😭😭😭 POST BATTERY CONTACTOR RECALL -- FIRST JUNCTION BOX FAILURE 😭😭😭😭

[macchiaz-o]

I'm getting frustrated by anyone trying to defend anything else - going to get a Twinkie to relax.

American or ???

Per @ProximusAl twinkies make you happy ? . I'm feeling better now ...

Oh. Whew. ? ?

Mountains.

I’m not familiar - steep hill?

4k elevation change in 20-30 miles

Jim, in local terms, it's just 10 reps of these:

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[Addos]

Here is a post a made a couple of days ago related to another conversation thread.


It's good to know there is a fix, albeit just software. Does anyone know what the root cause of the issue was/is? i.e. how did software cause a heavy duty, DC voltage, hermetically sealed contactor to overheat?

I have concerns.

The end symptom, result of this problem is an overheated contactor but what I want to know is Why, How? My experience with over heated contractors in other electrical equipment applications are, many times their was collateral damage to the contactor, related to the times it was overheating. As a result, in some situations I have experienced, a compromised contactor would eventually fail prematurely as collateral/cumulative overheating episodes kept on occurring. So if we are lead to believe the fix is software, then it means there was a software problem that lead to overheating that took out some contactors over time. On one hand, software fix to correct a software problem seems perfectly logical and I can accept that but on the other hand are my contactors now compromised after 5,000 miles of operation? And therefore maybe going to fail prematurely sometime in the future, most likely after the warranty runs out?

Furthermore, if these contactors got hot enough to sometimes weld together, that means sometimes there maybe collateral damage to the wire connections and wires attached to the contactor. Theoretically, an overheated contactor can do lots of collateral damage to other components.

A software fix may cure the problem from happening again on a new contactor and new production. What about a contactor that has been in use for nearly 6 months? Software cannot undo mechanical contactor overheating collateral damage that has already occured. How can I tell if a contactor has been compromised? Especially since it is hermetically sealed and probably cannot be taken apart or inspected.

If there is any logic to my concerns, than I would expect Ford to extend the warranty on any future failure related to that part, beyond the traditional 36,000 miles or 3 years. Also, if compromised contactors are a contingent liability, perhaps they should just be replaced. ?

Opinion from a former corporate warranty manager: Why wouldn't Ford choose to do software AND to replace parts? Perhaps because a software warranty upgrade on 50,000 vehicles is relatively cheap, but replacing 100,000 contactors and software is not, ( I believe there are at least 2 contactors in every vehicle) especially since the problem appears to be Fords software and not the component. Therefore there is no warranty cost recovery opportunity for the failed part. As such, Ford would be left bearing the total cost of this warranty/recall campaign with no assistance from the contactor supplier.

Curious . . . .

Ford just has to limp your car past the warranty period and then it won't be their problem.

 

[gpgrim]

Ford just has to limp your car past the warranty period and then it won't be their problem.

Some lawyer somewhere, maybe even one who drives a GT-PE is going to start signing up a class action suit in the not to distant future.

Although stranding folk on their long distance road trips isn't the same as throwing shrapnel at a passenger in a crash, I don't see how this doesn't wind up with 50k new HVBJBs being installed in all the pre May 22 MMEs.

Heck, my Infiniti FX had a crap dash that bubbled up horribly, not a safety critical system at all, and Infiniti issue a recall to replace a fair number of them.

 

[Jimrpa]

Ford just has to limp your car past the warranty period and then it won't be their problem.

Wrong. If they know there is a design flaw/defect and deliberately hide it, well…

 

[Gixxer750]

Just finished catching up on this thread. @scoopman, sorry to see this happen to you again. I would say it's bad luck but we all know it's not. Looking forward to seeing pictures of the new HVBJB. Curious to see if any of the guys more in the know will be able to notice a difference.

First thing I would be checking is the wire sizes to the contactors. I've seen plenty of contactors and connectors fail over the years due to undersized wire getting hot and transmitting that heat to the contact/pins. Most wires are rated for 150C while the contactors are rated at 90C. Not sure if this is the case here. Would be interesting to see the wire markings.

Hope the new part is the final fix for us and they get you sorted quickly on Tuesday!

 

[Zer0t]

Wow this is 22 pages already. Pardon me if this somewhere along this extended thread.

It appears @scoopman ’s car will be getting a third HVBJB that is different than the original factory component and the first replacement component? Do i understand that correctly?

I’ve always considered this software fix a patch till they revised the hardware. Will the revised hardware be made available to all owners or only after experience a catastrophic failure? If the latter is the case I’m seriously considering trading the car in. We really quite like but can’t take it on extended trips with any comfort knowing this a flaw to be exposed over just a matter of time.

If it something Ford will fix for all owners then I would keep our Mach-E and continue to enjoy it. I’m also about 2 weeks away from a Lightning delivery and this gives me pause about getting deeper into Ford EV tech.

I’ll continue reading the thread and see if I can find answers to these questions.

@scoopman sorry you e been down this road twice but glad everyone is ok.

 

[Mach-Lee]

It appears @scoopman ’s car will be getting a third HVBJB that is different than the original factory component and the first replacement component? Do i understand that correctly?

Yes.

I’ve always considered this software fix a patch till they revised the hardware. Will the revised hardware be made available to all owners or only after experience a catastrophic failure? If the latter is the case I’m seriously considering trading the car in. We really quite like but can’t take it on extended trips with any comfort knowing this a flaw to be exposed over just a matter of time.

If it something Ford will fix for all owners then I would keep our Mach-E and continue to enjoy it. I’m also about 2 weeks away from a Lightning delivery and this gives me pause about getting deeper into Ford EV tech.

We don't know, currently they're only replacing ones that go bad. Ford hasn't said anything about preemptive hardware replacement. I would hope so.

Lightning will be bad PR if it has issues since you can't sell it for a year. I hope you know about the no-resale thing.

 

[Neil4Real]

Yes.


We don't know, currently they're only replacing ones that go bad. Ford hasn't said anything about preemptive hardware replacement. I would hope so.

Lightning will be bad PR if it has issues since you can't sell it for a year. I hope you know about the no-resale thing.

You can’t resale for a profit. But with the $7,500 tax credit, you’d still be ahead selling what you paid. It’s extremely doubtful dealers are going to sue people. Especially if you sell it unlisted (private party, to Carvana, etc.). If it’s on auto trader or similar, a dealer might catch it, but still doubt they’d sue and catch it fast enough to stop title transfer.

 

[Zer0t]

Yes.


We don't know, currently they're only replacing ones that go bad. Ford hasn't said anything about preemptive hardware replacement. I would hope so.

Lightning will be bad PR if it has issues since you can't sell it for a year. I hope you know about the no-resale thing.

When did the no-resale kick in? Ive heard rumors but I wasn't aware it was official.

 

[phil]

If you have to drive up mountains in hot weather, it's probably wise to just use BlueCruise and avoid hitting the pedal to pass.... On the bright side, once you have a failure you'll get the new part so you can stop worrying.

OK, so what I'm looking for now is:
1. A nice, long uphill drive, with
2. A Ford dealer near the end of it, one with a top-notch service department, and
3. Located near good public transportation so I can go home and wait for installation of my "robust" new parts.

Yes, I'm kidding. Mostly.

 

[scoopman]

Wow this is 22 pages already. Pardon me if this somewhere along this extended thread.

It appears @scoopman ’s car will be getting a third HVBJB that is different than the original factory component and the first replacement component? Do i understand that correctly?

I’ve always considered this software fix a patch till they revised the hardware. Will the revised hardware be made available to all owners or only after experience a catastrophic failure? If the latter is the case I’m seriously considering trading the car in. We really quite like but can’t take it on extended trips with any comfort knowing this a flaw to be exposed over just a matter of time.

If it something Ford will fix for all owners then I would keep our Mach-E and continue to enjoy it. I’m also about 2 weeks away from a Lightning delivery and this gives me pause about getting deeper into Ford EV tech.

I’ll continue reading the thread and see if I can find answers to these questions.

@scoopman sorry you e been down this road twice but glad everyone is ok.

I am getting the redesigned part that doesn't crap itself out. If your HVBJB fails now you cannot get the old part, they only are making the new part for factory built cars and replacements. Of which there will continue to be a fair amount.

Right now currently, you cannot get the redesigned part without it first throwing diagnostic codes that the part is failing. Ford decided to only send software to our cars that allegedly tries to prevent the damage from occurring, but then also gives you some warning when the part is about to fail.

My strong advice is to get the recall software as it is less horrible to at least know you need to get your car right now to a dealer. I bet if I didn't have the recall software, my car would have just bricked itself without warning which would be really catestrophic.

And look, if you want the new part, @Mach-Lee has mapped a route which I bet is guaranteed to get you the recall Ford should be doing for at least the GT / GTPE cars.

 

[scoopman]

OK, so what I'm looking for now is:
1. A nice, long uphill drive, with
2. A Ford dealer near the end of it, one with a top-notch service department, and
3. Located near good public transportation so I can go home and wait for installation of my "robust" new parts.

Yes, I'm kidding. Mostly.

I would add:

4. Play Blippi songs while driving

 

[mwtechy]

as soon as this update comes out I'm flooring it everywhere on unbridled mode, long road trips through hilly backroads.

 

[DevSecOps]

as soon as this update comes out I'm flooring it everywhere on unbridled mode, long road trips through hilly backroads.

There's no reason you need the update for that. Just make sure that after you take that "trip" you stop where you can be easily towed. Maybe even just drive to a dealer, turn it off and see if it comes back on.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

OK, so what I'm looking for now is:
1. A nice, long uphill drive, with
2. A Ford dealer near the end of it, one with a top-notch service department, and
3. Located near good public transportation so I can go home and wait for installation of my "robust" new parts.

Yes, I'm kidding. Mostly.

I can’t drive home without going up steep hills. Some of the grades are 10% (although briefly). This is what I was contemplating after reading this thread yesterday. On the bright side, no matter which way I go to the dealer, it’s downhill.

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