Ford can't fix my truck...What should I do???

[roddiaz1]

I took my Lightning in January to the dealers for the annual inspection. At the time, I told them that I didn't think the A/C was working. When I picked up the Truck, they said everything was fine (probably because it had been 20 degrees out those days). A few months later we had a heat wave that gave us temps in the high 80s in March. My theory was confirmed that the A/C was toast. Took it in, again, and this time they confirmed that it was low on gas (R-134??), so they topped it off and all was good they told me. When I picked it up it was in fact blowing cold air, but the A/C was making a loud buzzing noise (that could be heard from across the street) when the A/C was on. Back to the dealers to complain about the noise. The service manager came out to hear it and said "It was perfectly normal, that all new Lightnings made that noise. And, that his mother-in-law's Mach-E made a similar noise". He even offer to fire up a new floor model to prove it to me. (I wish I had taken him on the offer, because I'm sure it would not have made that loud of a noise). I drove away unhappy and unconvinced, but at least I had A/C blowing cold air.

Ten days later, the noise continued but the A/C was no longer blowing cold. I took it back to the dealer for a third time. This time they kept it a few days and informed me that a part was damaged and needed to be replaced, but that Ford did not have the part in stock and was back ordered. The part is: A/C Refrigerant Liquid Hose (NL3Z-18B402-C). They said they would order the part and when it arrived they would call me back to complete the repair. In the mean time I could drive my truck, but without A/C, of course. This was mid April.

After not getting a call for over a month I tried to locate and buy the part myself, but while it is listed on many sites (many willing to take the order and take my money) none were able to actually ship the part. For the past four weeks, I have tried ordering it from a half dozen different sites but none have been able to scare up the part. I don't think trying more parts vendors will yield much fruit. It does appears to be on a national/system-wide backorder.

My best guess is that the part was prone to failure and Ford is back at the drawing board and are redesigning and resourcing the part. But this is just a wild guess. Bottom line, It's been over two months and my truck can't get fixed because there is no information on the availability of this elusive refrigerant line.

Does anybody have an "in" with Ford? Will FOMOCO make this part available? Are they amiable of the problem?
Should I invoke my Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act rights? Would this even qualify?
Am I being unreasonable in expecting a $89k vehicle to have working A/C?

Thank you all in advanced for your input.
Frustrated

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[Jim Lewis]

My AI friend says various Lightning forums show several other posts indicating some AC parts for Lightnings are prone to long, very-hard-to-get backorders. It suggests:

• Ask the dealer for a Ford COPIS / emergency parts escalation or whatever current Ford backorder-escalation process they use.
• Ask whether NL3Z-18B402-C has a superseded part number or engineering replacement.
• Open a formal Ford Customer Care case and link it to the repair order.
• Document that the truck has been without working A/C since mid-April.
• In Pennsylvania, ask a local lemon-law or warranty attorney whether a months-long inability to repair A/C under warranty qualifies; that is state-specific, and A/C may matter more than comfort in an EV because refrigerant systems can overlap with thermal-management functions.

 

[Aminorjourney]

And *cough* Reach out to their press team.

 

[GoodSam]

could drive my truck, but without A/C

Watch the [stupid analog] battery temperature gauge for not receiving adequate cooling...this is extra wear/tear on the battery if not cooling properly, I think. Maybe get the OBD bluetooth adapter and use CarScanner to monitor? Maybe get dealer to provide a loaner to avoid battery damage since the a/c systems for the cabin and battery are related? Maybe if you have the Max Tow capability with the extra a/c that would protect the battery? @Ford Motor Company for suggestions on getting the repair? Yes, call the BEV Customer Care folks to start a case. If you get authorized to rent a vehicle, make sure it is a Ford or they will not cover properly.

 

[B177y]

Like @Jim Lewis says above, document everything, keep all of your service receipts from all the visits for this problem or have the dealer print you copies. Open a case with the BEV (battery electric vehicle) team, the contact number is all over the forum in various threads. Contact a lemon law attorney for your state or read about it on your state's lemon law website. Your profile says you have a 2023, but documented start date of your AC issue and the delivery date of your truck may or may not be in the lemon law window (the attorney can walk you through this).

 

[Henry Ford]

Since no ideas are bad in a brainstorm...

Maybe see if a local HVAC shop is willing to look at it. That part is just a bunch of lines. There is someone out there capable of fixing whatever is damaged. JB Weld might be able to get you through the summer.

 

[EricMc]

Hi there, newer to this forum but thought I would chime in. I just bought a used 2023 platinum with 24k miles on it. I noticed that my ac would blow hard and cold sometimes and then other times it wouldn't. I couldn't figure out a pattern as to why it was doing this. I took it in to the dealer I purchased it from and they said there wasn't anything wrong with the AC. Fast forward to last week and I took the truck on a 450 mile trip for work. My first almost 4 hours into the trip, everything worked perfectly fine. I stopped at my first supercharger. The truck charged as expected and I charged it to 80% and got back on the road. When I got on the interstate, I noticed my ac wasn't working again. I drove to the next supercharger after a few hours of driving and then noticed the truck would only take 8-10kw of charge. At first I thought the charger was broke so moved to a different charger. And then I saw the battery temperature was pegged. At this same time, I got the powertrain malfunction light. Long story longer.......I limped it to my destination, called my dealership who instructed me to call ford to open a case.

Currently, the truck finally made it back to my local dealership but they haven't diagnosed it yet. This situation could be completely unrelated to your situation but figured I would share. From my research on this forum, the engine coolant control valve is bad, at minimum.

Like a few have shared, I would absolutely call Ford at 1-800-392-3673. Ask to speak to the EV department and open a case. With the exception of them taking forever to transport my truck from where I was to my local dealer, they have been great to work with.

 

[jefrank]

I also had an A/C issue, but was fortunate that whatever line failed was available and I was only in a loaner for less than a week. There seems to be some sort of issue(s) with the A/C system because I'm seeing a fair number of reports here and on another Lightning forum of various failures cropping up. This discussion reminded me why I was getting the powertrain light when mine went out in early spring... I forgot it was also part of the battery cooling system.

 

[Zprime29]

Did we ever get Ford to admit if the cooling line was covered under the 8yr/100k warranty? We're in full summer here and my battery temp is half way towards the unhappy region. I'm not normally concerned about it, the truck has handled it fine for three summers now. However, more and more A/C problems are getting reported and it's got me concerned sitting over 61k miles.

 

[Maine Lightning Owner]

I had a similar issue. Here is a link to my thread: https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/loud-buzzing-noise-fix-16.37000/

My guess is your dealer is grasping at straws. You could get the new part installed and it may not fix the issue. I had my truck in several times for the buzzing noise and lack of AC. They replace 3 different pumps and sometimes said the buzzing was normal. When I pulled it into the service bay and left it running, they changed their mind. Good luck. Sometimes they are guessing because they don't really know what is wrong.

 

[mq019]

I'm not really sure what options you have right now other than calling the ford EV team.

I had a similar issue with my truck last year where the CV axle failed, and the part was back ordered., They were able to get me in a loaner, but they had the truck for 46 days before I got it back. It wasn't the dealers fault and they were great to work with - I did reach out to the ford EV team to escalate - not sure how much that helped, but they were also easy to work with.

The problem is that if there isn't a part out there, there's not really much anyone can do -we can yell and scream and they can escalate, but if the part doesn't exist in their system, they're stuck. Maybe the EV team can approve getting a custom hose made at an AC shop but I'm skeptical - if it was just cabin cooling maybe, but since it cools the battery too, I doubt they're going to let anyone else touch it for a warranty repair.

I'm sure there's a lot you could do to make the dealers life miserable if you really want to, and after the way they treated you it may make you feel better, but wont make them want to help you out. My dealer was great and I made sure that the Ford EV team knew that, and didn't throw them under the bus. Maybe it wont matter the next time I need service......or maybe it will.

My strategy was to ride it out in the loaner (which sucked - a base model f150), and check in a couple of times each week. By the 3rd week, I had the service advisor calling me every 3-4 days (without me asking - he just knew that if he didnt call, I was going to) to give me an update and the ford EV rep calling once a week. It was definitely frustrating, and was hard sometimes not to take that frustration out on the folks that were trying to help.

Good luck - hopefully they get you fixed up soon!

 

[MountainAlive]

Also sort of grasping at straws here but the loud buzzing sound could be the huge fan at the bottom below the frunk area having issues. I would assume the dealer would see error codes related to that but you never know. All this discussion about huge backlogs in parts definitely has me nervous for long term intentions with my truck.

 

[mq019]

Also sort of grasping at straws here but the loud buzzing sound could be the huge fan at the bottom below the frunk area having issues. I would assume the dealer would see error codes related to that but you never know. All this discussion about huge backlogs in parts definitely has me nervous for long term intentions with my truck.

I thought the same, but honestly, once its out of warranty it gets easier - there are lots of aftermarket or non OEM parts for these trucks, and a fair number of gasser f150 parts are interchangeable. With my trucks issue, non OEM CV axles are available, but ford wont use them for a warranty repair. In the OP's case, an AC shop could almost certainly make a custom hose, but again, Ford wont do that for warranty work. Once the warranty is out, repairs should actually be easier I suspect.

 

[Newton]

... Or an AC shop could just fix the assembly if anybody still knows how to braze fittings.

 

[Wendy]

Should just shout out to all our Canadian friends and those in Norway. They may send you their AC units that you could use.

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