'07 ST Problems

[Bret Langos]

Hi...new member here although I have been checking this site out since buying my Sport Trac last March. I bought it used with 21,000 miles and it now has 39,000. Love the truck, but are others having the problems I seem to be having? Third brake light leaking...I am on the 4th replacement light and finally sealed it myself with some butyl tape we have at work so I can get the light back out if needed. So far this stopped the water!



Then, I started losing coolant from the radiator. Founnd out this is a known problem and Ford will not fix it. I noticed a visible leak at 37,000 miles...1000 miles and about 1 month past the warranty. Dealer would not help, so I bought a radiator and installed it myself. Not too bad of a project to do.



Now, last week, I crawl under the truck to do the oil change and see that the transmission is leaking fluid. Crap!! At least the transmission is still under the "Powertrain Warranty" so it goes into the dealer this week.



I have always been a Ford guy, but I worry about what will break next. Is this normal? I have never had any problems with the Lexus my wife drives and it has almost 100K miles on it.

 

[Steve Krusich]

I have 75K on my 07. I have had the leaking 3rd brake light issue but none of the others you mention. How many miles is on your 07?



However, all the kings horses and all the TSB's and I still have the trans downshift bump.



Steve

 

[Bret Langos]

I've got a little over 39,000 miles on it now. I bought it used from a Ford dealer and it was a one owner, clean title. They would not cover the radiator because it is not considered as part of the 5 year / 60,000 mile powertrain warranty. What makes me mad is that I was having to add coolant to it before the 3 year / 36,000 warranty ran out. It did not have a visible leak at the time. Ford wanted $583 for the radiator alone. Installed it was over $900. I bought a aftermarket radiator with a lifetime warranty for $199 and spent about 4 hours on a Saturday to install.



I always liked the Sport Trac and really liked the Gen 2 styling. Maybe the '07's are prone to issues and that is why there are so many '07's for sale and very few of later years, at least in my area. I guess I will keep it until the powertrain warranty is up.

 

[Gavin Allan]

They would not cover the radiator because it is not considered as part of the 5 year / 60,000 mile powertrain warranty.

That is crazy. Let's see how long the powertrain works without the radiator. Its not like the radiator is some decorative foo-foo piece.

 

[gary s]

"However, all the kings horses and all the TSB's and I still have the trans downshift bump."



my biggest complaint about my 07. :fire:

 

[Robert Caffyn]

I may be the exception rather than the rule. I've not experienced these problems(yet). The SCT XCalIII solved any transmission issues. Bob

 

[Doug Roland]

I can only guess that the water dripping from the plastic headliner trim in the back of the cab is coming from my third brake like. Noticed this two days ago.

The radiator leaks only off and on, but noticed yesterday it is leaking quite a bit.

Tranny leaked last year, had it repaired. Occasional hard shift into reverse, has been doing that forever. ( by "ocassional" I mean like, 2 out of three times I shift to reverse) and still doing it. Front axel at the right tire has a leak, shop guys said to have it repared soon.

I'm trading it in, so I'll let the dealer, deal with it all.



BTW, one salesman tells me he had a gal come in looking for an ST just 2 hours before I walked in. Said a week ago someone came in looking for a new one. And commented they don't make them any more. The response he got was like ..."WHY NOT?"



Bret, I hope you can get it all worked out.

 

[dan a]

I have an 07 v6 w\50.000+ i hav'nt had any of those'

problems. knck on wood.

 

[Gavin Allan]

I got the third brake light on my '07 replaced free under warranty.

 

[Bill Koonce]

That is crazy. Let's see how long the powertrain works without the radiator. Its not like the radiator is some decorative foo-foo piece.

Ah...actually...one of the features of the '07 ST (at least the V-8) is that it can run indefinitely without coolant. It's a "limp home" feature; the motor shuts down to cool off as necessary, but it will actually run without coolant.



That's too bad about the radiator. But let's not forget that buying a used car from a dealership is just as risky as buying one from a used car lot. They use the same tricks. Think positive. You didn't get your radiator replaced for free, but you did get the opportunity to improve your ST with a better aftermarket part.

:driving:

 

[Bret Langos]

I did not know about the "limp home" mode. I would be nervous to drive anything without coolant, but if your stuck in the middle of BFE, its good to know.



I know buying used can be risky. My days of having to have a brand new car are over. Late model, low mile, local cars with no previous issues are a much better financial way to go. I bought the wife a Lexus RX350, 1 year old with 18K miles that cost way less than new. Other than tires and 1 set of front pads, it has needed nothing. i don't buy used cars that were obtained from auctions. Who knows where the car came from or what happened to it. My ST was one owner from the local area. It only had 21K miles and was 3 years old when i bought it. I think he just didnt keep it long enough for these issues to crop up.



I did drop the ST off at the local Ford dealer to have the transmission leak fixed. They claim it was the oil pan gasket leaking and the trans was fine. I seriously doubt their diagnosis...i know the difference between engine oil and red trans fluid. Anyway, i'll pick it up tonite and keep an eye on it.

 

[Jimmy Lavoie]

My 07 has experienced the same issues:



1. Tranny bump.. TSB have made it better but it still rears it's ugly head once in a while - very rare tho.



2. 3rd Brake Light - leaked once, removed it and fixed it as recommended by this site



3. Coolant leak. Had that problem last year - couldn't find a leak anywhere so I changed the fluid and added a can of stop leak. It worked - no more problems.



4. I've had both back turn signal bulbs burn out - replaced both and all's fine now. Never had a vehicle that had both bulbs burn out... hmmm.



No tranny leaks!



All in all, I still LOVE my ST!!!!