Field Service Action is optional???

[Jeffrey Long]

Howdy All,

I have a 2018 Platinum Expedition that I took to my local Ford dealer for some warranty work... long story short my vehicle has FSA 18B21 issued for it (automatic engine idle) and I included the FSA in the warranty work that I requested be done. When I went to pick up my Expedition. I noticed the FSA was NOT listed on the service report and when I asked the service writer if the FSA work had been performed he informed me that FSA's are dealer optional and that they had opted NOT to do the work since my vehicle didn't seem to have any symptoms. I had the understanding that FSA's were basically Ford's kinder. gentler way of saying recall and that FSA's are not a dealer optional thing. Is my understanding of what an FSA actually is wrong?

Thx,
dusty

 

[nate6966]

Following...

 

[aggiegrad05]

I have previously been told that....

A “field service bulletin” or "field service action" is different than a safety recall. A recall is safety related and must be fixed on all affected vehicles because the risk of there being a problem outweighs the cost of fixing all vehicles whether the issue shows up or not. An FSA/FSB is just a "hey, we've noticed this thing might be broken so check and see if it is...and if it is, here's how to fix it." But they are not going to fix all vehicles because there is no risk if some go un-fixed.

For instance, the little dangly things that connect the back window defroster to the vehicle. If those start breaking off in large numbers, Ford could issue an FSA/FSB noting the issue and explaining a procedure to fix it. Because you have an Expi, it would apply to you, but if you take it in and demand that it be fixed, the dealer can look and see if the dangly thing is still attached. If it is, they have the option blow off the fix because it's not borken. Now, if for some made-up reason the vehicle were to explode if that dangly thing came off, that would be a recall and every Expi that came in would have the piece replaced just to make sure there was no problem, even if it were still attached.

In other words, an FSA/FSB it's not a safety related issue, so Ford doesn't want to fix all the vehicles, just the ones that are broken. So they issue the FSA/FSB alerting the dealer to the issue and letting them know how to correct it if present on a particular vehicle. Recalls are for safety related issues that must be fixed regardless of whether the issue has presented or not. FAS/FSB are for non-safety related things that break and explain how to fix them.

Does that make sense the way I said it?

 

[aggiegrad05]

All that being said, the fix on FSA 18B21 is a simple software fix, and your dealer needs to stop being an a**hole and just reflash your system. They probably spent more time determining that your vehicle didn't show symptoms of a problem that they would have flashing the new software.

 

[Flexpedition]

According the program, owner notification letters were sent out the week of Aug 27, 2018 -- did you receive one in the mail?

If yes, then the dealer should have performed the tasks associated with the FSA if the defect was present.

If no notification was sent in the mail, as in your vehicle wasn't included based on its unique VIN, then no, there wouldn't be a reason for the dealer to do the FSA task. Ford reimburses the dealer for the work, granted its all of 19 minutes, but corporate greed works in both directions here.

Just to clarify, this was for '18 Expeditions produced during a certain time period, but not ~every~ single unit was included. So there is a chance yours needs nothing, but the 6 built ahead of yours and the 5 behind it did.

I don't know your production date, so a chance its not included as its not 2018 all inclusive. Was the FSA issued before or after your purchase date? I also don't know your service history, maybe they did the work at an oil change appointment & made you none the wiser.

 

[Jeffrey Long]

I did get a notification letter in the mail from Ford and FordPass has the FSA listed as the first tile at the bottom of the screen. I received the FSA notification in the mail several months (don't remember the exact date I received the letter) after I purchased in May of 2018. And yes, I did indeed show the service writer the FSA listing for my vehicle on FordPass.

 

[Fordplatty15]

I did get a notification letter in the mail from Ford and FordPass has the FSA listed as the first tile at the bottom of the screen. I received the FSA notification in the mail several months (don't remember the exact date I received the letter) after I purchased in May of 2018. And yes, I did indeed show the service writer the FSA listing for my vehicle on FordPass.

An FSA is basically a Ford internal recall (not forced by the NHTSB) or a warranty extension on a possible part that may have higher failure rates than normal. The dealer needs to perform the FSA if your vehicle's VIN registers as needing it.

TSB's do NOT have to be performed by dealers if there is no issue experienced.

 

[Plati]

I have heard of "optional" things like this for Expeditions that you only do if the vehicle exhibits a specific problem. Having been around software (firmware) on complex machines for a long time I can understand the risk associated with a software change. If it aint broke don't fix it.