2012 FORD F-450 Complaints

I WAS DRIVING ALONG MY 2012 FORD F450SUPERDUTY TURBO DIESEL ALONG THE INTERSTATE 495 DC BELTWAY IN MARYLAND WITH MY SEVEN YEAR OLD SON IN THE BACK SEAT, WHEN A LCD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SPEEDOMETER GAVE A WARNING WHICH READ "REDUCED POWER" AND COULD IMMEDIATELY FEEL A REDUCED RESPONSIVENESS OF THE TRUCK TO THE ACCELERATOR. A MOMENT LATER ANOTHER SIGN READ " CLEANING EXHAUST FILTER" WHICH DISAPPEARED ALMOST IMMEDIATELY. A MOMENT LATER A FINAL WARNING CAME UP WHICH READ" STOP AT A SAFE LOCATION. I BEARLY PULLED OVER TO A DANGEROUS SHOULDER WHEN MY TRUCK SHOT DOWN. AT THIS POINT I COULD NO LONGER MOVE MY TRUCK TO A SAFER LOCATION ON THE HIGHWAY SHOULDER. THE HIGHWAY ON WHICH MY TRUCK STALLED IS THE BUSIEST HIGHWAY IN MARYLAND. THE TRUCK STALLING LIKE THE WAY IT DID PUT MY LIFE, MY SONS LIFE AND THE LIVES OF OTHER MOTORISTS AT RISK AT MOMENT IT DID. WHILE I WAS SEARCHING ONLINE FOR WHAT MIGHT HAVE GONE WRONG WITH MY TRUCK, I CAME ACROSS AN ARTICLE ON WHICH AMBULANCES WERE RECALLED AND SENSORS IN THE EXHAUST WERE REPLACED TO FIX THE PROBLEM. ONE STRIKING SIMILARITY WAS THE FIVE AUDIBLE CHIME THE TRUCKS WERE EMITTING WHICH MY TRUCK ALSO EMITTED. I WAS NOT ABLE START THE TRUCK AT THAT STALL POINT SO I HAD IT TOWED TO A LOCAL DEALERSHIP.

AS PER YOUR ODI RESUME #RQ14-005, MY RV BUILT ON 2012 CHASSIS EXPERIENCED EGT SENSOR MALFUNCTION TO NUMBER 13 AND 14. THIS OCCURRED ON I-75 OUTSIDE OF LEXINGTON, KY. I WAS VERY LUCKY TO BE IN THE RIGHT LANE AND JUST BARELY PULLED TO THE SHOULDER BEFORE THE ENGINE SHUTDOWN. HAD TO CALL STATE POLICE BECAUSE OF THE CLOSE PROXIMITY TO TRAVEL LANE AND VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION FOR OTHER VEHICLES. THIS TRIP STARTED IN CLEMMONS, NC, AND INCLUDED 2 TUNNELS WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN A DISASTER IF THE INCIDENT OCCURRED IN EITHER ONE. CALLED FORD ABOUT RECALL FOR AMBULANCE CHASSIS SINCE THIS SEEMS TO BE SAME TYPE. THEY STATED THE COMPUTER PROGRAM IS DIFFERENT AND THEREFORE THE RECALL DOES NOT PERTAIN TO MY UNIT. *TR

VEHICLE WAS INITIALLY NOT RUNNING AND IN DRIVEWAY. THERE HAD BEEN NO PRIOR INDICATION OF ANY PROBLEM, AND NO ISSUE NOTED WITH ON-BOARD DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM. VEHICLE HAD RECENTLY BEEN SERVICED AT LOCAL FORD DEALER FOR OIL/FILTER CHANGE. DEALER INSPECTION NOTED NO ISSUES WITH THE VEHICLE. VEHICLE WAS CRANKED UP AND PUT INTO DRIVE. VEHICLE EXPERIENCED A SUDDEN, IMMEDIATE, AND TOTAL LOSS OF POWER STEERING AND BRAKE CAPABILITY. VEHICLE LURCHED FORWARD. EXTREME PRESSURE WAS APPLIED TO BRAKE PEDAL BUT IT WOULD NOT STOP VEHICLE FROM MOVING FORWARD. POWER STEERING WAS NON-FUNCTIONAL CAUSING EXTREME DIFFICULTY IN STEERING VEHICLE. VEHICLE WAS IMMEDIATELY PUT INTO NEUTRAL UNTIL IT SLOWED ENOUGH TO PUT INTO REVERSE AND STOP THE VEHICLE FROM MOVING FORWARD. VEHICLE ALMOST HIT ROAD SIGN BEFORE COMING TO A STOP. BRAKES AND POWER STEERING WERE NON FUNCTIONAL. VEHICLE WAS SLOWLY MOVED BACKWARD TO GET IT OUT OF THE ROAD PATH USING REVERSE/NEUTRAL POSITIONING. VEHICLE WAS SHUT OFF AND CHECKED FOR POSSIBLE LOSS OF POWER STEERING/BRAKE BOOSTER SYSTEM FLUID. FLUID LEVEL WAS JUST BELOW MAXIMUM LEVEL MARK, SO NO LOSS OF FLUID IN POWER STEERING/POWER BRAKING BOOSTER SYSTEM HAD OCCURRED. UPON RESTART, POWER STEERING SYSTEM WAS MARGINALLY FUNCTIONAL WITH GRINDING NOISE COMING FROM POWER STEERING/POWER BRAKING BOOSTER SYSTEM WHEN STEERING WHEEL TURNED OR BRAKE PEDAL APPLIED. PULSATING FEEL COMING FROM BRAKE PEDAL WHEN PRESSURE APPLIED. POWER BRAKES WERE STILL NON-FUNCTIONAL. VEHICLE WAS NOT DRIVABLE DUE TO COMPLETE LOSS OF BRAKING FUNCTION AND ONLY MARGINAL STEERING FUNCTION. VEHICLE HAD TO BE TOWED TO FORD DEALER FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING. AFTER 4 DAYS, DEALER HAS STILL NOT LOOKED AT VEHICLE.

THIS VEHICLE, WHICH IS AN AMBULANCE, WAS DISPATCHED TO AN EMERGENCY CALL. AS THEY TURNED INTO THE DRIVE OF THE FACILITY THE CHIMES SOUNDED AND THE ENGINE SHUT OFF. HAD THIS VEHICLE BEEN ON THE HIGHWAY AT THE TIME, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION FOR THE CREW INVOLVED. AT THE VERY LEAST, ANOTHER AMBULANCE HAD TO BE DISPATCHED TO THE CALL AND DELAYED CARE TO THE PATIENT. IT WAS DETERMINED LATER THAT THE EGT SENSOR HAD FAILED, ALTHOUGH THERE WAS APPARENTLY NO PROBLEM IN THE EXHAUST SYSTEM AT THE TIME.

THIS VEHICLE IS AN AMBULANCE AND WAS DISPATCHED ON AN EMERGENCY CALL. THE CREW ATTEMPTED TO CRANK THE VEHICLE, BUT THE STARTER WOULD NOT EVEN ENGAGE. ANOTHER AMBULANCE HAD TO BE DISPATCHED TO THE CALL. IT WAS LATER DETERMINED THAT ONE OF THE FOUR EGT EXHAUST GAS TEMPERATUR SENSORS HAD FAILED AND DISABLED THE VEHICLE. HAD THE VEHICLE BEEN TRAVELING ON THE HIGHWAY, A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION COULD HAVE OCCURRED. THERE WAS NOT AN OVER HEATED EXHAUST CONDITION NOR AN EXHAUST EMISSION PROBLEM AT THE TIME, WHICH IS WHAT THESE SENSORS ARE DESIGNED TO DETECT. THE POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE(PCM) SHOULD NOT BE PROGRAMED TO SHUT DOWN A VEHICLE BECAUSE OF ONE SENSOR. REDUCTION OF POWER MAY BE ACCEPTABLE. IF MORE THAN ONE SENSOR DETECTS A PROBLEM THEN THAT MAY BE ACCEPTABLE. OUR AGENCY HAS SEVERAL OF THESE VEHICLES AND HAS EXPERIENCED THE SAME ISSUE WITH MOST OF THEM.

ON AUGUST 15, 2012, AT APPROXIMATELY 1200 HOURS, I WAS TRAVELING AT SPEED LIMIT NORTH ON I-95 NEAR MILE MARKER 78, LIBERTY COUNTY, MIDWAY, GEORGIA. THE HIGHWAY WAS CLEAN AND NO DEBRIS IN SIGHT, WHEN SUDDENLY A POP SOUND TOOK PLACE AND THE LEFT FRONT TIRE WENT INSTANTANEOUSLY FLAT FOLLOWED BY HEAVY NOISE OF DESTRUCTION. THE VEHICLE WAS IMMEDIATELY STOPPED ON THE EMERGENCY LANE (SIDE OF THE ROAD). I CONDUCTED AN EXAMINATION OF THE VEHICLE AND DISCOVERED THE LEFT FRONT TIRE WAS DESTROYED (DISINTEGRATE) AND THE TOP OF THE TIRE THREAD WAS REMOVED FROM THE TIRE. THIS CAUSED A DENT AND DAMAGES TO THE LEFT FRONT FENDER, BENT THE UNDER FENDER WALL, FENDER LINER WAS ALSO DENT AND THE ROAD BOARD WAS CRACKED. IN ADDITION, THE RIM HAD STRUCK PAVEMENT PARTICLES WHICH CAUSED SMALL DENTS INTO THE RIM. THE VEHICLE FORCEFULLY TURNED LEFT ON HIGHWAY BUT I WAS ABLE TO KEEP IT UNDER CONTROL. THE VEHICLE IS CURRENTLY AT JC LEWIS FORD DEALER, FORD AUTO COLLISION, 9505 ABERCOM STREET, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, 31406. THE VEHICLE IS BRANDNEW, WITH 3,041.6 MILES. NOTE THAT THE TIRE IS AN LT245/75R17 RUGGED TERRAIN T/A. *TR

WHEN PARTIALLY DEPRESSED THE TURN SIGNAL WILL ONLY BLINK 3 TIMES. I THINK I HAVE ACTIVATED A PROPER TURN SIGNAL ONLY TO FIND OUT IT WAS A PARTIAL. FORD SAYS THERE IS NO WAY TO PROGRAM THIS DIFFERENTLY. DOES 3 BLINKS CONSTITUTE A TURNSIGNAL? *TR