NHTSA Complaint #11348951 — 2014 FORD F-150

MY 2014 FORD F150 QUAD CAB TRUCK WAS PARKED AFTER DRIVING TO WORK, APPROXIMATELY 20 MINUTES OF DRIVING. AFTER PARKING THE CAR, ANOTHER EMPLOYEE NOTICED THE COOLING FAN WAS STILL RUNNING (OR ENGINE-ON SOUND) AND AT THE END OF MY ~9 HOUR SHIFT, I RETURNED TO MY FORD TRUCK WITH A DEAD BATTERY, WHICH REQUIRED A BOOST TO START THE TRUCK. AFTER RETURNING HOME FROM WORK, THE COOLING FAN CONTINUED TO OPERATE WITH THE VEHICLE PARKED AND THE IGNITION SWITCH IN THE OFF POSITION. AFTER REVIEWING THE ELECTRICAL DIAGRAM USING A FORD MOTORCRAFT ONLINE MANUAL SUBSCRIPTION, AND TRACING THE COOLING FAN CIRCUIT, WE FOUND THAT THE COOLING FAN RELAY (HI-POWER FOMOCO, RELAY NUMBER O101K 8T2T-14B192-AA) IF LIGHTLY TAPPED WITH A SMALL SCREWDRIVER HANDLE, THE COOLING FAN TURNED OFF. THE AIR FLOW THROUGH THE COOLING FAN AND HEAT EX-CHANGERS DID NOT FEEL HOT IN TEMPERATURE AND THERE WAS NO OVERHEAT CONDITION WITH THE COOLING SYSTEM, MALFUNCTIONING AC SYSTEM, OR AIR FLOW RESTRICTIONS. A NEW RELAY (ONE OF EIGHT RELAYS [WITH THE SAME PART NUMBER] LOCATED IN THE BATTERY JUNCTION BOX - BJB) WAS PURCHASED AT A LOCAL FORD DEALER BASED ON THE RELAY NUMBER MENTIONED ABOVE. THIS RELAY WAS IN-STOCK. UPON INSPECTING THE OLD RELAY, THE SIDE OF THE OUTER PLASTIC HOUSING HAD A MELT/BURN MARK, SHOWING SIGNS OF OVERHEATING. THIS WAS A CONCERN, AS WHEN THE OLD RELAY OUTER PLASTIC COVER WAS REMOVED, SIGNS OF ARCING/OVERHEATING WITHIN THE BI-METAL RELAY SWITCH WAS FOUND AND THE BI-METAL PIECE WAS NOT PROPERLY ATTACHED. WITH ALL OF THE PLASTIC MATERIAL IN THE BJB, THERE IS A CONCERNS THAT THE RELAY COULD CONTINUE OVERHEATING AND MELT THE PLASTIC MATERIAL IN THE BJB, CAUSING FURTHER DAMAGE OR FIRE RISK IN THAT AREA. I HAVE INCLUDED PHOTOS OF THE FAILED RELAY. THE NEW RELAY APPEARS TO FUNCTION PROPERLY AND THE COOLING FAN DOES NOT RUN WITH THE IGNITION IN THE OFF POSITION AND TRUCK PARKED. NO RECALLS.