Active Aero/Air Dam Fault

My dealer service manager said it is a known issue and until the air dam remains stuck fully up (or fully down) it isn't worth wasting time on as new parts are no guarantee of a permanent fix.

Not sure if Ford will come up with a new servo/motor design to extend and retract reliabiy. Mine is super random and it never gets stuck in the lowered position. I think sometimes it doesn't deploy. Never had one warning on a crazy 600 mile road trip recently, so who knows.

I'd probably be happy if they'd do an update to disable with no warnings showing. I'd trade the alleged 4% mileage improvement for not hitting road debris I'd miss with the air dam up.

I wonder if Ford fixed this with one of their recent software updates? Mine was erroring a few times a week and then a couple weeks ago I had a huge software update and it hasn’t errored since that update.
If you are still getting this error check to see if there is an OTA software update available for your truck.

jrmgkia said:

I wonder if Ford fixed this with one of their recent software updates? Mine was erroring a few times a week and then a couple weeks ago I had a huge software update and it hasn’t errored since that update.
If you are still getting this error check to see if there is an OTA software update available for your truck.

Click to expand...

actually great point - I haven't seen this error in a while now.

I got this fault twice today. The first time was what has happened already several times, soon after getting up to highway speed. The second time was the opposite, soon after getting off the highway. This was actually the first time this has happened for me this way.
I rarely drive at highway speeds so that may be why it hasn’t happened too often to me.

instantfob said:

Anyone experiencing random active air dam fault.

Generally it pops up and then goes away as you slow down from cruising speed down to the 50s

Click to expand...

Just experienced it today. Didn’t even know that there was one on my truck. No information in the owner’s manual when searching for “active air dam”. I was climbing a hill into gusty winds at approximately 40 mph when it displayed a fault message.

I suspect the wind is a key element in the "Active Air Dam System Fault." I had the fault frequently during highly windy days, usually during deceleration on the freeway. Subsequent inspection shows no apparent damage and the fault has not shown in a week or so (not so windy). Prior to the fault, I didn't even realize there was an active air dam hiding below the frunk lid.

instantfob said:

Anyone experiencing random active air dam fault.

Generally it pops up and then goes away as you slow down from cruising speed down to the 50s

Click to expand...

I've only had it appear 3 times now. I'd say it's most likely a sensor timing issue. The damper sensor that checks on damper movement when the dampers have been signaled to activate need to allow the dampers more time before causing an alert. This should be something that could be resolved with a software update. I suppose the dampers could be at fault but I believe it's a software timing issue.

Happened today for the first time - 4700 km - slowing down on off ramp after highway driving

Has been happening for a couple of months now, Now happening about twice a day. Dealer doesn't know any fix or update what a joke. Tried calling ford got transferred a couple of times had to hang up.

Phil Usher said:

View attachment 5064
I am seeing this frequently over the last few days. I will have to have a look underneath.

Click to expand...

The aggravating thing for me was that after getting the error I tried searching the online manual in my truck and was never able to find any information at all about the Active Air Dam, or Air Dam, or Active. The closest search result was tire air pressure. So which manual are we supposed to consult?

Has anybody been able to find Active Air Dam in their manual?

Dave’sNotHere said:

The aggravating thing for me was that after getting the error I tried searching the online manual in my truck and was never able to find any information at all about the Active Air Dam, or Air Dam, or Active. The closest search result was tire air pressure. So which manual are we supposed to consult?

Has anybody been able to find Active Air Dam in their manual?

Click to expand...

I don't see it in the pdf manual either.

ChasingCoral said:

I don't see it in the pdf manual either.

Click to expand...

Thank you for that! So clearly a miss by Ford on that one and definite proof that I’m not crazy. 😜 (OK, so jury’s still out on that one…)

Does information from this forum get back to Ford, or is there a more direct way for us to ensure Ford’s awareness?

Dave’sNotHere said:

Thank you for that! So clearly a miss by Ford on that one and definite proof that I’m not crazy. 😜 (OK, so jury’s still out on that one…)

Does information from this forum get back to Ford, or is there a more direct way for us to ensure Ford’s awareness?

Click to expand...

Use @Ford Motor Company in your post.

@Ford Motor Company needs to address this. It's not happening that often for us, just almost every time we take a trip it seems to happen at least once. No real rhyme or reason either. I know it often happens when getting onto the highway trying to get up to speed too fast. I assume that accelerating from 0-70 and not allowing it time to go down during that acceleration is a part of the issue, but we've seen it while traveling at highway speed for quite a while and all of a sudden it happens mid-trip... again, no discernable pattern.

As the Service Tech at my dealer said, they might as well disable the warning because it really doesn't have much to do with whether it deploys or not.

I was going to remove the 2 servos and lower air dam but not sure after watching this:

klossfam said:

As the Service Tech at my dealer said, they might as well disable the warning because it really doesn't have much to do with whether it deploys or not.

I was going to remove the 2 servos and lower air dam but not sure after watching this:

Click to expand...

Yup. There is a good reason it is there!😎

klossfam said:

As the Service Tech at my dealer said, they might as well disable the warning because it really doesn't have much to do with whether it deploys or not.

I was going to remove the 2 servos and lower air dam but not sure after watching this:

Click to expand...

On that truck the chin splitter really improved efficiency. It would be nice to see the same test done on a Lightning but I'm sure Ford wouldn't add the expense and complexity of a retractable air dam if it hadn't been proved to improve efficiency in wind tunnels and real-world tests.

Maybe someone with a broken dam could do a test loop before and after getting theirs fixed?

ChasingCoral said:

On that truck the chin splitter really improved efficiency. It would be nice to see the same test done on a Lightning but I'm sure Ford wouldn't add the expense and complexity of a retractable air dam if it hadn't been proved to improve efficiency in wind tunnels and real-world tests.

Maybe someone with a broken dam could do a test loop before and after getting theirs fixed?

Click to expand...

I think the claimed difference on the F-150 is 4 percent, which seems realistic. They just need a software update to avoid the messages or make it less sensitive to 'late' deployments. I think 99% of the messages are just late deployments.

I get a lot of 'Air Dam' warnings but they are sporadic and never has it stayed in the down position. Also, no bends or blockages on mine, so I assume it is working and just not always deploying at exactly 45 mph.

Air dams are quite proven to improve efficiency. For someone wanting to do their own freeway test, you may consider just pulling the fuse to deactivate it for a test run. The higher the speed, the more effect the dam is going to have.