You must provide the following documentation on the technician copy of each brake service repair order. On a fully electronic repair order system, this information must be included in the technician comment section.

Repair Order Documentation - Rotor Refinish:
When resurfacing a brake rotor or drum, the ORIGINAL thickness (measured thickness before refinish) and REFINISHED thickness (measured thickness after refinish) must be written/documented on the repair order hard copy. If a rotor replacement is necessary, the original thickness and reason for replacement must be recorded. It is not necessary to replace both front rotors if only one front rotor does not meet specifications. Likewise for the rear is applicable.

Repair Order Documentation - Lateral Run Out and Correctional Plate Usage:
Anytime a new refinished hub less brake of rotor is installed on a vehicle, the rotor assembly MUST BE measured for Lateral Run Out (LRO) and if the LRO measurement is greater than .002 inches (.050mm), correct it by using the proper Brake Align(R) Correctional Plate (Do Not Refinish new rotors or newly refinished rotors to correct LRO). This LRO measurement and the Correctional Plate part number used to correct the LRO, MUST ALSO BE recorded on the repair order hard copy.

We have had several dealers submit incomplete DOT codes. It may look like their
is only 8 characters but look closely. The first part of the DOT code, which is 8
characters in length, appears separately from the date code portion of the DOT,
which is imprinted in a circle behind the initial 8 characters.

Not kicking any serious Firestone butt over this recall, but I think we've all done
a couple. Problem is, once again, DOT code recognition. Most replacement
tires for these Excursions are Pirelli tires. Dealers have called Ford advising
Ford that Pirelli tires have 8 character DOT codes, not 10-12 characters every
other tire maker has. On Pirelli tires the first part of the DOT code, which is
8 characters in length, appears separately from the date code portion of the
DOT, which is imprinted in a circle behind the initial 8 characters. They will
still have 12 characters. We've had several dealers submit incomplete DOT
codes, and maybe this will clear it up.

According to the latest Supplement 1 of Customer Satisfaction Program 04B14, and the "Emergency Replacement Tire Order Form", all orders must include one Black Side Wall (BSW) tire for every four ordered, to be used as the spare. The way we read this is: that it only applies to "emergency" orders from the Excursion Hot Line team number. However, dealers should keep in mind when ordering tires that they should only replace 4 of the OWL (Outlined White Letter) tires and one BSW (Black Side Wall) tire for the spare. Naturally, Ford is doing everything in their power to make this as complicated as possible. Not sure this is going to be a problem, but the potential is there. Remember to check for updates on FMCDealer.com daily.

Stop Lamp Switch
Ford just published the parts and labor operations for this recall this afternoon. Recall covers 938,759 Taurus' and Sables built from 2000 - 2003 with adjustable pedals, and all 2000 Taurus' and Sables with fixed pedals. Recall pays 0.6 hrs. Almost a million of these!

This supplement re-instated 0.3 hours in labor for a road test, and revised technical instructions which provide for a post repair road test to determine that the repair and drivability concerns were corrected.

This is much like the "B" and "M" programs, in that if the concern is present, complete the repair. If the customer states that their vehicle stalls, has engine hesitation, loss of power, surging, or other similar symptoms, the FDM is to be replaced. Ford has determined that there is no need for further diagnostics prior to replacement. This program covers only the replacement of the FDM. Ford has already rejected claims for nickel/dime items like clamps that have been broken during replacement, and they have also refused any additional time requested due to problems replacing this FDM. We have dealers that are still attempting to claim for the old style FDM, which Ford made "obsolete" on January 22, 2004. Effective that date, no previous design FDMs were authorized to complete the repair, due to the availability of the new design (1M5Z 9H307 CA).

Some service departments seem to feel "I've never met a FDM I liked". Hard to prove, but it looks like every Ford Focus that drives into certain dealerships get the FDM replaced. I'm sure that Ford is looking at the returned FDMs, and I would guess that they had better be clogged up/gunked up/messed up, or the possible ramifications would be potential charge backs. I have yellow-noted several dealers, several times, that the tech hard copy comments do not explain the reason for the repair. "Performed program 03N01 per customer letter" is not sufficient information. Did any symptoms exist that would indicate failure or potential failure of the FDM? Any customer complaints of stalling, etc? A letter stating that the FDM is getting an extended warranty lifetime of 10 years doesn't mean that every FDM in every Ford Focus will fail and should be replaced.

Many dealerships handle this repair as such. Vehicle comes in FDM gets replaced. No testing, no customer interview, no tech comments, no management initials, no diags. New FDM is installed. These things are expensive modules, and Ford is paying Them 1.9 hours to install & post road test. There must be several hundred thousand Focus' out there, and when is Ford going to pull the plug and start auditing the abusers of the program? I would suggest sooner, rather than later. Especially dealers that order the new design FDMs by the hundreds and just install them in every Focus that drives by their dealership. We see this as a potential area for Ford to try to recoup some of the money being paid out especially unjustified replacements.

As with the 01B77 tire replacement program, stand by for further updates to this program. They have not taken into account, during the publication of this program, that the suspect tires could have been added to other vehicles (Super Duty Trucks, for example). These may indeed be popular replacement tires for other vehicles, and just because they weren't original
equipment when leaving the factory, there will be dealers calling and telling us they have a non-recall vehicle with the tires. Ford didn't cover that, but I'm sure when it happens, their reply will be to send them to a Firestone dealer, and let them handle it. And, when a vehicle comes in and they have the tires in stock, the labor op to replace them doesn't cover the inspection, so remember to use 04B14E (0.4 to inspect and possibly return at a later date for the replacement tires) and 04B14G for 1.8 to replace the tires and the Tire pressure warning label!

Service must get DOT codes off the old tires. They will be required to get the claims paid.

Ford and Firestone just launched program 04B14 - Firestone Tire Safety Campaign. Covers 80,000 Ford Excursion vehicles (400,000 tires) produced at Louisville Assembly Plant from March 24, 1999 through February 13, 2003. Steeltex Radial A/T LT265/75r!6 LR D OWL and BSW tires are affected. Yet another Firestone casualty! Ford dealers are not allowed to swap Firestones for Firestones, and dealers will be using Pirelli Scorpion tires and some BF Goodrich Rugged Trail tires as replacements! See program details!

Ford Dealers have you noticed that when some warranty claims for the Ford Explorer Sport
pay, they pay more, and that the reason that they are paying more is that Ford, is confusing
their own vehicle lines! They are using labor ops for the Ford Explorer Sport Track instead
of the Explorer Sport. Most of the time the labor is in the dealerships favor, since the Sport
Track normally pays more.

New warranty labor operations are available for Ford's 6.0 L Diesel. Log into FMC dealer and find the "Professional Technician Society" page.

Not all supplemental warranty operations are available as of yet. The use MT Time is advised when needed.

Ford Dealers

Warranty Recall 04B12
Be careful not to miss the Motorcraft Anti-Corrosion Low Temperature Coating.

Submit in ACESII as $2.00 "OTHER"

From FCSD letter dated Jan. 9th 2004

For all repairs Dated 02-09-2004 all "DTC" codes generated from either WDS or NGS must be reported to Ford Motor Company via the ACESII system, these also include all "DTC" codes for Drivability and Body Chassis and Electrical systems. If no Codes are generated then you must enter "NOCODE" in the proper "DTC" field.

Front seat belt buckle cover replacement.
2001 Model year Escapes. 132,243 of them to be exact!
Install a front safety belt buckle cover replacement. 03S10B 0.4 Hours
Part # is 4L8Z 78610C26 AA

As with the most recent ones, they expect no extra parts and no related damage or MT labor ops. Prior approval is required for anything/any parts/any labor/any after market stuff over and above Ford's stated parts/labor in the recall!

Be alert! Review your Oasis. Not all Lincolns are eligible for Lincoln Commitment Maintenance. For eligibility you must review the Oasis for the name of the owner. If is says "Valued Lincoln Customer" (Instead of the owners name) that means it was originally a leased vehicle and is not eligible for the free maintenance program.

As everyone knows by now Ford Motor Company is requiring the entry of specific technical data on many repairs. The newest of these is the requirements for NPF and DIAG claims. Effective on 11/03/2003 it is mandatory that the 9-digit OASIS Contact ID be entered into ACESII on all of these types of claims. All claims entered without this Contact ID will be returned unpaid by the ACESII system. Please see FCSD dealer communication dated 09/26/2003 for complete details.