What are my rights? (AKA: am I SOL?)

[Figmo]

I’m probably the first with this specific problem - but hoping not the first with this “type of” problem….

So I retrofitted a swaybar disconnect out of a Badlands into my Wildtrak last year. Been working fine until…

About 3 weeks ago I brought the Bronco in to the dealership for an oil change and to fix a defective seatbelt latch under warranty. As part of their inspection, they told me I had a leaking front pinion seal. They needed to order a new one and for me to come back to have that fixed under warranty. It must have been a small leak because I had not noticed any spots under my front end. But it is winter and the garage floor is pretty dirty from snow/mud. Anyway, brought it back and they put a new pinion seal in.

Just the other day, I tried to use the sway bar disconnect and found it wasn’t working. So today I put the rig up on the lift to try to figure out why. My initial theory was that the power wire that I ran down to it from one of my upfitter switches must have gotten too close to the exhaust or something and either shorted out blowing the fuse or maybe even got cut.

Fuse was fine. Testing power all the way to the unit tested fine. Basically - there’s nothing that should be preventing this thing from working near as I can tell. Unless something in the disconnect itself is broken.

That’s when it hit me. Staring up at the disconnect I realized that there would be no way to replace that front pinion seal without removing the swaybar disconnect. Obviously - the service manual wouldn’t have instructions on this step for a Wildtrak (as they did not come equipped with a disconnect)

So I’m wondering if the tech did something bad to it while servicing that front pinion seal.

I have not called the dealership yet. I was hoping to be better armed before I did because I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be a fight.

So what are our rights as customers for incidental damage to other components?

Obviously, I have no proof that the tech broke it. All I know is it was working, and now it is not. Did I literally test it the morning before bringing the Bronco in for service? No. I’d estimate it was a couple of months ago last time I used it and it worked. Did I literally test it the day I picked it up from service? Also no. Couple weeks after that is when I noticed it wasn’t working.

It’s an expensive part. And non-servicable. Meaning if it ever fails the book calls for replacing the entire unit. Pretty sure the dealer is not going to want to eat that. But I don’t feel I should have to either.

Would really love to hear from the few Ford techs I’ve seen post on this form on the past.

Am I SOL?

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[Baja Bronco]

My opinion (which means nothing) is you’re out of luck. For a couple of reasons, biggest is it’s an aftermarket part. (Not on your original build sheet). Bottom line is dealers only work on OEM parts, which they did, and fixed. The fact that you didn’t check it right after the service doesn’t give you much ground to stand on. Your words against theirs, and after a couple of weeks. Sucks, but that’s the way I see it, you’ll have to buy the part. Maybe other members will see it differently.

 

[604Bronco]

In my opinion, this could go a couple different ways, one of which @Baja Bronco noted above - They could tell you to pound sand.

However, there should be a reasonable expectation that anything on your vehicle, aftermarket or not, shouldn't be ruined because the vehicle was in for service. I tend to tell a place about a specific accessory/modification if I think it may be touched or a possible issue during whatever they are working on. Even obvious stuff I call out, just to be safe.

I would suggest going to the Service Manager cool and collected, and don't anticipate a fight. I would just explain the situation, and see if there's something he or she can assist with. Cooler heads typically prevail. There could be a simple fix to this, I'm not sure. But go in level headed, explain what you've done to the vehicle and what's not working after the service that was performed, and go from there.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Silver-Bolt]

You need to have proof that it worked when you dropped it off and did not work when you picked it up. You said that it hadn't been used in a couple of months. That tells me that you have no idea that it was working when you dropped it off. Other than checking the wire and fuse have you done any other diagnostics on it? How many volts/amps are you sending to the unit? How many volts/amps does the unit require?

 

[HeliPilot]

My thought is this, they probably flashed your computer…with as built data…so now your bronco does not even know it’s there.

 

[V1Rotate]

My thought is this, they probably flashed your computer…with as built data…so now your bronco does not even know it’s there.

My first thought too. Did you change up anything else that wasn’t the original as-built format that now also isn’t like you had it? DRL’s, etc

 

[MNBigfoot]

My thought is this, they probably flashed your computer…with as built data…so now your bronco does not even know it’s there.

I thought that when adding it to another trim, it gets wired into a toggle and the Bronco's electronics never knows it's there. It been mentioned, that doing it this way, eliminates the nannies, like MPH limits found on a stock unit.

 

[Squatch]

The answer is "it depends."

I would have a calm talk with the service manager and see if you can speak with the tech as well. You want to be 100% honest with them about what you did. You don't start with, "well, it worked before and doesn't now," because they won't tell you anything after that.

You should probably start with, "I'm not sure my pinion seal repair is correct; can I get an explanation of what work was performed?" Then, you need to get past the glossed-over generic description and ask if the tech noted any issues with your retrofitted disconnect. If, like you said, they had to remove it to change the seal, then they should have made a note to cover their butts.

Regardless of the naysayers, if you have aftermarket parts on your vehicle and the mechanic removes them for warranty repair, they're going to have to put them back on. What?? That's BS!? No, they can call you and tell you that they can't make the warranty repair because of it, but the moment they start shoving their ugga dugga under there and take something off... they have to put it back on.

Now, for operability, you have another fight, possibly. It doesn't matter if it was working that morning or two months ago. If it worked before and there are no other reasons that it would have reasonably stopped working, then you have a chance. Imagine if you hadn't used your 4wd Low in six months, they test it, and then you're SOL because you didn't drive your vehicle to the dealer in 4-Lo??? The time frame on either side just makes it more difficult, but not impossible.

The biggest problem I see is that you don't know what's wrong. You have to know how it is screwed in order to have them fix it.

*none of this is legal advice, I'm not your attorney, I don't know you or your Bronco.

 

[grayshadow]

1. You should have informed the service writer upfront of your modification and proved it worked.
2. You should have confirmed it worked with the service writer when you picked up your vehicle.

 

[Figmo]

My thought is this, they probably flashed your computer…with as built data…so now your bronco does not even know it’s there.

No. When retrofitting like this you just supply it 12v off your own switch. Bypassing the entire wire harness on the Bronco. So nothing in any of the modules even knows it exists on my Bronco.

I used an upfitter to supply it power (which it is getting as noted)

 

[Figmo]

…
The biggest problem I see is that you don't know what's wrong. You have to know how it is screwed in order to have them fix it.

Unfortunately, knowing specifically what part of it is broken wouldn’t help fix it. This is a non-servicable part. Meaning there is no diagnostics for it. In the Ford manual it either works or the entire unit gets replaced.

Even if I could test and diagnose the individual solenoids/valves/etc on it….they are not available as separate parts from Ford. So I couldn’t buy a replacement anyway.

But I do like the “calmer heads” approach suggested by you and others. Basically, throw myself at the mercy of the service manager. All he can do is say yes or no.

 

[MadMan4BamaNATL]

Unfortunately, knowing specifically what part of it is broken wouldn’t help fix it. This is a non-servicable part. Meaning there is no diagnostics for it. In the Ford manual it either works or the entire unit gets replaced.

Even if I could test and diagnose the individual solenoids/valves/etc on it….they are not available as separate parts from Ford. So I couldn’t buy a replacement anyway.

But I do like the “calmer heads” approach suggested by you and others. Basically, throw myself at the mercy of the service manager. All he can do is say yes or no.

But wait, you took the sway bar off a Badlands, right? If so, maybe you could tell them that and talk to the Service Manager or tech to ask what they normally do to service the sway bar disconnect, because they do have issues. What I’m not sure of is when they fail, is it a full replacement or something else.

Maybe an off-road shop in your area can take a look at it and recommend something.

Last ditch effort is find a Badlands salvaged and buy the part from a junk yard, then reinstall. Sucks, but would be cheaper.

Let us know how the chat with the dealership goes. I know the tech didn’t mean to harm it, too risky.

 

[Bigmoose]

Honestly it sounds like it was busted before you brought it in. I have taken mine out when i did coilovers and it’s pretty easy and nothing to really mess up besides dropping it on the ground.
Are there any indications it was dropped?

A used part failed. Don’t try to pin it on the tech unless you visually see an issue that they could have caused.

 

[Figmo]

But wait, you took the sway bar off a Badlands, right? If so, maybe you could tell them that and talk to the Service Manager or tech to ask what they normally do to service the sway bar disconnect, because they do have issues. What I’m not sure of is when they fail, is it a full replacement or something else.

I had to figure out how to install this on my own (there’s a thread here with a video of that whole process). Part of my initial research on how to wire it up was looking at the service manual. And it clearly says there are no servicable parts on it. No individual part numbers for the components. If it fails, replace it.

I’d be curious to know about these “issues” others have had with them. Are they wiring/module/programming issues? If so, would not apply to me.

But I’d really like to know if the units themselves are failing out in the wild. If so, might see if buying new from Ford gets me any sort of warranty (as opposed to used out of the bone yard like this one)

Or, if they are failing A LOT….might just yank it off and put my stock sway bar back on.

 

[Figmo]

A used part failed. Don’t try to pin it on the tech unless you visually see an issue that they could have caused.

I concede that you very well may be right. The reason I jumped to that conclusion is that this was not a new install. It had been installed and working for almost a year now.

Possible it could work for several months and then break? Of course. I have to admit that’s a possibility.

Like I said to MadMan above, I’d really like to know how fragile these things are out in the wild. Are Badlands owners seeing a lot of failures?

If so then of course it just “broke on it’s own”.

But if not, then it just doesn’t track that it would work fine for so long and then suddenly just give up the ghost first time I use it after the tech had to remove it to get at the pinion.

I’m not being unreasonable. Just playing the odds.

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