Can't get wire harnesses - I think I'm selling my First Edition

RIckyco82

Feb 21, 2024

I love my Bronco and the culture. I was order #16 and I got my First Edition Area 51 4 door and have been happy since. Until ...

Rats chewed through my wire harness in my engine compartment. Now my Bronco has been sitting at the dealership for a month. The dealership asked me to call Ford Parts and the lady told me the parts were "obsolete" and sent me back to the dealer. (And had the nerve to tell me there was a 15% sale on Ford.com to buy accessories for a car I can't drive!)

Fullerton Ford said the parts are backordered and they cannot give me an ETA. Told me they had a guy wait 11 months for a part.

I planned on giving this Bronco to my kids when I'm old and gone. Now, I'm going to sell the Bronco if this is the way it's going to be every time I have a problem with a part.

If anyone can help help me find these parts I would also be grateful. It would help me get back into the Bronco and it may help me sell this thing. This might be the last Ford I ever buy. (Part numbers are on the invoice attached)

Side note - Luckily I kept my 2012 Dodge Charger with 230K miles so I have a car. The only problem I ever had with it was a bad alternator at 130K miles.

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Estimate of Record - English.pdf 13.9 KB

UserError, Bluestreak57

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Feb 22, 2024

#20

Jakob1972
Dang that is worse than my wife’s old Subaru, and it has been sitting for 26 years. We don’t get too many rats around here.

It was a mouse. I think he was building an FU estate. That was just a week or two worth of work too. They've been in that car for 15 years or so. I can't eradicate them. Once a mouse fell on my wife's sweater when she flipped down the visor.

We live on a river. Once I stopped on the bridge, a mouse dropped out from the wheel well, scurried about on the deck, then jumped off the bridge. A 6' drop to the water! I think he was Special Ops or something. Lol.

No salt tram towers were harmed in the making of this post...

raqball, jd-ford-hd

Feb 22, 2024

#21

Jakob1972
without all the background that was one of the reasons I thought they were poor, they should never ask the customer to do their job.

unless they were getting no where and wanted you to hear for yourself. My buddy had an accident in his Wildtrack back in early 2022 and the body shop was able to get the wiring harness that runs behind the bumper twice (the first one they cut by accident) in less than two months and that was back when supply chain issues were a real thing. In early 2023 they had a second accident and they replaced all the same parts in just 3 weeks.

Just hard to hear someone would get rid of an FE that they planned to leave to their kids over a wire harness. My boys are already planning trips in the Everglades when I am gone, they will get it.

The dealership said they could not get any answers and asked me to call. Their thought was maybe Ford would react to a customer better than the dealership.

I bought the Bronco because I love Bronco. My thought on selling it is that I intend to break more things on it due to usage. If this is what the future of getting parts and service looks like then I'm not interested and will move on to a manufacturer who can help. I can only go by my personal experience and right now, it's not a great one.

Jakob1972, TK1215

Feb 22, 2024

#22

Eninty
How bad is the damage? I have this problem all the time. I just repair the wires. Why can't the wires be repaired until the harness can be sourced?

My dad is an electrician and he said the same thing. When I asked the dealership they said the connectors were chewed up and that is the biggest issue. If it was just the wires they would have fixed it and we could have waited for the parts later.

Eninty

Feb 22, 2024

#23

TK1215
That person at Ford is full of it. Considering that Bronco’s are being produced every day and there hasn’t been a model refresh yet….the parts aren’t obsolete. The insurance company should be dealing with this not you. That is why we pay insurance companies.

I didn't consider this. I will call AAA and see if they can assist. Thanks for the recommendation.

Feb 22, 2024

#24

RIckyco82
The dealership said they could not get any answers and asked me to call. Their thought was maybe Ford would react to a customer better than the dealership.

I bought the Bronco because I love Bronco. My thought on selling it is that I intend to break more things on it due to usage. If this is what the future of getting parts and service looks like then I'm not interested and will move on to a manufacturer who can help. I can only go by my personal experience and right now, it's not a great one.

@Ford Motor Company responded on post #5. Did you reach out to them? It's a big company and just because you talked to one or two people doesn't mean you have exhausted the options. I reached out to them as I was not pleased with the dealer's service department. They do want to help, or at least give them the chance.

Feb 22, 2024

#25

Eninty
Just for grins...
TPMS harness

That's pretty mild. If it's one of the big inch plus bundles of the main harness it wouldn't be so simple.

Feb 22, 2024

#26

swooshdave
That's pretty mild. If it's one of the big inch plus bundles of the main harness it wouldn't be so simple.

I was providing an example of rat damage (mice generally don't chew through wires, they just nibble on the insulation). It's the only pic of wire damage from a rat that I have in my phone. I've had much worse.

No salt tram towers were harmed in the making of this post...

Feb 22, 2024

#27

RIckyco82
My dad is an electrician and he said the same thing. When I asked the dealership they said the connectors were chewed up and that is the biggest issue. If it was just the wires they would have fixed it and we could have waited for the parts later.

I'm not sure how Ford handles LRU (Lowest Replaceable Unit) parts, but some auto manufacturers have electrical LRU parts to the connector (shell) level. I know BMW definitely does. You can re-pin a new connector onto the harness. I've not dug around on Ford part sites for a long time, so I don't know. It could be the Bronco is so new still that Ford has not developed the logistics for electrical harness repair parts (i.e. pigtail repair parts). My 1999 F150 did have a lot of pigtail repair parts, but it was years after production ended. You are competing for parts with an in-production vehicle where Ford has not yet built its repair parts inventory up. This is probably still aftermath of COVID affecting supply chains.

No salt tram towers were harmed in the making of this post...

Jakob1972, TK1215

Feb 23, 2024

#28

Eninty
I'm not sure how Ford handles LRU (Lowest Replaceable Unit) parts, but some auto manufacturers have electrical LRU parts to the connector (shell) level. I know BMW definitely does. You can re-pin a new connector onto the harness. I've not dug around on Ford part sites for a long time, so I don't know. It could be the Bronco is so new still that Ford has not developed the logistics for electrical harness repair parts (i.e. pigtail repair parts). My 1999 F150 did have a lot of pigtail repair parts, but it was years after production ended. You are competing for parts with an in-production vehicle where Ford has not yet built its repair parts inventory up. This is probably still aftermath of COVID affecting supply chains.

I just had a connector replaced, it was a pigtail. So for some things they do have them.

Feb 23, 2024

#29

swooshdave
@Ford Motor Company responded on post #5. Did you reach out to them? It's a big company and just because you talked to one or two people doesn't mean you have exhausted the options. I reached out to them as I was not pleased with the dealer's service department. They do want to help, or at least give them the chance.

Lol, they just post on here to look present and responsive. Have yet to see or hear of them being of any actual assistance.

Supreme Leader of the Wandering but NOT Lost
2022 OBX Cyber Orange Metallic with random acutriments.

Feb 23, 2024

#30

OrangecrushBronco
Lol, they just post on here to look present and responsive. Have yet to see or hear of them being of any actual assistance.

Yes, I reached out to them and they responded. Fortunately I haven’t had to ask more from them. Yet. But at least it wasn’t complete lip service.

OrangecrushBronco

Feb 23, 2024

#31

What about it @RIckyco82 ? The 5th response to your post was @Ford Motor Company offering help and even gave instructions for messaging. Have you contacted them and what is the status of their involvement.? We all want to know.

F ederal O wnership R espectfully D eclined

Feb 23, 2024

#32

Eninty
Trust me when I tell you this, I'm extremely familiar with wire damage caused by rodents. I've done such repairs on my vehicles at least 30 times.

2Dr Badlands - MIC - Area51 - 2.7 Auto - MGV - Headliner - High Pkg
Reserved 7/20/20 Delivered 5/6/23
"Ford said, hey we're gonna fulfill all reservations and pre-orders before we build stock units."

Jakob1972, Unicorn

Feb 23, 2024

#33

Rydfree

They'd just be food for the coyotes.

No salt tram towers were harmed in the making of this post...

PSUTE, Rydfree

Feb 23, 2024

#34

Apart from flood-damaged vehicles, aren't there any donor Broncos out there in junkyards or pick-and-pulls? Used isn't ideal, but it might be a patch until a fresh new harness can be obtained and transplanted.

I wouldn't want this to reoccur. ROUS are menacing! 🐀

Chris here. I drive a 2-door Velocity Blue 2023 Ford Bronco Badlands with Sasquatch, Lux, a 2.7L V6, and an automatic transmission. It’s fun.

PSUTE

Feb 23, 2024

#35

For you people plagued with rodent issues, your solution might be somewhere on this thread:

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/raccoon-and-mice-invade-bronco-engine-bay.88300/

Feb 23, 2024

#36

Eninty
They'd just be food for the coyotes.

Just give them a place like a barn to sleep and they'll be fine. Sure the coyotes will eat but they won't get all of them. Barn cats are as lazy as house cats. Or put it this way, the lazy barn cats don't last long.

PSUTE, Rydfree

Feb 23, 2024

#37

Eninty
They'd just be food for the coyotes.

Actually I think a Coyote got my rodent getter this week. We haven't seen it in 4 days now. It has a bed in the garage but the wife asked me yesterday if I had taken it off cause she hasn't seen it and she usually feeds it in the morning before she leaves for work. Now I have to go to plan B if it doesn't return.

https://junional.com/product/flip-n...p-1/?msclkid=a0ac62ee60ba1c5325d50736aba33e35

2Dr Badlands - MIC - Area51 - 2.7 Auto - MGV - Headliner - High Pkg
Reserved 7/20/20 Delivered 5/6/23
"Ford said, hey we're gonna fulfill all reservations and pre-orders before we build stock units."

Eninty

Feb 23, 2024

#38

Rydfree
Actually I think a Coyote got my rodent getter this week. We haven't seen it in 4 days now. It has a bed in the garage but the wife asked me yesterday if I had taken it off cause she hasn't seen it and she usually feeds it in the morning before she leaves for work. Now I have to go to plan B if it doesn't return.

https://junional.com/product/flip-n...p-1/?msclkid=a0ac62ee60ba1c5325d50736aba33e35

Add a little antifreeze in the bottom to ease their thirst and that'll make a fine trap.

No salt tram towers were harmed in the making of this post...

Rydfree

Feb 24, 2024

#39

It seems we are not alone in our rodent problems and eco insulation woes :(

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...1&cvid=44d521d3009a41e6b1aefddfbdb55220&ei=45

2Dr Badlands - MIC - Area51 - 2.7 Auto - MGV - Headliner - High Pkg
Reserved 7/20/20 Delivered 5/6/23
"Ford said, hey we're gonna fulfill all reservations and pre-orders before we build stock units."

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