“Service vehicle soon”: “Powertrain malfunction / Reduced Power” & “High Voltage Battery Warning”

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Went on hike with family and dogs today Sunday September 12th. . Returned to a hot car. I started the A/C at full blast while securing the the dogs - only to be greeted on the center screen:

“Service vehicle soon” with
* turtle icon
* red exclamation car
* wrench.

FordApp says:
I) Powertrain malfunction / Reduced Power”
ii) “High Voltage Battery Warning”

I tried:
1) turning car on and off
2) Leaving car off for 10+ minutes.
3) rebooting the center screen (hey it can’t hurt right?)

Currently I’m waiting for a tow truck to tow to the nearby (3 miles) Ford of Franklin (I live 20 minutes away in Nashville TN). Earliest they can schedule us is 6 days from now on Friday September 17th and I bet that’s optimistic.

@Ford Motor Company anything else I can try / do? (Happy to send you my VIN)
California Route 1
April 2021 build date
Bought early June (original buyer cancelled)
A little over 5,000
Been great until now!

Ford Mustang Mach-E “Service vehicle soon”: “Powertrain malfunction / Reduced Power” & “High Voltage Battery Warning” 12396836-4358-4ABD-A63E-E5E25D01797B


Ford Mustang Mach-E “Service vehicle soon”: “Powertrain malfunction / Reduced Power” & “High Voltage Battery Warning” 79A4E66D-F134-4B13-89B8-4AFCA165E114


Ford Mustang Mach-E “Service vehicle soon”: “Powertrain malfunction / Reduced Power” & “High Voltage Battery Warning” 03F5116C-2AC4-4167-9866-16148A7A43DC
 
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SnBGC

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Start the car again if possible and turn off climate control. Do the front louvers open? If so, let it run for 15 minutes and then see if the message remains. If so, shut down and restart and see if you have drive.

Good luck.
 
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Start the car again if possible and turn off climate control. Do the front louvers open? If so, let it run for 15 minutes and then see if the message remains. If so, shut down and restart and see if you have drive.

Good luck.
louvers turn on but stop after a few minutes. Trying again now and did the same thing. I did move to a more shaded spot over an hour ago but the car is still warm to touch on the front hood. Nothing alarming but it isn’t cool.
 

wings2063

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louvers turn on but stop after a few minutes. Trying again now and did the same thing. I did move to a more shaded spot over an hour ago but the car is still warm to touch on the front hood. Nothing alarming but it isn’t cool.
Sounds like it may be the 12v battery being to low, don't happen to have a volt meter with you ?
 
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Tow truck here. I guess now I wait a few days.
 


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Sounds like it may be the 12v battery being to low, don't happen to have a volt meter with you ?
I don’t have a voltmeter. And now the tow truck has left. Sigh.

FWIW 1: I generally charge on 120V every night but last night I didn’t.

FWiW2: My spouse who has a PhD in Physics thinks my AC blast caused issues.
 

SnBGC

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I don’t have a voltmeter. And now the tow truck has left. Sigh.

FWIW 1: I generally charge on 120V every night but last night I didn’t.

FWiW2: My spouse who has a PhD in Physics thinks my AC blast caused issues.
Turning on the A/C shouldn't be a problem. We do that here in AZ everytime we start the car even if left in Auto setting....the A/C goes to full blast pretty quick.

Not sure what the cause may be. Sorry that happened to you. Sounds like your Sunday was going well otherwise. :(
 

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These cars can over heat just by being parked in the sun. I haven't driven my car all day and this thread reminded me that I should probably plug in my car.

I went outside and plugged in and sure enough, the car started cooling the battery right away (standard @macchiaz-o rules apply....)

Here is what it looks like on FordPass when the car is conditioning the battery without charging.

And a video...


Screenshot_20210912-135353_FordPass.jpg
 

barryvo

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I live in Las Vegas and it is quite not here and have a MME on order but and wondering if I should just stay with an ICE vehicle until battery technology improves. It is currently on order but I'm only out $500 if canceling. It sounds like the MME struggles in hot climates based on what I've read here.

Does anyone here have a MME in hot climate like Phoenix or Las Vegas? If so, have you had a lot of problems with the car or battery overheating. We have a garage but it often reaches 102 plus in the summer.
 

SnBGC

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I live in Las Vegas and it is quite not here and have a MME on order but and wondering if I should just stay with an ICE vehicle until battery technology improves. It is currently on order but I'm only out $500 if canceling. It sounds like the MME struggles in hot climates based on what I've read here.

Does anyone here have a MME in hot climate like Phoenix or Las Vegas? If so, have you had a lot of problems with the car or battery overheating. We have a garage but it often reaches 102 plus in the summer.
The problem is not battery technology. It is Ford's software programming. They had it working fine with the Focus Electric but they screwed it up on the Mach-E.

Yes, there are many of us here in Phoenix and for the most part my car has been okay with the heat but that is credit in large part by the work around discovered by @macchiaz-o that allows my car to cool itself while parked on plug.

Ford has been no help. It is as if they aren't even aware there is an issue. They said our cars would improve over time via OTA updates but it has been more than a half year and no improvements so far. ???
 

macchiaz-o

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Yes, there are many of us here in Phoenix and for the most part my car has been okay with the heat but that is credit in large part by the work around discovered by @macchiaz-o that allows my car to cool itself while parked on plug.
I park in worse conditions than @SnBGC, for the most part. Car is outside without shade in a huge parking lot for the full work day. I usually park at around 8:30 or so and don't retrieve the car until around 6 or 7 or so. It is never plugged in at work. So I can't use my own workaround. I could remote start the car throughout the day, but I'm unwilling to do that sort of babysitting or hacking.

And it's fine. Yeah, I've lost "drive modes" a bunch of times, but this didn't prevent me from driving home or wherever.

I will say that there seems to be some odd programming with regards to cooling the powertrain/battery and cooling passengers. If I drop the set temperature from 70° to 64°, for example, the cabin fan speed will increase and I'm more likely to lose drive modes on really hot days. If I don't mess with it (i.e. leave it at Auto-3, 70°), then it takes longer to cool down the cabin because the cabin fan speed isn't as high as it really ought to be.
 

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The best thing to do in those conditions is to plug in the mache or leave it on. Don’t forget to turn off 30 min off timer.
 

SnBGC

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I park in worse conditions than @SnBGC, for the most part. Car is outside without shade in a huge parking lot for the full work day. I usually park at around 8:30 or so and don't retrieve the car until around 6 or 7 or so. It is never plugged in at work. So I can't use my own workaround. I could remote start the car throughout the day, but I'm unwilling to do that sort of babysitting or hacking.

And it's fine. Yeah, I've lost "drive modes" a bunch of times, but this didn't prevent me from driving home or wherever.

I will say that there seems to be some odd programming with regards to cooling the powertrain/battery and cooling passengers. If I drop the set temperature from 70° to 64°, for example, the cabin fan speed will increase and I'm more likely to lose drive modes on really hot days. If I don't mess with it (i.e. leave it at Auto-3, 70°), then it takes longer to cool down the cabin because the cabin fan speed isn't as high as it really ought to be.
I leave my car at 73 Auto-3 almost exclusively and it cools down very quick. Overcast or cool days will bump up to 74-75 setting.

If 70 Auto isn't cooling your cabin down well enough then that indicates most of the cooling is diverted to the battery coolant chiller vs the cabin. The car will prioritize the drive train over the passenger cabin. If turning down to 64 degrees makes it more likely to experience drive mode dropout then that is further proof that the A/C is working at it's limits to cool the battery and cabin at the same time.

We aren't out of the woods yet. Aren't we expecting extremely high temps again this week?
 

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I leave my car at 73 Auto-3 almost exclusively and it cools down very quick. Overcast or cool days will bump up to 74-75 setting.

If 70 Auto isn't cooling your cabin down well enough then that indicates most of the cooling is diverted to the battery coolant chiller vs the cabin. The car will prioritize the drive train over the passenger cabin. If turning down to 64 degrees makes it more likely to experience drive mode dropout then that is further proof that the A/C is working at it's limits to cool the battery and cabin at the same time.
Yeah this has been my assumption, too. I also bump up to 73/74 during "normal" times like driving later at night when the car doesn't want to cool itself so much.

We aren't out of the woods yet. Aren't we expecting extremely high temps again this week?
Haha -- we're at that point of summer where everyone is sick and tired of it. ? Another 5 weeks or so and then it should cool off.
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