When your truck has a servive bulletin does that mean that the dealer has to make the repair ? I am not clear of what servie bulletins actually are, any help clearing this up would be greatly appreciatted.
thank you

 

Technical Service Bullitens, TSB's, are issued by the manufacturer to provide solutions to common problems or issues that come up on their vehicles. For instance, some owners of '97 F150's complained about pitting problems on the wheel located behind the exhaust exit, which was located in front of the wheel. Ford issued a TSB indicating they were having issues with the pitting and provided a solution, which was to relocate the exhaust to behind the wheel, like has come stock since the 98's I believe.

In a general sense, they are strictly guidance to the repair shop on how to deal with common issues. Dealers for the most part will do these repairs under the warranty coverage for the vehicle (ie: 3yrs/36,000 miles) for no cost. After that, you generally have to pay for the repairs.

So, they are not mandatory fixes, like a recall is, but if an issue appears and it is relatively common, there is some guidance to the repair shop.

Hope that helps.