Stranded! *temporarily (DC Fast Charging Issue?)

[Zansurf]

Had to travel a moderate distance (approx 3 hours or 139 miles) from home for work. Charged to 100% the night before and should have had ample range. Cue a 25-30 mph headwind and 70 mph highways and I rolled into my destination with probably 25-30 miles of range left. Wrapped up my appointment and headed to the nearest EA charger. With all the reports of issues with these, I thought for sure the lack of connectivity was a charger problem. Spoke with customer service for EA and they saw no problems and that’s when I realized the red ring and some sort of charging fault error and a warning to get service soon. I tried other chargers and even relocated to another station. No dice, still throwing the red ring. Didn’t get the service soon but one other time. Ford wanted to charge $1k to get a tow home (warranty tow covers only the closest dealer typically up to 35 miles). I was not stoked at this point. Luckily I noticed I had just enough range to get to a dealer. Got there and they let me plug into their level 1 chargers and low and behold, no issues. Called my dealer and Ford corporate. They helped me the best they could but ultimately the answer led to a hotel star waiting for the slow charge to get me enough range to get home. Fast forward, I get home and plug in to the charge station pro. No issues! Seems to be something specific to DC fast charging? Hoping someone here might have insights but I do have an appointment at the local dealer tomorrow. I am worried they won’t be able to recreate my issue and send me on my way with the uncertainty that I may just get stuck anytime I’m far enough from home to require a stop at a charger.

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MODERATOR
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So we have a resolution and it’s not nearly as exciting as one would think. Apparently there is an actuating pin in the charge port that only gets deployed for L3 DCFC. The pin is easily broken if you don’t unlock the charging handle properly at DCFC and all future DCFC is disabled. They are replacing the actuator. There is some TSB for this so apparently it’s not an uncommon issue.

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[Heliian]

That's unfortunate, at least the dealer should be able to read the fault. Hope the problem gets resolved. Keep us posted.

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

So you weren't actually "Stranded!".

 

[Zansurf]

So you weren't actually "Stranded!".

You could argue semantics but a three hour drive with this truck shouldn’t require Uber rides to hotels.

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

You could argue semantics but a three hour drive with this truck shouldn’t require Uber rides to hotels.

Your title is deceitful, that's all I'm inferring (you want people to click in, I get it). It's not really semantics. You were able to drive to a dealer...

There have been people actually stranded at DC charging stations because EA fried their truck.

This also seems like an EA issue, not a Ford issue.

Sorry for your troubles, that sounds really inconvenient.

 

[Zansurf]

Your title is deceitful, that's all I'm inferring (you want people to click in, I get it). It's not really semantics. You were able to drive to a dealer...

There have been people actually stranded at DC charging stations because EA fried their truck.

This also seems like an EA issue, not a Ford issue.

Sorry for your troubles, that sounds really inconvenient.

Sorry temporarily stranded. Stranded at an EA charger or stranded at a dealer. Sure I’d take my situation over the former and in either case most likely we aren’t too far from civilization and some sort of shelter or transportation.

I guess the title is a little played up but my only reason for posting is hoping that someone may have had a similar issue and could shed some light. I also tried at an EVGo and the only common thread is DC fast charging.

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

Stranded at an EA charger or stranded at a dealer. Sure I’d take my situation over the former and in either case most likely we aren’t too far from civilization and some sort of shelter or transportation.

I guess the title is a little played up but my only reason for posting is hoping that someone may have had a similar issue and could shed some light. I also tried at an EVGo and the only common thread is DC fast charging.

The only reason I mentioned anything is people on Facebook (and elsewhere) seem to think these trucks are plagued with problems. They really aren't. In your case the issue was EA...

 

[Zansurf]

The only reason I mentioned anything is people on Facebook (and elsewhere) seem to think these trucks are plagued with problems. They really aren't. In your case the issue was EA...

Yes and I’m not a fan of those folks either but I am having a real live issue and looking for any help that might be out there before the dealer ultimately looks at it.

Again the issue was across multiple DC fast chargers and no issue with two different level 2 chargers. I do not understand the electrical engineering side of how the truck handles AC vs DC so I was thinking someone with that knowledge might be on here. I know about the reputation of EA chargers and sure enough they had a unit out at the first set I tried. I was hoping it was EA but the EV Go failure pointed me to the truck being the most likely culprit.

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

Yes and I’m not a fan of those folks either but I am having a real live issue and looking for any help that might be out there before the dealer ultimately looks at it.

Again the issue was across multiple DC fast chargers and no issue with two different level 2 chargers. I do not understand the electrical engineering side of how the truck handles AC vs DC so I was thinking someone with that knowledge might be on here. I know about the reputation of EA chargers and sure enough they had a unit out at the first set I tried. I was hoping it was EA but the EV Go failure pointed me to the truck being the most likely culprit.

I've had issues at EA stations spitting out faults on my truck. For my issue, it was EA. I visited a seperate location and had no issues.

 

[Maquis]

I think “stranded” is a fair term to use in this case.

There is very little in common between the AC and DC systems. It’s entirely possible for one to fail with the other still functioning.

 

[Zansurf]

I think “stranded” is a fair term to use in this case.

There is very little in common between the AC and DC systems. It’s entirely possible for one to fail with the other still functioning.

Any idea if it would be hardware or software driven? I did just pull down 4.2.1 earlier in the week. The only other factors that I considered was the cold temperatures and the very low SOC.

 

[Maquis]

Any idea if it would be hardware or software driven? I did just pull down 4.2.1 earlier in the week. The only other factors that I considered was the cold temperatures and the very low SOC.

You’ll need to pull the DTCs in order to figure that out. If you don’t have a code reader, I think there are couple forum participants on here who can do that for you if you send them your VIN. If/when they’re able, I’m sure they’ll chime in.

 

[Heliian]

cold temperatures and the very low SOC.

I would hope to see a related message for those. But it really could be anything.

 

[Crilly]

I am so glad Benny was so helpful to you.

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

I am so glad Benny was so helpful to you.

More helpful than your comment fortunately.

This is what I was referencing...literally 3 hours ago.

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