Help - stranded

[deltalightning]

Shifter is stuck in reverse, light flashing. Cluster shows it’s in park.
Opened the door while slow rolling in parking lot to dump out ice and truck freaked out.
Won’t shift at all. Have tried all the video fixes. 12v is fine, but tried boosting it anyway.


Throws codes. Rattles. And now I’m stranded. This truck is a piece of shit.

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[Tfarrell73]

Did you try pulling the negative cable off the 12v for a few?

 

[deltalightning]

Yes

 

[Henry Ford]

Wiggle the bejeebus out of it while pressing the shifter button?

It was supposed to go into park when you opened the door. It sounds like the vehicle is in Park but the shifter didn't catch up. Matching the shifter position with the system setting seems like it might fix it.

Alternatively, you can put it in Neutral via the Sync screen or another method. This may or may not release the shifter but it will be necessary to tow it to a dealership. Both neutral methods are in the owners manual.

 

[B177y]

When you opened the door, the shifter tried to move into park. Sounds like it was either blocked from doing that or the mechanism that moves it got borked along the way. In this order, I would try:

I would see if the shifter can be moved while your 12-volt is disconnected.

The try to move the shifter with 12-volt connected and foot firmly on the brake pedal.

Try the shifter fold down button to see if you can get the motor to re-engage (front button by the shifter cubby)

Try the neutral button and see what message comes up.

Try the towing neutral setting in the sync screen menu to see if you can get the truck into tow mode.

If all else fails, Ford roadside assistance. If you can't get into tow mode or release the shifter, make it clear to roadside that they will need wheel dollies to get your truck onto the flatbed.

Good luck!

 

[deltalightning]

I tried all of these things before I posted, nothing works.

a tow truck is on the way for my one month old vehicle that continuously throws codes and now has left me stranded.

 

[VTbuckeye]

Good luck. I don't have any additional ideas, but this is just one more example of why an actual shifter does not make sense. It takes up space, it doesn't actually do anything when working properly and it can stop working and screw things up that it wasn't even needed for. Column shifter, rotary dial, stupid button on the screen. All would be just as functional when working and would not cause an otherwise working vehicle to stop working.

 

[deltalightning]

Definitely something with the shifter. When you press the button you get no click or feedback. It’s just dead.

 

[Henry Ford]

Good luck. I don't have any additional ideas, but this is just one more example of why an actual shifter does not make sense. It takes up space, it doesn't actually do anything when working properly and it can stop working and screw things up that it wasn't even needed for. Column shifter, rotary dial, stupid button on the screen. All would be just as functional when working and would not cause an otherwise working vehicle to stop working.

A mechanical column shifter would pose the same threat. Kia has a non-mechanical shifter that makes a lot of sense to me.

 

[VTbuckeye]

A mechanical column shifter would pose the same threat. Kia has a non-mechanical shifter that makes a lot of sense to me.

Yes, non-mechanical should be a requirement for electronic controlled EVs. If it felt good, then maybe a column shifter is ok, mostly as a place for you hand. However this shifter feels very playschool/easy bake oven.

 

[deltalightning]

So the tow truck shows up, we press the start button to put it in neutral, and the shifter magically rolls forward into park and everything is just fine. It just sat for an hour and fixed itself I guess.

I swear, this thing is a buggy ass computer

 

[Zprime29]

The fold down button was the only thing I could think of.

Buggy indeed, good to know it will eventually figure out where everything is if I forget about the auto-shifting in the future.

 

[deltalightning]

I guess the moral of the story is never, never, never (EVER) open a door if not in park.

 

[Heliian]

I guess the moral of the story is never, never, never (EVER) open a door if not in park.

The system works fine most of the time. It's always a good idea to not open your door while in drive.

 

[HOTAS]

Opening the door while any vehicle is in Drive, is never a good idea.
Much less when it’s rolling.
Ask all those YouTubers that think it’s cute to jump out and run around while the car is rolling down the road.

“Shift to Park”, when a door is opened, is a common safety feature these days in EV‘s and a lot of cars. With as many roll-always and driver run-overs in these cars (PHEV and EV) it became necessary.
There are so many videos of EV’s rolling into lakes, ditches, off the end of driveways, swimming pools, garage doors…
Not to mention running over their own drivers, something had to be done.
Fords implementation, with a mechanical shifter, just creates other possibilities of mechanical failure, if the feature is put to the test.

When I first got my Lightning the shifter button “latch” and shifter position ”detent” seemed out of sync with each other.
I made the shifter do an automatic shift-to-park, by opening the door stationary. The shifter fixed or re-sync’s itself. Feels normal now.

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