Anyone with a '24 Flash who can't fast DC charge?

[MTcowpoke]

Just went through this with my 23 XLT SR. Took a long road trip for the first time in this truck and had never previously attempted a DC charge since I am a pretty low mileage driver and charge exclusively at home with level 2.

Drove the first 175 miles and stopped at an EA station. Plug in, red ring, charge faults on the dash. Move over to another stall, same thing. With no other options within range ahead of me, I had to backtrack about 20 miles to a Tesla supercharger. Plugged in with my A2Z, red ring, and I’m starting to panic because we are in the middle of no where and running on electronic fumes.

As I’m racking my brain trying to keep my cool, I plugged and un plugged at least 10 times. There were a handful of times when it seemed like it wanted to work but then you could hear the actuator unlock again right as the ring turned red. It also seemed like there was a bit of movement in the plug even after pushing it in to the click. I kept trying over and over until I realized if I pulled up on the cord for about 20 seconds while the actuator engaged and it started the handshake, I finally got a blue ring! Once I figured out this little trick and got the hang of just how to pull on the cord for about 10 seconds to get the actuator to successfully engage the rest of the trip was very smooth and pretty uneventful other than 1 EA charger going absurdly slow.

Last week I dropped it off at the dealer and it didn’t get looked at for 2 days. When it did, they say they did a data download and sent it out to Ford. Ford was leaning towards replacing the gateway module at first based off the data but I tried to push that I was 99% convinced this is a plug/actuator problem not a computer or software problem. The next day they said they Ford now wanted to replace both the module and entire plug assembly and they were starting to take it apart. The next day they surprisingly called to say that it was ready. I knew the plug was showing backordered so I was puzzled. They said they ended up just pushing all of the FDRS updates available reinstalling some modules without replacing and cleared the previous faults, and it was charging successfully without needing any new parts. I specifically asked if they had put it on a DC charger because it charges just fine on AC, and they said yes they have 1 single DC charger on site and it was all good. I was confident this dealer doesn’t actually have a level 3 charger but picked it up anyways. The next morning I’m going through the paperwork and it specifically says in the techs notes that it was test charged good on a level 2 charger, NOT a level 3 and that the problem likely was a faulty charge station, which I knew was false since I had multiple locations. So I hit the road and have now tried it on 2 different DC level 3 locations with successful charging right off the bat. The plug is WAY more secure with minimal sag when I simply plug in and let go.

So I think that my problem was just poor install from the factory preventing proper actuator alignment. The dealer taking the plug out and putting it back in must have done the trick. I really do not think there was ever a software bug since I was able to charge successfully with a little help, but good to know I’m 100% caught up on updates.

4 full days at the dealer with no new parts and some FDRS updates and I’m back in business. Hope this work around may help someone else getting this red ring error on DC charging only from being stranded far from home. Actuator fitment is absolutely a good and very easy fix. Press your dealers on this to speed up the process. It seems there is stall a lack of knowledge out there with the service advisors not even knowing the difference between DC and AC charging.

You ran into the same problem I did, the service manager didn't know the difference between AC level 2 and DC level 3. The first time it was at the dealer a week and all they did was push the updates (now I have the horrible LKA come on every time I engage cruise) and charged to 100% on level 2. Of course that didn't fix it but got to talk to the mechanic and he would look at the data on the truck remotely after I tried DC charging it later that evening. It faulted and they called and said they would now change the actuator. So far so good. The mechanic knew his stuff but the service manager didn't. I made him come with me to a Tesla charger down the street from the dealership and showed him the red ring when plugged in. I didn't look at the part number on the actuator to see which design letter it is but I'm guessing there have been several changes.

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[chachalacosp]

Just went through this with my 23 XLT SR. Took a long road trip for the first time in this truck and had never previously attempted a DC charge since I am a pretty low mileage driver and charge exclusively at home with level 2.

Drove the first 175 miles and stopped at an EA station. Plug in, red ring, charge faults on the dash. Move over to another stall, same thing. With no other options within range ahead of me, I had to backtrack about 20 miles to a Tesla supercharger. Plugged in with my A2Z, red ring, and I’m starting to panic because we are in the middle of no where and running on electronic fumes.

As I’m racking my brain trying to keep my cool, I plugged and un plugged at least 10 times. There were a handful of times when it seemed like it wanted to work but then you could hear the actuator unlock again right as the ring turned red. It also seemed like there was a bit of movement in the plug even after pushing it in to the click. I kept trying over and over until I realized if I pulled up on the cord for about 20 seconds while the actuator engaged and it started the handshake, I finally got a blue ring! Once I figured out this little trick and got the hang of just how to pull on the cord for about 10 seconds to get the actuator to successfully engage the rest of the trip was very smooth and pretty uneventful other than 1 EA charger going absurdly slow.

Last week I dropped it off at the dealer and it didn’t get looked at for 2 days. When it did, they say they did a data download and sent it out to Ford. Ford was leaning towards replacing the gateway module at first based off the data but I tried to push that I was 99% convinced this is a plug/actuator problem not a computer or software problem. The next day they said they Ford now wanted to replace both the module and entire plug assembly and they were starting to take it apart. The next day they surprisingly called to say that it was ready. I knew the plug was showing backordered so I was puzzled. They said they ended up just pushing all of the FDRS updates available reinstalling some modules without replacing and cleared the previous faults, and it was charging successfully without needing any new parts. I specifically asked if they had put it on a DC charger because it charges just fine on AC, and they said yes they have 1 single DC charger on site and it was all good. I was confident this dealer doesn’t actually have a level 3 charger but picked it up anyways. The next morning I’m going through the paperwork and it specifically says in the techs notes that it was test charged good on a level 2 charger, NOT a level 3 and that the problem likely was a faulty charge station, which I knew was false since I had multiple locations. So I hit the road and have now tried it on 2 different DC level 3 locations with successful charging right off the bat. The plug is WAY more secure with minimal sag when I simply plug in and let go.

So I think that my problem was just poor install from the factory preventing proper actuator alignment. The dealer taking the plug out and putting it back in must have done the trick. I really do not think there was ever a software bug since I was able to charge successfully with a little help, but good to know I’m 100% caught up on updates.

4 full days at the dealer with no new parts and some FDRS updates and I’m back in business. Hope this work around may help someone else getting this red ring error on DC charging only from being stranded far from home. Actuator fitment is absolutely a good and very easy fix. Press your dealers on this to speed up the process. It seems there is stall a lack of knowledge out there with the service advisors not even knowing the difference between DC and AC charging.

Ok, thanks for sharing this information.

Just so I am understanding you correctly, your saying the CCS 1 port/receptacle on the truck was loose which caused the actuator to not engage. And, your fix was to apply upward pressure or relieve downward pressure or both on the CCS1 plug until the handshake was complete? This is interesting because after the first time I took it to the dealer, I was able to DC fast charge once until the red rings came back. This last time I took it to the dealer, when the techs were testing their repair and DC fast charging, their 1st attempt was successful, they stoped unplugged and tried again and got the red rings.

 

[AirVeg]

Ok, thanks for sharing this information.

Just so I am understanding you correctly, your saying the CCS 1 port/receptacle on the truck was loose which caused the actuator to not engage. And, your fix was to apply upward pressure or relieve downward pressure or both on the CCS1 plug until the handshake was complete? This is interesting because after the first time I took it to the dealer, I was able to DC fast charge once until the red rings came back. This last time I took it to the dealer, when the techs were testing their repair and DC fast charging, their 1st attempt was successful, they stoped unplugged and tried again and got the red rings.

If I plugged in and let go, it seemed like the whole thing would visibly sag a good bit from the weight of the CCS cable. You’d hear the actuator motor, then hear it again as it failed. Solution: pulling upward on the cord a few inches behind the CCS handle to get some leverage, essentially angling the top of the CCS more into the plug. This would result in a good handshake and audible of the actuator only once before turning blue.

 

[chachalacosp]

If I plugged in and let go, it seemed like the whole thing would visibly sag a good bit from the weight of the CCS cable. You’d hear the actuator motor, then hear it again as it failed. Solution: pulling upward on the cord a few inches behind the CCS handle to get some leverage, essentially angling the top of the CCS more into the plug. This would result in a good handshake and audible of the actuator only once before turning blue.

Ok thanks. I will give it a try and see if it works.

 

[chachalacosp]

If I plugged in and let go, it seemed like the whole thing would visibly sag a good bit from the weight of the CCS cable. You’d hear the actuator motor, then hear it again as it failed. Solution: pulling upward on the cord a few inches behind the CCS handle to get some leverage, essentially angling the top of the CCS more into the plug. This would result in a good handshake and audible of the actuator only once before turning blue.

Gave this a try and I still got the solid red ring.

 

[AirVeg]

Gave this a try and I still got the solid red ring.

That’s too bad. I’d still push for a new actuator.

 

[jimfigler]

So, capacity will change that quickly? Seems like a precipitous drop from previous available levels of charge.

It's just like losing mileage on a gas vehicle. It doesn't mean your gas tank suddenly shrunk it means your driving or driving conditions have changed. It is just more obvious in an EV as more factors come in to play and those factors play a bigger part in range

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