I have a 2010 F150 that I love. It is very comfortable and pulls my 30' camper trailer. I added electric brake control and a 7-pin hitch to the existing wiring harness for this, also a relay to charge the trailer battery. My truck was originally sold in Texas and didn't have electric defrost, so I upgraded the mirrors and rear window, added the fuse and upgraded the HVAC control panel to get the defroster button. I did this with some research on forums etc to get the used part with the right button -- 90151-394/0004.
After a number of years the hot/cold air vent control **** on this HVAC control panel became unreliable. This means everything is fine in the cabin until it's really hot out and you dial the AC all the way to cold -- getting hot air! Dialing it back a little gets it to cool but not super cold! My local mechanic, Pro Image Automotive was able to query the **** reading with his diagnostic tool and found it was generating random outputs whenever it was set to cold. He was unaware of the upgraded HVAC panel and ordered a replacement based on the VIN from a local Ford dealer who indicated it would bolt in without requiring any programming. Here is where the problems begin.
Quirk Ford in Massachusetts provided part number DL3Z-19980-DIX. Once installed, it fixed the hot/cold **** problem immediately but the AC button didn't activate the AC compressor pump. My mechanic followed up with Ford and was informed this part required dealer programming. Quirk could not get the car in so he sent it to Autofair Ford in Manchester, NH. They were in no hurry to get to the car and I was scheduled to travel all day (as the repairs were supposed to be complete when the panel was installed the night before). It was at this point I realized I might lose my defroster button, so I showed up at Autofair Ford to check on things. The console in my car indeed lacked the defroster button, but their parts department indicated that the fully furnished panel was no longer made. After a few hours the technician got to my car and was unable to program the DL3Z-19980-DIX. Autofair Ford indicated the correct part was actually AL3T-18A802-HB or possibly AL32-18842-HA (they weren't sure) but that neither would be available until July. Both would require programming so it would be a waste of time to have the installed by anyone but a dealer. The dealer offered to reinstall my original part and start the troubleshooting process over, but they would not get to it until the following day. I paid Autofair Ford $168 diagnostic fee to for the nothign they accomplished just to get my truck out of their clutches. I brought the 90151-394/0004 HVAC console and my truck back to my mechanic who put them back together and returned DL3Z-19980-DIX -- and did not charge me for any of that work! We discussed the "programming" aspect and Mike from Pro Image indicated it was more prevalent in newer parts. He advised I get another used 90151-394/0004 since it did not require programming the first time around. I have one coming in next week from eBay, and will update this post after installing to let you know how it went.
The point of this post is that Ford, and American company making a wonderful product, has gone astray. Ford has begun inserting "programming" (unlocking) requirements into parts that did not previously have them, just to force owners back to the dealership for services. These services the dealers are evidently not competent in providing. Clearly Ford made either the lock or the new part numbering scheme too complicated for their own people! This is un-American. America is about doing the right thing and getting things done. I am not saying that we need a law forbidding the use of firmware programming to lock out owners from performing their own repairs. I'm saying this kind of sabotage is something I expect from foreign entities. We shouldn't have to ask our own people to do the right thing by us -- they should know the right thing and do it without being told. Ford I rebuke you for behaving in this way.

I will update this post when I install the new used part and let you know how it went!

 

After the dealer failed to program the new Ford encrypted part, I installed a vintage part from eBay per my mechanic's suggestion. Actually my son installed it. It took him under an hour with no prior experience working on a Ford dash. The HVAC problem is completely resolved and has been working fine for a week now!

Hurray for good old parts that still work!
Poo-Poo on FORD for creating parts for the express purpose of driving business to the dealer repair shop!
Double-Dookie Sock for the dealer repair shop failing to rise to this challenge!