Anyone else have HVJBC anxiety?

[BigMach-E]

I agree with @DevSecOps, it's best to be prepared and knowledgeable, I just also happen to disagree that it's all that unlikely to happen to a bunch more Mach-Es before there is an enacted actual fix, if that even comes to be. And I think being concerned about it, maybe anxious is the wrong them here, is the correct path to take. If you weren't concerned about it happening, you wouldn't be paying attention.

Final thought here on the subject matter: If you knew that a new car had a 0.3 percent likelihood of stranding you within the first year of ownership, and the people who built the car wouldn't know why, and there was no action you could take that would lower the chances of it occurring, would you still buy the car?

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[mmap]

What does HVJB and BECM actually mean? I’m new here. My hubs got delivery of our California Route 1 while I was in Europe. I feel like I’m playing catch up. I only just drove her for the first time yesterday after jet lag let up.
Thanks in advance.

HVBJB = High Voltage Battery Junction Box
BECM = Battery Energy Control Module

Clif Notes Version: HVBJB is the first place power goes when it leaves the car's big battery on the way to the motor(s). The BECM controls this process. There've been around 40 people on this forum who've had a failure of the HVBJB (mostly over the last 6 months). When this happens, the car will not move, has to be towed and the HVBJB replaced (under warranty). The car is out of commission for at least a week.

So far as anyone on the forum can determine, there's no rhyme or reason to why this part fails when it does. That makes people nervous because no one can say for sure whether their car will be next. No one knows whether "about 40" is a lot or not. There's some speculation that Ford will "soon" release more information. (This typically comes as a Technical Service Bulletin to dealers or a "big" recall.)

If you're really, really curious you can read one of the play-by-play threads of this happening. Ford definitely knows its going on... it's costing them >$2,000 in warranty repairs each time it happens, not to mention that Ford has to provide support for the dealer service people who are actually doing the repairs, which is lengthy, maybe complicated, and definitely new to these service departments.

tl;dr: just ignore this and enjoy your car. remind yourself in ~6 months to check on what the resolution (provided by ford) to this issue turns out to be. As someone mentioned in this thread, the failures are (all?) in cars with >8k miles on them... so while there might be no other discernible pattern to it, it does not seem to impact them when they are "brand new".

 

[scoopman]

HVBJB = High Voltage Battery Junction Box
BECM = Battery Energy Control Module

Clif Notes Version: HVBJB is the first place power goes when it leaves the car's big battery on the way to the motor(s). The BECM controls this process. There've been around 40 people on this forum who've had a failure of the HVBJB (mostly over the last 6 months). When this happens, the car will not move, has to be towed and the HVBJB replaced (under warranty). The car is out of commission for at least a week.

So far as anyone on the forum can determine, there's no rhyme or reason to why this part fails when it does. That makes people nervous because no one can say for sure whether their car will be next. No one knows whether "about 40" is a lot or not. There's some speculation that Ford will "soon" release more information. (This typically comes as a Technical Service Bulletin to dealers or a "big" recall.)

If you're really, really curious you can read one of the play-by-play threads of this happening. Ford definitely knows its going on... it's costing them >$2,000 in warranty repairs each time it happens, not to mention that Ford has to provide support for the dealer service people who are actually doing the repairs, which is lengthy, maybe complicated, and definitely new to these service departments.

tl;dr: just ignore this and enjoy your car. remind yourself in ~6 months to check on what the resolution (provided by ford) to this issue turns out to be. As someone mentioned in this thread, the failures are (all?) in cars with >8k miles on them... so while there might be no other discernible pattern to it, it does not seem to impact them when they are "brand new".

not true my car only had 4400mi and was just 6mo since delivery

 

[Logal727]

You're assuming the population of the forum, especially the active forum, is a representative sample of the population of the vast majority of Mustang owners. I suspect that if there were even close to one out of every hundred Mustangs in the rest of the world experiencing this failure, we would have seen reports about these failures being celebrated in the anti-EV and anti-Mach-E media. We saw this with "as many as" 464 Mustangs having an "unintended acceleration" software problem when Ford started a "recall" a couple of weeks ago.

But, again, my calculus is for my situation. The question was, "anyone else have HVBJB anxiety?" My answer is that I do not.

And the comment just made by @scoopman is exactly the type of calculus I don't have to make (I don't have to worry about kids in the car anymore as ours are out of the house)...while at the same time, we do similar things for the most part. We allow charging from 01:00 to about 14:00, which is *usually* outside of the times we return home after driving, but also takes advantage of our PV system. We have the car set to precondition for the times when we know we're going somewhere. If we're driving on a long trip, we'll start the car 10-30 minutes before we leave. We usually spend a few minutes after turning the car on before pulling out of the driveway. We don't accelerate very hard, nor decelerate with regen very hard. Not because we're worried about it but because we just don't drive like that.

I think this forum is even further skewed because it’s literally the first result on Google for any MachE issues. That’s why all these forums exist in the first place.

 

[AllenXS]

Nope, but if it happens again I might start getting ptsd!
with that and then another week gone when fixing 1.71, is more of a pain.

impatient, not anxious.

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

No I’m not concerned.

over the years in some rather expensive cars I’ve had:
Transmission failure
Water pump failure
Flat tires (no spare)
Burst radiator hose
Blown head gasket
Ignition module failure
Failed serpentine belt
Failed alternator
Failed heater core
Failed McPherson strut

if you are nervous about this, I’d suggest you trade the car for something else. Just don’t assume the grass is greener elsewhere.

Note to self: don't ride with Steve in an ICE car!

 

[Shayne]

not true my car only had 4400mi and was just 6mo since delivery

Mine was one week old with 300 miles on it the first time. Life will constantly knock you down it is how you get back up that matters. Was not the end of the world and I survived but it was one of those life things. Hard to sell EV's to family members when it sits dead in their driveway on the second time it does it. Software fix, new 12V fix, and then HVJB BECM fix. Is it fixed on the third try; only time will tell. Works well when it is warm. I know the rhyme and reason here. Thinking not all are totally related like stuck open and stuck closed.

I noted it seems to use a lot of wall power charging the 12V in the cold and it maybe a cost savings just to keep it on a 12V charger in the winter. Hoping they get this figured out. For now a 15amp 12V charger sits in the frunk with no problems popping the 2" port plugs to hook it to the 12V now. Two 450 mile road trips since I got it back again mid-April and it has been working perfect.

It has had a few growing pains here for me but never let me down driving yet (95% 2 way highway). Love driving this car. Smooth (good infrastructure?) quite and never need full throttle to pass. Just a great highway car for me and will never go back to ICE. It has it's good points also.

Not worried at all as either way I will deal with it. Run it and make sure you catch everything before the warranty runs out. Slap a no fear sticker on it; if you can't get rid of it. Works for me just hoping it is or will be fixed with an OTA tweak also required? Ford is still working on it so I will keep testing it. Guess I am not feel too much anxiety to date. I'd call it a bit pissed but only when it happens.

 

[Stang68]

If you knew that a new car had a 0.3 percent likelihood of stranding you within the first year of ownership, and the people who built the car wouldn't know why, and there was no action you could take that would lower the chances of it occurring, would you still buy the car?

Maybe I'm incorrect in saying this, but I sort of think most production cars probably have a 0.3% chance of something very bad going wrong.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Maybe I'm incorrect in saying this, but I sort of think most production cars probably have a 0.3% chance of something very bad going wrong.

You're not wrong.

Consumer reports finds a major engine problem rate of 4% for 1-3 yr old vehicles. They mention Silverados specifically, but I don't have a subscription so I can't tell if this rate is just the pickup or for all vehicles. They reported a rate of 6.5% for for major transmission problems (mentioning the Kia Forte.) Drivetrains have a 7.4% rate of major problems, mostly electrical issues (Audi). There's a 6.7% rate for EV electrical system, including battery problems (Tesla and a specific car, Kona is mentioned).

 

[yngwenli]

Is this issue in both 2021 and 2022 models as well as Select/GT/Premium/CaRt1 & SR/ER batteries?

 

[mikeinet]

I agree with what some folks are saying… every car has problems. Every car has things that break…. There’s a reason the concept of a lemon law exists (not saying this at all applies here… just saying bc it’s the concept that stuff doesn’t go as it should…)

ICE cars have historically had tons of problems with various parts. EVs are an incredibly new concept (compared to ICE concept ages) and “common problems” are still TBD

enjoy your car… be educated on how to deal with problems… but enjoy the car!!

 

[scoopman]

Is this issue in both 2021 and 2022 models as well as Select/GT/Premium/CaRt1 & SR/ER batteries?

As far as we know, all MMEs, every trim.

GTs might be more succeptable if you look at our own stats from those who have reported here (the ratio of GT/GTPEs is higher than the sales mix) but the data set is very imperfect because it relies on members on the forum to self-report ..... so I don't know if you can draw any conclusion from that.

 

[scoopman]

I'm mildly considering having a tow hitch put on my back -- for perhaps lugging my kids bikes -- but more really for ensuring I have a back winch point if I'm stuck. I'm only not doing this because there's no completely hidden solution that I see.

I think the difficulty of towing the Mach-E is a real problem.

 

[EasyPass]

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