Ford review: Ford F350 6.7 CP4 Pump Failure

CAS-45322667-H8F1T6 CRM:058100399: 2020 Ford F350 Catestrophic CP4 Pump Failure

Dear Mr. Farley,

I know your time is very valuable so I will try to make this as short as possible but there is a lot of information I would like to share - please bear with me and thank you in advance for your time and consideration (I hope you find the time to read the entire email but I have placed highlights and asks at the top).

Highlights:

9/27/2023: Truck completely shut down due to a catastrophic CP4 pump failure

My wife and I were stranded in Cincinnati, Ohio, for a month awaiting repairs - we paid $1,679.93 for a place to stay for that month

Ford repaired the CP4 issue under warranty but charged me $471.08 for two new batteries

Ford used the same "known to fail" CP4 pump for the repairs - now I have a ticking time-bomb

Ford provided a "no cost" ESP for an additional 3 years or 36,000 miles. This is worthless to me if I never use it before it expires. Also, if the CP4 fails again after another 3.5 years or 36,500 miles, the ESP again is worthless and I am looking at a repair bill of $10,000 +

My asks at this point:

I would ask that Ford, at the very least, reimburse me the $471.08 for the two batteries. I believe these batteries were fine until we ran them dead using our flashers and other devices due to being stranded alongside the interstate when the CP4 pump failed. A quick Google search will confirm a perfectly good battery can be ruined in this way. Since this was a direct effect related to the CP4 failure, then Ford should cover the battery replacements as they did the CP4 repair. (not to mention we were only 9 days out of our Bumper to Bumper)

I would also ask that Ford, either monetarily or through FordPass Rewards, help cover our housing costs of $1,679.93 while we were stranded in Ohio.

Last, I would ask that Ford, either monetarily or through FordPass Rewards, help cover the costs of having a DAK (Disaster Avoidance Kit) installed ($1200) and possibly add additional Rewards to that since I will now need to purchase a fuel additive every time I fill up to help avoid another CP4 pump failure.

Please keep in mind I am a loyal Ford customer - this is my third brand new Ford truck and the first two were wonderful with no problems - I loved both of them - but unfortunately the third one, the 2020 F350, has let me down (we still love this truck but just wish we didn't have to worry about another CP4 pump failure):

2002 Explorer Sport Trac

VIN: 1FMZU67E52UD42910

2010 Explorer Sport Trac

VIN: 1FMEU3DE1AUF08257

2020 F350 Lariat DRW 6.7 Power Stroke

VIN: 1FT8W3DT8LEE41440 (purchased at Hardy Ford, Dallas GA, on Sep 19, 2020)

Indepth detailed discussion including an email chain with Ford:

A little background on us - after I had cancer and a stroke in early 2019, my wife and I sold everything and started traveling full time in 2020. We bought the brand new 2020 F350 and a brand new 43' fifth-wheel hoping we could just travel worry free, see the states, and visit the scattered friends and relatives along the way. Our fifth-wheel is our only home now.

We were recently traveling from upstate New York to Atlanta, Georgia, to spend a month or so with old friends (with a small stopover in Kentucky to visit my cousin) when we became stranded alongside the interstate just outside Cincinnati, Ohio, due to the F350 CP4 pump failure.

Here is a quick timeline that leads up to the CP4 pump failure that stranded us for a month:

7/21/2023: Driver's Door Ajar warning on constantly - repaired at Orleans Ford in Medina, NY - issue was misrouted wiring rubbing on the window inside the door (my introduction to Orleans Ford).

9/09/2023: Check Engine Light pointing to bad injector on cylinder 4 - P0304 (cylinder 4 misfire detected) with a secondary of P0272 (cylinder 4 contribution/balance)

9/11/2023: Orleans Ford in Medina, NY checked the truck and ordered a new injector.

9/22/2023: Orleans Ford in Medina, NY was going to replace the cyclinder 4 injector but, when I got there, they said the new injector did not have the IQA code so they would need to reorder.

9/25/2023: Orleans Ford in Medina, NY was going to replace the cyclinder 4 injector but they called me and again said the new injector did not come with the needed IQA code. I advised that I had seen on the internet that the code was embossed right on the actual injector. They called me back 5 minutes later and said they had the needed code and to come in for service. Injector was replaced and all seemed well.

9/26/2023: Check engine light is back on and truck is misfiring again. Called Orleans Ford in Medina, NY and they advised to have the truck serviced again at our next destination as we were traveling from NY to KY.

9/27/2023: Truck completely shut down and had to be towed, along with our fifth-wheel, by Millennium Towing (614 Shepherd Dr., Cincinnati, OH) from Cincinnati (71S before exit 6) to Indian Springs Campground, 3306 State Line Rd, North Bend, OH ($471.20 + $60 tip)

9/28/2023: Called Ford at [protected] spoke with Tom Rawls, my Ford advocate (he emailed me after) - OK to rent a Ford vehicle (they prefer Enterprise) Ford will reimburse $45 a day for Ford car or $60 a day for Ford truck - need to have the work order created with dealer showing the same date as car rental.

9/28/2023: Truck towed to Haag Ford in Lawrenceburg, Indiana (can't get it in their shop until 10/2) by Ford Roadside Assist (AGERO ROADSIDE ASSIST) - $150.25

10/03/2023: Got a call from Haag Ford service advisor Will - he claims they cannot charge either of my two truck batteries and that I will need to pay out of pocket to have them replaced in order for Ford to be able to continue analyzing the truck issues. I have never had an issue with these batteries - they ran down while we were stranded alongside the interstate for 6 hours with our flashers on. I advised Will to go ahead and change them out but that I wanted to keep the old ones (I had planned to have them checked at Auto Zone or somewhere as I could not believe they were really bad).

10/04/2023: I spoke with Will at Haag Ford service and he advised the problem is the known CP4 fuel pump issue and my whole fuel injector system will need to be replaced under warranty - parts are ordered but he could not give me an ETA.

10/07/2023: We had to move to a monthly spot at the RV park and I paid Phillip Penn (spot 58) $40 to use his truck.

10/9/2023: I called Will at Haag Ford service to get a status on my truck repair - they still don't have an ETA on the needed parts and couldn't even say if it would be days, weeks, or months.

10/10/2023: Called Ford Customer Experience Specialist Tom Rawls and had to leave a VM with some of my concerns - requested a call back by him and/or a manager.

10/10/2023: Ford Customer Experience Specialist Tom Rawls called me back and advised he is working with Haag Ford Service Will to find out what parts we are waiting on so he can escalate to get them sooner.

10/11/2023: I spoke with Service Manager Ray and he advised the parts are there but this is a major repair (cab off repair) and there are vehicles in front of me - he thinks it will be the end of the month before my truck is repaired. I also mentioned to Ray that some people had had DEF system issues after this and Ray said he would have them do a manual regen and check it out.

10/12/2023: Ford Customer Experience Specialist Tom Rawls called me but all he had was the same info I got from the Service Manager Ray the day before. Tom said he was going to try and improve the repair schedule.

10/17/2023: I drove by the dealership and my truck was still in the same parking spot waiting for service. I called Haag Ford Service Manager Ray for any kind of update. Haag service Will answered the phone and advised Ray was not in his office - Will stated that it now looks like they won't even get my truck in for repair until the end of the month. I called my Ford advocate Tom Rawls but had to leave a VM requesting, again, his help to speed this up and a call back to discuss.

10/23/2023: I drove by the dealership and the truck was finally being repaired - the cab was off and motor disassembled. I spoke with Haag Ford Service Will and he stated I could possibly get my truck back in just a couple days.

10/25/2023: I stopped by Haag Ford to get a status update - truck was still in the service bay but appeared to be reassembled. I spoke with Haag Ford Service Will and he said I might get the truck back the next day. I also spoke with Haag Ford Service Manager Ray Merida and he told me they had run a compression check on the engine before tear down and all seemed well. He also stated they had drained and cleaned the fuel tank. I noticed from my FordPass App later that evening that the truck had been driven about 13 miles (odometer was at 35,590) and DTE was only 20 miles.

10/26/2023: Still no call from Haag Ford but the truck has been driven another 30 miles (35,633 odometer) and the DTE is 99 miles so they put more diesel in it. Finally got the call from Haag Service Will to come and get the truck. We picked up our truck and returned the rental that same day - Enterprise final cost was $1,584.44.10/27/2023: Got a call from Ford Advocate Tom Rawls - he agreed to send a debit card to refund the truck rental cost of $1,584.44 but he would not even consider covering the replacement cost of $471.08 for the two new batteries. He also said it was up to me to try to get the tow to the dealer cost of $150.25 refunded from Ford Roadside Assistance. Tom did agree to give me a free extended warranty of sorts that he said would retail at around $2800.

Following is a breakdown of the costs we incurred and current status - please keep in mind this does not include incidental expenditures that definitely added up during the month we were stranded in a place we would never really want to stay at:

Millennium Towing to Indian Springs Campground, 3306 State Line Rd, North Bend, OH: $471.20 (eventually reimbursed by our Good Sam Roadside)

Ford Roadside Assist (AGERO ROADSIDE ASSIST) tow to Haag Ford dealership from the RV park campground: $150.25 (Ford Roadside approved a reimbursement)

Two new batteries installed by Ford so they could start problem determination: $471.08 (still out of pocket)

Enterprise truck rental final cost: $1,584.44 (Ford Advocate Tom Rawls sending a debit card)

Indian Springs Campground: $1,679.93 (still out of pocket)

Here are some of my financial questions/concerns currently:

If we had broken down far from home with just the Ford F350 truck, would Ford have covered living expenses for the month that we were stranded in Cincinnati (or travel expenses had we had a home to go to)? If the answer is yes, then should Ford reimburse us the $1,679.93 for our forced stay at the local RV campground while we waited for our truck to be repaired?

If it is a distinct possibility that the original truck batteries failed due to being completely drained because we had to run our flashers and other things while being broken down alongside the interstate due to the CP4 failure which was covered under warranty, shouldn't Ford cover the battery replacement cost of $471.08 (also keep in mind the batteries would have been covered but the "Bumper-to-Bumper" had only expired 8 days before the CP4 failure and I was having NO battery issues prior to the CP4 failure)? It just seems to me, after all the issues we had due to the CP4 failure with less than 36,000 on our new truck, Ford should step up on this. You can Google the effects of running a good battery completely dead and see that this can cause a perfectly fine battery to fail like ours did - here is one link with the HTTPS in parentheses so I don't post a link in this email: (https:)//vehicleanswers.com/does-draining-a-car-battery-damage-it/

If it is a distinct possibility that the CP4 pump will fail again (7% failure rate in the US), shouldn't Ford grant me some kind of protection past the additional 3 years/36,000 miles of the ESP Tom gave me? This is at least a $10,000 repair! The alternatives are installing a DAK (disaster Avoidance Kit), using a fuel additive for as long as I own the truck (neither guaranteed to avoid a another CP4 failure), or replacing the CP4 pump with a CP3 or different brand known NOT to fail - all at my expense!

Please keep in mind, I am very happy with the effort from Haag Ford and their service department, especially their Service Manager Ray Merida Jr. (on copy), who was able to get us worked into their busy service schedule and make sure we had the best folks engaged on the repair.

I also believe that Customer Experience Specialist Tom Rawls (on copy) did all he could do, at his level, and worked to keep the warrantied repair moving. Tom has also provided reimbursement for the monthlong truck rental that we incurred while stranded. He also provided an additional 36,000 mile/3 year Extended Service Plan that I appreciate but have many concerns regarding, which I will discuss in a bit.

As far as my involvement with Tom's supervisor, Operations Supervisor, Ford CXS Team, Marlon Rubio (on copy), he has pointed out that he believes he has exhausted all of his resources and he was not able to engage meaningfully on any of my asks/concerns - this is why I now find it necessary to escalate to the highest possible place in the Ford executive hierarchy.

Here are the major issues with the CP4 failures, the repairs made to my F350, and the Extended Service Plan I was gifted:

Ford has known about the CP4 issues since 2011 and there is even a class action lawsuit over it

Other OEMs have done a recall on the Bosch CP4 pumps and no longer use them at all

The diesel in the US is not oily enough (emissions restrictions in the US) for the CP4 to survive - the US has a 7% failure rate while the rest of the world has a 1% failure rate (what is an acceptable failure rate to Ford quality - 7%?! I hope not!)

Many 6.7 owners install a DAK (Disaster Avoidance Kit) - it doesn't keep the CP4 pump from failing but it keeps the rest of the fuel system safe from the metal shavings which means only the pump will need to be replaced to repair the issue. The cost of the kit and installation labor is around $1200.

Many 6.7 owners use a fuel additive to add lubrication so the CP4 has a better chance of not failing. I have asked Ford about this and there is no recommendation to use an additive and, further more, I was told if I did, I should only use a "Ford Approved" additive and keep my receipts in case I have another issue where Ford may analyze my diesel before agreeing to warranty coverage. (is it fair to me that I now need to incur the cost of a fuel additive every time I fill up with diesel for as long as I own this truck?)

A quick Google search will take you to many forums where Ford customers share their bad experiences after a CP4 catastrophic failure - many being denied a warranty repair due to claims of dirty or watery diesel and/or rust found in the system (this is a $10,000+ repair)

Ford put the exact same, known to fail, CP4 pump back in my truck during these repairs and now I am driving a ticking time bomb (there are other pumps out there that Ford could have used that are not known to fail like the CP4 - CP3 and S&S DCR are a couple often discussed.

Ford did analyze my diesel before agreeing to a warranty repair and my diesel passed the analysis (I was told if there had been one spec of rust, or any other diesel issues, this would not have been covered). This means the CP4 pump failed because it is a subpar part not made to work with the less oily US diesel.

Here are my current concerns - what happens if/when the CP4 pump fails again? If the dealer does a diesel analysis and finds one spec of rust or claims some other contaminant, then the Extended Service Plan is worthless to me and I am looking at a repair bill over $10,000. If the CP4 pump fails after another 3.5 years or 36,500 miles then, again, I am looking at a repair bill over $10,000 as the ESP would be expired. If I add a DAK (Disaster Avoidance Kit) at my own expense ($1200) and/or use a fuel additive at my own expense the rest of the time I own this truck, Ford might possibly not honor my ESP if the CP4 pump fails again in another 3 years or 36,000 miles.

One last comment on the battery issue:

Under warranty failure causes us to be stranded on the interstate for 6 hours - batteries are completely drained as a direct result. An easy internet search will show that completely draining a battery can ruin it for good - remember, we had zero battery issues before this. By simple cause and effect, I believe the batteries were ruined due to the warranty-covered CP4 failure and therefore the replacement expense should be covered by Ford: (https:)//vehicleanswers.com/does-draining-a-car-battery-damage-it/

Once again, I appreciate your time and consideration and I apologize for the lengthy email - I do hope you were able to take the time to read it in its entirety.

Sincerely,

Barry Yingst

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