put my 2019 f-450 with 7500 miles in the ford shop today for a "service charging system" message followed by a battery light.

what was interesting about the turn in experience was the service manager saying in every other sentence "if covered by warranty ".

found that not to be too re-assuring ........especially with fords big push to buy extended warranties

When I got home I called the service department and asked that I be provided an estimate "if not covered by warranty".

 

Just covering their butts.

 

Very common verbiage, the things people try getting warrantied are often amazing. He said they see at least one of the following a month...

Top list of stuff from my friend who has been at the same dealer for 20 years.

Broken windshields

Body dents

Broken mirrors with physical damage

Putting engine oil or engine additives in the washer tank or coolant resevoir

Putting washer fluid in the engine or radiator

Jump starting and swapping polarity

Adding DEF to the fuel

Engine sludge without proof of previous service

 

Standard procedure, I'm sure. The specific parts involved are likely covered under warranty but, if during the trouble shooting, they discover you added some after market gadget to the charging circuit, changed the factory battery, etc. they haven't committed to warranty coverage.

 

So if changing the batteries will void the warranty then I guess it’s going to be a down hill plunge.

I initially got told locally the next appt for electrical would be July. While at the Ford dealership to get that news I bought 2 new rotorcraft batteries .

then a week later an out of state dealer gave me an appt right away.

so right now the truck has new motorcraft batteries in it bought at a Ford dealership.

i guess we’ll find out over the next few days.

 

No, changing batteries does not void a warranty. The new batteries are obviously not covered under the btb warranty. Brand of battery, or brand of any replacement part for that matter, or place of service are not grounds to void warranty. That would be illegal.

A scenario that could void a warranty would be incorrect installation procedure of said batteries that caused something else to fry. Not in anyway suggesting that is the case, just an example.

 

You should be okay with replacement motorcraft batteries from the dealer. I was thinking more along the line of an aftermarket battery. Ford would not cover that under warranty. Depending on what is found wrong with your truck, you might get Ford to reimburse you, under warranty, for the motorcraft batteries you bought.

 

The brand of battery is a non issue. The important thing is that it be correct for his vehicle and installed in the proper manner.

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/article...intenance#will

If his issue turns out to be the new Motorcraft batteries, those batteries come with their own warranty. 2 years?

 

I dont think changing batteries to brand xyz would void only the warranty to replace batteries...unless Ford can proved the installation was done incorrectly or the battery(s) were not strong enough which caused other issues for some reason. A battery is a Battery IMO I plan on getting 2 new batteries soon because we all know the Ford batteries are prone to leak ( making a mess if not found soon enough ) or reek havoc on the truck electrical system from not holding a charge. Gonna get the Odyssey Extreme...heard good things about them...but 400.00 ea

Don't stress my friend, It will all work out.

 

Yeah.....people do all kinds of crazy stuff to a new vehicle still under warranty to get them voided! Go visit a Jeep Wrangler club and you’ll see first hand the aftermarket and tens of thousands of dollars those crazy cats do tot their brand new Jeep’s! Ask me how I know that one!!!

I can only assume some SD owners do the same to a degree. Me, I like the truck the way it is. I don’t have a need to “acccessorize” it like my previous vehicle. So putting that stuff on certainly can void a warranty. Something as simple as wheel spacers or even sometimes larger tires!

I would bet service managers have to go to a day long of “verbiage” class to cover the dealers and essentially Ford......LOL! Darn lawyers have ruined the world.

 

As a Ford dealership technician, my money being bet says it's one of the three circuits to the main alternator connector is open (or extremely high resistance) due to "green death". Have repaired many in '11 to '16 model year body styles, including from other shops that had just replaced alternators in them before landing on my doorstep. Have only fixed one '17 and newer body style for this concern as well. The only difference between older and newer body style being the location of the break in the circuit. In this instance, the base part number for the causal failure will be 14300 (which is the base part number for the wiring harness assembly containing the break), which should still have plenty of bumper to bumper coverage if mileage posted is correct.