Unsatisfactory, Ford !

[buzzworth]

My email to Ford:

My 2004 Ranger has issues with the "Smart junction box" and I'm told that they are on national backorder until at least mid august and that there are over 200 people are waiting for it.
How can Ford find this acceptable? Without the use of windshield wipers my truck is useless. Now I'm going to have to find another truck to use or buy.
The truck sat at the dealer for over a week before I was even informed that the part is not available.
Unsatisfactory !


How can a major manufacturer not have parts for such a time and leave so many vehicles useless for so long?

The truck has only 39000 miles and might as well be scrapped without this part. Dealer said they found one used but it would only have a 30 day warranty, not the 12 month a new one would. I can't take that chance with so many going bad.
Scary

buzz

 

[mentalbreakdown00]

chrysler has the same problem with thiers.....

 

[craveman85]

what is the issue caused by this? when i push my mist button to get a squirt of washer fluid the wipers stay on until i shut off the truck sometimes. kinda sucks to restart the truck while going down the interstate. i also have an 04.

 

[buzzworth]

First thing I noticed was my door locks/keyless entry didn't work. Then I noticed there was no interior light and when it rained the wipers and washer didn't work. The only other thing I find is the auto-down feature of the driver window does not work. Truck runs fine but it is hard to plan your day if it might rain.
I scrubbed and rain-x'd my windshield but it only helps at about 35 mph and above.......my neighbors might have a problem with that.

 

[Grey_04]

i also have a '04 ranger and with over 50,000 miles on it and have never had this problem was this a recall or ????????????????????????????????????

 

[buzzworth]

no recall I am aware of. The dealer certainly didn't treat it as one.
The part can be purchased for $222.84 (if it was available) but as with any electrical part it is yours when you walk out the door.
If they install, then it has a 12 month warranty.

BTW.........for them to install it then becomes a $510 service. Anyone ever replace this? It seems pretty straightforward, but I'd hate to fry it and then have to wait.........again.

buzz

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Some modules require the programming to be transferred from the old one to to the new one with the fancy Ford scantool, so that is something to look out for.

It is probably such an uncommon part they have to wait to get a full order before they make them, compared to say brake pads for a Taurus where they can make never make too many.

 

[kp3ft]

bad mix

There's always a more radical approach, but only if it's profitable in the long run, which it probably wouldn't be in your case since it's a 2004, and that is to sell the truck and get a different model or year. I'm in the process of getting our truck and car fixed up so I can sell them; then buy an older truck and car that have much less, preferably none, electronic interfacing (ECM, sensors, etc). I have plugged many many hundreds of dollars into repairs over the years, and they were all electronic-related (computer, sensors, etc.)... repairs that would have been unnecessary if they were older vehicles. It's a bad mix when combining microprocessor-control with more and more functions of the vehicle, and it's bad engineering (KISS principle: Keep It Simple). They are simply too expensive to fix for many people and I think the car companies need to target a growing customer base: poor people who do their own mechanics out of necessity... in other words they need to produce very basic no-frills economical vehicles with minimum electronic interfacing. Probably won't see it unless it's a new car company. And that reminds me of the "Cash For Clunkers" program which did nothing but hurt poor people by keeping the trade-in vehicles off the salvage-yard lots. Cars are great when they have no problems, but it seems like now even minor malfunctions can cost the owner one, two, or more paychecks to get the thing back on the road. No thanks...

 

[superds]

The part in question is a GEM (generic electronic module, iirc) module. It controls the timing of several functions, coutesy light, wipers, and a few others. I don't think it was one of Ford's brighter ideas to go away from simple circuits to an electronic multifunction unit. It's not worth scrapping the vehicle because of it. Get the used one and be done with it. I haven't been able to determine what programming is required to replace it but knowing Ford it probably is proprietary hardware/software required.

 

[heptofite]

on the plus side your truck still runs.

at least there isn't a national shortage of TFIs and yours is broken or something.

 

[buzzworth]

It's not a Gem module....I'm told that 2004 was the first year for the smart junction box instead of the Gem. It is proprietary and Ford makes them in Brazil, as many of it's parts are now.

 

[Jason]

Ford most likely doesn't make them at all. These things are subcontracted nowadays. That's how they end up running out. The company that makes them puts out a run, then changes up to make something else. Then you get a huge demand and you have to wait until said company finishes the work they already have slated before they set up to make that particular module again.

It happens all the time to many manufacturers. One time I had to go to Nissan North America directly and have them yank a heater box off the assembly line for a customers Murano. He went 8 months without the use of his heat or AC because the company that produced the box couldn't keep up with assembly orders so they never had a surplus for parts inventory. Nissan dropped them in short order though and found a new supplier.

 

[OilPatch197]

The company that makes them puts out a run, then changes up to make something else.

It's NOT THAT simple, many times parts are subcontracted from the subcontractor!

IMO I work for a automotive subcontractor, We build the parts HERE, for the Factory over in Kentucky, but some sub assemblies we build with come from Japan, China, and France.

I cannot imagine what a electronic part would be like! all those components, a shortage of just one value of a resistor that is needed can stop the whole show.

...even more so if it is a Service Item, lower priority as you are not shutting down million dollar factories, but putting customers on a backorder.

What happens many times is "projected production" and once in a while something does not sell, but more often than not, there is a greater demand(all those dudes in statistics and sales come up with these numbers)

So the Main business tells the subcontractors "we need 60 pcs per hour of this" and that is what the subcontractor goes with. When a line goes into service mode, for service orders, capacity is limited greatly since the "60 pcs per hour" line gets intergreated in another line and they just pump out "5 pcs per hour" and "8 pcs per hour of that, etc".

It is the Law that we provide ten years of service business after end of main production.

 

[chittybangbang]

My 2002 E-250 sat in the dealership's parking lot for 4 months waiting for a new catalytic converter.Ford could care less about back orders or its customers-Not that I sound bitter or anything.

 

[adsm08]

Some modules require the programming to be transferred from the old one to to the new one with the fancy Ford scantool, so that is something to look out for.

While that is true, the SJB isnt one of those modules.

It is probably such an uncommon part they have to wait to get a full order before they make them, compared to say brake pads for a Taurus where they can make never make too many.

That is probably the reason. It is not a common failure item, but they are expensive to make and then have them sit on a shelf so they wait for a full order.