I actually bent up a piece of sheet metal and made a cover over the top it.

 

I had plans on doing the same until I found out I needed to replace the solenoid and it came with it...I had some step flashing ready to go....LOL

 

Hello to all, I am new to this forum. Had the same experience as FORDTRUCKMAN yesterday! We got hammered with the snow here in PA and when I tried to activate my 4 wheel drive the indicator came on but I was clearly not in 4 wheel drive. Took my 04 Lariat Screw to the dealer and was told I had two problems. The solenoid was bad and the hubs were corroded.
3 year warranty had run out about 6 months ago. I had purchased the best extended warranty they offered at the time of purchase but that company (Easy Care) won't cover it either because the said it was caused by water intrusion. So I'm screwed. Truck has 35,000 on it. Seems to be a fairly common problem after doing some research.

 

Yea I'm really surprised at how many people have had or are having issues with the same thing and Ford knew enough to make a change and put a cover on the updated solenoid but not recall the pre 06 models...

 

I just read this and I haven't looked at mine yet, but would spraying it with a bit of the thicker rust check every now and then work? How about a bit of silicone? I do have an '07 so mine probably has the cover.

 

I saw that as a potential problem and put short pieces of heat shrink tubing over the rubber where the clips engage it. The fun part with that trick is getting the lower zip tie clip undone without destroying it so you can slide the heat shrink pieces up the rubber tube. A small, flat screwdriver jammed nearly clean thru the locking side of the zip tie finally got mine free.

 

Good news, after going round and round with the dealer and Ford customer service and not getting anywhere, I printed out Ford TSB 06-8-15. The dealer called Ford customer service about the TSB and Ford finally agreed to warranty the work. Here is the link to the TSB. https://www.ford-trucks.com/tsb/full...hp?tsb=06-8-15

 

So your extended waranty covered it? I had mine replaced at the dealer by my friend who is a tech and it cost me only $16 for the updated one with the cover. But the following morning my hubs were still whinning. Monday he is going to use a vacum pump to try and get any left over moisture out. Only when it's real cold out (freezing) does it hang up, once it warms up its fine.

 

they'll replace it under warranty although i paid a $100 deposit

although i think they should design a piece that they put on right after replacing the defective solenoid so that they don't have to do it again in the future...

 

My extended warranty company (Easycare) wouldn't pay for it at all. Like I stated in my first post they said it was caused by water intrusion and that is not covered. My argument was that it was caused by a faulty solenoid! They acted like it negligence on my part. As I said in the previous post I printed the TSB and called Ford customer service
again and told them that this is a known issue. I told them and the dealer that I was very unhappy with the way this problem was being treated. I then went to the dealer to pick up my truck with a copy of the TSB. I was prepared for an argument when the service manager came out. He then told me that they were not going to charge me anything for the repair. Never did ask if it was Ford or the dealer that was covering the cost. My advice is if you have this problem, print the TSB and demand that they work with you on the cost of the repair. What have you got to lose?