Camping trip breakdowns????

On my recent great Alaska adventure, I busted the seal on my drivers front shock. Visited several Dodge dealers along the way and none of them would help me. The excuse was either "that's a special order part", or "our calendar is booked for weeks". I'm still driving on the broken shock.

The dealer I bought the truck from knows its broken, but the special order part I guess is on a row boat from China or Italy or something. Until it impacts my driviblity, I don't care I guess, partly because I'm just borrowing this truck from Fiat

Guess my point is, I'm not impressed with the "dealer experience" right now... might want to take your Ford to an independent diesel expert for a second opinion, as Ford seems to care about as much as Chrysler does.

Sorry to hear that, Walker. If it were my truck, I'd probably end up cancelling the trip.

We did have some breakdowns on trips, but those were with the camper, and in both cases resulted in lengthening the trip time; in one case we had to unload the trailer and stay in a hotel (far less comfortable) for several days while the TT was repaired. Just one of those things, I guess, but not fun. Good luck!

I understand how you feel. Last year on our way out of town for a 500 mile round trip vacation, the warning light came on for coolant. We have a 2010 F350. We were stopped for gas when this came on so they directed us to the Ford dealership 5 miles away. We got there, the technician came out, said it was a standard warning but tested our coolant level anyway. Turned out it was fine. He reset the warning message and wouldn't charge us. We were on our way. A little off schedule but with peace of mind. They will find a reason for the check engine. Keep us posted on what they find. If nothing else, postpone your trip till this is taken care of.

I agree on making sure everything is ok before heading out. I just came back from dropping off my '06 F350 at the night drop off because I am concerned about my next trip. Last time out, temp rose above normal every time I went up a hill, and coolant came out of the degas bottle. Left it at one dealer for a week, and they couldn't find the problem. I'm thinking head gaskets, hopefully not, but we shall see. Planned on heading out next weekend, so hope all goes well. Good luck with your truck.

Yes that is a real bugger. I have a 2011 chevy dmax. Problem free first 25k then to the shop three times in three weeks for DEF issues. It appears to be fixed now. I have driven a couple thousand miles sense last problem. I have had two issues in the past while on long trips over 5k a piece. Each time I will have to say the two dealers I went to took care of me right away. One was a shorted tranny wire that took about 4 hours to fix. The other was a air filter sensor. I was under full warranty at the time and the dealers were very helpful.

I think I would go after the dealer checks it out again. That's why you buy your truck with a warranty. Plus a check engine light for a loose wire doesn't sound to serious. I would check for the code on your receipt and google it. JMHO

I guess I got lucky. Memorial weekend, we were 3500 miles into a 9500 mile trip & I went for an oil change. I was informed I had a leaking axle seal. I called the closest Dodge dealer (St George, UT) 1st thing Tues morn & they got me in & out in 2.5 hrs. I was very grateful.

I wouldn't cancel my plans all for a check engine light if its still running good as normal. Hell I have a lot of older trucks at my work and most all of them have had check engine lights on for years but still run fine.

Thanks for all replies. Dropped truck off at night drop off and had my wife call the service advisor I dealt with last week as I had my boys away camping and fishing. They were contacting Ford for protocol.
I have 6 days before our planned trip so fingers crossed. Will update when I know more.

CEL's are normal according to Ricatic on the 2011 models. Just search his user name for more information. I'd just keep up with your plans, what could possibility go wrong :W

Hey Walker,

I have a OBD2 handheld code reader you are more than welcome to borrow for your trip. This way if your CEL comes one you can read the code, google it, and know if it is minor code that would let you continue on your way, or a major one that wold require you to stop in at a garage/dealer.