2002 Lincoln LS Fuse Block Problem

[danieljcurrie]

Has anyone else had to replace their fuse block with wire harness system in their lincoln LS?

I just paid $5000 to have a Ford dealer mechanic learn how to replace a fuse block (in my 2002 Lincoln LS with only $77,000 miles on it) which has an entire wire harness system that runs throughout the vehicle from the trunk to the dashboard. He had that car torn inside out in the interior to the core. I drove the vehicle with this problem until the fuse block melted at the connection from the battery.

Within several days after leasing the vehicle, the check charging system warning light came on. They had no false codes, so they replaced the warning sensor. The same warning light would come on from time to time and disappear. The car did not fail to start, the battery always tested fine. The car never acted sluggish and gave no indication that there was a functional problem.

At 43,000 miles and at 50 months after purchase, it was identified as a malfunction with the alternator by a Lincoln dealer. Again, I replaced an alternator at 65,000 miles in February of 2009 (twice; because the 1st one did not correct the problem). There were never any false codes, still, after the check charging warning light came on. This is when the same Lincoln dealer who diagnosed the problem as a faulty alernator at 43,000 miles, now said it was a faulty fuse block (April of 2009).

I drove the car until February of 2010; this is when the fuse block melted at the connection with the battery (and the car would not start). The mechanic said that I was lucky that there was not an explosion (I am not sure why he said that).

I believe that the part put in the car by the manufacturer was faulty then. It does not make sense for a part like this to just go bad. My car was never in an accident, has always been in a garage at night, never in a flood, and never damaged in any other manner.

Does anyone have any thoughts, and do I have any recourse against Ford?

[shorod]

I've never heard of this happening to an LS or any other car, really. I'd be more prone to suspect that either the connection at the fuse block, where it melted, was a loose or dirty connection or the original alternator failed in such as way to degrade the fuse block which only continued to get worse. It's pretty well known that a loose or dirty connection in an high current application will get hot and can eventually cause connectors, wire insulation, housings, etc. to melt and sometimes ignite. It sounds like that's probably what happened here and unfortunately it was not fully diagnosed early in the car's life. I think you'd have a really difficult time creating a case against Ford or against the shop that put the "warning sensor" in. I really have no idea what the "warning sensor" would be unless it was the voltage regulator or alternator. A corporate lawyer would likely tear your case up if you went in and tried to claim the "charging system warning sensor was replaced."

-Rod