Deafeningly Loud Vibrating Car

[DevSecOps]

This is a known issue and talked about extensively on this forum. Here's some of the other threads:

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/bang-and-static-on-start-up.30136/
https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...rivian-r1t-owner-comparison.28728/post-655750

There's quite a few others that are around as well. I've experienced this issue many times, I feel your pain.

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[Mach-Lee]

That sulfation can't be cleared out any other way? There's no way for the HV battery to properly maintain the 12V battery? Or leaving the car on a live Type 2 charger?

Admittedly, this would be less of an issue if Ford hadn't made the 12V battery so damned difficult to access.

Nope. It builds up with time if the battery is not fully charged (>80%). It's also equally slow to be removed (takes days). Leaving the car on a level 2 charger will not help since the 12V battery is not charged after the charge target is reached. You might want to read my topic that discusses all this: Thread 'How to Recondition/Service Your 12V Battery'

 

[dtbaker61]

That sulfation can't be cleared out any other way? There's no way for the HV battery to properly maintain the 12V battery? Or leaving the car on a live Type 2 charger?

Admittedly, this would be less of an issue if Ford hadn't made the 12V battery so damned difficult to access.

you could:
- turn the car ON
- turn settings>auto-off OFF
- and leave the car on overnight in your garage. this will give the 12v time to get up to 100% and cook for a while.

 

[Malacandra]

Nope. It builds up with time if the battery is not fully charged (>80%). It's also equally slow to be removed (takes days). Leaving the car on a level 2 charger will not help since the 12V battery is not charged after the charge target is reached. You might want to read my topic that discusses all this: Thread 'How to Recondition/Service Your 12V Battery'

That's an incredibly helpful and comprehensive article… and also really bad news to those of us who don't have the appropriate hardware (or electrical knowhow) to remediate the problem for ourselves.

I'm trying to imagine going to my dealership armed with this information, and after getting past their blank stares and convincing them that I need this done… finding at how much it would cost me to have them service it. Because I'm doubting that they'd consider this a warrantee repair.

And it's also pissing me off because I had a Bolt during the pandemic, and I was doing considerably less driving then than I'm doing now, and there was never any issue issue with its 12V battery. Admittedly their HV batteries had a reputation of bursting into flames on occassion…

 

[Malacandra]

you could:
- turn the car ON
- turn settings>auto-off OFF
- and leave the car on overnight in your garage. this will give the 12v time to get up to 100% and cook for a while.

That's the kind of thing that I could do myself that I was wondering if it would suffice. Sadly, I don't have a garage… but it ought to be safe if it's locked up and in my driveway.

 

[DevSecOps]

I'm trying to imagine going to my dealership armed with this information, and after getting past their blank stares and convincing them that I need this done… finding at how much it would cost me to have them service it. Because I'm doubting that they'd consider this a warrantee repair.

I brought mine in for this and actually drove it there while it was still doing it. I showed the service advisor who documented it, but they couldn't recreate it again.

Per what I was told, Ford has been able to replicate the bug in Dearborn on one of their vehicles. I don't have any time line for resolution, but my point is that the dealership won't do anything for you.

 

[Malacandra]

I brought mine in for this and actually drove it there while it was still doing it. I showed the service advisor who documented it, but they couldn't recreate it again.

Per what I was told, Ford has been able to replicate the bug in Dearborn on one of their vehicles. I don't have any time line for resolution, but my point is that the dealership won't do anything for you.

Assuming I am able to somehow charge to 100% and get the sulfation cleared out of my battery… the implication is that I'd probably need to take my car out for a spin every day (like walking my dogs) to maintain my 12V at an adequate state of charge to preclude this kind of thing from happening again?

 

[DevSecOps]

Assuming I am able to somehow charge to 100% and get the sulfation cleared out of my battery… the implication is that I'd probably need to take my car out for a spin every day (like walking my dogs) to maintain my 12V at an adequate state of charge to preclude this kind of thing from happening again?

I'm going to go against the crowd here and say it has nothing to do with your LVB. I had this happen to me, and various versions of it, many times throughout my ownership. I have a number of videos documenting these issues. I had battery monitoring hardware on my LVB, and that's never something that happened due to a bad/low SOC on the LVB or I would have noticed it. The car maintains the LVB so unless your HVB is below 12% SOC the car should be keeping it charged up. I also drove my vehicle every day and charged every night (which also maintain it). It's a rare occurance, but it scared the shit out of me the first time it happened.

I don't have an answer for you and because it's so rare that anything you try could make you think it's fixed. Heck, take it to a "brujeria" and tell them to cast a spell on it and I'm sure you'll think it's fixed, until it's not. I can only tell you what I've been told from someone at Ford. They are aware, but don't know why it happens. They asked me to report it any time I have it happen again through the in vehicle reporting system so that they could try to isolate why it's happening.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Assuming I am able to somehow charge to 100% and get the sulfation cleared out of my battery… the implication is that I'd probably need to take my car out for a spin every day (like walking my dogs) to maintain my 12V at an adequate state of charge to preclude this kind of thing from happening again?

You don’t have to drive it every day, but I would say it should be driven or charged for at least 30 minutes continuous 1-2x times a week to maintain the 12V. I would also disable welcome lighting since that repeatedly drains the battery below 80%.

Level 1 charging may actually be better for you since that will provide more 12V charging time. Assuming you don’t drive much.

 

[Malacandra]

Heck, take it to a "brujeria" and tell them to cast a spell on it and I'm sure you'll think it's fixed, until it's not.

This is the advice that would be the most straightforward for a software guy like me to follow.

 

[Malacandra]

You don’t have to drive it every day, but I would say it should be driven or charged for at least 30 minutes continuous 1-2x times a week to maintain the 12V. I would also disable welcome lighting since that repeatedly drains the battery below 80%.

Level 1 charging may actually be better for you since that will provide more 12V charging time. Assuming you don’t drive much.

I can definitely arrange 30 minutes of L2 charging time a couple of times a week, if nothing else. Normally I like to keep my HV battery at 80% when it's fire season around here, in case I need to bug out of the area, but that's over… so I can let it get low enough to allow for a few 30+ minute charges on a weekly basis. Level 1 charging would be a drag to try to set up in my driveway.

I disabled my welcome lighting long ago because it came on every time that I did walk my dogs, or fetch my mail, or do yard work. I gotta admit, I do miss seeing that pony light on the ground on those precious instances that the shy critter would show itself.

 

[Mach1E]

This is not a problem I'd ever read about here before… I just got into my car and after noticing that it wasn't connecting to my phone's CarPlay (which is surprisingly rare) I noticed that Sync 4 was frozen entirely. As I was trying to remember the particular button combination to reboot Sync 4, it did reboot… but when it came online my car was making deafeningly loud knocking noises and shaking violently!

It felt like a jackhammer was nearby… and most alarmingly, when I turned the car off, it continued unabated. I tried turning my car on and off again, at which point I needed to get out of there. Like I said, the sound it was making was deafening, and the experience was more than a little bit scary. Fortunately, this happened in front of my house.

I backed away from the vehicle about 25 feet because it genuinely seemed dangerous to be around. Even at that distance I could feel the knocking (of what I'm assuming was my motor getting banged up) coming up through the pavement.

Eventually, after several seemingly interminable minutes, it stopped.

I've arranged for a flatbed tow to my dealership via Ford Roadside Assistance which should be arriving tomorrow morning. I'm not looking forward to trying to get in there and engage Tow Mode.

Perhaps coincidentally, I just had my car there on Monday for the 23B50 service, at which time they also did the 22P31 recall.

I've hung around this forum for a while, but I don't remember hearing anyone else have anything like this happen. Any thoughts?

Very odd.

Just for next time when your car acts up- TAKE A VIDEO.

This helps both the forum and the Ford dealerships diagnose what the cause may be.

Any time my car does something odd, I pull out my cell and take pictures and video. When I went to my dealer to fix some stuff I got zero pushback nor the typical “we couldn’t replicate the problem.”

 

[Ford Motor Company]

This is not a problem I'd ever read about here before… I just got into my car and after noticing that it wasn't connecting to my phone's CarPlay (which is surprisingly rare) I noticed that Sync 4 was frozen entirely. As I was trying to remember the particular button combination to reboot Sync 4, it did reboot… but when it came online my car was making deafeningly loud knocking noises and shaking violently!

It felt like a jackhammer was nearby… and most alarmingly, when I turned the car off, it continued unabated. I tried turning my car on and off again, at which point I needed to get out of there. Like I said, the sound it was making was deafening, and the experience was more than a little bit scary. Fortunately, this happened in front of my house.

I backed away from the vehicle about 25 feet because it genuinely seemed dangerous to be around. Even at that distance I could feel the knocking (of what I'm assuming was my motor getting banged up) coming up through the pavement.

Eventually, after several seemingly interminable minutes, it stopped.

I've arranged for a flatbed tow to my dealership via Ford Roadside Assistance which should be arriving tomorrow morning. I'm not looking forward to trying to get in there and engage Tow Mode.

Perhaps coincidentally, I just had my car there on Monday for the 23B50 service, at which time they also did the 22P31 recall.

I've hung around this forum for a while, but I don't remember hearing anyone else have anything like this happen. Any thoughts?

Hi there! I can look into your Mach-E'S concern on my end. To get started, could you please send a private message over with the name/location of your local Ford dealer and your Mach-E's VIN?

 

[JimmyMachE]

That sulfation can't be cleared out any other way? There's no way for the HV battery to properly maintain the 12V battery? Or leaving the car on a live Type 2 charger?
Admittedly, this would be less of an issue if Ford hadn't made the 12V battery so damned difficult to access.

I think there is a occassional desulfation in "Battery mode 4" (higher Aux battery voltage):
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/dead-car-in-winter.13784/page-5#post-339596

 

[RickMachE]

I plan on setting up both vehicles for my Battery Tenders, got the right harnesses on the way from Amazon. While the Mach-E is driven several times a week, the Lightning is not. My 2013 F-150 was kept on one (now put on one every weekend). On my 2013, the cable comes out in the wheelwell and folds up out of the way of messy stuff. Just have to figure out best accessible locations on each vehicle, considering winter mess.

This isn't unique to these vehicles, or EVs in general. Modern vehicles have systems that use power constantly (which is why the 2013 is on one). On the F-150 forum, there are constant threads about the low battery warning ("I play the radio eating my lunch everyday"...), and they happen more frequently at the start of a vehicle's 2nd winter as the battery is now weaker than when brand new. I can't tell you the number of people who needlessly replace the 12v battery without getting it tested, most don't even know it is covered by the 36 month / 36,000 mile warranty. My 2013 battery lasted until the fall of 2021.

While the HVB SHOULD keep the LVB charged up, dealing with the consequences of it not doing that isn't fun. Nor can one trust the software to catch the failure before it is too late.

I thought the display of 12v charge that appeared in the web portal was great, but it went away same day...

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