Jim_V

TSB 14-0083 has replaced 14-0011. They plug the electrical connector from the door latch into a "special tool" and then they flip the door latch back and forth for a while. I guess the special tool applies a current to the misbehaving switch contacts. Perhaps that helps knock off the oxidation or whatever is preventing the switch from working properly. This is at best a temporary fix -- lasted about a week on my 2012 Edge. In any case, it misses the point. The problem almost always is with the driver side door, which is the one that gets used the most. If there were sufficient contact pressure then this switch should be LESS susceptible to oxidation, dirt, whatever because the contacts would be wiping back and forth and keeping themselves clean. My suspicion is the contacts are of low quality and lack the necessary springiness to retain proper contact pressure. In that case, the more the switch is used the quicker it fails. A better way to deal with this, in my opinion, would be for Ford to give their technicians a spray can of electronic contact cleaner fitted out with a specially shaped straw nozzle to pass through one of the door latch mounting holes and locate the point inside where the switch contacts are situated. An even better solution would be to use a higher quality switch to begin with.

My understanding is that what they do is connect a "special tool" to the electrical connector of the latch -- apparently to pass an electrical current through the switch contacts. Then they manually cycle the tumbler with a screwdriver or similar device about 20 times from open to closed and back to open. Then they test the switch contacts and if all is well they slap it back together and declare it fixed. In my case this "fix" lasted less than two weeks and so we are heading back to the shop on Monday.