Puddles Of Fluid Behind Rear Wheel-Who Or What Is Responsible??
01-09-2014, 06:13 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: California
Posts: 3
Puddles Of Fluid Behind Rear Wheel-Who Or What Is Responsible??
All my Google searches seem to lead me to this forum so I decided to join! My name is Heidi and I have a 2000 Mustang with a V6 engine. I bought it brand new and have never had any issues with it until recently.
In August I noticed the rear passenger side wheel had started making a noise. After doing a bit of research, it appeared to be the wheel bearing so I took it in. They confirmed the bearing and seal needed to be replaced, adding that there was also a possibility I would need a new axle. They got it apart and told me the axle was fine, but recommended an axle saver bearing to prolong the life it, so that's what I went with. Once the bearing and seal were replaced, I was told there was another problem. The wheel was now frozen…'I needed to purchase a part so they could fix it. It would run $200+ just for the part and because they didn't have it in stock it would be about 3 days before they could fix it.' I did see the wheel and it was frozen. I told them they needed to figure something out because the wheel was not frozen when I drove it in there, I wasn't paying to have it fixed and I wasn't leaving it for 3 days. They were sorry…there was nothing they could do. I walked outside to make a phone call and the manager came out to reiterate I had no choice but to purchase the part. I told him not to touch my car, my son was on his way to look at it. (he wasn't) Within 5 minutes the manager and tech that had worked on it returned to let me know they had fixed it and I was good to go. I asked how that was possible, if it had been done correctly and was it safe to drive. They assured me it was. I paid my bill and left.
Four months later I find a puddle of fluid behind that same tire. Initially I thought it was brake fluid, it turned out to be gear oil. The work I had done in August had a year warranty so I took it back to have it checked. Because of my previous experience, I went to another one of their locations. They glanced at my original paper work and when I showed them a picture of the puddle they warned me it was likely I would have to have my rear brake pads and rotors replaced. The tech came in after looking at my car and told the guy helping me I needed a new bearing, seal, pads and rotors. I pointed out they were still under warranty, as far as the pad and rotors went they were a year old and only needed to be replace because the seal was leaking. He corrected me saying I never had the bearing replaced, just the seal. Again, I showed him the paper work. Now…that is no longer the problem. (He's sure.) I explained about my wheel freezing…that there was an issue with the caliper and asked if that could have caused this to happen. He told me 'THAT was the problem and now it all made sense' to him. Then he sees a note on the paper work stating my car had a "broken bolt on caliper, caliper sliding pins are frozen, customer declined to have them fixed" I told him that had happened when they worked on it in August and how it miraculously fixed itself when I said my son was coming to look at it. He tried to contact the manager at the place that had done the work on it but he was not in. When he hung up, he looked at me and said "It's your axle, I bet your whole rear end is going out" I told him my axle was fine 4 months ago and they had even put on an axle saver bearing. He insisted they did that because my axle was already bad, I insisted they gave me an option…we got nowhere. Their final comments on my invoice stated, "Rec rear axle to be removed for further inspection. Possible damaged axle or differential. Axle bearing replaced in August. Axle seal leaking and has a wabble"
I walked out 4 hours after I had arrived for my appointment and still have no idea what is really wrong with my car. It went from bearings and seal to caliper to axle and my rear end going out, by someone that never even looked at it. I'm at a loss as to what to do. The only issue (although it is a big one) is the leak, it is not a drop here and there it's a substantial amount. It's not making any type of noise and although I only drove it a few miles to have it looked at it, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
Any advice, thoughts and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you….
In August I noticed the rear passenger side wheel had started making a noise. After doing a bit of research, it appeared to be the wheel bearing so I took it in. They confirmed the bearing and seal needed to be replaced, adding that there was also a possibility I would need a new axle. They got it apart and told me the axle was fine, but recommended an axle saver bearing to prolong the life it, so that's what I went with. Once the bearing and seal were replaced, I was told there was another problem. The wheel was now frozen…'I needed to purchase a part so they could fix it. It would run $200+ just for the part and because they didn't have it in stock it would be about 3 days before they could fix it.' I did see the wheel and it was frozen. I told them they needed to figure something out because the wheel was not frozen when I drove it in there, I wasn't paying to have it fixed and I wasn't leaving it for 3 days. They were sorry…there was nothing they could do. I walked outside to make a phone call and the manager came out to reiterate I had no choice but to purchase the part. I told him not to touch my car, my son was on his way to look at it. (he wasn't) Within 5 minutes the manager and tech that had worked on it returned to let me know they had fixed it and I was good to go. I asked how that was possible, if it had been done correctly and was it safe to drive. They assured me it was. I paid my bill and left.
Four months later I find a puddle of fluid behind that same tire. Initially I thought it was brake fluid, it turned out to be gear oil. The work I had done in August had a year warranty so I took it back to have it checked. Because of my previous experience, I went to another one of their locations. They glanced at my original paper work and when I showed them a picture of the puddle they warned me it was likely I would have to have my rear brake pads and rotors replaced. The tech came in after looking at my car and told the guy helping me I needed a new bearing, seal, pads and rotors. I pointed out they were still under warranty, as far as the pad and rotors went they were a year old and only needed to be replace because the seal was leaking. He corrected me saying I never had the bearing replaced, just the seal. Again, I showed him the paper work. Now…that is no longer the problem. (He's sure.) I explained about my wheel freezing…that there was an issue with the caliper and asked if that could have caused this to happen. He told me 'THAT was the problem and now it all made sense' to him. Then he sees a note on the paper work stating my car had a "broken bolt on caliper, caliper sliding pins are frozen, customer declined to have them fixed" I told him that had happened when they worked on it in August and how it miraculously fixed itself when I said my son was coming to look at it. He tried to contact the manager at the place that had done the work on it but he was not in. When he hung up, he looked at me and said "It's your axle, I bet your whole rear end is going out" I told him my axle was fine 4 months ago and they had even put on an axle saver bearing. He insisted they did that because my axle was already bad, I insisted they gave me an option…we got nowhere. Their final comments on my invoice stated, "Rec rear axle to be removed for further inspection. Possible damaged axle or differential. Axle bearing replaced in August. Axle seal leaking and has a wabble"
I walked out 4 hours after I had arrived for my appointment and still have no idea what is really wrong with my car. It went from bearings and seal to caliper to axle and my rear end going out, by someone that never even looked at it. I'm at a loss as to what to do. The only issue (although it is a big one) is the leak, it is not a drop here and there it's a substantial amount. It's not making any type of noise and although I only drove it a few miles to have it looked at it, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
Any advice, thoughts and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you….
01-10-2014, 09:29 AM
#2
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Alberta
Posts: 170
All my Google searches seem to lead me to this forum so I decided to join! My name is Heidi and I have a 2000 Mustang with a V6 engine. I bought it brand new and have never had any issues with it until recently.
In August I noticed the rear passenger side wheel had started making a noise. After doing a bit of research, it appeared to be the wheel bearing so I took it in. They confirmed the bearing and seal needed to be replaced, adding that there was also a possibility I would need a new axle. They got it apart and told me the axle was fine, but recommended an axle saver bearing to prolong the life it, so that's what I went with. Once the bearing and seal were replaced, I was told there was another problem. The wheel was now frozen…'I needed to purchase a part so they could fix it. It would run $200+ just for the part and because they didn't have it in stock it would be about 3 days before they could fix it.' I did see the wheel and it was frozen. I told them they needed to figure something out because the wheel was not frozen when I drove it in there, I wasn't paying to have it fixed and I wasn't leaving it for 3 days. They were sorry…there was nothing they could do. I walked outside to make a phone call and the manager came out to reiterate I had no choice but to purchase the part. I told him not to touch my car, my son was on his way to look at it. (he wasn't) Within 5 minutes the manager and tech that had worked on it returned to let me know they had fixed it and I was good to go. I asked how that was possible, if it had been done correctly and was it safe to drive. They assured me it was. I paid my bill and left.
Four months later I find a puddle of fluid behind that same tire. Initially I thought it was brake fluid, it turned out to be gear oil. The work I had done in August had a year warranty so I took it back to have it checked. Because of my previous experience, I went to another one of their locations. They glanced at my original paper work and when I showed them a picture of the puddle they warned me it was likely I would have to have my rear brake pads and rotors replaced. The tech came in after looking at my car and told the guy helping me I needed a new bearing, seal, pads and rotors. I pointed out they were still under warranty, as far as the pad and rotors went they were a year old and only needed to be replace because the seal was leaking. He corrected me saying I never had the bearing replaced, just the seal. Again, I showed him the paper work. Now…that is no longer the problem. (He's sure.) I explained about my wheel freezing…that there was an issue with the caliper and asked if that could have caused this to happen. He told me 'THAT was the problem and now it all made sense' to him. Then he sees a note on the paper work stating my car had a "broken bolt on caliper, caliper sliding pins are frozen, customer declined to have them fixed" I told him that had happened when they worked on it in August and how it miraculously fixed itself when I said my son was coming to look at it. He tried to contact the manager at the place that had done the work on it but he was not in. When he hung up, he looked at me and said "It's your axle, I bet your whole rear end is going out" I told him my axle was fine 4 months ago and they had even put on an axle saver bearing. He insisted they did that because my axle was already bad, I insisted they gave me an option…we got nowhere. Their final comments on my invoice stated, "Rec rear axle to be removed for further inspection. Possible damaged axle or differential. Axle bearing replaced in August. Axle seal leaking and has a wabble"
I walked out 4 hours after I had arrived for my appointment and still have no idea what is really wrong with my car. It went from bearings and seal to caliper to axle and my rear end going out, by someone that never even looked at it. I'm at a loss as to what to do. The only issue (although it is a big one) is the leak, it is not a drop here and there it's a substantial amount. It's not making any type of noise and although I only drove it a few miles to have it looked at it, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
Any advice, thoughts and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you….
In August I noticed the rear passenger side wheel had started making a noise. After doing a bit of research, it appeared to be the wheel bearing so I took it in. They confirmed the bearing and seal needed to be replaced, adding that there was also a possibility I would need a new axle. They got it apart and told me the axle was fine, but recommended an axle saver bearing to prolong the life it, so that's what I went with. Once the bearing and seal were replaced, I was told there was another problem. The wheel was now frozen…'I needed to purchase a part so they could fix it. It would run $200+ just for the part and because they didn't have it in stock it would be about 3 days before they could fix it.' I did see the wheel and it was frozen. I told them they needed to figure something out because the wheel was not frozen when I drove it in there, I wasn't paying to have it fixed and I wasn't leaving it for 3 days. They were sorry…there was nothing they could do. I walked outside to make a phone call and the manager came out to reiterate I had no choice but to purchase the part. I told him not to touch my car, my son was on his way to look at it. (he wasn't) Within 5 minutes the manager and tech that had worked on it returned to let me know they had fixed it and I was good to go. I asked how that was possible, if it had been done correctly and was it safe to drive. They assured me it was. I paid my bill and left.
Four months later I find a puddle of fluid behind that same tire. Initially I thought it was brake fluid, it turned out to be gear oil. The work I had done in August had a year warranty so I took it back to have it checked. Because of my previous experience, I went to another one of their locations. They glanced at my original paper work and when I showed them a picture of the puddle they warned me it was likely I would have to have my rear brake pads and rotors replaced. The tech came in after looking at my car and told the guy helping me I needed a new bearing, seal, pads and rotors. I pointed out they were still under warranty, as far as the pad and rotors went they were a year old and only needed to be replace because the seal was leaking. He corrected me saying I never had the bearing replaced, just the seal. Again, I showed him the paper work. Now…that is no longer the problem. (He's sure.) I explained about my wheel freezing…that there was an issue with the caliper and asked if that could have caused this to happen. He told me 'THAT was the problem and now it all made sense' to him. Then he sees a note on the paper work stating my car had a "broken bolt on caliper, caliper sliding pins are frozen, customer declined to have them fixed" I told him that had happened when they worked on it in August and how it miraculously fixed itself when I said my son was coming to look at it. He tried to contact the manager at the place that had done the work on it but he was not in. When he hung up, he looked at me and said "It's your axle, I bet your whole rear end is going out" I told him my axle was fine 4 months ago and they had even put on an axle saver bearing. He insisted they did that because my axle was already bad, I insisted they gave me an option…we got nowhere. Their final comments on my invoice stated, "Rec rear axle to be removed for further inspection. Possible damaged axle or differential. Axle bearing replaced in August. Axle seal leaking and has a wabble"
I walked out 4 hours after I had arrived for my appointment and still have no idea what is really wrong with my car. It went from bearings and seal to caliper to axle and my rear end going out, by someone that never even looked at it. I'm at a loss as to what to do. The only issue (although it is a big one) is the leak, it is not a drop here and there it's a substantial amount. It's not making any type of noise and although I only drove it a few miles to have it looked at it, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
Any advice, thoughts and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you….
OUCH!!! That does not sound like a good situation at all... I would have also said that it was likely the wheel bearing, seal, etc but if you had that fixed and it happened again a few months later then it does lead one to believe that the issue could be much deeper like the brakes, etc as you had previously mentioned.
Unfortunately, it sounds like the shop(s) you took it to are a bit on the "difficult" side to deal with. Did they end up replacing the bearing and seal again under the warranty? If not then Id make them do that first and from there if they are saying it could be your rear end, Id take it to a Transmission / Differential (Rear End) specialist shop for further diagnosis.
May I ask where you had the original work done?
Again, welcome to the forums... :-)
01-10-2014, 10:06 PM
#3
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: California
Posts: 3
Thank you so much!!!
I did have them replaced a few months earlier, but after doing some research online I'm questioning if they were actually even replaced. I also question why my wheel froze in their care, how they were able to fix it all of a sudden, and if that plays a part in any of this. They did not replace anything, once they realized the bearings and seal were under warranty they re-diagnosed the problem. This was one in the same company, just 2 different locations. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to mention names, but I had the work done at Pep Boys. NEVER AGAIN!
I am taking it somewhere else to be fixed and will decide how to handle the situation with Pep Boys once I know exactly whats going on.
Again, thank you!!!
I did have them replaced a few months earlier, but after doing some research online I'm questioning if they were actually even replaced. I also question why my wheel froze in their care, how they were able to fix it all of a sudden, and if that plays a part in any of this. They did not replace anything, once they realized the bearings and seal were under warranty they re-diagnosed the problem. This was one in the same company, just 2 different locations. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to mention names, but I had the work done at Pep Boys. NEVER AGAIN!
I am taking it somewhere else to be fixed and will decide how to handle the situation with Pep Boys once I know exactly whats going on.
Again, thank you!!!
01-10-2014, 10:30 PM
#4
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Alberta
Posts: 170
Thank you so much!!!
I did have them replaced a few months earlier, but after doing some research online I'm questioning if they were actually even replaced. I also question why my wheel froze in their care, how they were able to fix it all of a sudden, and if that plays a part in any of this. They did not replace anything, once they realized the bearings and seal were under warranty they re-diagnosed the problem. This was one in the same company, just 2 different locations. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to mention names, but I had the work done at Pep Boys. NEVER AGAIN!
I am taking it somewhere else to be fixed and will decide how to handle the situation with Pep Boys once I know exactly whats going on.
Again, thank you!!!
I did have them replaced a few months earlier, but after doing some research online I'm questioning if they were actually even replaced. I also question why my wheel froze in their care, how they were able to fix it all of a sudden, and if that plays a part in any of this. They did not replace anything, once they realized the bearings and seal were under warranty they re-diagnosed the problem. This was one in the same company, just 2 different locations. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to mention names, but I had the work done at Pep Boys. NEVER AGAIN!
I am taking it somewhere else to be fixed and will decide how to handle the situation with Pep Boys once I know exactly whats going on.
Again, thank you!!!
I truly recommend that you take it to somewhere that specializes in rear ends, etc and see whats up. MOST tranny / rear end shops will assess the vehicle for free (at least here) so that I think will be your best bet!!!
Good Luck... ;-)
01-11-2014, 07:27 AM
#5
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 2,549
Welcome to MF Heidi. You need to take the car to someone else and get a second opinion on what is going on. If they screwed up, you will have paperwork from a third party to fight them. I had to do this myself years ago over work they had done. I have had nothing but bad experiences with Pep Boys, and would never take any of my cars there. Good luck on getting the problem fixed.
Last edited by DRAGUL; 01-11-2014 at 07:32 AM.
01-11-2014, 04:10 PM
#6
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: California
Posts: 3
Thank you...this is a great forum and I'm glad I found it!!! I am going to take the car elsewhere, at this point I do not even want Pep Boys touching it. When I heard the noise orginally I was passing a Pep Boys and pulled in. I did do some research to get an idea what the issue could be before I walked in and they confirmed it. I have since been told that was about the worst place I could have gone. If in fact they are at fault, I will fight them.
Thank you so much for your help!!!
Thank you so much for your help!!!
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