Very interesting - thanks for posting this!

Yea, with all the gas turbo motors out there, this has to have come up one way or another. I had an '04 Audi A4 1.8 turbo, never had a hiccup even in a rain storm that had me hydroplaning and spinning the tires on a very slight hill at 60+mph.

The Ford patent noted in one of the other links ( CONDENSATION TRAP FOR CHARGE AIR COOLER ) was filed in Oct 2009. The published date of the drawing was April 2011. Wouldn't that design already be in the IC for the 2011 trucks if thought it worked?

Filing and receiving a patent does not mean it will EVER be implemented in a product.

That was my point - if they thought it worked it would already be on the IC's. Maybe it is and it doesn't work under some conditions. Maybe it is used on other Ford IC's and not the one on the F-150.
If you search patents for "charge air" there are numerous patents to extract or control moisture in IC's. I wonder how many, if any, are actually used.

I dont think it has so much to do with whether it works or not, so much as it has to do with whether they thought they could do with out it.

i'm sure there was a cost analysis involved, and based on the testing conditions the prototypes saw, they decided it was not required.

we know that the condensation traps work, as other manufacturers are using them. I expect that they will issue a TSB at some point for a retrofit to be installed on vehicles which develop a problem. I also expect that new models will come equipped with a trap at some point to eliminate the problem for the entire model line.

but i've been wrong a time or two, so who knows ...

From my experience with the 5.4 issues ford will not do anything until at least 3yrs, since by that time most warranty will be done, anything before that will just be a bandaid fix for those who bitch the loudest:-drink

This problem seems to be more common to people who baby their trucks trying to get optimum fuel mileage. I've been driving the wheels off mine and haven't had this or any issues in 14 months. :D If I cared about fuel mileage I wouldn't have put 34" mud terrains on it.

I guess Ford has that option. However, if they would do that, and I would be affected by the problem, this would be my first and last Ford vehicle, as that behavior would just suck. :-(

There is a fella on my route who has an earlier Mazdaspeed (protoge'). His license plate bracket is offset and his intercooler is wide open and up front. I've been trying to catch him to ask him if he's ever had any issues of any kind.

I only bring this up due to Ford and Mazda's past marriage.

My wife drives a 2003 Passat with a Turbo. There is nothing visible from the outside that it has an intercooler, not extra opening, etc.
We have bought the car new 9 years ago, and now after 93K miles, there has not been a single issue with the engine or intercooler.
But hey, I have not seen the issue with my truck either. Living in the pacific NW, one would think it has to be really bad here in the winter months with all the moisture and rain, but apparently not .... ? Maybe the temps are not high enough when it's wet, I don't know.

Now u know exactly where I am at as that is what ford did to thousands of 5.4 owners on a design flaw and would not help at all:-drink

What was the design flaw (I am new to Ford)? Would an extended warranty have helped? Did they eventually come out with a fix, just too late for you?

If so, then I am surprised you are still here, with a Ford. :)

Ford made it's blunders with the 6.8L, 5.4L and the 6.0L Powerstroke. All issues were eventually re-engineered and fixed but many customers got screwed pretty bad with having to pay for broken plugs, spitting plugs, diesel issues that should never have happened, etc, etc.

IMHO there was not one reasonable excuse for a single one of these issues and for a customer to have to come off the hip big to make the repair.

Does Ford keep a lessons learned folder? I'm not an engineer but, I rode Naval and Coast Guard ships for 24 years. At a minimum we kept very good records of things that worked and thing that did'nt, re-inventing the wheel can be painful.

Tseekins explained it real well, he is a fair and balanced guy and covered it all, I may very well not be back to ford next time I still have my 04 5.4 and have all issues fixed at considerable cost and am at 70K so am hoping for another year then will make a change.. I am also in the PNW close to u I suspect u may not have intercooler troubles like they have in hot humid climates keep fingers crossed:-drink