Originally Posted by vtron

I couldn't disagree with you more. Lets keep our customers in the dark about potential problems with their trucks. That's a great attitude. What if the general public did not know about the spark plug TSB so everyone destroys their engine from routine maintenance. I guess from the dealer point of view, they would have made a ton of money fixing all of the screw-ups, but it would have been awful for the consumer and awful for Fords reputation. I am never in favor of restricting knowledge.

Originally Posted by momalle1

Quintin has a 100% valid point. While things like the spark plug issue may validate your point, there are thousands of people who will read about this TSB, start listening to their trucks in traffic and decide they have this problem, and as Quintin said, show up demanding the TSB be performed, even though it may not apply. I agree that restricting knowledge can be bad, the problem is too many people gain too little knowledge but think they know everything, especially when dealing with auto technicians, many assume they are getting screwed automatically.

Originally Posted by Quintin

I really wish TSB information was not made available to the public.

Here's how this goes down. Mr. Customer reads on F150online.com that some dude got his truck fixed with a calibration update from a TSB. Whether or not he had that problem, he scurries down to his local dealer to get this TSB done; after all, it helped someone else's truck, it's gotta be good for his, right?

So, Mr. Customer shows up at my door step and says "I want TSB 08-14-03 done." I pull it up and say, "Sir, I can't perform this bulletin." He goes, "Why?!" "Well, sir, it only applies to certain trucks built between 12/4/2006 and 5/20/2008, your truck doesn't fall into this build date range."

Mr. Customer tells me I'm a scum suckin' liar, after all he read on the internet that it applies to all F150s of a certain model year, and that I better reprogram his freaking truck, or else. Problem is, under warranty, I can't reprogram his truck because I won't get paid to reprogram it since his truck doesn't fall into the build date range for that particular TSB. He storms off, pissed and upset when in reality there was nothing I could do. He comes and registers at F150online.com and bitches about dealerships being thieves and liars and crooks.

Now, conversely, let's say that he has a problem, which may or may not be related to this bulletin, and his truck falls within the build date range, and I reprogram it. He of course is expecting some miraculous improvements, which he may or may not see. For the sake of argument, let's say that the calibration update doesn't fix his concern. Well, I just made one repair attempt on his vehicle; I'm now legally obligated to repair the concern, and in most states, I have two more tries to get it right before we get to the lemon law stage to fix his truck, and he's probably gonna blast me as an incompetent loser in the survey anyways. He too comes and registers on F150online.com and tells people to avoid my dealership, 'cause I can't fix his "problem."

The general public has no business with access to TSBs. All it does is complicate matters at the dealership level.

Originally Posted by vtron

I understand that TSB's can make the dealer's life more difficult because of stupid people that don't understand what they're talking about. The problem with restricting TSB's is that you're punishing the intelligent people that can use TSB information as a tool because of stupid people that cause the dealership problems.

Originally Posted by Bluejay

I understand your position and if I were in your job, I would probably feel the same way. However, back in 2005 when my truck was hesitating on acceleration, so badly that it was dangerous, had I not known the TSB existed, I probably would never have gotten the reflash I needed. When I described the problem to the service manager, he looked at me with a dumb expression and said that is just the way these vehicles drive, you have to live with it. So, I said what about TSBXXX-XX-XX and he then had a very blank look, pulled it up on his computer, read it, and said "oh". There was a description of my very problem and the solution. The dealer even had to download the program from Ford to do the reflash, as they did not have it. So, what I'm saying, it goes both ways. No doubt, some of the customers abuse it and really don't understand how they work, but some of us need the info just to deal with some dealer idiots.

Originally Posted by duckduke

All I really care about is getting my hands on TSB 8-14-3 (complete bulletin)

Originally Posted by freddytran

Then go to your dealership and ask them to pull it up. Like the dealership guys said, they have that information. The original intent for that information was for internal use (ie Ford and its service dept).

But again, I don't see how knowledge in the hands of its consumers is a bad thing. You will always have good and bad consumers and good and bad dealers. My 2 cents for the day <- just a figurative term, not how much my actual thoughts are worth. LOL.

Originally Posted by zx9rpilot

My $0.02 on the TSBs being public information:

I'm a Service Manager, have access to AllData, just send me an email if you need info on a TSB......it's called right-to-know. If those at dealerships had people skills, they would know how to tell "Mr. Customer" the right way that a particular TSB doesn't apply to their vehicle. Again, just my $0.02.