smurfs_of_war

To make a long story short- my 3rd brake light has leaked for over two years. It has been brought to the attention of the dealership several (at least 5 according to my work orders) times- each time I got the following:
1. It's condensation- it's common on these trucks and nothing to fix.
2. It's because you smoke (admittedly that was the case) and it mixes with the condensation and creates that stain in the area around the brake light. It's common in these trucks.
3. The satellite antenna was the issue- we resealed it. It's common in these trucks.
4. They put a new seal (exact same one that came out) in and said it was fixed, charged me time to clean the headliner (which they didn't) and sent me on my way with a brake light that still leaked.

I'm not stupid- I took the excuses with a grain of salt and figured eventually (even by ACCIDENT) they had to figure it out. They didn't. Took it in for a checkup just before rolling 60,000KM and they said all was A-OK, even after I pointed out the headliner again.
As of now, I have mold growing in my headliner. Big, ugly, black stain mold. About 3 months ago, I got sick of pissing around with them and sealed the brake light myself and it's fixed, but the headliner is still trash now. They are refusing to help out because I am now at 60,344KM. I am not begging for a handout- I know I am out of warranty technically- but I have brought this to them MULTIPLE times for the same thing. Is it my fault they couldn't figure out a simple seal in over two years? TSB states they replace the whole brake light assembly with a new one and a new seal twice as thick. I even PRINTED IT FOR THEM!

So, my question is- what would you do? Fight it or eat it?

I miss my old service manager. He didn't eat glue

kydsid

Fight with ford cs like I did or take it to an auto upholstery place to have it cleaned.

wantsa58

Mine leaked super bad once and left my headliner stained. I picked up a recon 3rd break light, it has a HUGE gasket, applied some RTV silicon sealer and it hasn't leaked since. Very happy with my results. Maybe try that route? Ford dealers for the most part seem useless for issues like this in my experience.

User-One

Depending on the damage done to the truck and the cost of replacing the headliner it may just be worth it to do it out of your pocket.

Depending on the damage cost it may be better to fight it. When dealing with these situations most people on here say to talk to the manager of the dealership or go higher and send a formal complaint.

I would just make a scene and force the service manger to replace it. I've learned real quick that **** bags like this don't comprehend politeness and respect they need to be embarrassed in front of a crowd and yelled at their face to move their ***.

smurfs_of_war

Damage is pretty deep. I had a guy with a moisture probe check- its leeched in pretty far. Without removing the headliner I cant say for sure how much more mold is in there, but I do know in my experience with mold, what you see isn't an indication of what is there.

I'll take it in and get it professionally cleaned and see what they find. I will guage my next move after I've got that info.

smurfs_of_war

I actually red-necked it with a strip of butyl. Cheap, quick and dirty, but it got the job done in a pinch

BMWBig6

That sucks! Is the thicker gasket mentioned in the TSB available separately (what's the part number)? Or do you have to order it together with a whole 3rd brake light assembly? (Or is the TSB repair kit not even available to order except directly from Ford?)

smurfs_of_war

No separate part number was mentioned in the TSB for the gasket. The showed me the new one compared to an old take off. They had several in stock because (according to the parts guy) its really common. $130 bucks for the new assembly.

Rok

Call Ford customer care. If you told them about it and they never did the TSB while under warranty thats BS. I had the issue and they fixed it and cleaned up the headliner all nice and new like. I recently had it leak again and being out of warranty sealed it up with clear silicone and cleaned up the headliner and no leaks and we have been getting some heavy rain in the tampa area. I just find it odd that you didnt call customer care or try a new dealer sooner if this has been going on for two years

smurfs_of_war

I didnt try a new dealer because we dont actually have one in the vacinity. More specifically within about 100 miles. The only other dealership in the area (70 miles away) is the same owners, there is one in Moose Jaw, but they're not interested because I didnt buy there. Small town mentality.

The reason I didn't contact customer care is twofold. I'm a little absent minded at times. Quite frankly- my brain is like an etch-a-sketch. The second is because of the small town cycle. I do work for every car dealership around here. Big portion or my income. A fight was the last thing I wanted.

It's going in Tuesday to get taken apart and cleaned. We'll see what the damage is after that and whether it's going to be worth the fight. The whole problem boils down to the knowledge ofnthe new service manager. It isn't there- and all of the service writers have been changed about 4 times in the last couple of years. Pisses me off a bit- but I am not trying to shift any blame. I should have been more bull headed about it so it's definitely part my fault.