It's okay to be the devil's advocate ABE. It presents another standpoint and makes you look at the situation as a whole, both positive and negative. I appreciate you sharing your point of view but respectfully disagree. I truly hope that you do not believe Ford to be lacking in any "factual" info when it comes to their products. They know what issues their products have and they just hope that people won't do their research to discover the same.
I place the majority of the blame on Ford because in the end they are responsible for the quality and safety of their vehicles. However I also believe a portion of the blame lies with the dealership for not following up on our
repeated electrical complaints that would only occur after periods of rain or heavy fog and not any other times. They should step up and admit the fact that they did not properly diagnose and address our Dec 06 issues which has led us up to this current issue. Last week the dealer DID test the windshield (so they say) and diagnosed the ABS malfunction and other strange electrical issues experieced on 1/17/08 to be related to a water leak into the fuse box/GEM. Their Oasis system, which must have been on the fritz since April 2002, is apparantly working now.
I had to do a lot of homework regarding this issue and there are some really interesting pieces of info that I found while researching. First, Ford knew they had issues with these vehicles because they relased a Special Service Message to all dealerships in April 2002 stating the following:
*FORD SPECIAL MESSAGE #15773 VARIOUS ELECTRICAL CONDITIONS RESULTING FROM WATER INTRUSION INTO THE GEM/CJB
SOME 1997-2002 EXPEDITION AND 1998-2002 NAVIGATOR VEHICLES MAY EXHIBIT VARIOUS UNUSUAL ELECTRICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: FRONT OR REAR BLOWER OR EATC STAYING ON WITH KEY OUT OF THE IGNITION, RADIO STAYING ON AFTER DOORS OPENED AND KEY OUT OF IGNITION, WIPER CIRCUIT FAILURE CODES, AND MULTIPLE SYSTEM WARNING LIGHTS WITH 'SHORT TO POWER' OR 'LOW BATTERY VOLTAGE' DTCS. THESE SYMPTOMS MOST OFTEN OCCUR AFTER A RAIN OR SNOW.
THIS MAY BE DUE TO GEM/CJB WATER INTRUSION RESULTING FROM A WINDSHIELD WATER LEAK. TO SERVICE, REMOVE THE GEM AND CJB FROM THE VEHICLE, SEPARATE THEM AND INSPECT FOR WATER CONTAMINATION OR CORROSION. IF FOUND IN EITHER COMPONENT, REPLACE BOTH COMPONENTS AND COMPLETELY RESEAL THE WINDSHIELD.
EFFECTIVE DATE: 04/05/2002
*****DUH MOMENT #1*****
If Vehicle alarm system going off
while the vehicle is in motion, windshield wipers not working, interior lights going on & off themselves and radio not working as happened to me all on the same rainy day in Dec 06 doesn't constitute an unusual electrical condition I would like to see what does.
*****DUH MOMENT #2*****
Jan 08 after heavy rain car wouldn't start and when jumped, radio malfunctions as do interior lights, ABS module popping/clicking due when vehicle is off and key is removed from ignition. How normal is this???
I consider the delaership overlooking my electrical complaints in Dec 06 (which correspond to items outlines in SSM 15773) to be responsible for where the vehicle is at this point because they did not perform the service specified in the SSM when the vehicle would have been under the AWA period both year and mileage wise.
I further discovered this was enough of an issue that the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration opened up investigation PE 05-033 in June of 05 and upgraded it to Engineering Analysis investigation EA 05-015 in October 05 to assess the potential safety consequences. The windshield water leak causing electrical failure investigation focused on 1999-2001 Expeditions. Now while they did find occurances of water intrusion on their test vehicle, they stated they were not occuring frequently enough to warrant pursuing as a defect. They did state that just because they closed their investigation it did not mean a safety related defect did not exist. So to me, this makes it Ford's problem.
I haven't taken the truck to another dealer yet for the following reasons:
1. I am afraid to drive it
anywhere in case there happens to be another malfunction, maybe this time a major one, with the ABS or any other safety features of the vehicle and I, God forbid, get into or cause an accident and hurt anyone.
2. I am giving both the dealership and Ford time to digest and act on the 3 page letter I e-mailed to them before post a blog and I rent a tow truck driver for the day and have the vehicle paraded around the city with a huge sign plastered to it with the following
"Have you driven a Ford lately? We did and this is where it ended up thanks to (insert name of dealership here) and Ford Motor Company's accountability. Go to
www.(insert blog address here) to find out more."
Ford
IS to blame and I refuse to accept either their Customer Relationship Center's response nor the dealership's response. The vehicle
WILL be repaired by Ford and it
WILL NOT be on my dime.
I will keep everyone posted as the saga unfolds
Hope everyone has a great night
Patty
Ford is to blame 
Outcome 
Linear Mode
