Head gaskets

It sounds like the Florida dealer that supposedly did the recall may have pulled a fast one and got paid for work undone. This could be verified by a teardown, but you would have to authorize the teardown cost because there would still be no guarantee that Ford would pay for it, but it would be your strongest evidence if it shows to not have been performed. You would also need the dealership that is performing this teardown to go to bat for you as well. If the Florida dealer stands by their work, they should take care of you if you prove to them that the work was not performed, but like I said there is still a chance they take the low road.

No update as of yet. It seems like these engines have a problem with cracked cylinder heads, when they replaced the engine what brand rebuild did they use?

Unfortunately the dealer is not doing anything legally wrong at this point. They may not have the best customer satisfaction but that is not illegal.

So I would recommend starting with calling around to more dealers to see if they can get you in sooner.

At this point it is just a TSB and I don't show any recall on this issue. The recall mentioned above appears to be on a different engine.

It appears there are already law suits being filed so reporting it to NHTSA is a good idea but filing any other claim won't get far until after they inspect it.

I would suggest having them inspect it because you are not going to be able to sue them and have them repair the vehicle any time soon. Most likely this will be in the court systems for years before anything happens so you will be without your vehicle until that is resolved or Ford decides to announce a recall. At which point, only the current damage will be covered and they will not pay for anything that happens as a result of the vehicle sitting as that is your choice to have it sit and not Ford's.

As for them telling you that there will be a charge, they again are not wrong. Currently there is only a TSB that specifically states that this issue is to be covered under the basic warranty. Please see the attachments.

So that means they know there could be an issue but the TSB only tells the dealer how to fix it and not that it is extending the warranty.

Lastly, reading a little on the law suit that was just filed in New Jersey, they appear to be suing for damages which means those that paid to have this repaired would get their money back.

With all this being said, the action I would take is have the dealer inspect the vehicle and then call Ford and talk it through with them to see if they are willing to cover this or pay for a portion of it. Normally when these issues go into the court system the OEM is sensitive to them and would rather help or out right pay for the repair rather then having someone take another lawsuit out. They don't want this to turn into a class action lawsuit as those get very expensive. Far more expensive then just paying for the repair.

Let me know if you have questions but I would hold off on legal action until after they look at it and Ford hotline denies to pay for it because if you have legal action prior to getting them involved then they are going to stick to the letter of the law, and in this situation it appears that it is not covered and you will be left paying for it or some other option until this works through the courts.