Lightning range fail

[FlasherZ]

In that case I bet it's just a bad tank of electrons. Probably had been sitting in storage for a while during the TPMS recall and the electrons oxidized and turned into electric gelatin which clogged the high voltage tubes. Should be able to free it up and get the truck working by blowing into the tubes from the motor side.

Pour a can of Seafoam in it?

Sponsored

 

[FlasherZ]

You forgot this is a dual motor setup - you need to blow down and refill the turboencabulator first.

And close off the interocitor.

 

[EVTruckGuy]

I have a load tester for batteries so I can check the 12-volt battery to make sure it has the correct voltage and amp load.

That will help some.
Unfortunately the problem with LVB failures on Ford EVs up to this point are a little trickier to nail down than that.

The LVB is one small part of the system.

The problems on the Mach E were often due to the car not kicking in to maintain the charge on the 12 V battery reliably.

Some people's cars didn't detect when the 12 V battery got too low, so it didn't get recharged by the HVB until it was too low to even turn on.

Sometimes the car may be able to detect that the 12 V battery is low, but somewhere along the line the cars were unable to charge it back up.

The battery management systems on these vehicles are complex. By the time the truck gets home, it will almost certainly be fully charged and check out ok on all tests you can do at home. You would have to check it when the truck won't start, not after it gets towed, charged, and reset in order to rule out that your 12V battery was too low to allow your truck to start a few days prior.

I know you are saying your truck doesn't have any signs of the 12 V battery being low... But numerous people have explained that on an EV, especially prior Ford EVs, the problem you faced is precisely the way a low 12 V battery on an EV acts. This is not unusual behavior for a bad LVB in any way.

It could be anything at this point, but I suspect your dealer will either tell you it was 12 V battery problem and fix it, or not be able to diagnose what happened, give it back to you after clearing the codes, and say it looks fine now while shrugging their shoulders.

If the latter option occurs, it will continue to happen on occasion until somebody at the dealership recognizes the problem with the 12 V system.

This same thread has played out dozens of times already with the Mach E, and this has already happened to other Lightnings as well.

 

[Cruiser]

I see they moved it to a Chevy dealership. I’m guessing so it can charge a little faster. They were on a AC basic charger at the dealership and now it’s DC charging. If they didn’t have to charge up the 12 volt battery to get it to start do you think that rules it out? Or would it charge it up while it was on the AC charger. And if the AC charger did charge it up then it should have charged it up at my last charging stop. I’m still thinking something other than the 12 volt battery. I’ll ask the service advisor if they had to charge the 12 volt to get it to start.

 

[Cruiser]

This is interesting. It thought it was plugged in the whole time from when it died on the side of the road till probably when they started charging it again.

 

[hturnerfamily]

I owned a motorhome, with 50amp 240v service, and a large Inverter, with 4 deep-charge 6v batteries to provide power when not plugged in. The inverter drew power from the batteries until it reached a certain LBCO, or Low Battery Cut Off, power level, such as 11.0 volts, in order to preserve the batteries.

One time, about 6 years into ownership, I noticed while parked in shopping lot waiting for my family, the TV I was watching flashed, and the Satellite receive cut off, and then immediately back on, etc. It did this for some time before I realized it was probably the inverter, maybe going 'bad'...

Ultimately, it was not the Inverter, but one of the 6v batteries, which had lost one of it's 3 cells(each carry 2 volts). I ultimately solved the problem by replacing just that one battery, but it was not a fun time being without the Inverter until then.

Batteries can be fickle, and many times give the owner LITTLE warning before they go 'bad', even if seemingly for only an instance - but it can wreck havoc on other ELECTRONICS that depend on it's constant power output.

 

[hoovertac]

Sorry that happened to you. Thanks for posting, this is helpful to know.

 

[EVTruckGuy]

I see they moved it to a Chevy dealership. I’m guessing so it can charge a little faster. They were on a AC basic charger at the dealership and now it’s DC charging. If they didn’t have to charge up the 12 volt battery to get it to start do you think that rules it out? Or would it charge it up while it was on the AC charger. And if the AC charger did charge it up then it should have charged it up at my last charging stop. I’m still thinking something other than the 12 volt battery. I’ll ask the service advisor if they had to charge the 12 volt to get it to start.

When they plugged it in to charge the HVB, the truck would automatically transfer some of that energy from the HVB to charge the LVB as well if low. That's how the truck maintains the LVB... It just transfers energy from the HVB down to the LVB as needed.

There is no alternator to maintain it as you drive like a regular truck.

This process I just described is how it "should" work. This process is where a lot of the Mach Es ran in to trouble. Hopefully your truck just needed a good charge, but it really could be anything involving the HVB, LVB, all the hardware in between, or less likely even the software controlling the way they share energy.

 

[Ford Senior Master]

I think the thing that is very important to understand about the 12 v system on an ev is that it is used to control monitor and regulate many functions on an EV. The 12 volts system is not just used for lights and entertainment systems. Disruptions to 12v systems can lead to modules not communicating properly and reporting errors that are not really present. These errors that present themselves as codes cause modules to start opening contactors, and shutting down relays. They also shut off module functions like dc-dc convertor. This is why 99.99% of all diagnostics pinpoint test we perform include a visual inspection of all components and wiring. Thankfully most errors will give drivers notice of an issue with several different flashing lights and maybe even explicit warnings to take vehicle to dealer for service prior to complete failure of vehicle.
I hate that the OP of this thread had this problem and I hope they get it fixed soon. I wouldn't want my new truck sitting at the dealer with 1700 miles on it.

 

[vandy1981]

In that case I bet it's just a bad tank of electrons. Probably had been sitting in storage for a while during the TPMS recall and the electrons oxidized and turned into electric gelatin which clogged the high voltage tubes. Should be able to free it up and get the truck working by blowing into the tubes from the motor side.

It's also important to fill it with premium electrons--the electrons from the regular pump can gunk things up.

 

[Cruiser]

Dealer just called. Said they had a engineer from Ford who came out and they supposedly have it fixed. Said the negative cable in the 12 volt battery was loose. I guess I’ll have to drive it real low again to make sure.

 

[RavenYZF-R6]

Plug a trickle charger into the outlet and charge that shit up while driving!

 

[p52Ranch]

Dealer just called. Said they had a engineer from Ford who came out and they supposedly have it fixed. Said the negative cable in the 12 volt battery was loose. I guess I’ll have to drive it real low again to make sure.

Thanks for sharing the outcome.

There have been a number of Broncos with similar computer/electrical issues that have been the result of poor electrical connections.

Definitely something to keep in mind if gremlins arise.

 

[ExCivilian]

I think the thing that is very important to understand about the 12 v system on an ev

I've been watching this thread unfold and this statement keeps being repeated. It's not wrong but it's an odd statement to make because *any* vehicle (at least in the 21st century) is heavily dependent on the 12v system operating correctly and susceptible to voltage sags/spikes in ways that any of us grey-haired wrenchers wouldn't consider problematic on the older mechanicals.

My '05 2500 will light up like a Christmas tree if the second battery isn't getting all the juice it needs via the feeder cable. When someone gets a CEL without a code or any other kind of phantom issue, the first recommendation is to check that cable since it corrodes, the secondary battery starts to overcharge, and then you get whatever weird, unexpected error the truck decides to throw your way.

I enjoy wrenching on the modern common rail diesels (mine being in the sweet spot between not yet completely chocked via emissions but still enjoying the benefits of modern fuel injection, etc.) but everything is dancing on a pin--it's not specific to EVs.

Also, I was going to mention this before but I think it's worth pointing out that disconnecting and reconnecting a modern vehicle like was being suggested is begging for problems. A *lot* of modern subsystems aren't expecting a complete power fail. If you did that on my '13 Touareg you'd be re-programming a number of control modules and you'd need some dealer level tools to do it.

I had a '17 GTI that I forgot to follow my own advice on earlier this year. Battery crapped out and left my wife stranded. By the time I got her home I pulled the battery, forgot to put a trickle charger on the leads, and then ran down to the store and grabbed a new battery. Well...that mistake cost me $150 because I had to take it in to VW to provision the vehicle's CarPlay license that can only be done via dealer > mothership (Germany) communication after the vehicle "forgot" all its licenses. I'm sure a bunch of you out there have never had a problem doing this but given the level of tech in this vehicle I'd be cautious about removing a battery to "reset" the vehicle because you don't know what will or won't come back up once you restore power.

 

[astricklin]

Dealer just called. Said they had a engineer from Ford who came out and they supposedly have it fixed. Said the negative cable in the 12 volt battery was loose. I guess I’ll have to drive it real low again to make sure.

Hopefully it really was that simple of a fix. Hopefully they did a full diagnostic and made sure there were no other issues.
Hope that's all and you have many trouble free miles ahead of you.

Sponsored