So I have always been a die hard GM guy....In the last few years, I had some Ford company cars, etc., and grew a liking to Ford products which is why I bought my first Super Duty, the 2017. I had some minor issues, so I brought it in for service. One of my issues was the adaptive cruise having glitches and shutting down until the next restart of the truck. I get a call the other day that the truck is ready, and today I go to the dealer to pick it up. They hand me a bill for $200. I'm like, "what's this??...no no, this must be a mistake....the truck is under warranty, AND I have the premium care warranty on top of the factory warranty." So they tell me that because I had a small 2" fire dept plate mounted to the top of my license plate, it screwed up the sensor for the adaptive cruise and it is not covered under warranty because it was an "added accessory". First off it's not even in front of the sensor, and 2. what happens when I plow and there is a huge piece of steel in front of the sensor?? Their response....."I don't know."

So I call Ford customer service. Their response was the same!!! Now, I don't care about the stupid FD plate, but when I plow, I do get warnings that the sensor is blocked....I asked if next time the dealer tells me the problem is b/c of the plow, I will have to pay this again? Ford says YES! I say, "How does Ford say it's ok to plow with the truck if you KNOW it will cause damage to the sensors?" Cust service response was, "I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is."

Gotta say, I'm not too happy about this! I like the gadgets, and I even purchased an extended warranty to cover them. If they're still going to find ways to stick it to me, then F-- them!!! This truck will be gone very soon! I like the luxury, but it needs to work too!!

 

I understand your frustration if the dealer you brought the truck to is the dealer that sold you the truck I could see them possibly eating this first troubleshooting for the obstruction that in fact you did install
if it's a different dealer that you did not buy the truck through by all means you should have to pay it is not their problem and not fords problem that you blocked the sensor as far as the plow goes I'm pretty sure you're well aware that there is no way the sensors will work when there is a big plate of steel blocking in front of them and I would not expect them to

 

Blocking the sensor won't damage it. It will only prevent it from functioning until the next time it's not blocked. As you mention about your plow, it is meant to be temporarily blocked from time to time. I have a plow too and get the same message when plowing. To say that the sensor is permanently damaged from being temporarily blocked is nonsense. The system is designed to be blocked and to reset when it's no longer blocked. It would appear you've dealt with not only one, but two extremely incompetent people about this issue. For that $200 fee, did they say they replaced a sensor or was it just for their incorrect diagnosis?

 

I seriously doubt that the sensor was damaged nor placing any hardware in front of it will cause damage. Find a different dealer next time. IMO you shouldn't have been billed.

 

I would be looking for a regional manager and having a discussion with them. Unless the sensor was replaced or damaged why could they not determine it was blocked without a "major service".

 

I agree with this. I think other dealers would have taken care of the issue as warranty. I know there are dealers in my area where this could happen.

 

They said the blocked sensor causing computer malfunctions in the truck. They said they had to re-program the computer and said any obstruction to the sensor can cause this in the future. Yes, I know the sensor won't work when the plow is on, but my beef is that they are telling me a blocked sensor can cause system malfunctions after the plow or obstruction is removed. Honestly, I don't even care about the money. It's the fact that they're telling me I have to live with what could be an ongoing issue. I'm going to try other avenues with Ford today.

 

Can you turn it off when plowing?

 

Um, not buying that for a second. Tons of guys run plows, including myself, and never have an issue. If plowing could cause a permanent issue in the trucks computer by blocking the sensor, there would be a warning in the owner's manual to turn the system off when plowing.

 

So I was reading over the service order from the tech and it says code C1A67 was stored. I googled the code and found that Ford Taurus and Lincoln's have a service bulletin for this code. What happens is if the adaptive cruise doesn't sense any movement in front of the sensor for a long period of time, it tries to re-calibrate itself. If it still senses nothing, it thinks the sensor is broken and shuts itself down. Ford service bulletin just says to do manual recalibration which is what the dealer did for me. So, I guess I can expect this every time I plow for an extended period of time?? Total BS!!

 

Thanks for the clarification
I have had the system stop work at least 4 times now and it's usually snow related when i get back home and the truck goes in the heated garage for the night the next day i fixes it's self.
Sounds like the dealer didn't know what to do so they checked for updates and did those and charged you for them then came up with that crazy story

 

OM page 240 says to not use adaptive cruise control with a snow blade installed.

Just sayin'...
Jim / crewzer

 

Haven't guys found the system to still work with the big bumpers though? I can understand not using it when you have a plow, and doing so causing confusion and a computer malfunction, but the OP is not describing that, rather just a little LP flare.

As for warranty, I would have to agree with the above poster on the question of where you bought it vs where you're servicing it. If my customer called me about such an issue I'd take care of them. If you're just a guy off the street who felt it necessary to save a few bucks and go elsewhere, guess what, you're paying. Why in the world should a dealer have to eat cost as a courtesy if you're not their customer on the big things?

 

The little Fire Department plates will not affect the sensor. They usually sit on top of the license plate. Without seeing your exact setup, I think the dealer is giving you a pile of manure in order to charge you for this service.

A snow plow obviously will affect the sensor, and nobody should be using ACC when plowing anyway. But nothing is harmed by blocking the sensor.

No dealer in the world should have charged you for that. Especially if they claim it was the FD tag, how about a little courtesy? Fix whatever the small problem was, inform the customer of any issues with the tag (or snowplow)...and tell them you took care of it this time but next time it will be on them.

No problem...then everyone leaves happy.

 

Having a hard time finding this policy on Ford Corporate or Ford Warranty or Ford Extended Warranty or Ford Facebook or Ford Twitter. Is this policy dealership specific that you only service what you sell?