High voltage battery warning - insulation fault

[anth_85]

My 2021 MachE has just been put on the back of a truck on route to my nearest Ford dealership

My wife was on her way to work this morning when it popped up in the app with two notifications.
"powertrain malfunction/ reduced power"
"high-voltage battery warning"

With one of them saying the car will continue to drive but once it is turned off it wont turn back on. Which is wrong because it does, and it drives, just with the warning on the dash.

I've spoke to a ford tech who can read the fault codes from the registration number (here in the UK) and he says it is telling him it is the high voltage insulation which could be a number of things and needs diagnosis by the dealer.

It is going to get diagnosed tomorrow morning, which is faster than I expected. But I can't see if getting sorted before I go to Paris on Monday. Hopefully they will get a courtesy car ready for us for that trip.

Has anyone seen this issue before, specifically with the high voltage insulation?

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[RickMachE]

I suspect there was a miscommunication, and this will be the high voltage battery junction box failure that thousands have experienced.

 

[anth_85]

I suspect there was a miscommunication, and this will be the high voltage battery junction box failure that thousands have experienced.

That was replaced last year. I can't believe the timing of this. Last year we bought the car, within 48 hours it wouldn't move due to the HVBJB, that was 7 days before we left for Paris. Ford were great and arranged a car we could take instead. Parts then were harder to come by and the car still wasn't fixed by the time we got back.

This time, we are 5 days from leaving to go to the same place! It has not gave us any issues (apart from the parking brake cable breaking but that was an easy fix myself), and now we are left with the same stress just before a holiday to the same place. It's jinxed.

The issue now though is that the car is outside the 3 year warranty. So Ford are being less forthcoming with help. They are going to diagnose it tomorrow morning before they will do anything. That doesn't leave very long to get something sorted if it's not a quick fix.

 

[Tampamike]

Maybe it’s afraid of the French, … , ?

 

[anth_85]

Maybe it’s afraid of the French, … , ?

It certainly has an issue with going there! I am now looking at a hire car for £300 and having spoken to them, European insurance for it is an extra £350.

 

[AliRafiee]

Sorry about your car.
Why not fly to Paris?

 

[anth_85]

Sorry about your car.
Why not fly to Paris?

We aren't just going to Paris. The plan is the Newcastle to Amsterdam ferry overnight. Drive to Disney Paris for 4 days/3nights. Then drive to Beekse Bergen safari hotel for 2 nights (to be there for my 40th birthday) then the same ferry back to Newcastle. I've found a few more options for renting a car. Including european cover I can get a Cupra Leon for £450 for the week and that is from a VW dealership that is in walking distance from my house so quite easy. I am going to begrudge putting petrol in anything I end up with. 6.9p per kw full charge at home, a quick tesla supercharger stop near Lille at 40cent a kw then free charging at Disney, was going to make it very cheap to get the car there and back.

 

[astrorob]

i think there are people who have had multiple HVBJB failures, depending on which revision was installed after the first failure. so it could be that again...

 

[anth_85]

i think there are people who have had multiple HVBJB failures, depending on which revision was installed after the first failure. so it could be that again...

yea maybe, it’s presented differently to the first time. The first time it was clearly jammed open. The car wouldn’t move, wouldn’t even release the handbrake. This time it’s functioning as it should other than the warning on the dash and in the app. When they did it last time they did it under the recall, so I would have expected them to have put the updated part in. Most of the cars with the issue on that have been the GT spec I believe. Obviously they have a higher power going across it.

I am hoping the dealer diagnoses it tomorrow and it is a quick fix with a part they have stock of. Last year when it died the HVBJB was in short supply. It’s not 18 months later, hopefully if it is that part they have stock of it on the shelf. I am trying to be positive.

 

[noway]

You may have better results if you post a question in this thread to read out the actual fault code list:
https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...ing-to-look-up-info-for-others.10230/page-616

The fault codes can be read by anyone with a license by going to vehicle history and reading the log from when it was diagnosed/self tested, as long as the fault codes was read using ford software.

 

[anth_85]

You may have better results if you post a question in this thread to read out the actual fault code list:
https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...ing-to-look-up-info-for-others.10230/page-616

The fault codes can be read by anyone with a license by going to vehicle history and reading the log from when it was diagnosed/self tested, as long as the fault codes was read using ford software.

thanks, I have posted on there. I've been talking to the ford tech from the mache UK facebook group and he says there are no error codes for the connectors. It is more about an electrical leak through some insulation.

 

[grein002]

it can fail closed or fail open. If it fails closed, you may still be able to drive the car, albeit with reduced power. That is what happened with my 23 GTPE.

 

[AliRafiee]

We aren't just going to Paris. The plan is the Newcastle to Amsterdam ferry overnight. Drive to Disney Paris for 4 days/3nights. Then drive to Beekse Bergen safari hotel for 2 nights (to be there for my 40th birthday) then the same ferry back to Newcastle. I've found a few more options for renting a car. Including european cover I can get a Cupra Leon for £450 for the week and that is from a VW dealership that is in walking distance from my house so quite easy. I am going to begrudge putting petrol in anything I end up with. 6.9p per kw full charge at home, a quick tesla supercharger stop near Lille at 40cent a kw then free charging at Disney, was going to make it very cheap to get the car there and back.

Sounds like a really fun trip. Hope you can sort out the car issue.

 

[Straight2VHS]

i think there are people who have had multiple HVBJB failures, depending on which revision was installed after the first failure. so it could be that again...

Is there anyone besides me that hasn't had one fail yet on models older than 3 years? 2021 GTPE going on 4 years old next month. Had the HVBJB replaced under the recall. They said my original showed signs of wear but never failed. New one has been fine for about 2 years now.

 

[Sikkun]

free charging at Disney, was going to make it very cheap to get the car there and back.

Does Disney in Paris actually have a decent number of chargers? Disney World has like 4 per park, good luck getting them, and they are still not free. (Not a bad price…and if you did get one you got upgraded to premium parking for free…but good luck).

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