DETROIT - Ford is recalling about 3,100 F-Series ambulances because the engines can stop unexpectedly.The F-350, F-450 and F-550 "Super Duty" ambulances have 6.7-Liter diesel engines. They're from the 2011 and 2012 model years.Ford says a faulty exhaust gas temperature sensor can cause the engines to stop and not be restarted for at least an hour. The company says it has no reports of the problem affecting patient care.Most of the ambulances were sold in the U.S., with some in Canada and other countries.Dealers will replace the sensor.Ford says the problem could occur on non-ambulance versions of the same trucks, but the company isn't recalling them. Drivers will get a warning and enough time to safely pull off the road before the engine shuts down.LinkHope you are not on the way to something important in a F350 and have to wait.

Ford wrote:Ford says the problem could occur on non-ambulance versions of the same trucks, but the company isn't recalling them.Oh that's nice!!! ROTFLMAO :RTranslation: A normal customer does not have the legal power to sue us so screw them. We will just take care of the ambulance companies that have the resources to sue us when someone dies. NICE! :R

Another interpretation is that having to wait an hour to restart could easily result in a death in an ambulance, but probably won't in other trucks.

Ambulances idle for log periods of time, much more than "normal" vehicles. Perhaps that has something to do with the sensor failure? How many reports of non-ambulance sensor failures have there been? If its none or extremely small, its not an issue with non-ambulance vehicles. I remember a transmission snap ring failure on mid-2005 SuperDutys that were failing in primarily snow-plow equipped trucks because of the constant shifting between drive and reverse. They issued a customer satisfaction bulletin and repaired only those with the snow plow package from the factory. Mine had the snow plow package, so they did the repair on my tranny before any symptoms showed up. It wasn't an issue with non-snow plow trucks. Why repair something that doesn't need it? If the above sensor problem proves to be an issue with non-ambulance trucks, the recall will expand.

These thread seems like pretty much a non issue.

Ford Recall for Ambulances Only | Good Sam Community

45 Replies

Lessmore
Explorer II
Nov 06, 2013
ForestGump wrote:
I smell a TROLL!

Why ?
ForestGump
Explorer
Nov 06, 2013
I smell a TROLL!
rjstractor
Nomad
Nov 06, 2013
carringb wrote:
Ford has announced an Ambulance prep package for the Transit diesel. Won't quite reach 450/4500 weight territory but if the builder can build a lighter box, it will come in the longer wheelbases no common.

It would have to be much lighter. With our current rigs we are already pushing weight limits. Our fire department aid cars carry equipment that medical-only ambulances don't, so we need a little heavier duty rig than a Transit or Sprinter. A lot of departments have gone medium duty, but size, cost and fuel consumption go up considerably with those.
nremtp143
Explorer
Nov 05, 2013
rjstractor wrote:
Our department is facing a similar dilemma since Ford is no longer producing the E series with a diesel. Gas would work fine, but our fire stations are only set up to pump diesel, and when bad things happen (like storms) we still need to be able to fuel our trucks and don't want to depend on commercial fuel stations. The Freightliners are too big, the Sprinters too small, so that leaves us with the Ford E450 or GM Express 4500. The 450/4500 pickup chassis would work, but you're spending more $$ and taking up another 3 feet of space in the truck bay and getting absolutely nothing in return in capability. For now that pretty much leaves us with the GM 4500 Express with a Duramax diesel.

The county where I live is switching to all Dodge 4500s with a Cummins. Man, those are some nice looking rigs!
carringb
Explorer
Nov 05, 2013
rjstractor wrote:
For now that pretty much leaves us with the GM 4500 Express with a Duramax diesel.

Ford has announced an Ambulance prep package for the Transit diesel. Won't quite reach 450/4500 weight territory but if the builder can build a lighter box, it will come in the longer wheelbases no common.

See starting page 16 in the this PDF:
https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas/non-html/2014/2014MY_Whats_New_Book_03-12-13_v27.pdf
rjstractor
Nomad
Nov 05, 2013
Our department is facing a similar dilemma since Ford is no longer producing the E series with a diesel. Gas would work fine, but our fire stations are only set up to pump diesel, and when bad things happen (like storms) we still need to be able to fuel our trucks and don't want to depend on commercial fuel stations. The Freightliners are too big, the Sprinters too small, so that leaves us with the Ford E450 or GM Express 4500. The 450/4500 pickup chassis would work, but you're spending more $$ and taking up another 3 feet of space in the truck bay and getting absolutely nothing in return in capability. For now that pretty much leaves us with the GM 4500 Express with a Duramax diesel.
larry_barnhart
Explorer
Nov 03, 2013
Our electric company switched to ford v-10's after having 6 liter problems for their utility trucks.
chevman
nremtp143
Explorer
Nov 03, 2013
yr2017 wrote:
Lessmore wrote:
catfishmontana wrote:

Here they are Freightliners!

Our service used Fords for 30 years. Not anymore. All but 2 are Freightliners. The two Fords are backup trucks.
yr2017
Explorer
Nov 03, 2013
Lessmore wrote:
catfishmontana wrote:
These thread seems like pretty much a non issue.

Not if you're in the ambulance as a patient and very ill. :)

Where I live ambulances were all Ford (E 350/450 DRW cab + chassis) for many years.

They had a pretty good rep for reliability and durability with the 7.3 International engine.

Then the 6.0 liter.

After that, Ambulances were Chevy 4500 DRW (Express cab + chassis) and Dodge Sprinter. They got both the Express 4500 and Sprinter to see which worked out better.

Now ambulances up here are just Chevy.

Here they are Freightliners!
Jarlaxle
Explorer II
Nov 03, 2013
I have seen several new E-450 ambulances here...seems that some places are actually switching to gas power! Also saw a V10 F-550 4x4 ambulance...which, I have to say, is REALLY cool!

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Ford Recall for Ambulances Only

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