F-150 Lightning AC fully discharged at 40k miles – paid out of pocket, is this normal under Ford Protect?

[bydabeach]

This is really helpful.
Mine was completely empty, dealer couldn’t find a leak after vacuum + sniffer, recharged it and sent me on my way.
Interesting that yours ended up being at the compressor seal and took a second pass to find. That lines up with what they told me—that small/intermittent leaks often don’t show until the system has been running again.
Curious—did your AC performance degrade gradually, or did it just stop working all at once?

Have you (or have you considered) Ford and registering a complaint?

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[designthis]

Have you (or have you considered) Ford and registering a complaint?

I did reach out to Ford and they have a record of this.

 

[proprepper]

No leaks and no refrigerant?

Zero trust in that dealer. Sounds like a criminal establishment in my opinion.

 

[jefrank]

That was exactly my reaction.
Dealer confirmed the system had zero pressure (completely empty) and threw P0534. They did a vacuum test, sniffer, etc. and couldn’t find a leak, then recharged it and everything works now.
Their explanation was basically:
“If there is a leak, it’s too small or conditional to detect right now.”
Which I get in theory, but like you said—refrigerant doesn’t just disappear. So either there is a slow/intermittent leak that hasn’t revealed itself yet, or it lost charge under some condition they can’t replicate in the shop

They also said if it leaks down again, that’s when it usually becomes diagnosable (UV dye shows up, etc.) and then it would be a covered repair.

Curious what you end up finding out. Please let me know!

Ended up being "the A/C line"... waiting on the truck and paperwork to come back this afternoon via Service Valet. Estimated at around $2k with a replacement key fob, so I'm happy I made the $1590 ESP purchase from Granger.

 

[HaOsLsE]

Did the AC line get hit by something or did it just fail? Wondering if it was in an open area where a rock or something could have damaged it.

 

[jefrank]

Did the AC line get hit by something or did it just fail? Wondering if it was in an open area where a rock or something could have damaged it.

Since it was covered under the ESP, I'm presuming it failed. Can't imagine they wouldn't have opted to deny the claim if there was physical damage.

 

[NeighborGeek]

Ended up being "the A/C line"... waiting on the truck and paperwork to come back this afternoon via Service Valet. Estimated at around $2k with a replacement key fob, so I'm happy I made the $1590 ESP purchase from Granger.

Where does the replacement key fob come in?

Edit: Oh, you're not OP, you were responding to them. Sorry.

 

[designthis]

Quick update from my end since this thread has been helpful.

My system was completely empty at ~40k (P0534). Dealer vacuum tested and couldn’t find a leak, recharged it, and sent me on my way.

Yesterday I got a motor coolant over-temp warning on a very short drive (couple miles). It pegged red, then went back to normal after an hour-long cooldown. It was completely normal today on a 30 mile drive. I was half-expecting to need a tow.

Also got an “electrical system drain” alert last night (nothing aftermarket installed.)

AC is currently still working and was even cold during the bizarre coolant red-line.

My Lightning has been completely trouble-free for ~40k miles. Only prior issue was a 12V battery replacement at ~36,600.

Starting to feel like these systems are interconnected.

Curious if anyone else has seen that combination of symptoms?

 

[Maquis]

Quick update from my end since this thread has been helpful.

My system was completely empty at ~40k (P0534). Dealer vacuum tested and couldn’t find a leak, recharged it, and sent me on my way.

Yesterday I got a motor coolant over-temp warning on a very short drive (couple miles). It pegged red, then went back to normal after an hour-long cooldown. It was completely normal today on a 30 mile drive. I was half-expecting to need a tow.

Also got an “electrical system drain” alert last night (nothing aftermarket installed.)

AC is currently still working and was even cold during the bizarre coolant red-line.

My Lightning has been completely trouble-free for ~40k miles. Only prior issue was a 12V battery replacement at ~36,600.

Starting to feel like these systems are interconnected.

Curious if anyone else has seen that combination of symptoms?

Did you check the coolant level?

 

[designthis]

Did you check the coolant level?

I did. Normal level. I even felt the reservoir and it wasn’t warm.

 

[jefrank]

Where does the replacement key fob come in?

Edit: Oh, you're not OP, you were responding to them. Sorry.

Yeah... my wife "misplaced" a fob about a year ago. Finally realized the ESP would cover it when the A/C issue came up so had both handled in the one visit.

 

[NeighborGeek]

Wait, the extended warranty covers a lost keyfob?

 

[jefrank]

Wait, the extended warranty covers a lost keyfob?

It does if you didn't exclude the option when purchasing. Look at your contract.

 

[NeighborGeek]

I haven't bought a warranty yet, figured I'd wait until I was getting close to the end of the 3yr and decide then. Good to know that's a thing though, I would have never guessed.

 

[Heliian]

Sounds like you need a hammer and a nail to make sure a part is replaced.

This is the reason many don’t get the extended warranty. It does not provide the peace of mind it advertises.

Mine paid for itself, car parts ain't cheap these days and labour isn't either.

keep an eye on the battery temp gauge

It's more so the motor temp, as the op just posted.
I had a compressor failure in March and the motor temp rose just using PPO for an hour or 2 at 0degC ambiant temp.

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