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Splash Shield destroyed

114K views 120 replies 47 participants last post by  rahrena8690 
#1 · (Edited)
What happens when techs do not do their job properly after an oil change
@FordService

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It's more worse now since I had to rig it to make it home but by the time I made it home the wind destroyed the other side I watched pieces fly from under the E.

The air intake that's under there pax side is completed torn off. Of course it happened on a Saturday after service closed and I am 30 miles away from home.




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#3 ·
I hope they give you a new plastic guard and a whole year of free oil changes. That's Wal-Mart Tire Lube and Express quality right there. I expected more from a Ford dealership.
 
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#6 ·
I know it's ridiculous. Absolutely I am the best person to look out for my car. But in the same sense they can't ignore that all the maint. Which I had thrown in for free was done all by them. I haven't needed to touch underneath. The guard is just one worry since there are no screws. So I gotta think what also was those screws attach too and are they still good. So guard plus other things.


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#11 ·
I know it's ridiculous. Absolutely I am the best person to look out for my car. But in the same sense they can't ignore that all the maint. Which I had thrown in for free was done all by them. I haven't needed to touch underneath. The guard is just one worry since there are no screws. So I gotta think what also was those screws attach too and are they still good. So guard plus other things.
Definitely a tech screw up and should be covered by the warranty.

The orange plastic nuts for the torx head screws that hold the shield up strip out after a few uses. I had 3 bad ones on my 2013 FE after only 2 oil changes. Have them check these when you get the shield replaced.





After having one splash shield destroyed by a piece of a truck tire I am extra careful now out on the interstate and with parking curbs. Ford should have made the splash shield out of metal instead of cheap fiber board.
 
#8 ·
Had an oil change place once forget to put oil in. I started the car and turned it right off when the warning light went bananas. The manager was standing next to the car when it happened. He was furious and told the tech when he finished putting the oil in they were going to "have a conversation".
 
#9 ·
This is great so far. They did say well you had your last oil change in August. I replied that's nice doesn't change the fact this dealership had done all the maintenance. Then I got asked if I hit something, cause they would know. I said no, then proceeded to lay down more on them. The advisor hasn't said anything since. I have seen my E on the lift and my advisor went out with a camera. Which means at point they are going to send it into Ford for warranty. Still waiting.


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#72 · (Edited)
Ive had the splash shield come lose 5 times! The first four were always on the driver side but the last was just this past weekend occurred when all the front clips let go on the highway leading to the entire shield dropping down and rubbing on the road at 120kph. I had to tie it up in place with rope till I could get to the dealer today (see pic below).


Interestingly, the last two times the shield came lose were both within 48 hours of a ford dealer oil change.


The metal screws and plastic plugs that hold these on are a problem and are almost guaranteed to fail. Hopefully they'll find a permanent fix before these shields start flying out from under Escapes.


 
#14 ·
@bjeans

I def. agree, but at the same time @BobP brought up a good point, with the stripped out nuts... I noticed that they were worn, but thought that might have been from the screws being ripped out, possibly one is the cause of the other.

@FordService - perhaps this is something that will becoming a bigger issue with other owners of the Escape after a few oil changes.
 
#15 ·
This could go either way, but it appears that it could have been avoided if the tech did his job correctly.
This is just speculation. The tech knew that some of the plastic nuts were stripped, did not replace them, and installed the shield hoping the screws would hold. Obviously they did not.

I agree with pilotattitude that this could become a big issue after a few oil changes. If you change your oil every 5K miles after 25K miles the shield has to be taken off and installed 5X. As I mentioned in another thread, Ford should have used metal instead of plastic nuts for the torx screws.
 
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#18 ·
@FordService

Please do, the thought of this coming loose while driving on a hwy, can be quite hazardous to other drivers. The question becomes where does liability lie, if it comes off my vehicle and causes an accident. Since its plastic, if the screw goes back in and cross threads that can destroy a plastic nut in no time. - besides the parts that failed, parts of the wheel well that served as attached points were also ripped out I am guessing from the wind underneath the vehicle.
 
#26 ·
Hello Pilotattiude,

We value our Ford Family members and their safety. Unfortunately, we are not able to provide a result for a hypothetical scenario.

In the event an accident occurs, we encourage our customers to reach out their insurance company first. Also, feel free to contact us and we will explore all avenues to reach a solution.

Once again, please keep me posted on your dealer’s decision.


I had the same thing happen to my escape aka "Demon car" after all the problems. I was lucky and saw it in my driveway call the dealer. He knows I work on car and have a lift so he told me to either cable tie it up or take it off and come in with it. I took it off 2 screws missing. His oil change guy tried to blame it on the last person who change the oil until the service manager blasted him since he was the one who changed it. I have little confidence in the long term reliability of these cars. This is the worst new car I have ever owned. Ford customer service has been useless try to blame everything on you. It will soon become a subaru or a jeep and never buy or recommend a ford again!
I had the same issue when I had my escape in for the 25,000 mile oil change. Did not discover it until 3 weeks later when I noticed the under cover pan hanging down lower on the drivers side only. I checked and there was NO BOLT in the drivers side end of the cover but I put my finger up in the hole and felt the threads, so either they didnt tighten the bolt and it vibrated out or they never put that one in. I mean how hard is it to do the job right it only takes 10 more seconds.

There is never enough time to do the job right the first time but always plenty of time to redo it!

I have not had my Escape serviced anywhere but the dealer I bought it from so they had no excuses to offer for the issue. Now I will check each time I get the car back from an oil change to make sure the cover is not hanging down in the front.

Fool me once shame on you ... Fool me twice shame on ME!
Hey guys,

Your opinions and feedback are valuable to us. I’ll gladly document your dealer experience. Please PM your full name, VIN, current mileage, dealer, details of experience, and best contact number.

I’ll make sure it’s noted.

Happy Friday Eve! :D

Tricia
 
#21 ·
Same happened to me

I had the same thing happen to my escape aka "Demon car" after all the problems. I was lucky and saw it in my driveway call the dealer. He knows I work on car and have a lift so he told me to either cable tie it up or take it off and come in with it. I took it off 2 screws missing. His oil change guy tried to blame it on the last person who change the oil until the service manager blasted him since he was the one who changed it. I have little confidence in the long term reliability of these cars. This is the worst new car I have ever owned. Ford customer service has been useless try to blame everything on you. It will soon become a subaru or a jeep and never buy or recommend a ford again!
 
#23 ·
Missing bolt on under cover due to dealer oil change

I had the same issue when I had my escape in for the 25,000 mile oil change. Did not discover it until 3 weeks later when I noticed the under cover pan hanging down lower on the drivers side only. I checked and there was NO BOLT in the drivers side end of the cover but I put my finger up in the hole and felt the threads, so either they didnt tighten the bolt and it vibrated out or they never put that one in. I mean how hard is it to do the job right it only takes 10 more seconds.

There is never enough time to do the job right the first time but always plenty of time to redo it!

I have not had my Escape serviced anywhere but the dealer I bought it from so they had no excuses to offer for the issue. Now I will check each time I get the car back from an oil change to make sure the cover is not hanging down in the front.

Fool me once shame on you ... Fool me twice shame on ME!
 
#25 ·
I had the same issue when I had my escape in for the 25,000 mile oil change. Did not discover it until 3 weeks later when I noticed the under cover pan hanging down lower on the drivers side only. I checked and there was NO BOLT in the drivers side end of the cover but I put my finger up in the hole and felt the threads, so either they didnt tighten the bolt and it vibrated out or they never put that one in. I mean how hard is it to do the job right it only takes 10 more seconds.

There is never enough time to do the job right the first time but always plenty of time to redo it!

I have not had my Escape serviced anywhere but the dealer I bought it from so they had no excuses to offer for the issue. Now I will check each time I get the car back from an oil change to make sure the cover is not hanging down in the front.

Fool me once shame on you ... Fool me twice shame on ME!
Same here, this the part where I yank on that rope they used to hang themselves with. Yup, thats right, I have been paying attention...
 
#30 ·
I figured I'd bump this so people see this. I had this happen to me today though the tech failed to put 5 bolts back in 1 behind the wheels on each side and 3 across the back. Mind you this was my vehicles first oil change. Since seeing this thread I checked underneath before for I pulled out of the service drive.

Needless to say the service writer was mad at the tech and concerned because his daughters escape has been serviced there as well. I made sure to let the service manager know too though. Hopefully it won't happen again to me or anyone else for that matter at that dealer.
 
#31 ·
Well Ford, listen up. I dropped off my Escape to have the driver seat replaced(warranty) and a recall performed(engine splice). The service advisor talked to me about the poor survey that I gave them for my last visit. These surveys go to Ford and the dealer. He told me they docked his pay 10% because of the bad rating I gave them. THIS IS UNFAIR! The tech is the one to blame, not the service advisor. I told him how sorry I was and I offered to talk to whomever to make it right. But he said the way the system is set up, you can't "rate" the tech and there's nothing that can be done. Just thought I would share my afternoon. Sorry about the rant.
 
#32 ·
He told me they docked his pay 10% because of the bad rating I gave them. THIS IS UNFAIR! The tech is the one to blame, not the service adviser. and there's nothing that can be done. Just thought I would share my afternoon.
Perhaps the service adviser is also the tech's supervisor and needs to do a better job. Or the Service adviser distributes the work to the various techs and needs to have the bad tech take a few days off because of a lack of work distributed his way. Or he's just blowing smoke.........Don't feel bad, the service department worked hard at getting that bad review and you praised their talents of shoddy work. Maybe next time they will work hard to get a good one.
 
#33 ·
Pilot great post so true for the flimsy under cover and for what service does. Message me your LI dealer because I wonder if it's the same I called Ford on for my wife's car and my truck. Sucks to have purchased $50k of cars and get nonsense from the service dept. Hope your issue gets resolved quick. New Ford owner and not happy with 2 new cars that have been in for service more than I'd like
 
#35 · (Edited)
I can be a real stickler, so I stay calm as long as they are working on it and not give me any unbelievable excuses why they won't fix something. I look at my vehicle as if I was looking at a plane, when I pre flight I make sure everything is working as it should, what will give me mpg penalties, what needs fixing, what needs adjustment etc. I have noticed things that the advisor's just in the back of the mind, really he's complaining about this, .... I believe certain things start small end up becoming a big thing and when its a big thing, I m probably out of warranty.
 
#38 ·
I had a similar issue with my Escape. Believe the Longmont Ford tech overtightened the screws holding on the lower shield, stripping out the plastic nuts. Then eventually the screws vibrated loose and fell out, so the lower shield was drooping and starting to fall off. The tech also failed to replace the two screws that secure the lower shield to the inner fender liner (one on each side). I bought a bunch of replacement screws and plastic nuts and replaced them all myself. I think I'll be doing my own oil changes in the future. I'm afraid Ford's "Quick Lane" does things a bit too quick for me by leaving part of the work undone or causing damage that I have to go back and fix myself later.

Oh, and after you have the engine wiring harness splice recall repair done, it might be a good idea to make sure that the tech reattached all of the wiring harness clips and clamps. And properly reattached the airbox into all three rubber mounts, so it is properly secured.
 
#39 ·
I changed the motor mount tonite and had to take the guard off myself for the first time.

I bought the FE used and have had only 1 oil change so far.

5 of those plastic nuts are stripped!!!:eek:

I will be ordering a couple packs of those orange nuts and changing them out before my shield falls off too!

Thanks for posting.

Vin
 
#40 ·
Plastic splash guard! Mine has not been down yet but I did look under the car to see what y'all are discussing. What will happen when someone gets in a little snow, say the snow has turned to rutted ice and the ice gets plowed with that splash guard? Looks pretty flimsy to this old guy.
 
#43 ·
I don't know what the thought is with the plastic splash shield. My Jeep Grand Cherokee with the off road package had a number of steel skid plates. But, it still had a plastic shield under the engine. I didn't hear about anyone having problems.




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#41 ·
I was told by the second dealer I brought told me the same thing.. altho they did take care of me better than my selling dealer.. even after getting Ford CS involved.
 
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