My 2021's first 'gone wrong'

[Blmpkn]

Big water stains on both back corners of the headliner. Even better is I'm now 1,100 miles out of ford's bumper to bumper warranty -__-

There are a few folks on the "5g" forum who have had the same issue. One member just posted a thread this week detailing his experience with HIS leak.. lengthy stay at the dealership, they replaced his roof "rails", the antenna gasket/assembly, and his headliner. First rain storm... more water stains.

Another member apparently solved his own leak by re-sealing his 3rd brake light...



I suppose the honeymoon phase is now over, unfortunately. I think I'll be calling the dealer on Monday and see how exactly they choose to word "haha just out of warranty too... tough luck kid.. 130$ an hour if you want us to look at it"

 

[19Walt93]

If it's a dealer you do business with, they may be able to offer after warranty assistance. When I retired in 2017 we had guidelines to follow but could often help with after warranty problems. It had to be a problem that would have been covered by warranty, not a wear item like brake pads or any kind of damage. The customer had to have a business relationship with us- Ford didn't want dealers to offer warranty help to strangers as a bribe to get them as a customer. The customer and dealer each had to chip in some cash- a no charge repair after the warranty has expired is considered a "hidden warranty" by the feds and is illegal. It doesn't cost anything to ask.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

How many years is the bumper to bumper?

Way back in 08 when i bought my new colorado i had a wiring issue like 1500 miles over the limit, but within the year wise, i raised utter hell and somewhat loudly explained to them that wire dont care if it has 100 miles or 100,000 on it.

They covered labor. I paid the 8.50 for the wireing.

My point is cab sealing is unaffected by mileage and that would be my main leverage in your situation

 

[Blmpkn]

If it's a dealer you do business with, they may be able to offer after warranty assistance. When I retired in 2017 we had guidelines to follow but could often help with after warranty problems. It had to be a problem that would have been covered by warranty, not a wear item like brake pads or any kind of damage. The customer had to have a business relationship with us- Ford didn't want dealers to offer warranty help to strangers as a bribe to get them as a customer. The customer and dealer each had to chip in some cash- a no charge repair after the warranty has expired is considered a "hidden warranty" by the feds and is illegal. It doesn't cost anything to ask.

I do indeed do business with the dealer I'll be calling. I bought the truck there and have let them take care of all my servicing, and had a good hand in helping my fiance buy her Focus ST there last year. Whether or not that's enough for them to want to (technically) go above and beyond for me is the question.. I suppose we'll find out tomorrow. Thanks for the info Walt.

How many years is the bumper to bumper?

Way back in 08 when i bought my new colorado i had a wiring issue like 1500 miles over the limit, but within the year wise, i raised utter hell and somewhat loudly explained to them that wire dont care if it has 100 miles or 100,000 on it.

They covered labor. I paid the 8.50 for the wireing.

My point is cab sealing is unaffected by mileage and that would be my main leverage in your situation

3 years/36k miles, odometer reads 37,100 right now.

That's an extremely good point though rusty shit yeah... in no way has mileage caused my leak. Clearly a defect somewhere. I probably wouldn't of thought of that with my increasing levels of stress lol.

 

[gw33gp]

Some of the 2011 and earlier Rangers also had problems with leaking at the third brake light. I just took mine off and reassembled with silicone sealant. Problem solved. The gasket Ford uses for this needs some improvment.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

If it's a dealer you do business with, they may be able to offer after warranty assistance. When I retired in 2017 we had guidelines to follow but could often help with after warranty problems. It had to be a problem that would have been covered by warranty, not a wear item like brake pads or any kind of damage. The customer had to have a business relationship with us- Ford didn't want dealers to offer warranty help to strangers as a bribe to get them as a customer. The customer and dealer each had to chip in some cash- a no charge repair after the warranty has expired is considered a "hidden warranty" by the feds and is illegal. It doesn't cost anything to ask.

+1

 

[CMOS]

Even CEO Jim Farley is admitting that they have far too much warranty costs. Not sure what it will take to correct it, but my best bet is NOT manufacturing errors, but poor fitment designs.


CMOS

 

[Blmpkn]

I've hopefully fixed the issue myself.

Popped off the 3rd brake light assembly yesterday, finally, and gave it a look.

The foam seal/gasket thats stuck to the backside of the light wasn't applied "square" to the housing all the way around so it was allowing a leak in one spot..

It fits well where my thumb is.. and most of the rest of the way around.. the leak was on the other end of the edge my thumb is on.

Smeared some of this stuff all around the seal and now hoping for the best! It's supposed to rain for the next few days so we'll see what happens.

 

[19Walt93]

Did the dealer decline after warranty assistance? Fixing the leak is great but replacing the headliner won't be cheap and I've never seen stains removed so they don't show.

 

[Blmpkn]

Did the dealer decline after warranty assistance? Fixing the leak is great but replacing the headliner won't be cheap and I've never seen stains removed so they don't show.

I havnt even brought it to their attention honestly. The leaky 3rd light was the option I was hoping to find, because it's the easiest to remedy. While it would be nice not having those stains.. I just don't have it in me right now to fight that battle with them. Been going through a bunch of personal crap lately that has me stressed out and off-center.. the last thing I desire right now is to have to do that dance with them.

Even if they were "generous" enough to be willing to cover half of the expense.. I'm sure the bill would still be way above what I'm able/willing to shell out at the moment. The stains are just superficial in the grand scheme of things.. I'm just glad that now the issue will stay superficial.

I don't know if I'd exactly trust that dealer to do the work anyways... they're pretty lucky I still give them my business at all to be honest. I should probably switch to the dealer that's 5 minutes from work rather than the one 30 minutes from my house.

 

[James Morse]

I'm curious where your truck was assembled.
You found the culprit, to me it appears to be bad assembly.
If it's happening to other trucks to me that says, issue recall to take off 3rd light and inspect is it sealed (assembled) properly.
Recall should apply to out-of-warranty trucks, right?
At the very least they should be pointing this out to the assembly/qc guys.
So far no leaks in the '99 or the '97, 24 and 26 years out. Both from Edison NJ fwiw. Just saying.
Not totally related, but reminds me of stuck-open sunroof on a Saab and it started pouring rain, but they had a way you could turn the actuating cable by hand and close it pending fix, which I don't recall now what it was, probably the motor.
Glad you fixed it, now to clean headliner, I dunno, maybe carpet cleaner and gently wet-vac it out? Or replace headliner, which sounds not fun.Recovering Your Ford Ranger Headliner - The Ranger Station
Bad timing on the warranty... you have a relationship with dealer, maybe you could make the case that the issue obviously existed in-warranty and only now evidenced itself? Perhaps a weak case, but you could point out, you fixed the source of the problem, maybe they'll help on the headliner.
Various foams and cleaners... don't know how well they'd work, maybe those spot removers that dry then you brush them off.

 

[Josh B]

I do indeed do business with the dealer I'll be calling. I bought the truck there and have let them take care of all my servicing, and had a good hand in helping my fiance buy her Focus ST there last year. Whether or not that's enough for them to want to (technically) go above and beyond for me is the question.. I suppose we'll find out tomorrow. Thanks for the info Walt.




3 years/36k miles, odometer reads 37,100 right now.

That's an extremely good point though rusty shit yeah... in no way has mileage caused my leak. Clearly a defect somewhere. I probably wouldn't of thought of that with my increasing levels of stress lol.

So your warranty is at about 101.2% expired, speaking of things that will expire as soon as the warranty does, that is fairly blatant, especially for something other than moving parts that are also critical

 

[19Walt93]

I'm curious where your truck was assembled.
You found the culprit, to me it appears to be bad assembly.
If it's happening to other trucks to me that says, issue recall to take off 3rd light and inspect is it sealed (assembled) properly.
Recall should apply to out-of-warranty trucks, right?
At the very least they should be pointing this out to the assembly/qc guys.
So far no leaks in the '99 or the '97, 24 and 26 years out. Both from Edison NJ fwiw. Just saying.
Not totally related, but reminds me of stuck-open sunroof on a Saab and it started pouring rain, but they had a way you could turn the actuating cable by hand and close it pending fix, which I don't recall now what it was, probably the motor.
Glad you fixed it, now to clean headliner, I dunno, maybe carpet cleaner and gently wet-vac it out? Or replace headliner, which sounds not fun.Recovering Your Ford Ranger Headliner - The Ranger Station
Bad timing on the warranty... you have a relationship with dealer, maybe you could make the case that the issue obviously existed in-warranty and only now evidenced itself? Perhaps a weak case, but you could point out, you fixed the source of the problem, maybe they'll help on the headliner.
Various foams and cleaners... don't know how well they'd work, maybe those spot removers that dry then you brush them off.

No one will initiate a recall for a water leak, recalls are for safety and emissions concerns. Actual recalls never expire. If Ford sees a recurring problem, they'll often have a customer notification program for set time or mileage limits. Some programs call for just replacing the suspect part, others will pay to replace the part if it fails.