Active Air Dam Issue

[fastlane]

This issue brought me to this forum. Just picked up our xlt powerstroke this past week. Didn’t even know about the active air dam until I saw it was jacked up when we arrived home from picking it up. I assumed that it had been curbed on a parking chock and realigned everything myself. Today it was caught again. Google search brought me here.
Those who have been to the dealer to have this corrected, what has been your experience? Have they tried to pin blame on you?

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[Asphaltman]

This issue brought me to this forum. Just picked up our xlt powerstroke this past week. Didn’t even know about the active air dam until I saw it was jacked up when we arrived home from picking it up. I assumed that it had been curbed on a parking chock and realigned everything myself. Today it was caught again. Google search brought me here.
Those who have been to the dealer to have this corrected, what has been your experience? Have they tried to pin blame on you?

Mines at the dealer now going on 5 weeks for fit and finish issues. One is the air dam. They claimed they adjusted per Ford….but noticed it was still duplicating the problem, so have ordered a new one. I was worried they would blame me, but simply pointing to this site shows it’s a super common issue.

 

[BlackCloud]

It would be helpful if there was a way to lower and raise it manually while the vehicle is stopped, so we could watch it operate. I suspect the movable part is lowering too far, which allows the soft rubber portion of the upper, fixed part to blow backward and cause the jam we see in the pictures.

A while back, I pushed mine back into its properly stowed position, and slid a 1x4 board between the two parts to hold it in position overnight, and perhaps force a little more clearance between the two parts. Since then, I have not seen it hang up on itself, but I am not convinced it is operating as it should, since I can't see it in motion.

The picture above is taken from the ground looking up, with the board in place. At the top of the picture frame is the chrome front bumper. The black band below that is the fixed part of the air dam. You can see the soft rubber portion, just above the board, is curled in the center, which is where the movable part was hanging up. Below the board is the movable part, covered with white water spots. Below that, at the bottom of the picture, you can see up into the engine compartment.

Again, I suspect the movable part drops down too far, allowing the wind, at highway speed, to blow the soft rubber part aft just enough to get in the way when the movable part tries to rise back into the stowed position.

I am tempted to mount a video camera under there to see how it looks going up and down while driving (like in the thread by Wilsons66605 ), but haven't done so yet. Maybe a dealer could tell us if there is some way to activate it while the vehicle is stopped.

 

[Jordon Gies]

I removed the active air dam and motors. No need for that garbage. It’s just more stuff to go wrong with the truck that’s not needed.

 

[TexasTrash]

I removed the active air dam and motors. No need for that garbage. It’s just more stuff to go wrong with the truck that’s not needed.

Any issues or faults pop up after you removed it?

 

[Missmy3/4ton]

Any issues or faults pop up after you removed it?

Just loosing 1 MPG, but no lights or anything like that. You can see there's an 'issue' with it if you run the detailed diagnostics.

 

[fastlane]

Quick update….we took the truck in to a nearby dealer (we leased the truck at a dealer further away). They determined that the dam assembly and motors need to be replaced. They claim that it was likely deformed in transport and are billing the originating dealership for the repair (they agreed to pay it). Long story short, we are getting it fixed for free.….but the parts are on national backorder with no eta. For now, the dam seems to not be catching as bad, although it looks a bit messed up from the front. not to worried about it and just driving as normal until parts come in eventually.

 

[Bogeypro]

It'll come back. It's the design... Mine did it multiple times. It finally just rolled up and started that way. It's a horrible solution to a problem we didn't have. Now, it's just more crap to break.

 

[Eric]

Mine too! My truck just rolled 12,000 miles and has more problems than an Algebra book!

Mine looks exactly the same. I fixed it with my hands because I though I may have touched it on a curb but when I got back home it was back to being like this without touching anything

 

[schoonerboy]

This is happening all over the place. My dealer has had several of them now. They are replacing everything. It is very easy to remove the dam. 3 x 7mm screws on each end and it comes off super easy.
Very flimsy and poor design. Motors are flopping around at the attachment points. I doubt this will be a part that lasts. Once it gets caught both parts get deformed and then it’s just a matter of time it will catch and hang up again.

 

[Missmy3/4ton]

6500 miles and mine just dicked itself up. Anyone that's got theirs replaced, has it done it again?

 

[jvbronco]

Those who have been to the dealer to have this corrected, what has been your experience? Have they tried to pin blame on you?

Same issue here. Stuck in the open position.

I had to send my service tech the ford advertising materials and a youtube video showing the active air dam to prove it moved. He insisted that it was not a movable part and that they snapped it back into place (which I had already tried twice before taking it in for service).

We went back and forth for about a day before I realized he truly didn't believe the part moved. After having his service manager "take a look" I'm now waiting for the new part to arrive.

It doesn't bother me that he didn't know it moved (new parts on new model year truck - I get it), but I must have said a half dozen times that it gets stuck when it moves down. He simply assumed I was incorrectly talking about the grill shudders / louvers behind the ford emblem and disregarded everything else I said until I shared the ford materials with him.

 

[BlackCloud]

Same issue here. Stuck in the open position.

I had to send my service tech the ford advertising materials and a youtube video showing the active air dam to prove it moved. He insisted that it was not a movable part and that they snapped it back into place (which I had already tried twice before taking it in for service).

We went back and forth for about a day before I realized he truly didn't believe the part moved. After having his service manager "take a look" I'm now waiting for the new part to arrive.

It doesn't bother me that he didn't know it moved (new parts on new model year truck - I get it), but I must have said a half dozen times that it gets stuck when it moves down. He simply assumed I was incorrectly talking about the grill shudders / louvers behind the ford emblem and disregarded everything else I said until I shared the ford materials with him.

I've been waiting about 6 months for parts so far - and I don't think it's a chip issue.

 

[Eric]

This is happening all over the place. My dealer has had several of them now. They are replacing everything. It is very easy to remove the dam. 3 x 7mm screws on each end and it comes off super easy.
Very flimsy and poor design. Motors are flopping around at the attachment points. I doubt this will be a part that lasts. Once it gets caught both parts get deformed and then it’s just a matter of time it will catch and hang up again.

Can I see them and remove them as easily if I just crawl under there or am I going to have to get her up in the air?

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