Powertrain Malfunction/Reduced Power Poll

[VAF84]

TBH I didn't go through the 10 pages comments. However, during my ownership experience this was my third powertrain malfunction light in 3 months of ownership and 8,800 miles. I noted someone brought up the coolant valve issue. I'm currently over 30 days without my LER as I wait for a coolant valve that's on national backorder. Supposedly an easy fix ones it's in, but no ETA in sight. Buyback option has been initiated, waiting on a response.

A week into my ownership I got the power train malfunction, and it they claimed it was for the TSB for a battery module. Lost about 3 days there.

Sponsored

 

[GoodSam]

I am counting at least 162 battery module fails reported in this forum. About 52 in another forum. And 22 in the last few months reported on Facebook.
This article shows about 40,000 sold in 2022-23:
ford-f-150-lightning-sales-numbers-figures-results-fourth-quarter-2023-q4
So we see about 230 units, that we know of, failed which would be about only 0.6% of trucks have had a battery module problem so far. I could bet that Ford's estimate of 4% of batteries failing is not too far off from the actual number, since many are not reporting problems to the forums.
"Less than 4% of the affected vehicle population is expected to require one or more high voltage battery modules needing to be replaced."

If 4% actually means of the cells, I see about 40 cells per module, w/ 6 modules in the SR and 9 in the ER, so 240 to 360 cells per battery pack. So, say, 300 pouch cells on average. So 1% of cells is about 3 and 4% is 12 cells...we should expect, over the life of the battery pack, at least 3 modules will go bad or perhaps as many as 12 modules will need to be replaced in its lifetime! Tell me it is not so!

Back to 4% of vehicles, 4 out of 100, that would mean just 4 cells, in 4 modules, out of about 30,000 cells of about 750 modules (average 7.5 modules/truck battery pack). I wonder how that compares to other vehicles?

I guess the worst thing is the amount of downtime to get a module replaced. If it would only take 1-2 days of turnaround, it would not be so upsetting.

 

[TomB985]

I guess the worst thing is the amount of downtime to get a module replaced. If it would only take 1-2 days of turnaround, it would not be so upsetting.

My bigger concern is what happens after the warranty period Is over. I have 28K on my ‘22 and drive more than 30K every year. I’ll be out of my warranty period in two years, and the truck will be worthless at that point if nobody has confidence in them. I’d like to keep it to 150K, but that’s never gonna happen unless Ford finds a way to fix the problem or extend the warranty.

 

[invertedspear]

My bigger concern is what happens after the warranty period Is over. I have 28K on my ‘22 and drive more than 30K every year. I’ll be out of my warranty period in two years, and the truck will be worthless at that point if nobody has confidence in them. I’d like to keep it to 150K, but that’s never gonna happen unless Ford finds a way to fix the problem or extend the warranty.

The battery is warrantied to 8yrs or 100k miles though, I mean, you'll still burn through that mileage in a little over 3 years, but I would think with that kind of use any buggy modules would show up by then.

 

[The Weatherman]

I am counting at least 162 battery module fails reported in this forum. About 52 in another forum. And 22 in the last few months reported on Facebook.
This article shows about 40,000 sold in 2022-23:
ford-f-150-lightning-sales-numbers-figures-results-fourth-quarter-2023-q4
So we see about 230 units, that we know of, failed which would be about only 0.6% of trucks have had a battery module problem so far. I could bet that Ford's estimate of 4% of batteries failing is not too far off from the actual number, since many are not reporting problems to the forums.
"Less than 4% of the affected vehicle population is expected to require one or more high voltage battery modules needing to be replaced."

If 4% actually means of the cells, I see about 40 cells per module, w/ 6 modules in the SR and 9 in the ER, so 240 to 360 cells per battery pack. So, say, 300 pouch cells on average. So 1% of cells is about 3 and 4% is 12 cells...we should expect, over the life of the battery pack, at least 3 modules will go bad or perhaps as many as 12 modules will need to be replaced in its lifetime! Tell me it is not so!

Back to 4% of vehicles, 4 out of 100, that would mean just 4 cells, in 4 modules, out of about 30,000 cells of about 750 modules (average 7.5 modules/truck battery pack). I wonder how that compares to other vehicles?

I guess the worst thing is the amount of downtime to get a module replaced. If it would only take 1-2 days of turnaround, it would not be so upsetting.

I wish I could say it was a small problem only affecting FORD, but would be a lie. Following the KiA Forum for wife’s EV6 we just purchased.

 

[The Weatherman]

This is separate issue that is also plaguing the KIA EV’s. Similar to the BMS for FORD, but bigger. It causes the vehicles to stall out.

 

[Heliian]

If it would only take 1-2 days of turnaround, it would not be so upsetting.

People are still going to be upset no matter how fast they can change a module.
There are now people posting on the forums just to stir the pot and making false claims about how much of a pain their truck is, even though they don't own one.
Forum polls are also incredibly skewed, just like any poll, but worse.

 

[TomB985]

I wish I could say it was a small problem only affecting FORD, but would be a lie. Following the KiA Forum for wife’s EV6 we just purchased.

It’s always tough to get an idea of prevalence with online forums. I bought my EV6 almost two years ago and just helped my mom buy an EV9.

By the time I sold mine, I could only find a single thread complaining about battery failures. I checked again through the Kia EV forums in late December before mom’s purchase and could only find one or two more. The EV6/Ioniq5 are some of the top-selling EVs in the world.

Compare that with this:

I am counting at least 162 battery module fails reported in this forum. About 52 in another forum. And 22 in the last few months reported on Facebook.
This article shows about 40,000 sold in 2022-23:
ford-f-150-lightning-sales-numbers-figures-results-fourth-quarter-2023-q4
So we see about 230 units, that we know of, failed which would be about only 0.6% of trucks have had a battery module problem so far.

Nope. I’m afraid they’re not even in the same ballpark

The battery is warrantied to 8yrs or 100k miles though, I mean, you'll still burn through that mileage in a little over 3 years, but I would think with that kind of use any buggy modules would show up by then.

That’s the part that gets me to sleep at night. These are either bad from the start and should fail early, or something that can fail at any point in their lifecycle. If it’s the former, these trucks should do well as they age. That’s been the pattern with Tesla and other EVs, but none seem to have nearly as many problems. I can’t recall someone with two bad Tesla packs in a row, either.

 

[ScubaSteve_TheReal]

Thanks just did. So as I no longer have my first lightning that was blend date 12-01-22 being it suffered module 9 failure and so it spent way too long in shop. I let it go back as it was eligible So I made lemonade and replaced it with one with a blend date of 10-13-23. I’m still researching the situation however it seems so far the only lightnings with blend dates in 2022 have the above problems that I’m aware of. Anybody out there know of any lightning’s that were blended in 2023 with module failures yet? I’m hoping Ford has gotten a firm grasp on bad modules by now and has put this in the rearview mirror….

 

[GoodSam]

only lightnings with blend dates in 2022 have the above problems that I’m aware o

I just counted on my PM/RP spreadsheet, and I think you are mostly right, of the 117 in this forum with Build date, I see only about 5 from 2023 builds.

 

[GDN]

I just counted on my PM/RP spreadsheet, and I think you are mostly right, of the 117 in this forum with Build date, I see only about 5 from 2023 builds.

Very interesting. Definitely seems to indicate something changed at the end of '22 or early '23. So you have to ask, how much did SK or Ford find or know and what did they change? They know enough to believe that it will affect 4% of us, but we have enough with multiple problems to know it isn't going to happen once and never again. It seems every module in the truck has an equal chance of having the problem. How will they take care of us long term? 8 yr/100K is a nice warranty typically, until we know they know they have a defect.

 

[rio]

My powertrain malfunction issue wound up being related to the battery cooling system. They had to replace the coolant pump. Haven't had issues since.

 

[Roy2001]

I posted in one of the other threads, but had not here. Unfortunately I would have been happy at that current count, but just added my vote and made it 81 as of today. Those are the ones just waiting for resolution. if you count the multiples and those already fixed it could be 117 to 130..

If this number is for engine/transmission failure with replacement/rebuild, it would be shocking.

I hope Ford already has a solution.

 

[Whammy Bar]

Had the truck back 2 weeks. Was grabbing something out of the frunk and poked my head in to see the coolant level.

All coolant has gone... Somewhere...

@Ford Motor Company who's gonna compensate my time for dealing with this? I know the dealer will remedy, but I don't have a day to deliver, Uber around places, and then pick up a vehicle. Maybe send people home with a jug of coolant if they're not going to bleed air out of the system properly??

 

[ScubaSteve_TheReal]

A mistake nevertheless. Call your service department manager and ask for their email to send them this photo after expressing your concerns. I’m sure they will take care of the situation. It happens but it’s not a good thing. Give them a chance to make it right. Good luck.

Sponsored