Another Powertrain Malfunction/Reduced Power customer

[danate]

Hello all. I've been following these issues on here silently since buying my 2022 Lightning Lariat a year ago (I bought it used from a private party with 5k miles since dealer markup was insane) and I wasn't that surprised when it hit me. I'm about to hit 20k miles and I've been problem free for the past year.

Yesterday I was just driving around 40mph and I went to accelerate and felt a decrease in power and got the "Powertrain Malfunction/Reduced Power" warning. I also had the service wrench light come up, but I think that's also due to my approaching service interval.

My power was reduced to 54%, which was still drivable and I was able to run my errand and get home. I've noticed most of these stories have rendered the vehicle useless with something like 5%. Are there different outcomes based on these reduction levels or are they just arbitrary?

I found a dealer that would look at it on Tuesday, so I won't have any answers until then. Yes, I added myself to the poll already. Fingers crossed.

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[Ford Motor Company]

Hello all. I've been following these issues on here silently since buying my 2022 Lightning Lariat a year ago (I bought it used from a private party with 5k miles since dealer markup was insane) and I wasn't that surprised when it hit me. I'm about to hit 20k miles and I've been problem free for the past year.

Yesterday I was just driving around 40mph and I went to accelerate and felt a decrease in power and got the "Powertrain Malfunction/Reduced Power" warning. I also had the service wrench light come up, but I think that's also due to my approaching service interval.

My power was reduced to 54%, which was still drivable and I was able to run my errand and get home. I've noticed most of these stories have rendered the vehicle useless with something like 5%. Are there different outcomes based on these reduction levels or are they just arbitrary?

I found a dealer that would look at it on Tuesday, so I won't have any answers until then. Yes, I added myself to the poll already. Fingers crossed.

Good morning! If you need any additional assistance after your dealer visit, please feel free to send us a DM with your VIN and Ford dealer info.

 

[Tom Jensen]

Good morning! If you need any additional assistance after your dealer visit, please feel free to send us a DM with your VIN and Ford dealer info.

Add me to the list of those with the dreaded yellow wrench and powertrain malfunction/reduced power messages. The first three warnings (and wrenches) disappeared after less than a day. But they’re back now. 2023 Lariat. I love it, but don’t like the glitch.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Add me to the list of those with the dreaded yellow wrench and powertrain malfunction/reduced power messages. The first three warnings (and wrenches) disappeared after less than a day. But they’re back now. 2023 Lariat. I love it, but don’t like the glitch.

Hey, Tom! I'd be happy to see how I can assist you with these power messages. Send us a PM with your VIN and dealer name/location, and I'll get right on it. To send a private message, just click on our username and select "Start Conversation".

 

[Maxx]

Add me to the list of those with the dreaded yellow wrench and powertrain malfunction/reduced power messages. The first three warnings (and wrenches) disappeared after less than a day. But they’re back now. 2023 Lariat. I love it, but don’t like the glitch.

Have you seen you module voltage variation during wrench message and after by any chance?

Please keep us posted if you find out what is going on with your truck.

Good Luck.

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

For the record, my truck has been at the dealer since March 25th, where it sits, supposedly waiting for some sort of tool from @Ford Motor Company to remove a cell.

If this tool is so hard to get, it would be great if dealers actually worked together to share the tool, or if they could simply bring my truck to where they have all the tools needed to fix anything that comes along.

 

[The Weatherman]

For the record, my truck has been at the dealer since March 25th, where it sits, supposedly waiting for some sort of tool from @Ford Motor Company to remove a cell.

If this tool is so hard to get, it would be great if dealers actually worked together to share the tool, or if they could simply bring my truck to where they have all the tools needed to fix anything that comes along.

You might consider checking around to see if you can find a nearby dealer that has the tool and experience with the replacement. It’s your truck and Fords warranty, so you should be able to choose who works on it.

Not to nitpick, but it’s a module replacement. Multiple cells make a module and multiple modules make up a full battery pack.

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

You might consider checking around to see if you can find a nearby dealer that has the tool and experience with the replacement. It’s your truck and Fords warranty, so you should be able to choose who works on it.

Not to nitpick, but it’s a module replacement. Multiple cells make a module and multiple modules make up a full battery pack.

Most of us in the forums think it's a module, and I've talked about it often in other topics, but I have asked the dealer to confirm because it's against what most people have read, but they insist it's a cell. For what it's worth, I think it's a module, but I want to underscore what the dealer said, so that Ford can know what the dealer said.

Also, I made it clear to the dealer that I am now officially eligible to invoke New York State's Lemon Law because it's there for more than 30 days, and suggested they send it to another dealer to avoid that. I'm tied up with some time sensitive work in the next couple of days, but I will definitely push this if there is no satisfaction on the horizon.

The last time I dropped off a truck to that dealer was in 2021. They took over 4 months to diagnose my truck and still couldn't get it to start, so I traded it rather than wait another 4 months. I won't let that happen again.

 

[HopingItWorks]

Good morning! If you need any additional assistance after your dealer visit, please feel free to send us a DM with your VIN and Ford dealer info.

 

[Knightro2]

So I got this issue this past Friday on my 2023 Lariat ER as well. Powertrain Malfunction/Reduced power. I was limited to 57% throttle so still drivable. Took it to the dealership yesterday morning. By the afternoon they confirmed I have a bad cell but don't know which one until they drop the pack which should be today. I don't have an ETA on when I get my truck back for now as they are still investigating and getting with Ford. I got a Polestar2 as a loaner...super cramped and very basic. But at least it's an EV.

 

[Zprime29]

So I got this issue this past Friday on my 2023 Lariat ER as well. Powertrain Malfunction/Reduced power. I was limited to 57% throttle so still drivable. Took it to the dealership yesterday morning. By the afternoon they confirmed I have a bad cell but don't know which one until they drop the pack which should be today. I don't have an ETA on when I get my truck back for now as they are still investigating and getting with Ford. I got a Polestar2 as a loaner...super cramped and very basic. But at least it's an EV.

That's a big bummer, sorry you hit the jackpot there. At least it sounds like your dealer is taking care of you. I'm a bit confused that they need to drop the pack to determine which module is bad (not cell, the cells are the parts inside a module). Pretty sure the battery health test they run tells them that. You could ping @rugedraw with your vin and when he gets time can check if anything has been reported.

 

[Tom Jensen]

Have you seen you module voltage variation during wrench message and after by any chance?

Please keep us posted if you find out what is going on with your truck.

Good Luck.

No. The behavior of the truck and its systems seems entirely unaffected by whatever is causing the malfunction messages and orange wrench of despair. And the messages (and demon wrench) continue to appear and disappear after a day or even a couple of hours. I’m heading to the dealer on Tuesday for diagnosis.

 

[tommyb]

No. The behavior of the truck and its systems seems entirely unaffected by whatever is causing the malfunction messages and orange wrench of despair. And the messages (and demon wrench) continue to appear and disappear after a day or even a couple of hours. I’m heading to the dealer on Tuesday for diagnosis.

I had this same issue pop up this week. Powertrain malfunction warning but my truck was otherwise operating normally. Took it to my dealer yesterday who diagnosed it as a problem with a valve in the battery cooling system. I've seen that mentioned in a few other threads in this forum. I think that's relatively good news, but right now the dealer is unsure how long it will take to get the necessary replacement part. I'm supposed to get an update Monday, crossing fingers....

 

[The Weatherman]

I had this same issue pop up this week. Powertrain malfunction warning but my truck was otherwise operating normally. Took it to my dealer yesterday who diagnosed it as a problem with a valve in the battery cooling system. I've seen that mentioned in a few other threads in this forum. I think that's relatively good news, but right now the dealer is unsure how long it will take to get the necessary replacement part. I'm supposed to get an update Monday, crossing fingers....

 

[Tom Jensen]

I had this same issue pop up this week. Powertrain malfunction warning but my truck was otherwise operating normally. Took it to my dealer yesterday who diagnosed it as a problem with a valve in the battery cooling system. I've seen that mentioned in a few other threads in this forum. I think that's relatively good news, but right now the dealer is unsure how long it will take to get the necessary replacement part. I'm supposed to get an update Monday, crossing fingers....

I will report back after seeing the dealer. I’m hoping for a simple fix, but dreading the other kind.

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