Car Bricked While Driving. Any Thoughts on This

[Blue highway]

This was a pretty scary experience for me. I've been in wrecks that didn't bother me as much as this. 60 miles from home and suddenly zero control. I couldn't even use the emergency flashers once I stopped. If I was about 300 or so yards farther up the bridge, I would have been stuck on the road because there isn't a shoulder at the top.

I have 140 mile round trip commute and now I'm wondering if I can trust the car.

It's an interesting single point of failure for the car.

At the same time, tightening the lug so it doesn't come lose seems like a high likelihood of success.

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[Blue highway]

The car bricked at the Audi dealer and the Mach and Cheese just in the last few weeks on the forum?

I generally don’t prefer to have a car cut out to black going 55…

what would you like them to say?

 

[TonyaE]

Unfortunately, you now officially have the most bricked brick on the forum. Here’s to better times in the days ahead.

Its going to be really interesting to see how they get into the car to perform repairs!

I would not want to win this award. This situation is terrifying, I would freak the hell out.

 

[TonyaE]

Heres the connector. 1.8 volts on it

These 12v batteries are making me nervous. How in the world did that happen?

 

[louibluey]

These 12v batteries are making me nervous. How in the world did that happen?

Opinion/speculation: Most likely, at time of build, someone did not properly tighten the nut. It might have looked "snug", so QA signed it off (the blue mark).

Something like this happened with the gen 2 Chevy Volts. I think there may have been a recall, or at least a note to dealers to check a 12V cable ground bolt.

 

[TonyaE]

This is terrifying.

Imagine being in a bad neighborhood stuck outside of your flashy "I've got money" 2021 car.

Or worse ...

I drive my car up to my cabin ALOT and would be horrified to be stuck outside of my car at night in the middle of the mountains and wilderness. I wouldn't be able to even sleep in my car waiting for help.

What if your phone was stuck in the car while you are locked out of it ??? Can't call for help ?!?!!

Yep, like you reading this, I'd break the window and hop in.

Can you say horror movie

 

[louibluey]

It's an interesting single point of failure for the car.

At the same time, tightening the lug so it doesn't come lose seems like a high likelihood of success.

Exactly, it is electrically analagous to a broken shaft or a wheel coming off.

 

[TonyaE]

Guess I am tearing my frunk out again just to check that terminal. Better safe than sorry since I’ll be going for a drive up the coast to Washington in a couple of weeks.

I’m sure this post made Ford’s ass pucker. I hope they will follow up in house and make sure QC is on point…. but I could be wrong. I would NOT be as calm as OP.

 

[RockwallRick]

Still checking the 12v battery with my Innova 3721 tester. The MME should have easy access points to charge it but in this case that would not have helped. Hopefully this doesn’t happen to anybody else!!

 

[P. T. Magoo]

I'm back up and running no thanks to Ford or 4 different tow companies. After 6 hours and no tow, I decided to have a go at it. BTW, It's a pain in the ass to remove the frunk with minimal tools on the side of the road.

The wire on the right was reading 1.9 volts on the terminal but 12.5 on the actual wire. It took about 4 full turns to tighten it up.

Whisky Tango Goddam Foxtrot.

Great differential diagnosis, @Jon

Note to self: carry a set of hand wrenches. And a flashlight. And maybe a volt-ohm meter.

Looks to me like the skills collected driving that high-mileage '74 Superbeetle back in the day may come in handy again.

4 freaking turns before it was tight???

Again, kudos to the OP for diagnosing and fixing this and for posting the whole sad saga for our benefit. If you ever find yourself slightly South-Southwest of Southeast MI, look me up and I will gladly buy you a beer or several!

 

[Earplug]

The scary part is if it was towed and went to the Dealer it would have been there for weeks while they tore the car apart looking for the problem!

 

[AlpaChino]

Whisky Tango Goddam Foxtrot.

Great differential diagnosis, @Jon

Note to self: carry a set of hand wrenches. And a flashlight. And maybe a volt-ohm meter.

Looks to me like the skills collected driving that high-mileage '74 Superbeetle back in the day may come in handy again.

4 freaking turns before it was tight???

Again, kudos to the OP for diagnosing and fixing this and for posting the whole sad saga for our benefit. If you ever find yourself slightly South-Southwest of Southeast MI, look me up and I will gladly buy you a beer or several!

You forgot your 12v jump pack, your 12v battery for lead jumping hidden behind the access panel, towing instructions, oh and a whole f***ing spare tire and jack kit.

Ford... Come on man. Bring us in for some q&a and feedback breakouts before you settle on your list of improvements for the inevitable refresh.

 

[Gimme_my_MME]

Ford... Come on man. Bring us in for some q&a and feedback breakouts before you settle on your list of improvements for the inevitable refresh.

That ship sailed awhile ago

 

[Maquis]

Hey, I’ve already used that one on this forum!

 

[SnBGC]

These 12v batteries are making me nervous. How in the world did that happen?

Remarkably common.
The lower ball joints on our Jeep Wrangler weren't torqued to spec and start making a clicking noise. There is a TSB on this and as soon as I mentioned the symptom the service advisor knew what the remedy was right away.

Similar with the turbos on the Super Duty trucks. Those bolts were known to come loose on some vehicles.

That stud was marked, which means the digital torque wrench illuminated green when assembled. Either the spec is too low or the stud had a burr on it and it caused the wrench to read incorrectly. Usually the tool will identify damaged threads but in this case it was missed.

It is probable that several vehicles left the factory with this issue. How many is anyone's guess.

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