Glad to hear that Ford is paying attention. Does the fix work? Looks like Ford needs to collectively review all these different cases and assess if they have common root cause or if they are different and communicate via TSB or OTA to us and dealers.
Perhaps the 100% refers to 12V battery being 100%? May be misleading message?Everyone probably knew this already, but I have been wondering why I was seeing "Battery charged to 100%" when I specifically set the limit to 90%. I just realized that it was talking about the 12v battery.
I woke up this morning to see a 2 hour old messages saying "Charging 12v battery, estimated finish time...."
I then refreshed the app and got confirmation that the 12v battery was fully charged (100%)
2 days ago when I had a "Charge error" (Below), I now know it was an error charging the 12v battery, and 30 hours later, my car was dead. If I get that error again, I'll go out and start it, move it, start a new charge session... something.
Thats good news, however I also didn't have any driving or charging issues, just the powertrain failure message and a service soon message. Local FE could have diagnosed it based on a software issue which to him or her looked like a hardware issue. There are a few other folks getting different parts replaced, if they are all related, then Ford should update the FE's so they aren't chasing their tails. In the end, a part is on order for me which might not be the issue, wasting a week for me, hours for the dealer tech and now an hour or so install it with the possibility in the end it's a software issue all long. Would be happy to share my VIN in a direct message, car is at Fullerton Ford NJ.
Makes me think, when the CEO tweeted saying that the big battery will take care of the small battery from never loosing charge, whatever happened to that system, you may want to get that checked.I'm starting this as a separate thread intentionally. I've heard others having similar problems (such as the Deep Sleep thread https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...drained-dead-update-mach-e-jump-started.3457/) and others. Mine may be the same or the Deep Sleep could have been due to even colder temperatures.
Saturday night
On day the evening of Day 4 in My Travels with Marlin (https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/my-travels-with-marlin-gb-fe-delivered.3298/post-108609) I introduced the dead LVB incident.
I didn't drive Marlin Saturday but was in the car several times to check and set features throughout the day. Marlin was plugged in to charge some of the time. I had taken him off charge to access features that required the car to be started. He had been unplugged for several hours when I went out about 10:00 pm to check one last thing and to make sure he was plugged in overnight. He started having a complete melt down. He started running through various system checks and failing all of them. He auto-rebooted. He started making lots of thunking noises. To be honest, I was scared.
I started taking pictures and video to document what was going on and reached out to some friends with various aspects of Mach E expertise. I finally just disconnected the negative lead to the battery and went to sleep tired and frustrated.
The videos are in a playlist called Marlin Shutdown 13 Feb 2021:
First up: The Meltdown. Temperature 25°F
Marlin started running through repeated system checks, all failed:
Videos 1 & 2
I attempted to plug in the EVSE but there was no response
Video 3
At the same time, there was a limited set of lights staying on:
I heard a popping sound that made me think it was the brakes when I heard it from the right rear:
Videos 5 & 6
Those few lights that were on were dimming fast:
Video 7
I finally tracked down the thunking sounds. They turned out to be popping of the speakers, heard in the doors and right rear subwoofer location:
Videos 9 & 10
In the Frunk area, I removed the rear luggage compartment cover to access the battery and it was only reading just under 7.5vdc.
Video 11
Removing the rear luggage compartment cover gives you access to the negative battery cable and an ability to reach under to put a probe on the positive battery lead. However, there is no safe way to jump the battery at this point as the positive lead is under a metal crossbar (under that red cap).
Not wanting to further drain the battery, I disconnected the negative terminal and the popping sounds ended. I left it that way overnight (temperature in the 20s). Before turning in, I found that the driver side door open and latch would not engage when trying to close it. Of course, the driver side door was open as I worked on Marlin.
After I disconnected the 12v:
Driver side door open and latch would not engage when trying to close it.
Video 12
I had to leave the car open all night with door ajar.
Passenger side front door was locked and could only be opened from inside using manual pull. I don't know of any way to open it from the outside but didn't spend a lot of time testing.
Back doors and lift gate were closed. Unlike the front doors, I learned there is no manual pull on back doors. I don't know of any way to open these from the inside or outside but didn't spend a lot of time testing.
Tired and frustrated, I went in. Sent the videos to some folks for discussion and went to sleep.
Sunday morning
5 Hours later I woke up. Posts from my friends had various suggestions to try. While I wanted to put a lot of time into these, I had numerous church responsibilities so I squeezed in only the essential. Good news is I now had light. It was also now a balmy 27°F.
I labored to remove the left luggage compartment cover. Removing these two covers is a real pain! I know Ford didn't anticipate many people needing to get jumps, but a large access panel or pair of smaller access panels in the left-hand luggage compartment cover to access the 12v positive jump terminal and negative ground point would make a lot of sense. Those large panels are not easy to remove in cold, dark conditions.
While I think I didn't damage the left one Sunday morning, while removing the rear luggage compartment Saturday night I broke off one of the permanently-molded clips, lost one of the slip-on clips and cracked the middle of the cover. This was despite having removed the rear cover off a Mach E once before. Access points like those at the headlights would make accessing the jump points much easier (see picture).
I took a video of what it looks like with these panels removed
Video 13
I checked the LVB. It was now up to 11.5v after resting. With wishful thinking well in hand, I reconnected the battery in hopes there was enough power. Not a chance. the systems energized better but the meltdown of system check failures struck again, so I disconnected the negative battery cable again. This did make the driver side door work. When I let the door close by accident I learned the driver's door now latched (locking me out until I reconnected the 12v). I made sure not to latch the hood as I didn't want to rely on those two leads in the front bumper actually opening the frunk space.
I put a trickle charger on the battery, connecting to the positive jump lead and the negative post on the battery.
Video 14
I considered jumping Marlin but remember my mention of the Saturday freezing rain? Getting into our other two vehicles would take a while as they were frozen shut.
So, I "went" to church (via Zoom of course). After a few hours the battery was over 12v, so I reconnected the negative cable to the battery post and Marlin started up like nothing had ever been wrong. I drove around the block -- no problems at all.
With Marlin running fine, I resumed my plan and drove to Rocket Frog for my beer and chocolate pickup. 80 miles R/T and everything was fine.
This is where this story bifurcates. You can go back to My travels with Marlin -- day (https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/my-travels-with-marlin-gb-fe-delivered.3298/post-108730) or continue the saga of the LVB here as it unfolds.
Yeah has to be. All makes sense now that I realize they're going out of their way to give me 12v battery updates.
I think that is part of my issue. I have a vampire drain and the DC-DC inverter isn't keeping the battery charged. I believe the solutions Ford is working on are to solve both of those.
Can you say whather the current thinking is that which cars may be affected? Or some general idea of what you think on that subject from what you have experienced?
Can you "speculate"? No need to divulge the source.
Did you click the button to check the details?
I think you might be correct. Might be used to open the door from the inside only.
I am jealous of the updates and quick responses you are getting, sounds like Ford is on top of it with the dealer and FE working around the clock. I have doubt the local Ford engineer who showed up at my dealer really diagnosed it correctly. I am really surprised the local FE said it was an actual part and not all tying back to a software issue. In your case it was a battery drain (dead MME), with mine it's all message based with no noticeable actual issues. So now I wait for a part to arrive, then a bunch of panels taken off, part installed and panels put back. Not what I wanted with a new car but it is what is, I am just nervous the part they are replacing isn't really a root cause.
I didnt know this so thanks for sharing again. So, about 1 hr 15 minutes to charge the LVB? That is a long time. I wonder what the charge rate was in that case?Everyone probably knew this already, but I have been wondering why I was seeing "Battery charged to 100%" when I specifically set the limit to 90%. I just realized that it was talking about the 12v battery.
I woke up this morning to see a 2 hour old messages saying "Charging 12v battery, estimated finish time...."
I then refreshed the app and got confirmation that the 12v battery was fully charged (100%)
2 days ago when I had a "Charge error" (Below), I now know it was an error charging the 12v battery, and 30 hours later, my car was dead. If I get that error again, I'll go out and start it, move it, start a new charge session... something.
When that part is installed then it's highly likely you will get the update by default. That module has to be programmed when it arrives.
