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

[scoopman]

So they won’t prioritize your repair?

This is a Ford dealer we're talking about.

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[VegStang]

Hmmm, so the "C" part has been released and I still don't have my car back with the new, improved "B" part... yeah, just give me my damn car, dealer! The app keeps pinging me with door opening events, looks like I will have to bring my glasses and count on a long inspection of the car before even thinking about bringing it home later this week (maybe.)

 

[buzznwood]

I think you're right that their testing is inadequate, but it is probably not intentional or not a result of cost cutting.

Unlike with ICEs, which have been around for over a hundred years and that they probably know what problem areas to focus on whenever testing a new vehicle, they are just now learning how to deal with EVs, and it seems EVs fail in new and different ways from ICEs.

They probably should give all their new EVs for the next several years super large testing budgets to try and suss all these issues out.

I will cut Ford some slack that covid may have reduced what testing they had planned, and while EV are of course different and will require some new test procedures, heat is one of those things that is know to cause issues be it ICE or EV we are long past the days of the 60's when you got inadequate cooling causing you to overheat in traffic in the ICE world so a legacy manufacture should have at least have some adequate understanding of the issues and be capable of engineering an appropriate solutions.

If these failures where only happening to owners of the GT/ GTPE that where pounding round the track all day I could understand as even a lot of todays performance ICE vehicles do not have enough cooling for sustained track performance so offer cost option track packs that have improved cooling for those that really need it keeping the bean counters happy. Yet those unfortunate owners that have had the failure have just been using the vehicles in normal everyday circumstances.

 

[machefan]

I will cut Ford some slack that covid may have reduced what testing they had planned, and while EV are of course different and will require some new test procedures, heat is one of those things that is know to cause issues be it ICE or EV we are long past the days of the 60's when you got inadequate cooling causing you to overheat in traffic in the ICE world so a legacy manufacture should have at least have some adequate understanding of the issues and be capable of engineering an appropriate solutions.

If these failures where only happening to owners of the GT/ GTPE that where pounding round the track all day I could understand as even a lot of todays performance ICE vehicles do not have enough cooling for sustained track performance so offer cost option track packs that have improved cooling for those that really need it keeping the bean counters happy. Yet those unfortunate owners that have had the failure have just been using the vehicles in normal everyday circumstances.

MME was developed way before Covid, was in production during. They had plenty of time to stress test it.

 

[ARK]

I will cut Ford some slack that covid may have reduced what testing they had planned, and while EV are of course different and will require some new test procedures, heat is one of those things that is know to cause issues be it ICE or EV we are long past the days of the 60's when you got inadequate cooling causing you to overheat in traffic in the ICE world so a legacy manufacture should have at least have some adequate understanding of the issues and be capable of engineering an appropriate solutions.

If these failures where only happening to owners of the GT/ GTPE that where pounding round the track all day I could understand as even a lot of todays performance ICE vehicles do not have enough cooling for sustained track performance so offer cost option track packs that have improved cooling for those that really need it keeping the bean counters happy. Yet those unfortunate owners that have had the failure have just been using the vehicles in normal everyday circumstances.

All of that is true, but perhaps they just don't have a good testing procedure down. Scoopman basically drove for several hours, DCFCed it, climbed a steep mountain at typical highway speeds, and immediately started a steep and long descent.

Might it have been regen that pushed his car over the edge because I think he was basically just gliding down the mountain at that point when he got the alert? I could sort of see them dropping the ball on the software update by throttling available power and maybe limiting DCFC speed if the vehicle thinks there may be a concern, but not thinking to do anything with regen.

In other words, did they test all three together? I could see them testing DCFC over and over, and flooring it over and over, and being satisfied their software was intervening when things started to get too toasty, but what if DCFC and mountain climbing take you close to the line, and you do a ton of regen right after?

It might seem the most basic thing, all he did was drive between NorCal and SoCal on the state's main north/south freeway, but I do wonder if Ford has figured out all the combinations of things to test, particularly since a failure occurred so soon after the update went out.

I wonder if Scoopman recalls if he was seeing what he thought might be an unusual number of bars for his state of charge, outside temperature, etc., before the got the alert?

 

[Neil4Real]

All of that is true, but perhaps they just don't have a good testing procedure down. Scoopman basically drove for several hours, DCFCed it, climbed a steep mountain at typical highway speeds, and immediately started a steep and long descent.

Might it have been regen that pushed his car over the edge because I think he was basically just gliding down the mountain at that point when he got the alert? I could sort of see them dropping the ball on the software update by throttling available power and maybe limiting DCFC speed if the vehicle thinks there may be a concern, but not thinking to do anything with regen.

In other words, did they test all three together? I could see them testing DCFC over and over, and flooring it over and over, and being satisfied their software was intervening when things started to get too toasty, but what if DCFC and mountain climbing take you close to the line, and you do a ton of regen right after?

It might seem the most basic thing, all he did was drive between NorCal and SoCal on the state's main north/south freeway, but I do wonder if Ford has figured out all the combinations of things to test, particularly since a failure occurred so soon after the update went out.

I wonder if Scoopman recalls if he was seeing what he thought might be an unusual number of bars for his state of charge, outside temperature, etc., before the got the alert?

Except you're making it sound like Scoopman is the first person to have this issue. He is the first after the software updates, but the updates don't prevent it, they just warn of it. Other reports on just this forum have told tales of not even DCFC in the same day, driving normally with just a few stops and getting the SSN message.

 

[ARK]

Except you're making it sound like Scoopman is the first person to have this issue. He is the first after the software updates, but the updates don't prevent it, they just warn of it. Other reports on just this forum have told tales of not even DCFC in the same day, driving normally with just a few stops and getting the SSN message.

Yes, my point is perhaps that aspect of it has been solved, that the software update really does fix the issue for normal driving failures, but they didn't test (or couldn't prevent) a failure after a one, two, three, four punch of hours of summer freeway driving + DCFC session + mountain climb + mountain descent all one after the other.

Another possibility which I think I mentioned earlier, maybe these HVBJB really do degrade over time and Scoopman was unlucky enough to have a 'near death' HVBJB by the time he set out on his road trip and even the software fix wasn't enough to save it.

 

[kdryden99]

For everyone interested



Advance to 11 mins to see the part in question and 12:30

 

[braddallas]

Not sure if anyone has posted this but after the updates, my MME GT at DCFC EA stations seems to only charge at 79kW max, even when I started charging at 5%. Could outside temps play a role in max charging with the new update? Prior I got well over 125kW charging speed on a 250kW station before the charging curve.

 

[scoopman]

Not sure if anyone has posted this but after the updates, my MME GT at DCFC EA stations seems to only charge at 79kW max, even when I started charging at 5%. Could outside temps play a role in max charging with the new update? Prior I got well over 125kW charging speed on a 250kW station before the charging curve.

My charge speeds were typical on my road trip.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Not sure if anyone has posted this but after the updates, my MME GT at DCFC EA stations seems to only charge at 79kW max, even when I started charging at 5%. Could outside temps play a role in max charging with the new update? Prior I got well over 125kW charging speed on a 250kW station before the charging curve.

Yes, when it's 100ºF out charging speed will be reduced until the battery is cooled enough. Could also be the charger. If cable cooling fails then I think the cable will be limited to 200A/78kW.

 

[scoopman]

So they won’t prioritize your repair?

Afternoon call I make to the dealer, they tell me that they have the car prepped for work tomorrow morning. I know (from experience) that this repair does not take much more than a day once they work on it unless they screw something up.

Me: "that's great, thank you. One thing I forgot to ask, can you please not wash my car after the service?"
Dealer:" [pause] we do not wash cars here."
Me: "great, than I don't have to worry about that then. Thanks very much for the update."

I've never been to a dealer for service where they do not wash the car when they're done with the service .... but I guess the converted taco stand didn't include a hose and bucket.

 

[markboris]

The dealer with my car has part NK4Z-10C666-B sitting there now. I'm just now trying to get them to show some empathy and put it in my car.

Mysterious that there's now a C part.

The "B" part number was the one I asked my dealer about and while he was typing it up on his terminal, he said it was superseded with a "C" part and that the Sacramento Ford parts depot showed having a few in stock.

I messaged Todd to let him know of the updated part number and he said he would check it out and verify if this was correct.

 

[Avelli]

That’s a great point and part of why not replacing everyone’s HVBJB seems risky. The issue is more likely to crop up when you are leaning on the car, like happened to Scoopman, on a road trip or something along those lines.

If it was most likely to occur when you are five minutes from home at the grocery store, fine, maybe not such a big deal, not so different from getting a flat on a runflat tire, frankly, in that circumstance if we get this reduced power mode now instead of an immediate shutdown.

But if you are on vacation, trying to catch a flight, far from civilization, this is a big deal failure and Ford needs to either replace for everyone or figure out some kind of stress-test so we don’t find out for the first time we have an issue the day we are driving into the mountains or wherever.

I am in this picture. I stepped up to a LR Mach-E to deal with the kids' travel sports schedule, replacing an out-of-warranty German SAV to make it happen, largely on the premise that reliability of the wagon was a chief concern.

At the very least I'd like Ford to speak up and lay out the strategy on what will happen if the HVJCB fails and we are out on the road. Can the dealers be expected to provide a loaner? Does Ford offer rental credits? Do they have a travel assistance arm that will facilitate on your behalf? Or is it more of a "you do you, and save your receipts" type of situation?

 

[strangeengine]

I've never been to a dealer for service where they do not wash the car when they're done with the service .... but I guess the converted taco stand didn't include a hose and bucket.

Frontier Ford never washes my Lincoln when they work on it. Ever.

But that's in-line with their general approach to service.

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