2018 Navigator parts availability

[LHB]

Apparently (probably due to demand for new Navigators) the parts supply for service is taking a hit to allow more production of vehicles. My '18 Navigator is garaged in the shop awaiting a new headlight assy (driver side headlight went out) which has to be pulled out of the production flow from the assy plant. I'm imagine that has to go pretty high up the organization ladder to happen.

Has anyone else experienced parts available issues (or perhaps my Navigator is the only one with a broken part )?

 

[fordtech1]

I havent had them pull from the line to fulfill a part request in a long time. That shows the commitment ford has for Lincoln customer service. I would be shocked this happen on a ford.

[ice-capades]

I havent had them pull from the line to fulfill a part request in a long time. That shows the commitment ford has for Lincoln customer service. I would be shocked this happen on a ford.

 

Agreed. Parts go to production first and dealers have to deal with a "Back Ordered" situation if they can't be located at another dealership. Our Body Shop is dealing with the same situation now.

[MY93SHO]

I've been in GM parts for 13 years, I've been dealing with this situation for....13 years.

 

Did Ford/ Chrysler for 5 years..... same as above.

[LHB]

Apparently (probably due to demand for new Navigators) the parts supply for service is taking a hit to allow more production of vehicles. My '18 Navigator is garaged in the shop awaiting a new headlight assy (driver side headlight went out) which has to be pulled out of the production flow from the assy plant. I'm imagine that has to go pretty high up the organization ladder to happen.

Has anyone else experienced parts available issues (or perhaps my Navigator is the only one with a broken part )?

 

 

UPDATE:

Call today from service manager; New headlight assy from plant arrived today (ordered 5/1/18, arrived 5/7/18), installed ... headlights work but one of the led's under the headlights is not working .... will order another assy from plant, estimate a like amount of time to receive. Since the headlights now work safe to drive so they will deliver it tomorrow and pick up the loaner (my choice, I would rather have my '18 Navigator rather than the old-tech '17 loaner Nav.)

So now I am REALLY wondering what all issues there are with the headlight assemblies???

[fordtech1]

 

UPDATE:

Call today from service manager; New headlight assy from plant arrived today (ordered 5/1/18, arrived 5/7/18), installed ... headlights work but one of the led's under the headlights is not working .... will order another assy from plant, estimate a like amount of time to receive. Since the headlights now work safe to drive so they will deliver it tomorrow and pick up the loaner (my choice, I would rather have my '18 Navigator rather than the old-tech '17 loaner Nav.)

So now I am REALLY wondering what all issues there are with the headlight assemblies???

Probably a bad run of parts from supplier. I hate that you are having issues but glad the dealer is really trying to resolve this for you. What about your other issues?

[fuzzymoomoo]

I vaguely remember them having similar problems with headlights when the Continental launched. I dont think they ever left the plant though.

[LHB]

UPDATE:

Call today from service manager; New headlight assy from plant arrived today (ordered 5/1/18, arrived 5/7/18), installed ... headlights work but one of the led's under the headlights is not working .... will order another assy from plant, estimate a like amount of time to receive. Since the headlights now work safe to drive so they will deliver it tomorrow and pick up the loaner (my choice, I would rather have my '18 Navigator rather than the old-tech '17 loaner Nav.)

So now I am REALLY wondering what all issues there are with the headlight assemblies???

UPDATE2:

5/8 My Nav returned and loaner picked up ~11am, checked headlights worked and all other front lights worked except couldn’t figure out how to get the 5-LED bar under the headlights to turn on, so could not verify the light out that they had to order another assembly for. ... ~4pm dealer called; new headlight assy arrived (had been shipped overnight!) so made appointment to bring it in to them yesterday 5/9 10am. Then ~5:30 (still 5/8) got into car for a run to grocery store and !!! The headlight was out !!!. So, yesterday (5/9) spent ~4hr at dealer to AGAIN replace the driver side headlight assembly that had the headlight AND one of the LEDs in the 5 LED bar under the headlights out; we seem to be going backward. ... then we got more bad news ... the replacement also has one of the 5 LEDs under the headlights out but the headlight works (DeJa Vu all over again). Brought it home (drives soooo much better than the ‘17 loaner), haven’t checked today to see if the headlight still working,,, dealer talkin pretty high up in FoMoCo Svc & Parts org to determine next steps.

[fordtech1]

So just one led doesnt work or the entire strip? Reason Im asking is there a connection issue. Seems odd to have two replacements with same issue. Its definitely possible. Been down this road with alternators being defective.

[LHB]

UPDATE2:

5/8 My Nav returned and loaner picked up ~11am, checked headlights worked and all other front lights worked except couldnt figure out how to get the 5-LED bar under the headlights to turn on, so could not verify the light out that they had to order another assembly for. ... ~4pm dealer called; new headlight assy arrived (had been shipped overnight!) so made appointment to bring it in to them yesterday 5/9 10am. Then ~5:30 (still 5/8) got into car for a run to grocery store and !!! The headlight was out !!!. So, yesterday (5/9) spent ~4hr at dealer to AGAIN replace the driver side headlight assembly that had the headlight AND one of the LEDs in the 5 LED bar under the headlights out; we seem to be going backward. ... then we got more bad news ... the replacement also has one of the 5 LEDs under the headlights out but the headlight works (DeJa Vu all over again). Brought it home (drives soooo much better than the 17 loaner), havent checked today to see if the headlight still working,,, dealer talkin pretty high up in FoMoCo Svc & Parts org to determine next steps.

UPDATE3:

Went to check lights on Navigator this morning: Still have not been able to figure out how to get the 5LED light bar under the headlights to go on so unable to check their status.

Checking other lights seemed ok including DS headlight. Then as I checked hi beam and hi beam flash functionally the DS headlight stopped working!

So once again my Navigator has the driver side headlight out; a safety issue.

Im thinking the problem may be BCM (or whatever computer modules effect lights) or wiring harness or connectors ... one question in my mind is are my headlight modules really bad? If they are then it would seem that either design/component/assembly of headlight assy issue OR something in the vehicle is breaking them. If they are not really bad, would seem most likely a vehicle problem.

UPDATE4: Monday 5/14/18 hadnt heard from dealer service since I notified them last Thursday that the driver side headlight had again gone out as well as the center LED of the 5LED light bar they found when they installed it. So my wife called our sales rep who said he would go check with service. Couple hours or so latter get call from asst service mgr. He says they were told may have been batch of defective headlight assemblies and that if some faults cause a LED to be out may cause headlight to go out after a time. Expect another new headlight assembly tomorrow or Wennesday ... Edited May 15, 2018 by LHB

[LHB]

So just one led doesnt work or the entire strip? Reason Im asking is there a connection issue. Seems odd to have two replacements with same issue. Its definitely possible. Been down this road with alternators being defective.

Yes, thats really strange; the center LED out on both. Thats gotta be very improbable (assuming one circuit supplies power to all LEDs on that strip).

Edited May 11, 2018 by LHB

[gmic10]

Apparently (probably due to demand for new Navigators) the parts supply for service is taking a hit to allow more production of vehicles. My '18 Navigator is garaged in the shop awaiting a new headlight assy (driver side headlight went out) which has to be pulled out of the production flow from the assy plant. I'm imagine that has to go pretty high up the organization ladder to happen.

Has anyone else experienced parts available issues (or perhaps my Navigator is the only one with a broken part )?

 

 

Sorry to say I fully understand your frustration. My son's Nav was attacked by rocks on a country road & lost a head light. Almost a month & still waiting. Very rural area so he has not had to garage it.

[fordtech1]

I havent had the opportunity to touch anything on a new navigator yet. However, I looked up the wiring diagram and the headlamp is all self contained and is a module so the wiring can not make just one LED not work. Its pretty much it works or it doesnt. It has obviously power and ground and network wiring. Thats it. No individual led wiring. So defective headlights are the only logical thing I can see.

[fuzzymoomoo]

I havent had the opportunity to touch anything on a new navigator yet. However, I looked up the wiring diagram and the headlamp is all self contained and is a module so the wiring can not make just one LED not work. Its pretty much it works or it doesnt. It has obviously power and ground and network wiring. Thats it. No individual led wiring. So defective headlights are the only logical thing I can see.

LED units like that are usually controlled by a printed circuit board somewhere in the unit. My guess is theres a flaw somewhere in the board causing the issue.

[fordtech1]

LED units like that are usually controlled by a printed circuit board somewhere in the unit. My guess is theres a flaw somewhere in the board causing the issue.

Yeah I figured so but I wanted to see the wirIng diagram to make sure there wasnt any other possible issues outside the headlamp.

[LHB]

I havent had the opportunity to touch anything on a new navigator yet. However, I looked up the wiring diagram and the headlamp is all self contained and is a module so the wiring can not make just one LED not work. Its pretty much it works or it doesnt. It has obviously power and ground and network wiring. Thats it. No individual led wiring. So defective headlights are the only logical thing I can see.

Since there are 4 distinct lighting sub assemblies within each sides headlight assembly, there has to be programmed intelligence driving functions of each either within the headlight assembly or from an external module (BCM?), or combination of both.

 

Sub assemblies:

1-headlight lo beam

2-headlight hi beam

3-running light (?) that dances around the undefined 5LED light bar then stays all on.

4-the 5LED light bar under the headlights between the running light strings (I have not been able to get a name or purpose of this nor criteria for them to light - middle LED here has been out on both replacement headlight assemblies)

 

Not sure what is meant by network wiring, but if is like an Ethernet connection I could see an tcp/ip type communication from an external module to a headlight assembly internal module to control all the subassembly functions. In that case the problems are likely contained somewhere within the headlight assembly, either software or hardware, but not likely solvable outside the headlight module and since 2 in a row with same issues, seems to be serious supply chain problem.

 

My headlight issue summary to date:

Original driver side lo beam headlight out; first noticed after about 3 weeks.

First headlight assembly replacement middle LED on 5LED bar under headlight out; another headlight ordered, vehicle delivered and loaner returned awaiting 2nd replacement.

Same day vehicle returned the driver side headlight went out.

Second replacement headlight installed next day, it also had center LED in the 5LED light bar out. next day checking lighting the driver side headlight went out. Seems as though occurred when checking hi-beam and hi-beam-flash functions.

Edited May 12, 2018 by LHB

[fordtech1]

The low beam keep going out could be something more than a lamp assembly. The led is part of an assembly and no inputs from the BCM or suspension module can control one led individually. It uses a LIN network which is a slow speed basic network communication from the BCM to the headlamp. The module in the headlamp receives info from BCM and suspension height sensors. I would be interested to see if the low beam is a lamp issue or an input issue/wiring. Obviously the dealer has checked and rechecked and feels its a headlamp again. So I would trust their judgment since this is such a priority repair.

Edited May 12, 2018 by fordtech1

[LHB]

The low beam keep going out could be something more than a lamp assembly. The led is part of an assembly and no inputs from the BCM or suspension module can control one led individually. It uses a LIN network which is a slow speed basic network communication from the BCM to the headlamp. The module in the headlamp receives info from BCM and suspension height sensors. I would be interested to see if the low beam is a lamp issue or an input issue/wiring. Obviously the dealer has checked and rechecked and feels its a headlamp again. So I would trust their judgment since this is such a priority repair.

Thanks for the insight fordtech1. Do you have any insight on what the 5LED light bars are called, their function and what the conditions are to get them to turn on? I have seen them on and that the driver side center one isnt lit but have not been able to explicitly cause them to lite. The service asst mgr has so far not been able to answer these questions. Edited May 15, 2018 by LHB

[LHB]

UPDATE4: Monday 5/14/18 hadnt heard from dealer service since I notified them last Thursday that the driver side headlight had again gone out as well as the center LED of the 5LED light bar they found when they installed it. So my wife called our sales rep who said he would go check with service. Couple hours or so latter get call from asst service mgr. He says they were told may have been batch of defective headlight assemblies and that if some faults cause a LED to be out may cause headlight to go out after a time. Expect another new headlight assembly tomorrow or Wennesday ...

 

UPDATE5: Wed 5/16/18 Call from my dealers service writer around noon that another new headlight assy has been received ... wants me to bring my Navigator in tomorrow 9am to install it ... so we'll do this one more (hopefully final) time.

[LHB]

UPDATE5: Wed 5/16/18 Call from my dealers service writer around noon that another new headlight assy has been received ... wants me to bring my Navigator in tomorrow 9am to install it ... so we'll do this one more (hopefully final) time.

UPDATE6: THU 5/17/18 Checked car in little before the 9am appt. A little over 4 hours later the service writer comes to me to tell me they hadn’t actually replaced the headlight assembly because the diagnostic they run prior to changing headlight assembly showed an error code from the headlight control module. That’s the first I had heard of a headlight control module. Apparently each headlight module is driven by a headlight control module (one for each headlight assembly) which is driven from Body Control Module. He said ok to drive it but not safe to drive at night; my choice to take it home or take a loaner while they get a replacement headlight control module. He had no idea how long to get the module but was assuming it would have to ship from factory ... I came home in 2017 MKZ Researve loaner.

[LHB]

UPDATE6: THU 5/17/18 Checked car in little before the 9am appt. A little over 4 hours later the service writer comes to me to tell me they hadn’t actually replaced the headlight assembly because the diagnostic they run prior to changing headlight assembly showed an error code from the headlight control module. That’s the first I had heard of a headlight control module. Apparently each headlight module is driven by a headlight control module (one for each headlight assembly) which is driven from Body Control Module. He said ok to drive it but not safe to drive at night; my choice to take it home or take a loaner while they get a replacement headlight control module. He had no idea how long to get the module but was assuming it would have to ship from factory ... I came home in 2017 MKZ Researve loaner.

UPDATE7: FRI 5/18/18 Got a call from the service writer around 10am that they had located a headlight control module at another dealer in town, obtained and installed it and all the lights were working. Valet delivered my Navigator around 12:30. As of last night (Sun 5/20) when I pulled it into the garage the lights were still working. Now all I need is to get it back to the shop to replace the missing screws that secure the wheel well liners to the fenders so the edges aren’t protruding unsightly into the wheel opening. I don’t think it came from the factory that way; I believe after dissembling the front to get to the headlight assembly 3 times they either lost some screws or stripped some so they fell out ...

[fordtech1]

UPDATE7: FRI 5/18/18 Got a call from the service writer around 10am that they had located a headlight control module at another dealer in town, obtained and installed it and all the lights were working. Valet delivered my Navigator around 12:30. As of last night (Sun 5/20) when I pulled it into the garage the lights were still working. Now all I need is to get it back to the shop to replace the missing screws that secure the wheel well liners to the fenders so the edges arent protruding unsightly into the wheel opening. I dont think it came from the factory that way; I believe after dissembling the front to get to the headlight assembly 3 times they either lost some screws or stripped some so they fell out ...

Im glad they got it working. I just cant believe after all that somebody would have the audacity to leave screws out. A vehicle that caliber with that many issues should have not had any problems as far as repair quality.

[LHB]

UPDATE7: FRI 5/18/18 Got a call from the service writer around 10am that they had located a headlight control module at another dealer in town, obtained and installed it and all the lights were working. Valet delivered my Navigator around 12:30. As of last night (Sun 5/20) when I pulled it into the garage the lights were still working. Now all I need is to get it back to the shop to replace the missing screws that secure the wheel well liners to the fenders so the edges aren’t protruding unsightly into the wheel opening. I don’t think it came from the factory that way; I believe after dissembling the front to get to the headlight assembly 3 times they either lost some screws or stripped some so they fell out ...

 

UPDATE8: I think this is the final update on this issue. Took my Navigator to dealer May 24 to get the front fender well liners properly secured (from all the headlight work). All seems well and headlights still working (6/4) so I think we are past that issue. Now on to the Toll tag issues .... but that is a different 'thread'.