cgaskins
Well-known member
Our long planned and extended family vacation to Colorado and South Dakota was abruptly ended this past Tuesday. We had arrived in Estes Park on Sunday afternoon and dropped the Big Country 5er at Elk Meadow RV Resort in Estes Park, Colorado. The truck had performed great alway the from Texas to Colorado. On Tuesday morning, we were driving through RMNP and the Check Engine Light (CEL) lit up. I immediately drove the truck down to Longmont, CO (closest Ford Dealer) about an hour away. The truck drove great - no issues just the CEL lit up.
The dealership - Longmont Ford - was very sympathetic and even though they were short handed due to the holiday week, they tried to squeeze me in. By the end of the day they believed it to be a bad injector in cylinder 1 and would install a new one the next day - Wednesday. Thanks to my Ford Extended Service Program - a rental care was provided at no charge. I am an active member of the Ford Truck Enthusiasts Form (http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/) and when I arrived back at the camper, I posted my saga:
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1386119-arrgghg-truck-failure-on-vacation.html
Ford Corporation monitors this forum and a few Ford employees are active participants. A lady from Ford Service named Crystal quickly jumped in and offered her help - she and I began sending PM's back and forth immediately. The net-net was she was trying to help get me back on the road ASAP. She contacted the Regional Ford CSM who also got involved contacting the dealer and offering help if needed. I received multiple phones from the CSM over the next 24 hours. That was very unexpected!!
Well on Wednesday morning they tried the new injector and the problem got worse - truck actually ran rough, etc. At this point, I figured something was very bad. At Ford Corp's request they pulled a fuel sample and it was clean - "superior" was the diesel tech's actual comment. Then they pulled the High Pressure Fuel Pump and found metal shards. This was very bad news as the entire HPFS would have to be replaced which is a 35+ hour job once the parts have arrived. The diesel tech said that Ford rarely covered HPFS damage because most of the time it due to water in the fuel or other outside contaminants - such as DEF in the tank or gasoline in the the tank. According to Ford Corp, they would have to complete a 5 point inspection to ensure this could be covered as a warranty item. It would be Thursday before the inspection would be complete.
The problem now was what to do next... Continuing the vacation without the RV was a big hiccup for us as my wife, Allison, has severe food allergies so she has to prepare all of her own food and can only eat at few select restaurants and even then it is a risk. So we decided to pack it in and fly back to Austin. I discussed our predicament with the General Manager of the Elk Meadow RV Park and he was very sympathetic and said they would gladly help me move my RV out of the spot it was in (because cause the park was 100% sold out starting Thursday for the next week) to dry storage. The GM found a nice volunteer with a diesel truck setup for 5th wheel towing to come help me on Thursday morning which was a great relief.
About noon yesterday (Thursday), the 5 point inspection was complete and all 5 inspections passed - they found no indications of outside issues causing the problem. The root cause from what the diesel tech could tell was the High Pressure Fuel Pump just imploded. Since the pump is past the two micro filters, there was nothing to stop the metal parts from getting to the common rail fuel system and then clogging the injectors. I then received a call from the Ford CSM who said that they were working on the warranty processing but it was not approved yet (won't be until Monday). However they didn't anticipate any problems based on the verbal conversations with the Longmont Ford diesel tech. She said Ford would cover up to 30 days of rental car for me at not cost. I asked if Ford would cover my travel expenses home and then back to get my truck when it was repaired and she said yes. So Ford is covering flying my family home and then flying myself back to Colorado to get the truck. They are also covering other incidentals such as the storage fee for the RV while the truck is being fixed. What a relief!!!!
So yesterday (Thursday) we had the Big Country moved to the dry storage area at Elk Meadow. We then drove to the Denver Airport and flew home. Now I am just waiting on the repairs and expect to get my truck back on Friday, July 17th. While this was not the 19 day extended vacation we wanted, it could have been a lot worse.... We could have ben stranded in the middle of nowhere in some remote area. We could have been stranded going up that steep climb to Estes Park. Luckily none of that was a worry - my family and I were always safe and never worried about any such issues. (God is good all the time!)
Throughout this process I was amazed at the support, help, and friendliness from the every single person that I dealt with on this issue:
We are disappointed that our trip ended this way. At first I was very upset that my 2011 Ford Super Duty Diesel let me down. It has been 100% trouble free for 78,000 miles. It is the best vehicle I have ever owned. However after seeing Ford behind its product and offering all of the support I got, my faith in Ford has not wavered. The diesel tech at the dealership said he ran a full diagnostic sweep on my truck and said it was in great shape. After the HPFS 5 point inspection, other than the imploded High Pressure Fuel Pump he said even the fuel system was in great shape - almost looked like new. I have faithfully used Ford's PM22-A diesel fuel additive in every single tank since the day I purchased the truck new. I am positive that contributed to the fine shape of the fuel system. I know at this point that there is nothing I could have done to prevent this - a part will fail sometimes and that is what happens.
If you are ever in the north Denver / Estes Park area and need service on your Ford - go to Longmont Ford and ask for Rich Waters. Great guy!!! If you ever need a great place to stay in Estes Park, go to Elk Meadow RV Park. Finally, if you are a Ford Truck owner, join the FTE Forums and actively participate as I am positive that is why Ford Corp got so involved in this case.
-Chris
The dealership - Longmont Ford - was very sympathetic and even though they were short handed due to the holiday week, they tried to squeeze me in. By the end of the day they believed it to be a bad injector in cylinder 1 and would install a new one the next day - Wednesday. Thanks to my Ford Extended Service Program - a rental care was provided at no charge. I am an active member of the Ford Truck Enthusiasts Form (http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/) and when I arrived back at the camper, I posted my saga:
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1386119-arrgghg-truck-failure-on-vacation.html
Ford Corporation monitors this forum and a few Ford employees are active participants. A lady from Ford Service named Crystal quickly jumped in and offered her help - she and I began sending PM's back and forth immediately. The net-net was she was trying to help get me back on the road ASAP. She contacted the Regional Ford CSM who also got involved contacting the dealer and offering help if needed. I received multiple phones from the CSM over the next 24 hours. That was very unexpected!!
Well on Wednesday morning they tried the new injector and the problem got worse - truck actually ran rough, etc. At this point, I figured something was very bad. At Ford Corp's request they pulled a fuel sample and it was clean - "superior" was the diesel tech's actual comment. Then they pulled the High Pressure Fuel Pump and found metal shards. This was very bad news as the entire HPFS would have to be replaced which is a 35+ hour job once the parts have arrived. The diesel tech said that Ford rarely covered HPFS damage because most of the time it due to water in the fuel or other outside contaminants - such as DEF in the tank or gasoline in the the tank. According to Ford Corp, they would have to complete a 5 point inspection to ensure this could be covered as a warranty item. It would be Thursday before the inspection would be complete.
The problem now was what to do next... Continuing the vacation without the RV was a big hiccup for us as my wife, Allison, has severe food allergies so she has to prepare all of her own food and can only eat at few select restaurants and even then it is a risk. So we decided to pack it in and fly back to Austin. I discussed our predicament with the General Manager of the Elk Meadow RV Park and he was very sympathetic and said they would gladly help me move my RV out of the spot it was in (because cause the park was 100% sold out starting Thursday for the next week) to dry storage. The GM found a nice volunteer with a diesel truck setup for 5th wheel towing to come help me on Thursday morning which was a great relief.
About noon yesterday (Thursday), the 5 point inspection was complete and all 5 inspections passed - they found no indications of outside issues causing the problem. The root cause from what the diesel tech could tell was the High Pressure Fuel Pump just imploded. Since the pump is past the two micro filters, there was nothing to stop the metal parts from getting to the common rail fuel system and then clogging the injectors. I then received a call from the Ford CSM who said that they were working on the warranty processing but it was not approved yet (won't be until Monday). However they didn't anticipate any problems based on the verbal conversations with the Longmont Ford diesel tech. She said Ford would cover up to 30 days of rental car for me at not cost. I asked if Ford would cover my travel expenses home and then back to get my truck when it was repaired and she said yes. So Ford is covering flying my family home and then flying myself back to Colorado to get the truck. They are also covering other incidentals such as the storage fee for the RV while the truck is being fixed. What a relief!!!!
So yesterday (Thursday) we had the Big Country moved to the dry storage area at Elk Meadow. We then drove to the Denver Airport and flew home. Now I am just waiting on the repairs and expect to get my truck back on Friday, July 17th. While this was not the 19 day extended vacation we wanted, it could have been a lot worse.... We could have ben stranded in the middle of nowhere in some remote area. We could have been stranded going up that steep climb to Estes Park. Luckily none of that was a worry - my family and I were always safe and never worried about any such issues. (God is good all the time!)
Throughout this process I was amazed at the support, help, and friendliness from the every single person that I dealt with on this issue:
- Service Advisor at Longmont Ford
- Senior Diesel Tech at Longmont Ford
- Crystal from Ford Corp on the FTE Forums
- Jessica - Ford CSM for Colorado
- Various people at the Elk Meadow RV Park in Estes Park
- Enterprise Car Rental Assistant Manager in Longmont, CO
We are disappointed that our trip ended this way. At first I was very upset that my 2011 Ford Super Duty Diesel let me down. It has been 100% trouble free for 78,000 miles. It is the best vehicle I have ever owned. However after seeing Ford behind its product and offering all of the support I got, my faith in Ford has not wavered. The diesel tech at the dealership said he ran a full diagnostic sweep on my truck and said it was in great shape. After the HPFS 5 point inspection, other than the imploded High Pressure Fuel Pump he said even the fuel system was in great shape - almost looked like new. I have faithfully used Ford's PM22-A diesel fuel additive in every single tank since the day I purchased the truck new. I am positive that contributed to the fine shape of the fuel system. I know at this point that there is nothing I could have done to prevent this - a part will fail sometimes and that is what happens.
If you are ever in the north Denver / Estes Park area and need service on your Ford - go to Longmont Ford and ask for Rich Waters. Great guy!!! If you ever need a great place to stay in Estes Park, go to Elk Meadow RV Park. Finally, if you are a Ford Truck owner, join the FTE Forums and actively participate as I am positive that is why Ford Corp got so involved in this case.
-Chris
