My 1999 Mercury Villager with 57,000 miles on it just started
making a noticeable clacking noise in the left front when starting
forward from a stop and turning (either way). I took a look
behind the left front wheel, and I see the rubber boot has
completely separated from the inside of the wheel/hub
assembly...exposing the drive joint. I'll take it in to the dealer
tomorrow.

Can anyone give me an idea of the likely resolution of this
problem...and how serious it will be?

Yes, my extended warranty has another 5,000 miles to go.
Also, I had the vehicle in for an oil change 1,400 miles ago.

Thanks!
Scott

"Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message
news:4043D0FC.AD8526A0@uslink.net...
| My 1999 Mercury Villager with 57,000 miles on it just started
| making a noticeable clacking noise in the left front when starting
| forward from a stop and turning (either way). I took a look
| behind the left front wheel, and I see the rubber boot has
| completely separated from the inside of the wheel/hub
| assembly...exposing the drive joint. I'll take it in to the dealer
| tomorrow.
|
| Can anyone give me an idea of the likely resolution of this
| problem...and how serious it will be?
|
| Yes, my extended warranty has another 5,000 miles to go.
| Also, I had the vehicle in for an oil change 1,400 miles ago.
|
| Thanks!
| Scott
|

Damaged CV boot...fairly common item. Good thing you're taking it
in...hopefully there isn't damage to the CV joint from water and debris now
getting into the joint.

Update: The dealer checked it out. He said the left outside CV
boot had separated and the right one wasstarting beginning to come off.
They cleaned up the drive joints and found them to be in good shape.
They're ordering two replacement boots. And, yes, this will be
covered by the extended warranty.

Scott

Scott wrote:

Great, glad it worked out for you...

"Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message
news:40452FC5.9BA6244B@uslink.net...
| Update: The dealer checked it out. He said the left outside CV
| boot had separated and the right one wasstarting beginning to come off.
| They cleaned up the drive joints and found them to be in good shape.
| They're ordering two replacement boots. And, yes, this will be
| covered by the extended warranty.
|
| Scott
|
| Scott wrote:
|
| > My 1999 Mercury Villager with 57,000 miles on it just started
| > making a noticeable clacking noise in the left front when starting
| > forward from a stop and turning (either way). I took a look
| > behind the left front wheel, and I see the rubber boot has
| > completely separated from the inside of the wheel/hub
| > assembly...exposing the drive joint. I'll take it in to the dealer
| > tomorrow.
| >
| > Can anyone give me an idea of the likely resolution of this
| > problem...and how serious it will be?
| >
| > Yes, my extended warranty has another 5,000 miles to go.
| > Also, I had the vehicle in for an oil change 1,400 miles ago.
| >
| > Thanks!
| > Scott
|

James,

Yep, it could have been worse. And they even gave me a new
Taurus as a loaner :)

Scott

"James C. Reeves" wrote:

On Tue, 02 Mar 2004 19:07:17 -0600, Scott <golden@uslink.net> wrote:

Excellent! I had a boot go bad, and it wasn't the boot that was
expensive, but that they disassembled the cv joint, and had to do an
alignment as well. So the time, and alignment was the bulk of the
cost.

Good for you,

tom

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I just checked with the dealer, and he said an alignment is not
necessary, since no steering components are involved. I'll be
picking the car up soon.

Scott

junkmail01@intertainiaREMOVE.com wrote:

Update March 4:

The dealer said that after a test drive, the left CV joint makes a
clicking sound on a hard left turn. So they're going to replace the
CV joint (apparently, it had been damaged by the loose boot).
It should be ready tomorrow. Thankfully, it's all covered by my
Ford Extended Warranty.

Thanks!
Scott

Scott wrote:

Update:

Picked up my Villager today...with new CV joint and boots, and
all is well. I paid the $50 deductible on the extended warranty.
Without it, the charge would have been $500-$600.

Scott