High-Voltage Battery Warning, Please Help!

[CindyS]

For the past 30-years my husband and have been loyal Ford truck owners. They are simply the best trucks you can buy (IMHO).

In Dec ’22 I purchased a 2022 F-150 Lightning, thinking it would be the best of both worlds for me. An electric vehicle to support my 30-mile daily commute to the school where I work, and also to meet my need for a pickup truck on our rural property. What could be better?

The alerts and recalls started almost immediately, with an air dam issue about a week after purchase (but that's a story for another day). This summer, I scheduled an appointment with my local Ford dealer to deal with the most recent recalls, to address more alerts (parking sensor, etc. . . ), and to replace the plastic steering column shroud that had fallen off around the steering wheel.

When I made the appointment, I was told they would need the truck for a day or two to complete the repairs. I arrived to drop the truck off and was informed that 2 weeks would be needed because of a shortage of EV qualified technicians and an influx of vehicles requiring repairs. The dealership did give me a loaner vehicle so I could at least get to and from work. That was on May 20th.

After running diagnostics, they found an issue with the high voltage battery which they were not able to fix. The service advisor told me they could physically complete whatever repairs were necessary, but they did not have the software from Ford to re-program the truck. As a result, the truck would be stuck in the bay unable to be moved. They did not allow it to be driven, stating it was not safe for anyone to drive because it could stop without warning and strand whoever was in the vehicle.

Long story short, the truck sat on the dealer's lot for 3 1/2 months, unable to be repaired. Until one day we received a call that somehow the code miraculously disappeared so it should be all better. They test drove it for a few days and I brought the truck home on August 29th.

Fast forward to the evening of Friday, September 20th, when the truck flashed an urgent message to Stop Driving and pull the vehicle over safely. The truck threw another High-Voltage Battery Warning, stating that an electrical system fault was detected and the vehicle may shut down without further warning. I followed the instructions, pulled over, shut the truck off, and waited for a few minutes. I then re-started the truck and the same fault remained on the dash. I drove the truck the short distance home and shut it off. Yes, in retrospect that was probably not smart, but that is the fundamental issue. Am I supposed to just strand the vehicle on the side of the road and find a ride every time this happens?

In the morning, the fault code was gone, but so is my faith that my truck is reliable. I called the dealership at 9:00am on Saturday, September 21st, spoke with a service representative, and left an urgent message with the service manager. It is now Sunday morning and no one has returned my call. I am left wondering what to do. Is my truck safe? Can I drive it? I need to get to the school on Monday - can anyone help me and give me advice?

 

[RickLightning]

Your dealership is incompetent.

The likely scenario is as follows - when your truck was in during May, they did a software update which then required they run a test on the battery. It failed, you had SOME bad arrays (as did I). They then were supposed to replace the arrays, and update the software.

HOWEVER, Ford broke the software, so they stopped all updates of that part of the software. That was frozen from that timeframe until about a week ago. Therefore, TECHNICALLY, they could not repair the truck.

However, they actually could do the repair, and then return the truck, and then do the software update now. Most dealers didn't realize this. So, people have had their trucks sitting for months in the shop, with a free Ford-paid for loaner. Ridiculous.

Yes, you should be able to drive the truck. The power meter will show about 57% available, and you MAY not be able to charge, so don't run it to zero.

As to callbacks, Service Departments often don't work weekends, or work a half day doing things like oil changes.

 

[MountainAlive]

With the duration of time that elapsed I would have assumed this truck would fall into lemon law status and result in a Ford buy back. Depending on your state laws I would consider looking into this. However, this experience also shows (again and again in my opinion) that Ford really needs regional, dedicated EV-only repair shops. Some dealers are great at this and have owners in and out in a week to replace a battery module. Others have no clue and it literally sits at the dealer for months. One guy on the Facebook forum didn’t have his truck for 10 months. It shouldn’t be this difficult.

 

[CindyS]

Your dealership is incompetent.

The likely scenario is as follows - when your truck was in during May, they did a software update which then required they run a test on the battery. It failed, you had SOME bad arrays (as did I). They then were supposed to replace the arrays, and update the software.

HOWEVER, Ford broke the software, so they stopped all updates of that part of the software. That was frozen from that timeframe until about a week ago. Therefore, TECHNICALLY, they could not repair the truck.

However, they actually could do the repair, and then return the truck, and then do the software update now. Most dealers didn't realize this. So, people have had their trucks sitting for months in the shop, with a free Ford-paid for loaner. Ridiculous.

Yes, you should be able to drive the truck. The power meter will show about 57% available, and you MAY not be able to charge, so don't run it to zero.

As to callbacks, Service Departments often don't work weekends, or work a half day doing things like oil changes.

Hi Rick,

Thanks for the information, I appreciate it. Good to know the truck should be OK to drive. It's Tuesday night now and still no return call from the dealership despite another voicemail message left and text message sent.

Cindy

 

[CindyS]

With the duration of time that elapsed I would have assumed this truck would fall into lemon law status and result in a Ford buy back. Depending on your state laws I would consider looking into this. However, this experience also shows (again and again in my opinion) that Ford really needs regional, dedicated EV-only repair shops. Some dealers are great at this and have owners in and out in a week to replace a battery module. Others have no clue and it literally sits at the dealer for months. One guy on the Facebook forum didn’t have his truck for 10 months. It shouldn’t be this difficult.

Unfortunately, we live in Colorado where neither the old or newly updated lemon law will not apply because even though it is still within 2 years of having bought the truck, it has 10,000 too many miles on it. We looked into that and have also reached out to the dealership we brought the truck from to see what can be done. No callback from that dealership either.

I agree with you, it shouldn't be this difficult.

 

[CindyS]

Update as of 10/2/2024: Dropped the truck off at a different dealership across town (about an hour away from our house) following another "Stop Safely Now" and "High Voltage Battery Warning" alert about a week after the first. (No response from the original dealership who attempted the repair after 4 voicemail messages and 2 texts describing the problem). Last week, the truck also threw a fault of Inoperative Front Camera as well as an alert that the Pro Power Onboard Reserve level was met even though there were still 173 miles of range showing as remaining.

I initiated a buyback request from Ford, since this truck has had electrical issues since about a week after we got it and has not been successfully repaired after numerous attempts and 3 1/2 months sitting at the dealership. Ford denied my buyback request because we have had the truck for over a year.

Yesterday when we dropped the truck off at the dealership, we were told they would need to recreate the fault in order to try to figure out what was happening, even though they could clearly see the history of faults when they viewed the truck's history on the computer. Meaning, they would have to drive it around until the fault triggered again and then read the codes while they were still active. No estimation on the length of time this could take or even if it will be possible to recreate the fault or complete the repair.

Meanwhile, we were also told that when the Stop Safely Now alert triggers, the truck can suddenly stop in place. . . meaning that without warning, the wheels will completely lock in place and not roll - leaving the truck stranded wherever the wheels locked with no ability to even roll the truck to the side of the road. Envision this happening in the middle of a highway!! This, to me, means that the truck is definitely not safe to drive and is certainly not reliable.

Has anyone else had these issues?

 

[TaxmanHog]

Meanwhile, we were also told that when the Stop Safely Now alert triggers, the truck can suddenly stop in place. . . meaning that without warning, the wheels will completely lock in place and not roll

Not sure that is true, for it to move to lock position, the shifter would need to go to the park position.
As long as the mode selector is in D, N or R the rear motor won't lock up.

[ELECTRONICALLY CONTROLLED]

 

[Maquis]

Update as of 10/2/2024: Dropped the truck off at a different dealership across town (about an hour away from our house) following another "Stop Safely Now" and "High Voltage Battery Warning" alert about a week after the first. (No response from the original dealership who attempted the repair after 4 voicemail messages and 2 texts describing the problem). Last week, the truck also threw a fault of Inoperative Front Camera as well as an alert that the Pro Power Onboard Reserve level was met even though there were still 173 miles of range showing as remaining.

I initiated a buyback request from Ford, since this truck has had electrical issues since about a week after we got it and has not been successfully repaired after numerous attempts and 3 1/2 months sitting at the dealership. Ford denied my buyback request because we have had the truck for over a year.

Yesterday when we dropped the truck off at the dealership, we were told they would need to recreate the fault in order to try to figure out what was happening, even though they could clearly see the history of faults when they viewed the truck's history on the computer. Meaning, they would have to drive it around until the fault triggered again and then read the codes while they were still active. No estimation on the length of time this could take or even if it will be possible to recreate the fault or complete the repair.

Meanwhile, we were also told that when the Stop Safely Now alert triggers, the truck can suddenly stop in place. . . meaning that without warning, the wheels will completely lock in place and not roll - leaving the truck stranded wherever the wheels locked with no ability to even roll the truck to the side of the road. Envision this happening in the middle of a highway!! This, to me, means that the truck is definitely not safe to drive and is certainly not reliable.

Has anyone else had these issues?

1) No, “Stop safely now” will not result in the wheels locking up. You could lose power.
2) Since Ford won’t consider a buyback, you should look into your state’s lemon law. It may be more consumer-friendly.

 

[CindyS]

Unfortunately, the CO lemon law (even the newly updated lemon law) does not cover the truck, we looked into that before requesting a buyback.

The service rep at the dealership told me that the wheels are electrically powered and there is an emergency strap inside the truck that needs to be pulled to allow the wheels to turn in the event of a loss of power. He gave the example that to pull the vehicle up onto a tow truck, the wheels need to be manually released using the emergency strap in order to roll when towed. He also specifically said that with a loss of power, the Lightning is not like a gas vehicle where the car rolls to a stop but that the wheels stop and will not turn, not allowing the driver to coast to the side of the road.

I am hoping that I misunderstood what he said and would love more clarification on this. I appreciate any information you all can provide.

 

[ctuan13]

Not sure that is true, for it to move to lock position, the shifter would need to go to the park position.
As long as the mode selector is in D, N or R the rear motor won't lock up.

I mean technically that's not accurate as there's nothing physically connecting the "shifter" to the drive motors and the parking pawl. Those are all electronically actuated so if there was some sort of error or fault in the module that communicates with the drive units or parking pawl actuator, it could easily lock up.

Now I'm not saying this will happen, but it's certainly possible.

 

[TaxmanHog]

watch this

 

[TaxmanHog]

I mean technically that's not accurate as there's nothing physically connecting the "shifter" to the drive motors and the parking pawl. Those are all electronically actuated so if there was some sort of error or fault in the module that communicates with the drive units or parking pawl actuator, it could easily lock up.

Now I'm not saying this will happen, but it's certainly possible.

I'm aware that it's all controlled by wire, the question is, does the parking pawl default to lock-up by a spring loaded action when 12v is not present on the control circuit?

 

[TaxmanHog]

Again, the issues the OP and many other members who have had this problem relate to the HVB and contactors / controllers failing. If there was sufficient 12vdc energy to get the truck into a drive mode, there is likely enough energy to maintain the park pawl in the drive mode, {not locked up}.

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