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[Jon P.]

My 2005 Excursion (6.0L) had an EGR valve clog up this summer. I ended up taking it to a dealer who does a lot of work on diesels. They've worked on mine in the past, and I've always been pleased with their work.

They pulled the EGR valve and told me that it was so coked up it should be replaced.

My vehicle is still within the 5 year/100K miles emissions warranty (as well as the engine warranty). The dealer told me that the emissions warranty only applies if the valve fails for some reason other than coking. In other words, it it just clogs, it's not covered, but if it failed electrically, for example, it would be covered. I just paid the bill and left.

I've now got another CEL, and the codes and symptoms (hard start, very rough running, etc.) strongly suggest a bad FICM. I pulled out the emissions warranty (which I had not done when the EGR valve went bad. I called the same dealer back and they told me that if it's the FICM, it's covered under the emissions warranty. I pointed out that the warranty says that the EGR valve is covered, and wondered why I was charged for the EGR valve. The dealer repeated what he had told me before -- coking is not covered.

I called Ford to ask about this issue. They called the dealer. The dealer told them that Ford had sent a TSB that apparently says that excessive carbon deposits are the result of "poor maintainance," and that the dealer had determined that this was the cause of the clogging. I've always maintained my vehicle in accordance with the service manual, so I don't see how he could conclude that there is improper maintenance.

It seems to me that the reason these things clog is because they are poorly designed. If they clogged as a result of improper maintenance, then you would expect only a small portion of EGR valves to clog. As I understand it, every single one clogs eventually. So it's a bad design (or just necessarily inherent in the design). Which means it should be covered under the warranty, it seems to me.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? It seems to me like Ford is trying to save money by blaming the customer for failures that are the result of their design.