Ford Mobile Charger, Intermittent Amber Warning Light

[RockwallRick]

I was able to get it working properly by setting up a fan to blow directly on it but I consider this to be a temporary workaround. If nothing gets resolved by next week I will be demanding a replacement under warranty!

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[Mach-Lee]

I have also been dealing with this issue for about 4 months now. I have brought it to the attention of the service agent at the Ford dealership as well as Ford Motor Company here and have gotten nowhere. The last thing that was discussed was that the mobile charger wasn’t secured to the wall. I did do that and it still didn’t work. Mine still gets hot and turns amber after a few minutes. It takes longer to charge now and this is causing me to rethink the practicality of this vehicle for my driving needs. (Never thought I would say that.) A few weeks ago I emailed the Ford agent again. I don’t even get return emails or phone calls anymore. I am starting to get a little annoyed. Hence my rare annoyed face. ? I am considering a wall unit but my son likes to use his mobile Tesla charger when he visits. Having the outlet for us both to use our own chargers was ideal—when mine worked.

I was able to get it working properly by setting up a fan to blow directly on it but I consider this to be a temporary workaround. If nothing gets resolved by next week I will be demanding a replacement under warranty!

Try replacing the receptacle you're plugging it into. Outlets wear out with age/use and can cause excessive heating. 240V outlets can also overheat if the wires on the backside become loose from thermal expansion and contraction, have someone qualified ensure they are fully tight. The plug and prongs should not be warm if the connection is good.

If the receptacle you're using for EV charging is more than 5 years old, I recommend replacing it. They are cheap and you want the nice tight connection for long-duration charging.

If the charger still overheats after replacing the receptacle and making sure the cord is fully seated into the body of the charger (common problem), then it should be a warranty claim.

 

[S.B.]

Thank you for the suggestions! I’ll have to look into the plug-in wall chargers for me. My 240v outlet was just put in last year but I will call my electrician back to check that out too. I don’t think that’s the problem though as my son’s Tesla charges fine. I too may just have to demand a replacement.

 

[RickMachE]

If your mobile charger is acting up (used to work properly, now it doesn't) and it's securely in the outlet, and the outlet appears to be fine, take it to the dealer and tell them to plug it in and test it. It's covered by a 3 year warranty. If it gives a amber light at your house, and then doesn't give one at the dealer, you know it's your outlet. If it gives an amber light at the dealer, you need a new charger. If it's a heat build up thing, that should also be apparent to the dealer also.

 

[Maquis]

If the problem is the receptacle, you should feel a fair amount of heat there. Also, if the problem is the receptacle, putting a fan on the charger wouldn't fix the problem.

 

[ElectrifyCLT]

I have a brand new 240V 50A outlet that was installed in January, and have begun to see the intermittent yellow warning light more frequently in the past few weeks. I was able to capture it on video, it was cycling 8 seconds all blue, ~1 minute yellow + blue. Over, and over again. The car kept charging and never threw a code. The ambient garage temperature was 73, and the car had no fan action during the charge.

Interestingly, Fordpass was also wayyyyy off on total energy delivered.

I plugged in around 62% and charged to 90%. Fordpass correctly estimated the miles added, but only projected 8kw delivered.

 

[RockwallRick]

When this happened I got a message on Fordpass that charging could not be completed during my scheduled time, but with my fan set up it completed to 90% well within the time frame. My Garage temp was around 80 degrees. Last summer I had no charging issues with Garage temp over 90 degrees!

 

[S.B.]

If your mobile charger is acting up (used to work properly, now it doesn't) and it's securely in the outlet, and the outlet appears to be fine, take it to the dealer and tell them to plug it in and test it. It's covered by a 3 year warranty. If it gives a amber light at your house, and then doesn't give one at the dealer, you know it's your outlet. If it gives an amber light at the dealer, you need a new charger. If it's a heat build up thing, that should also be apparent to the dealer also.

Thank you for confirming about the warranty time! In December, my dealer said they needed something installed to test it….and then didn’t get back to me. I didn’t follow-up either. I did try my charger at my son’s house and it also turned amber there whereas his works fine here. I know it stays secure and there is no heat from the outlet itself. I called this morning and politely (which actually may be my problem in getting this resolved) asked for a new charger. They will look into it and get back to me. Not planning to let it drop this time and will insist on a new one under warranty. I appreciate this forum very much as I always reference it when there is an issue with my Mach E. ?

 

[RockwallRick]

I charged for over 6 hours today and not once did I see the Amber light come on! Garage temp was lower than last time after a cold front came thru so maybe that helped?

 

[RockwallRick]

My case for getting a new Ford mobile charger took another hit today. Garage temp is back up to 80 degrees but the FMC continued to pulse blue as normal while charging the car up to 85%. That makes 2 consecutive charging sessions with No amber warning light!!

 

[RockwallRick]

Thank you for confirming about the warranty time! In December, my dealer said they needed something installed to test it….and then didn’t get back to me. I didn’t follow-up either. I did try my charger at my son’s house and it also turned amber there whereas his works fine here. I know it stays secure and there is no heat from the outlet itself. I called this morning and politely (which actually may be my problem in getting this resolved) asked for a new charger. They will look into it and get back to me. Not planning to let it drop this time and will insist on a new one under warranty. I appreciate this forum very much as I always reference it when there is an issue with my Mach E. ?

Were you able to get a new one under warranty? I cancelled my appointment with the dealer because mine has gone back to working as normal! It appears to have fixed itself somehow? ( lol )

 

[S.B.]

Were you able to get a new one under warranty? I cancelled my appointment with the dealer because mine has gone back to working as normal! It appears to have fixed itself somehow? ( lol )

Not yet!! They still haven’t called me back but I have it on my to-do list to call again when I get time this week. (I’m also due for 20k mi service.) My son is visiting this weekend and is presently using my charger with his Tesla adapter. The same thing happened with the light turning amber after a few minutes or so. He was able to follow on his app and noted that it went from 30 to 16 amps when it happened-but now at 24. I am in PA and I first noticed this when it got colder in December— after 9 months of ownership like you mentioned. It’s still not 80 degrees here so I find your experience interesting because it is opposite to my usual temps. I will let you know. Keep me posted as well and good luck!! I hope it stays working for you!!

 

[ElectrifyCLT]

I went to Town and Country Ford here in Charlotte today for this exact issue, the experience was about as bad as it could get.

1: I waited 6 weeks for an appointment, only to show up this morning and them not find me in the system at all. While I'm standing there, another customer was having the same issue. Their service department can't even schedule appointments properly.

2: Despite being told at time of Sale that they had a handful of EV techs, I'm told they now only have one, and he's backed up, so they'd need the car overnight to diagnose the EVSE.

3: I show him the video and pictures of the EVSE overheating with an ambient temp of 73 degrees, told they still need the car to "see it themselves" since the photos are from early last month when I first called for the appointment.

@Ford Motor Company I know the EVSE is only a few hundred bucks, but dealers asking for the entire car for days for what amounts to an included accessory is silly season.

 

[Danny]

I am having this issue as well. When the light goes from blue to orange - the charge time increases. When I unplug from the EV - goes to blue. Then when I plug it back in - it will go from Blue to Orange. I have confirmed that it is indeed plugged in securely and the pig-tail is firmly plugged in.
-Mach-4 Purchased in APR21

 

[Smolinski]

Is the overtemp led an indication of a heating problem inside the Ford Mobile Charger or the car internal system

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