Front height sensor

ovysimac

ovysimac

Registered
Hello All:

While my mechanic was fixing a flat on my front right, I tried to tighten the lower height sensor nut and I broke the bolt. The whole bolt is made of plastic (if i knew!!). While I'll attempt this weekend a quick fix by drilling/tapping through the axis of what is left of the lower plastic bolt and using a metal screw to hold the sensor in place for a while, I am asking if you know a place where I can order a new front height sensor. The stealership charges $250 in Vegas just for the part and $260 for installing it.
Also any advice on replacing the height sensor?

I appreciate your help and advice on this. For some reason doing a search on this forum and on the Mark VIII message board did not yield any useful results.

Thanks,
Ovy
93 Mk 8, 90K
 
Thanks for the tip and the fast reply. I bought the part using your URL and I hope that it comes with the two mounting ball screws (of which I broke one).
 
They way I read it you broke the lower ball stud bolt. Not the sensor. Dont buy that sensor, it does not come with bolts.

Go to you local Ford dealer and order one. They are cheap. Also, the stock ones are not plastic, they must have been replaced.
 
Front height sensor

I called a couple of dealerships here in Vegas and they told me that their computer doesn't show the ball stud as an available part. So, I ordered the whole sensor, hoping that it comes with the mounting ball studs. For $40 I can't go too wrong, plus I'll have a sensor as a spare.
Do you know where I can get this ball stud? I was trying Grainger to find something that'll fit, but to no avail.
I hate to make one out of a regular bolt - no matter how well I can grind the head, it won't be perfectly round.
All suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.
 
One more thing...join our organization and you'll get discounts from our site sponsers. Five Star Ford is in AZ and Max gives us discounts on parts. See here: http://www.fivestarford.com

Max Zimmerman is great to work with. You can call him and he'll help you with finding the right parts!
 
Well, you need to find a REAL Ford dealer then. I've picked up more than a few from the dealers. Find a dealer that knows what they are taking about. The sensor will NOT come with them. If I had a part number, I would give it to you but I dont. If you really have a hard time finding one, let me know and I will get you the info!
 
Serious.....this Ford dealer(or the parts advisor) that you're going to/calling are full of dookie. Here is the tech service bulletin for our cars INCLUDING the parts numbers you need. Just get the ball stud repair kit. Same setup for the 93's, and the ball stud should work for the lower bracket too.....if you didn't mess it up too much drilling it out and stuff.

Front Suspension - Height Sensor Upper Mount Tips
Notes

Article No.
97-5-4

03/03/97

SUSPENSION - FRONT - HEIGHT SENSOR UPPER
MOUNT - SERVICE TIP

LINCOLN-MERCURY:
1993-97 MARK VIII

This TSB article is being republished in its entirety to include 1997 model year vehicles.

ISSUE:
If the front suspension height sensor upper mount requires replacement, it can be serviced by replacing the height sensor ball stud instead of replacing the entire upper control arm.

ACTION:
Replace the height sensor upper mount ball stud. Refer to the following Service Procedure for details.

SERVICE PROCEDURE

1. Turn off air suspension system. The switch is located in the trunk on the LH side.

2. Raise vehicle on hoist and remove front wheel/tire assembly where suspect height sensor mount is located.

3. Remove ride height sensor.

4. Remove broken height sensor ball stud from upper control arm. This may require use of a grinder/cutting wheel.

5. Using pliers, straighten the height sensor mounting bracket on the upper control arm.

6. Install service Ball Stud (E8OY-5C561-A) into the height sensor mounting bracket on the upper control arm. Tighten the nut on the service ball stud to 13.6 N.m (10 lb-ft).

7. Reinstall ride height sensor or replace Ride Height Sensor (F3LY-5359-C) as required.

8. Reinstall wheel/tire assembly. Torque wheel lug nuts to 115-142 N.m (85-105 lb-ft).

9. Lower vehicle.

10. Turn on air suspension system.


PART NUMBER PART NAME

E80Y-5C561-A Height Sensor Ball Stud
F3LY-5359-C Height Sensor

OTHER APPLICABLE ARTICLES: NONE

SUPERSEDES: 95-23-2

WARRANTY STATUS: Eligible Under The Provisions Of Bumper To Bumper Warranty Coverage

OPERATION DESCRIPTION TIME

970504A Replace One Mount Ball 0.4 Hr.
Stud
970504B Replace Both Mount Ball 0.6 Hr.
Studs

DEALER CODING
CONDITION
BASIC PART NO. CODE
5C561 58

OASIS CODES: 303000, 304000, 305000, 390000
 
Last edited:
Max at Fivestar Ford {address posted above) is VERY FAMILIAR with those parts..

He found some for Tiffany, and didn't give her any grief about finding them
MAX IS THE MAN!!!!
 
Thank you, all. I appreciate the wealth of info you posted here in no time. Vegas is a magnet for cerebrally diluted service advisors/parts dudes/mechanics/etc. It is not a good place to own a (fairly) rare car like a Mk8. None of the junk yards on a 75 mile radius has a Mk 8. Fortunately, LA is close and I get to go there pretty often.

I special ordered the said ball stud and hopefully it will be here in 1-2 days. Thanks again.
 
Sweet...congrats! With our collective intelligence, we'll be smarter than any mechanics you know :D
 
For what it's worth.

Those ball studs are made of cheap pot metal {not plastic}

BUT.. when you tighten them.. dont overdo it.
They just need to be "snug" enough as not to move, you dont have to put 20FT LBs of torque on them.

I'd "guestimate" 2-3 ft lbs, or.. just barely tighten them past snug BARELY.
They aren't Load bearing so no need to KILL EM.

in the future if you have to remove one... spray it liberally with WD40 the day before.. give it some time to soak into the threads.. then spray it AGAIN just before you try to loosen it.. that should clean the Dirt and CRUD off the threads and hopefully you wont break it.

Took me along time to figure out that they just need some TLC and a very "light touch"..

hope it helps
 
PB Blaster is 100X better than WD40 for loosening frozen nuts/bolts. WD40 isn't really a lubricant altho lots of people use it as such. Originally made as a water displacement.
 
Indeed, the nut on the ball stud was barely snug, and I had the feeling that it moved up a bit (that corner of the car was 1/2" lower than the other side, and it affected driveability - the car would pull to that side, even with the correct alignment).
My mistake was not using a short 11mm open end wrench to tighten it; I used a regular ratchet wrench with an 11 mm socket and even though I held my hand over the socket when I tighten it, the torque was too much - the manual recommends only 1.4 lb-ft of torque for this.
Thanks again.
 
ovysimac said:
- the manual recommends only 1.4 lb-ft of torque for this.
Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Great update thanks!

my guestimate of torque was about 200% too much.

so I'm glad you followed up and left the correct torque for any future folks that run across this thread using the search function
 
budpytko said:
Sounds like about 12-14 in.lbs torque
Click to expand...

yea something like that...

I was trying to stay away from the "inch lbs" part because people often dont pay attention to the "INCH" part or dont realize there is a FTLBS vs INLBS

put 12-14 ftlbs on one of them thar bolts and you're gonna skin a knucklertwo

haha
 
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