Grille Shutters Not Covered Under Warranty?

[clm65]

We had a couple of issues over the weekend with my wife's 2017 Limited. On Saturday morning we ended up with a dead battery. Jump started without a problem. Then in the afternoon we had an intermittent overheating issue. Took it to the dealer today, and he said the battery needs to be replaced (this will be the third battery - they seem to last exactly 2 years, both previous batteries came from Ford). They also said the active grille shutter is bad and needs to be replaced. Possible cause of the shutter failure is the battery issue. The vehicle has about 38K miles, and we have an extended warranty, but the dealer says the warranty does not cover the shutter and it is going to cost us ~$700. I don't have my extended warranty paperwork (I think it is in the vehicle, currently still at the dealer). For those of you familiar with the ESP, does the grille shutter sound like something that should be covered?

 

[peterk9]

You are not the first to have the Active Grille Shutters fail, A few members have run across this issue and all mentioned it isn't covered by warranty.
See this thread; Active Grille Shutter Assembly Repair/Replacement 2016 Explorer
As far as the Ford ESP Warranty goes, you can easily find a copy of it online. I checked it once before and the grille shutters are not included or excluded from what I recall.

Peter

 

[clm65]

You are not the first to have the Active Grille Shutters fail, A few members have run across this issue and all mentioned it isn't covered by warranty.
See this thread; Active Grille Shutter Assembly Repair/Replacement 2016 Explorer
As far as the Ford ESP Warranty goes, you can easily find a copy of it online. I checked it once before and the grille shutters are not included or excluded from what I recall.

Peter

Thank you Peter! The first post in that thread is exactly how mine was behaving. My wife informed me the the $700 repair estimate was just the parts, and over $1100 including labor. The part is backordered, so can't replace it now anyway. So if I can't get them to replace it under warranty (which sounds like will be the case), I will probably just prop it open or remove it. I live in Florida, so I really don't need it anyway.

 

[peelman]

Thank you Peter! The first post in that thread is exactly how mine was behaving. My wife informed me the the $700 repair estimate was just the parts, and over $1100 including labor. The part is backordered, so can't replace it now anyway. So if I can't get them to replace it under warranty (which sounds like will be the case), I will probably just prop it open or remove it. I live in Florida, so I really don't need it anyway.

check Rockauto for pricing.

 

[clm65]

check Rockauto for pricing.

Good advice! Much cheaper than what the dealer quoted for the part. I found a good price for an OEM shutter assembly from Tasca parts, but the aftermarket parts are much cheaper. Not sure about the quality though. I’m going to gag it open for now, and then decide if I should replace it.

 

[peterk9]

Good advice! Much cheaper than what the dealer quoted for the part. I found a good price for an OEM shutter assembly from Tasca parts, but the aftermarket parts are much cheaper. Not sure about the quality though. I’m going to gag it open for now, and then decide if I should replace it.

Here are two more sites that are way less expensive than the Fordparts site.

Shop For Parts By Year | Auto Nation Ford White Bear Lake

parts.autonationfordwhitebearlake.com

Discount Ford Performance Parts, Lincoln Accessories | Levittown Ford (site vendor and offers discount to forum members)

Peter

 

[omar302]

The Active Grille Shutters are for increasing Fuel Economy at higher speeds. I wouldn't expect the fuel savings will be worth the cost for replacing them. I'd suggest to either remove them or just disconnect them if they can be positioned in the fully open position.

 

[peterk9]

Increasing fuel economy by making the vehicle more aerodynamic at highway speed is one function of them. The other is to help regulate airflow into the engine during hot/cold weather. The latter is probably more important.

Peter

 

[94Eddie]

Increasing fuel economy by making the vehicle more aerodynamic at highway speed is one function of them. The other is to help regulate airflow into the engine during hot/cold weather. The latter is probably more important.

Peter

I am curious as to why these shutters are needed at all in regard to coolant temps. It seems the typical thermostat control would suffice to regulate coolant temperature the way it has been done in vehicles for decades. Shutters gave been useful for diesel engines but not so much for gas engines. I can see the possible gas mileage improvements being a reason as Ford has done everything possible in the past to eek out one more tenth of MPG. I am scratching my head regarding the coolant temperature control aspect.

 

[peterk9]

I'm not sure if the actual benefits are that noticeable in either case.
Whilst the primary function of the active grille shutters is to reduce the aerodynamic drag of the car, there are some secondary benefits like improving the warm up time of engine and also retaining engine heat when parked.

Google Search

Peter

 

[94Eddie]

It seems like 99% of the reason it exists is for improving MPG. As for warm up time, the thermostat will remain shut stopping all coolant flow from the radiator until the engine is warm. I don't see where the shutters will speed up warming time with the thermostat being the main control over this occurring. With all the debris that gets sucked into radiators it seems this is another unnecessary source for parts failure leading to getting stranded and/or high repair costs. I am also wondering why this item isn't covered under warranty when the radiator and other cooling system components are covered. Especially considering that Ford says it is a functional part of the cooling system and not solely for MPG gains.

Edit: I am not trying to be argumentative with you on this. Just expressing my thoughts.

 

[omar302]

It seems like 99% of the reason it exists is for improving MPG. As for warm up time, the thermostat will remain shut stopping all coolant flow from the radiator until the engine is warm. I don't see where the shutters will speed up warming time with the thermostat being the main control over this occurring. With all the debris that gets sucked into radiators it seems this is another unnecessary source for parts failure leading to getting stranded and/or high repair costs. I am also wondering why this item isn't covered under warranty when the radiator and other cooling system components are covered. Especially considering that Ford says it is a functional part of the cooling system and not solely for MPG gains.

Edit: I am not trying to be argumentative with you on this. Just expressing my thoughts.

My guess is that with the shutters closed blocking air from coming through, the whole engine bay would warm up faster leading a faster warming engine. I know for earlier Ford/Lincoln models, like the 2013-2016 Lincoln MKS, the Shutters were not included in all Engine options, only on the standard less powerful hence my belief it was a Fuel Economy thing. At least for those models.

 

[AdamWest436]

My guess is that with the shutters closed blocking air from coming through, the whole engine bay would warm up faster leading a faster warming engine. I know for earlier Ford/Lincoln models, like the 2013-2016 Lincoln MKS, the Shutters were not included in all Engine options, only on the standard less powerful hence my belief it was a Fuel Economy thing. At least for those models.

Yes, the equivalent of what you see folks attach to the front of the older 18 wheelers in the winter to block airflow to the grille in winter. I have't kept track of the explorer as much but my GM cars they stayed closed 5 months of the year since we still have a freak chance of snow/hail this late in the year.