Dr., def. understand that saying. Patients will point to "hear and there" and after all is said and done ($$$$), it was way over there. Otherwise, chalk it up to you paying $800 to get screwed?

 

I must remember this posting at all times in the future.

I wonder, Dr. JC, if you had just gone to have the suspension checked, and after to just have the steering checked, would they have given a clean bill of health.

This forum has really taught me not to expect a herd of zebras just because I think I hear hoofbeats.

 

Great post!!
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