Exploring trip that was great until it wasn't

[Zaptor]

Looks like the exact same thing that happened to me. As I said in the thread, my dealership said it's possible that the pack would need replaced, but I was fortunate and it didn't. This guy apparently wasn't as fortunate. I went out and took a quick (bad and out of focus) pic of my skid plate where that gap is and you can see where much of the paint has been worn off by debris and can also see both the HV and coolant connectors in the gap.

Wow, thanks for the shot... so have you (or others) figured out a skidplate or other solution for this? Wonder if Ford is aware of this Achilles heel...
Thanks again for posting this
-Zap

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[hturnerfamily]

your original post/annoyance about insurance is exactly what insurance is for: accidents

accidents don't happen just because of a design flaw, which is subjective, but are due to unforeseen circumstances, such as yours, where an otherwise innocent 'stick' got thrown up just right impacts your vehicle. I had this happen, myself, just the other day. A stick made an impact and a HUGE noise underneath the truck, but, apparently, the battery cover took care of it, if that's what it actually impacted.
For you, though, even if it had hit your body panel and dented it, it would be an accident. If it had been thrown up into an engine's serpentine belt drive and disabled a gas vehicle, it would still be an accident. There is no 'fool proof' vehicle that can protect everything that 'might' happen.

we take chances when we go 'off pavement' with any vehicle... in the end, regardless of 'how' it happened, 'where' it happened', or 'why' it happened, it's still an accident. That's what insurance is for, or, otherwise, good judgement. Don't drive over sticks.

Now, as to whether some dealer or tech is correct in their original or initial 'assumptions' about the coolant line now being contaminated can be debated. I would not assume so, but assuming only goes so far. Likely you only need to refill the coolant, after repairing the line.

 

[jmb01]

your original post/annoyance about insurance is exactly what insurance is for: accidents

accidents don't happen just because of a design flaw, which is subjective, but are due to unforeseen circumstances, such as yours, where an otherwise innocent 'stick' got thrown up just right impacts your vehicle. I had this happen, myself, just the other day. A stick made an impact and a HUGE noise underneath the truck, but, apparently, the battery cover took care of it, if that's what it actually impacted.
For you, though, even if it had hit your body panel and dented it, it would be an accident. If it had been thrown up into an engine's serpentine belt drive and disabled a gas vehicle, it would still be an accident. There is no 'fool proof' vehicle that can protect everything that 'might' happen.

we take chances when we go 'off pavement' with any vehicle... in the end, regardless of 'how' it happened, 'where' it happened', or 'why' it happened, it's still an accident. That's what insurance is for, or, otherwise, good judgement. Don't drive over sticks.

Now, as to whether some dealer or tech is correct in their original or initial 'assumptions' about the coolant line now being contaminated can be debated. I would not assume so, but assuming only goes so far. Likely you only need to refill the coolant, after repairing the line.

Having this protected doesn't seem unreasonable to me. It's a pickup and will be used other places. Would your mind change if this happened 10 more times? 100? Recalls don't happen without awareness. Where is the line in the sand between accidents and flaw that can be avoided/fixed/prevented for others? It's fine if it doesn't bother you, but I think I'd like to know about this if I were in the market and live on a dirt road.

 

[jmb01]

Wow, thanks for the shot... so have you (or others) figured out a skidplate or other solution for this? Wonder if Ford is aware of this Achilles heel...
Thanks again for posting this
-Zap

I just bought a front skid plate from a Raptor on market place. I hope to get some time soon to work on fitting that and also figuring what I'm going to do for the gap. My initial thoughts were to tack on some expanded metal to the plate to cover the opening but still allow drainage.

 

[Zaptor]

I just bought a front skid plate from a Raptor on market place. I hope to get some time soon to work on fitting that and also figuring what I'm going to do for the gap. My initial thoughts were to tack on some expanded metal to the plate to cover the opening but still allow drainage.

Please keep me posted on your efforts, both mods interest me greatly!
There is also 'perf' metal, where it's stamped sheet rather than expanded, and that stuff is quite a bit stronger, like this; https://www.ebay.com/itm/2050712324...fOJLqfuwLc3YjYQxnQ2kqmTqLw==|tkp:BFBMmv2n6_pk just fyi. GL!
Thanks
-Zap

 

[Mikerson]

I just bought a front skid plate from a Raptor on market place. I hope to get some time soon to work on fitting that and also figuring what I'm going to do for the gap. My initial thoughts were to tack on some expanded metal to the plate to cover the opening but still allow drainage.

How did this turn out?

 

[Rayden]

Yes, interested to hear if you ever got this sorted out....

 

[jw442]

Figured I would add my truck to this thread to keep it going. I work on a lot of service roads, and my truck started throwing error messages like crazy and reducing available power. Luckily, I was only about a mile from home when it started happening. I had it towed to the dealer, and they refused to fix it under warranty. They claimed the undercarriage had a lot of scratches and scrapes and said off-road use isn’t covered (It does, some of the trails are rough but I always take it slow).


It took them a few days and $2,200, but I finally got it back. They had to drop the battery pack to get inside and replace a $20 plastic part (which attaches from inside the pack). They also told me they “don’t recommend these trucks for off-road use.”


If anyone has ideas on how to fix this obvious flaw, I’m all ears. The strange thing is that I had already been back on the freeway for about 20 miles when it started acting up. I had been working at a cell tower up a mountain earlier that day, though.

 

[RLXXI]

There's a mechanic on you tube that repairs Teslas and he has a video of this very type of damage on one of those cars battery packs where the coolant line is snapped off, was quoted by tesla more than the car was worth so they brought it to his shop, basically all he did was trim away jagged plastic, and tapped a brass fitting in where the plastic nipple use to be, then just used a regular hose clamp to reattach the coolant hose.

If it were my truck this happened to, that is exactly how I would attempt a repair to, need to put my eyes on it up close first.

 

[jw442]

It's interesting because the rear motor coolant lines have a foam piece that helps hold them in place. Most likely because that is unsprung weight and moves around more with the suspension. Something like that would have helped hold this front coolant line. (Found pic on ebay)

 

[tls]

Unfortunately they aren't. The batteries are well protected but outside of that it's just fairings.

We punctured two radiators on our first Tesla within a year of ownership (looked to be from gravel strikes) and broke the power steering box on a rock. They are certainly not invulnerably armored.

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