Heater Coil
 

In July 2011, Prime Ford in Saco, ME. replaced the Heater Coil and Blend Door Actuator in my 2002 F150. A year and a half and 14,000 miles later I have to do it again. Is it common for a Heater Coil to go bad in that amount of time. The truck had 116,000 miles on it when I did it the first time. This $1,100.00 thing a year and a half later is not making me a real advocate of a Ford Dealer's repair service. I go to a Dealer because I prefer genuine Ford replacement parts and not after market. Has anyone taken action against a Ford Dealer's faulty repair and won?

Do you mean a heater core? What symtoms are you having that point to that specific repair? Did you approach the dealership about this issue? If so what was their response?

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I did mean Heater Core. I am getting a strong coolant smell and the windows fog up with the heater or A/C on. I haven't approached the Dealer yet, as I have been down this road regarding a rear axel and bearing with them already.

Dealerships do sometimes use aftermarket parts. I'm sure they have some kind of warranty on repairs, but its probably only 30-90 days. I'd just call them and ask what their policy is.

Yeah...sounds like repair related. That's too bad...they should do something for you ...even if not 100%...something. I have had a business for 30 years and a lot of my stuff has a 1 year warranty. I had a call last week where the job was only 18 months old and it was giving him some trouble. Stuff like that I just take care of and eat it.....as long as no customer mis-use is evident.

Approach them as calmly and level headed as you can, and explain your disappointment in the repair. No one wants to rip that dash back out, but try to work with them....Best of Luck....let us know.

Thanks bashby and Spotty. Because I live in Ocala, FL. the truck is being fixed by Ford of Ocala. The original repair was done by Prime Ford in Saco, ME. but I wouldn't be able to drive it that far even if the offered to fix it. If any Ford owners live in that area, I would steer clear of Prime Ford. This is the second thing they repaired that I had to have done again in Florida.

I will tell you that is very easy to damage the New Heater Core when putting the Housing back togethor.

If you are not carefull, the Housing will catch the bottom left of the heater core, where the fins are, and create some damage, this damage will typically not show up for a couple months or even a year.

I know this because I went through 4 of them, fortunatly for me the Autoparts warrented the Heater Core.

There is a Great post somewhere on in the forums with pictures on how to do this your self. Sorry It was several years ago when I found the post.

Thanks kspeck - The ford Dealer that replaced it, said it had been improperly installed by Prime Ford. What you described is probably what happened.