0.01 Inches of snow broke my Bronco and this is Fords response.

[flip]

These are areas where I've seen stuff infiltrate the intake. The back side is sealed fairly well but too many penetration areas between the front and rear sealing areas. Also, the water diverter door works with water coming in but it also flops around while driving since there's nothing to hold it closed. Would be one thing if they had a design that acted like a one way valve but it isn't.

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[Billnchristy]

I'm highly considering my Bronco will never darken the dealership's door. I've had tremendous service from BMW and have never had a claim denied and kinda just expected most to be that way, sucks you have to fight so hard for something you know you didn't cause.

 

[chartzilla]

These are areas where I've seen stuff infiltrate the intake. The back side is sealed fairly well but too many penetration areas between the front and rear sealing areas. Also, the water diverter door works with water coming in but it also flops around while driving since there's nothing to hold it closed. Would be one thing if they had a design that acted like a one way valve but it isn't.

Ever since I read this thread I've been keeping an eye on my intake area... I've noticed that after car washes the area around the fins/grill to the right of this picture has water around it, and even some looks like it made it to the trap door before the intake.

Also we had some moderate snow today and there when I got home I noticed a fair bit of snow around the same fins/grill area of the intake.

Would that be considered normal?

 

[Tom_in_Chicago]

I'm highly considering my Bronco will never darken the dealership's door. I've had tremendous service from BMW and have never had a claim denied and kinda just expected most to be that way, sucks you have to fight so hard for something you know you didn't cause.

I agree with the service from BMW, Audi as well. Those are the only cars I've bought new and wouldn't have ever considered they would deny an issue. I need to worry about that with Ford?

I had maybe a similar thing happen with my X5 as the OP. I had it for about a year and it felt like it was in limp mode but without any warning lights. Dealer said water got into the turbos somehow and they needed to be replaced. It took a couple weeks to get it back. No hassle, no questions, no problems, covered under warranty. I also got a M5 as a loaner that wasn't as good as my old E39 M5.

 

[flip]

Ever since I read this thread I've been keeping an eye on my intake area... I've noticed that after car washes the area around the fins/grill to the right of this picture has water around it, and even some looks like it made it to the trap door before the intake.

Also we had some moderate snow today and there when I got home I noticed a fair bit of snow around the same fins/grill area of the intake.

Would that be considered normal?

Don't know but it looks like they designed it to have at least some air come in through that area. If you suspect excessive stuff is getting in there, go to hardware store and get a piece of pre filter media and weave it through the ribs. Should catch the bigger stuff but still let plenty of air through. Might help confirm or rule out that area as an intrusion point. If I decide to do any serious off-roading, there are some areas where I'm going to put extra silicone rubber deflectors. Below that opening is one of them. Not going to block it off completely, just some extra baffling below to deflect a direct shot of mud/water from bleow.

 

[da_jokker]

It practically rained solid for the first 5 weeks I own my Bronco. Remembering this thread I was concerned, so I opened up the air box and the filter was perfectly dry, no signs of water damage, and could find no water inside the box.

I did see that little flap pointing downwards that flip mentioned... Was half tempted to seal that off but I believe it's whole purpose is as a bypass in case the front intake gets plugged.

I actually have some universal pre-filter media from an old K&N project I did years ago...maybe I should put some of that in there since I have it.

 

[Figmo]

look for alternative Solutions that don't restrict air flow while not allowing this to happen again.

After reading this whole thread, I’m thinking whatever “happened” will most likely not “happen again”. Here’s my logic…

Too many others have driven through way worse than what you described with no problem. Which tells me, it is not a design flaw with the Bronco air intake system. It had to be something wrong with YOUR Bronco.

Of course - nobody here can possibly know what that something was. Loose air box from a prior service call? Installing aftermarket item? Maybe loose from day-one when Ford built the damn thing? Terrorist sabotage? There is just no way to know. (which, btw, is exactly why Ford denied your warranty claim. )

But what I’m taking away from this is - something was wrong on your vehicle and (most likely) whatever that something was will be resolved when the service tech replaces the damaged parts. e.g. if it was a loose air box, it won’t be loose any more. Whatever.

So I think you can sleep at night going forward that this was just one of those unfair moments in life that we all hate - but always pass. There is a very high likelihood that your Bronco will drive through rain, sleet and snow in the future with no ill effects.

Now….on the off chance that this happens again…well…..now we have a whole ‘nother thread on our hands

 

[indio22]

I'm highly considering my Bronco will never darken the dealership's door. I've had tremendous service from BMW and have never had a claim denied and kinda just expected most to be that way, sucks you have to fight so hard for something you know you didn't cause.

We got some complementary oil fills from the dealer after buying a Kia for my wife. Dealer wildly overfilled the engine, so much that I had to carefully drain out a quart. Subaru also overfilled my other car.

It's more of a pain, but now I change oil myself, using full synthetic on deals from Walmart. It's hard to trust some folks these days working on your car unfortunately. If you've found a skilled and trusted mechanic that is gold.

 

[SVTPete83]

This looks like an insurance issue not a warranty issue.

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