Exhausted exhaust melted bumper RCA

tl;dr: it looks like the cause was someone putting the pipe harness upside down. Unfortunately this doesn’t seem like the same issue as u/kletterlisa 😭, but hopefully we’ll hear more from them too.

For background see the refs below, but I really wanted to post this to get some more feedback on the root cause of melting bumpers. I’m pretty sure I have it, but I’m certainly no expert and can’t imagine why the pipe moved in the first place. (and as a general complaint this certainly shouldn’t be that easy to break – engineers!)

So I present three images as evidence: image 1 was taken almost as soon as I saw what was happening. Image 2 was taken after they fixed the pipe, but I was waiting for the bumper. Image 3 was taken today, to help kletterlisa and hopefully raise awareness for this potential problem. Also disclaimer, I’m probably calling _everything_ wrong because I know _very little_ about trucks/cars/motorcycles, so I’m basically making this up on the spot 😝

IMAGE 1

PICTURE 2 and kind regards

IMAGE 3

Hopefully all these images help paint a picture so that people with more knowledge can form a more informed opinion about the cause than I can, but here’s what I think.

The dealer told me that the accessory store had moved the pipe to do the wiring for my hood. I don’t believe that, more on that later. Either way, it was definitely moved. I think that blue thing was removed and put back in or turned into an upside down position. The blue thing holds a rod that is welded to the other end of the pipe, and another rod that is anchored to the body. I assume this is to keep the pipe from dragging on the ground or otherwise flapping in the wind. Comparing the pictures, it looks to me like it was reversed, which would definitely change the angle that the exhaust comes out of so that it just slams that hot air right into the bumper. The reason I think that is because the little mushroom button is in the front in picture 1, but in the back in pictures 2 and 3. In my mind, someone took that off and just put it back together backwards. This is what drives me crazy, I can’t see why they would need to remove it. The dealer said it was the accessory store that installed the wiring for my topper. But look at the harnesses – it doesn’t look like you have to move them to get to them or install them. It looks like you can just thread them between the body and the pipe.

But here is my last issue, and I would like feedback on this as well. Picture 4 shows that they did not replace an inner bumper and there is potential damage to the wiring harness that goes to the bumper sensors. Should I take this back to the dealer or are they just going to rip me off because it is not visible and does not affect functionality?

Image 4 – The inner part of the bumper and the wiring harness are also melted.

A very unscientific illustration of the fixed distance from the bumper cut to the pipe edge

If you made it this far, you deserve to know what my Mav looks like. Her name is OUTRUNNER.

Also a little humor for those who made it this far. My grandpa helped me get this on the z-plan because he used to work for the UAW at the glass factory in Nashville. He was furious with the dealership through this whole process and I am grateful – he even called them and threatened to get the union involved. Very cute, very mafia, very inscrutable. 🤣 It feels like a whole different generation to be so proud of the company he worked for and the product he made, but I am so grateful.

References:

original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/FordMaverickTruck/s/uZRxXPOIwr
they fixed it post: https://www.reddit.com/r/FordMaverickTruck/comments/1enmiu5/melting_bumper_update/
post by kletterlisa: https://www.reddit.com/r/FordMaverickTruck/comments/1eu0ct2/exhaust_melting_bumper/
The comment from brokenwounds led me down this path: https://www.reddit.com/r/FordMaverickTruck/comments/1eu0ct2/comment/lih1228/ (thanks u/brokenwound!!!)

Notes: