I bought the Hello Grill with the two driving lights in it for my '07 F150. Hooked it all up and she looked good and was brighter then old hell. About two weeks after we installed the grill I was pulling away from the gas station when the truck started sputtering. I had the radio on and thought maybe the tires were spinning (its winter here) so I gassed her a lil bit more and off I went. I get no more then a quarter mile down the road and the truck starts shaking and no acceleration and the check engine light comes on.

I have the truck towed to the dealer under warranty and the boys take a look at it.
They said that since I changed the grill it must have done something to teh airflow or something because the entire engine compartment was CAKED in salt. The service manager then said that the salt had gotten into the sensors on the truck and made it run terrible.

Now the boys cleaned it all up and now i rinse off my truck engine from time to time at the carwash to get that salt outta there and my hella lights (the ones embedded in the grill) stop working. I was pissed off so i didint bother looking at it until a minute ago.

I pulled the relays and there all corroded and got all kinds of salt in there. So now I have to replace the relays to get my lights up and running again.

I dont see how changing the grill can change the airflow that much to that point. Mind you I have never opened the hood since I bought the truck except to load windshield washer fluid and then it was nighttime sO im' not sure if the salt was there before or after the grill change.

Just thought I'd vent.

 

Yes, anything done to the facia will drastically affect the airflow. Mine shook like that the first time I put E-85 in it. then it smoothed out, and I haven't had the problem again.

 

I think the engine gets pretty dirty even with the stock grill, be careful not to get the 4wd solenoid wet when washing the engine compartment or you might get water in the vac lines and it will freeze up and bind up your hubs...happened to me.

 

It does seem a bit odd that changing the grill out would cause that kinda issue. I understand it may change the airflow...but like you say not to that point...and the radiator is right behind it. If you said the engine was bad when you bought the truck, who knows what the previous owner did with it. What sensors needed to be replaced? Seems like major sensors would be shielded from the elements. That grill seems like it would block more airflow than the stocker.

 

Something sounds fishy here...or salty as it were. Is your radiator caked in salt as well? I'd be more suspecting of the wheel well shrouds, are they there and secure?

 

Yea and even the shroud areas on the sides of the radiator, and the one underneath

 

I too am suspicious of what the tech is trying to feed you. I would think it would block salt from getting into the engine compartment as those lights take up a lot of space in the grille. I find it odd that something that blocks the flow through would actually suck salt into the engine bay.

I was also wondering how long you had the truck before you looked under the hood? I would strongly suggest that you keep the engine bay clean in the future as it takes some time for that amount of corrosion to occur.

 

Yes, the salt is strange. I was only talking about the airflow changes along with the grill. That's why even those cold air intakes go right where the old intakes sat.

 

My buddy and I looked at it and when you close the hood it sits pretty much right on top of the rad. The service guy was saying that the air was hitting the grill, getting deflected on to the bottom of the hood near the centre and then hitting the back firewall and it was indeed caked with salt.
I just can't see how the air would get around the topo of the rad. The majority of the salt was down the centre of the engine compartment.

I did not really look at the engine of the truck before I changed grills. Does anyone else have salt/sand/dust buildup on their engines with the stock grilles?

 

You must be following people too close in highway traffic. You must go through a pile of windsheild washer fluid too.

 

I can see the new grille changing the airflow, but not all the salt. I don't have any salt build up in my engine, but I have the lariat honeycomb grille. Sounds like the tech is full of it and it's their way to blame you for any problems down the road.