Water in spark plug well

[McDad]

Hello! This is my first entry. I’m not a troll or puppet. Just hoping to gain knowledge & friendly advice from fellow Ranger owners. Been a loyal Ford owner twenty plus years - 5 Explorers, 2 Edges, an F-150 & now a beautiful ‘19 Ranger, less than three years old with under 43k mi. Five weeks ago today, while running errands she developed a misfire and CEL. Being close to my local dealership, I promptly pulled in and left her. S/A called the next business day and told me of a TSB related to water in spark plug well. Diagnostic service, replacement plugs, engine cover & associated labor (none of which are covered by warranty) would be over $1k. I reluctantly agreed, logged on here and began reading similar stories from others.
While attempting to remove spark plugs, one was broken off. Now a cylinder head replacement to the tune of $6k is required. I’ve called Ford Customer Relations, been assigned case numbers asked for escalations. Supervisors tell me this repair is not warrantied. I believe Ford should be responsible for the total cost of repairs.
I visited the dealership yesterday to get an update & learned a camshaft was inadvertently snapped & that part “will be eaten by Ford.” The repair is suppose to be complete Monday. Meanwhile, I hope to hear from a CR mgr between now & then.
I’d really like to drive away a happy customer.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

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[daniel3507]

Something is wrong. I've had that exact same TSB done and it was covered under warranty. I was getting a bad misfire and CEL too. Lots of people have had this done under warranty. No way this isn't covered. They broke the cam shaft and are paying for that but they aren't paying for the cylinder head they damaged? None of this sounds reasonable. You need a new dealership ASAP.

 

[airline tech]

Read the Warranty Info - It is covered, now it states to resolve the Misfire Issue and Install Engine cover.
Well, in your case this now includes a Head, there is a special technique to get the plugs out.

I believe this Note: is being missed when the plugs are being removed, it has to do with a combination of corrosion on the threads and the expansion of the plug threads causing them to seize into the bore.

NOTICE: Do not remove the spark plugs when the engine is hot or cold soaked. Spark plug thread or cylinder head damage can occur. Make sure that the engine is warm (hand touch after cooling down) prior to spark plug removal.

I am sure with taking caution that this might happen, the plugs should come out without damage to the head and possibly soak the bores with a high-end penetrating, such as KROIL or Mouse Milk both are great products, I have used both.

Latest TSB: Linked Below

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/attachments/tsb-23-2011-pdf.197094/

 

[RedlandRanger]

That should be covered under warranty for sure. I hope Ford Customer Relations comes thru for you - the way you are being treated is not right.

 

[Grandaccess]

a big old WTF comes to mind, camshaft was inadvertently snapped?
there are becoming so many issues with these that we all have to look forward to, its getting hard to tell with a roll of the dice what issue will leave us on the side of the road....
I will have to keep my K9 with me so I dont have to walk home alone

 

[Rocketeer61]

A broken cam??? Someone isn't telling you the full story about what they've done to your truck.

 

[dtech]

CEO Farley has pledged to reduce warranty outlays, a sure indicator he is worth his $21M comp package, deny, deny and save to electrify !

I have to ask how many vehicles today are sold without engine covers, even cheaper makes I believe have them, my Hyundai does, not sure if Ladas do.

 

[MartenSawtooth]

CEO Farley has pledged to reduce warranty outlays, a sure indicator he is worth his $21M comp package, deny, deny and save to electrify !

I have to ask how many vehicles today are sold without engine covers, even cheaper makes I believe have them, my Hyundai does, not sure if Ladas do.

My '23 did not come with an engine cover.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Wow - my initial thoughts are that the service manager doesn’t have a process in place to ensure the technicians are informed of and kept up to date on TSBs, Recalls, GSBs, etc. or that there might not be any system for accountability. Because if they were well informed, they would have been aware of the coverage and the procedure that @airline tech cut and pasted from Ford.

I hope the forum members have given you some ammunition that will help you get this covered because it looks like they…

1. Didn’t know what to do
2. Didn’t know how to do it
3. Screwed up trying to do it
4. Screwed up trying to fix the first screw up?‍

Maybe the overall management of the dealership is crap and nepotism is their primary recruiting strategy — I’ve seen that before. And maybe they even tried to double-dip you and Ford Warranty. ?‍

I sure hope it all works out Kevin - let us know.

 

[McDad]

Something is wrong. I've had that exact same TSB done and it was covered under warranty. I was getting a bad misfire and CEL too. Lots of people have had this done under warranty. No way this isn't covered. They broke the cam shaft and are paying for that but they aren't paying for the cylinder head they damaged? None of this sounds reasonable. You need a new dealership ASAP.

Wow - my initial thoughts are that the service manager doesn’t have a process in place to ensure the technicians are informed of and kept up to date on TSBs, Recalls, GSBs, etc. or that there might not be any system for accountability. Because if they were well informed, they would have been aware of the coverage and the procedure that @airline tech cut and pasted from Ford.

I hope the forum members have given you some ammunition that will help you get this covered because it looks like they…

1. Didn’t know what to do
2. Didn’t know how to do it
3. Screwed up trying to do it
4. Screwed up trying to fix the first screw up?‍

Maybe the overall management of the dealership is crap and nepotism is their primary recruiting strategy — I’ve seen that before. And maybe they even tried to double-dip you and Ford Warranty. ?‍

I sure hope it all works out Kevin - let us know.

Something is wrong. I've had that exact same TSB done and it was covered under warranty. I was getting a bad misfire and CEL too. Lots of people have had this done under warranty. No way this isn't covered. They broke the cam shaft and are paying for that but they aren't paying for the cylinder head they damaged? None of this sounds reasonable. You need a new dealership ASAP.
[/QUOTE

Read the Warranty Info - It is covered, now it states to resolve the Misfire Issue and Install Engine cover.
Well, in your case this now includes a Head, there is a special technique to get the plugs out.

I believe this Note: is being missed when the plugs are being removed, it has to do with a combination of corrosion on the threads and the expansion of the plug threads causing them to seize into the bore.

NOTICE: Do not remove the spark plugs when the engine is hot or cold soaked. Spark plug thread or cylinder head damage can occur. Make sure that the engine is warm (hand touch after cooling down) prior to spark plug removal.

I am sure with taking caution that this might happen, the plugs should come out without damage to the head and possibly soak the bores with a high-end penetrating, such as KROIL or Mouse Milk both are great products, I have used both.

Latest TSB: Linked Below

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/attachments/tsb-23-2011-pdf.197094/

Thank you for sharing this information.
I’ll meet with SM & GM respectfully before accepting my vehicle.

 

[Northwet Neil]

I had the wet plug hole issue, found by a master tech friend of mine. He took the water out and directed me to Ford for the warranty repair. It was covered but I had to wait for parts as this was during supply chain snafu, a bit over a year or 2 ago. Camshaft busted is freakin weird! They should be covering the known issue.

 

[NotBudule]

They dropped the camshaft ? They can be slippery little buggers ...

 

[Dahveed]

They dropped the camshaft ? They can be slippery little buggers ...

Or didn’t follow the process for properly removing the bearing caps and put a lot of stress on the camshaft. Valve spring pressure might have snapped it.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

They dropped the camshaft ? They can be slippery little buggers ...

 

[Feruiki]

I'm sorry to hear about the issues you've been experiencing with your Ford Ranger and the frustration you've encountered with the repair process. Dealing with unexpected and costly repairs can be challenging, especially when you believe the issue may have been related to a manufacturing or design fault.

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