Brand New 2024 Ranger Raptor: Near Disaster with Massive Temperature Spike and Vehicle Shutdown

[SubjectDiscipline]

I bought my 2024 Ranger Raptor brand new from the dealership less three weeks ago, and so far, I've only put about 250 miles on the truck.

Yesterday, I was headed to my grandmother's 95th birthday party in Baltimore, and literally, just 50 feet before entering the 895 tunnel that runs under the Patapsco River, all hell broke loose in the Ranger.

Warning indicators lit up, showing that the coolant was overheating, and I started losing power.

Obviously, I would have pulled over immediately if that had been an option, but it wasn’t. There’s no shoulder in the underground tunnel, which is a one-way, two-lane road with extremely heavy traffic moving at about 50-60 mph. I began losing power right away. I put on my flashers as the truck slowed to a crawl, dropping to less than 10 mph. At this point, I was worried the truck would stall in the tunnel and I’d end up blocking traffic. By some miracle, the truck made it out , and I managed to pull into the parking lot of an isolated Maryland Transportation Authority building that, fortunately, was right on the other side.

I popped the hood and checked under the vehicle to see if there was coolant leaking, and sure enough, there was fluid under the engine and a clearly disconnected radiator hose. In hindsight, the hose must have come loose as I accelerated onto the highway just before entering the tunnel.

I used the FordPass app to call for a tow truck, which actually arrived pretty quickly. The truck was towed to the nearest Ford dealer with a service center, but since it was Sunday, they were closed. I dropped the keys and then had to Uber 1.5 hours back home to DC.

I spoke to the service department this morning, and they’re running diagnostics on the truck to figure out what caused the internal pressure buildup that led to the hose disconnecting. Not exactly an ideal Sunday, and yeah, I missed my grandma's birthday party.

Has anyone else experienced similar issues with their 2024 Ranger Raptor? I’m honestly blown away that something like this could happen on a truck that’s brand new.

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[DesertBumAZ]

It sucks, but ish happens. I bought a 2020 hyundai veloster when they came out, a charge pipe fell off so i had no boost, a few weeks later on my way to work accelerating to pass a car and get out of the way of an on ramp a coil died and the engine started misfiring bad going like 80, my 21 lariat had a bad U-joint after a few months. just the way it goes sometimes

 

[olefordguy]

Oh my that sounds nasty. Hope there’s no engine damage. Hopefully the limp mode saved it from serious harm

 

[John E Davies]

What a complete pain! I am glad you are OK. Dumping large amounts of coolant on the highway doesn’t do anybody any good. Please post further details about which hose blew off, or split.

When you find out the cause and the resolution, be sure to post the information along with the VIN to the NHTSA: https://www.nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem#index

Good luck.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

 

[unixadm]

Could have been an assembly issue or a bad constant tension clamp. In the scope of things, it does happen but is likely pretty rare. Thankfully the logic in the truck was able to derate itself but allowed you to limp it to a safe area. The good news is it's an easy fix.

 

[AlpineBike]

Bet my paycheck that a lazy UAW worker left the clamp loose!

 

[SubjectDiscipline]

I spoke with the service technician this afternoon, and they’ve decided to keep the vehicle overnight. They’ve re-secured the detached hose and are pressure testing it to ensure everything is in good shape before returning the vehicle.

As some have already mentioned here, the technician’s initial assessment was that the clamps weren’t assembled properly at the factory. He noticed a few other areas that needed adjustment, so hopefully, that's the full extent of the issue.

 

[stuartmunto]

With so little miles on it, I would say the hose wasn't properly attached or clamped during manufactuing. No way pressure would be able to get that high to pop off a clamped hose (especially a brand new hose!)

Hopefully they can get it all cleaned up and hopefully limp mode would have saved any damage to the engine.

 

[RapRanger21]

Could have been an assembly issue or a bad constant tension clamp. In the scope of things, it does happen but is likely pretty rare. Thankfully the logic in the truck was able to derate itself but allowed you to limp it to a safe area. The good news is it's an easy fix.

Yeah this was my first thought too, maybe simply a bad hose or clamp or assembly situation. Terrible luck and and Missing Grandma's special day, but I'd prefer it happen early in warranty then just after of course. Hopefully they get you going and maybe extend your warranty, soon.

 

[SubjectDiscipline]

The service record is below with all the details. Can anyone help me dissect the diagnosis for the cooling system pressure test? Or any other information from here that is helpful?

They insisted that everything is fine and I have nothing to worry about...but of course, I just dropped a boatload on this truck and worry about engine damage with less than 300 miles on it.

For whatever it's worth, it felt okay on my drive back from Baltimore to DC today.

I think my next step here is to contact @Ford Motor Company and see if they will extend the warranty / give me some kind of guarantee in case something else goes wrong here. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[unixadm]

Ah. It was a heater hose. Regardless of the hose, the cooling system dumped the coolant and the truck got hot enough to derate itself. I honestly wouldn't sweat it. If you're worried about it, then open a case with Ford, explain that you have longevity concerns because you had to drive the truck to a safe place due to the road conditions you were in, and that you'd like to see if Ford would provide you with an ESP Premium Care warranty for 10/100k miles. I know when my 2016 Toyota Tacoma had a grossly overfilled transmission, I opened a case, and they gave me a Toyota extended warranty without any hassle. Sold it the next year and got a few extra bucks due to the transferrable warranty.

 

[iamweasel]

That's as good of an outcome as you can possibly hope for. It d-rated itself before there was any damage and it was a simple fix with no long term impacts. When you buy the first year of a new model these kinds of things are what you sign up for whether you like it or not. I wouldn't worry about it anymore.

 

[RANGER/HOBB]

Glad you got it sorted out.

 

[quickstang1]

That's as good of an outcome as you can possibly hope for. It d-rated itself before there was any damage and it was a simple fix with no long term impacts. When you buy the first year of a new model these kinds of things are what you sign up for whether you like it or not. I wouldn't worry about it anymore.

Is it really a first year vehicle?? It was out for a year prior in Australia.

 

[unixadm]

Assembly wise in the NA market?

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