Tailshaft sheared - scary scary

[ChrisM]

RESULT!!

After two days we have a winning outcome. The local Ford service manager has confirmed the diagnosis and Ford Australia are picking up the repair. We both had a close look at the break and are a little baffled as to what might have caused it. There is some rust pitting in the inside but not a massive amount. What really surprises me is how thin the wall thickness is on the shaft, it must be about 1.5 - 2mm, maybe less. Further, I would have thought that it should be able to cope with a lot more corrosion than it had.

I guess the part is built to have only just enough strength to hold under normal use and no more. The slightest compromise in its strength must have allowed it to stretch ever so slightly, and work to case harden. After that it was only a matter of time before it broke.

With respect to Ford, I guess the takeaways from this (and with anyone), is to always be reasonable, don't lose your rag, give them ALL the information, and keep on working up the chain until you get a fair answer. The CSC seems to have lot more clout than a local dealer who wants the sales, service and parts revenue. I don't believe that a dealer is likely to advocate for you to Ford head office, you need to do that on your own.

With this failure - I hope my vehicle is one from the dodgy batch because I'd hate to think of the cost of another recall on more BH2's. The cost for the repair is about AU$1,100 including labour.

Thank you all for your support.

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[prydey]

Good to hear Chris and also good to hear you didn't have anywhere near the headache i had.

did you look through my thread? the walls of the tailshaft on my car were much thinner than that in parts. corrosion also looked worse.
thankfully, all cases seem to happen at low speed, and mainly when pulling away from standstill. i guess this is when most torque is applied to the shaft.

[ChrisM]

I did have a look at your thread. Your points and photos formed a large part of the ammo I fired at the CSC. The main points that swayed them I think were being able to say, "This has happened before and Ford paid" and "Ford issued a recall for this fault". I couldn't find any formal info on the actual recall that helped and the first dealer I approached was no use at all.

My theory is that the rust weakens them such that they stretch a bit over time, case harden becoming more brittle. Then they just go at the point of max torque which is, as you say, take off.

[HSE2]

Well done Chris. A perfect example of what can be achieved with a sound clear presentation of the facts.

Hope you stick around.