Completely locked out 😭

[LaserBear]

Gotta love a workaround! Thanks for posting this. Let us know if the problem persists or is solved now that your battery is charged back up.

Seems to be working well again... however, just on the safe side I have been keeping my window down at night in my garage and bringing my little jump pack with me to work.

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[sparkymartin]

This seems difficult to explain, but the 12V battery going dead is not the cause on 2023s. It’s an effect or byproduct of the glitch. Here’s a technical timeline of what I think happens, read carefully:

1. Owner previously received an OTA with the affected software (likely a GWM OTA).
2. Car is locked by owner
3. Random GWM? glitch occurs and shuts down CAN network communications
4. Owner tries to unlock and open door, but unlock signal cannot be transmitted on the CAN to the door latch modules.
5. Since door latch modules have not received an unlock signal, they don’t unlock or open.
6. BCM is still able to execute remote functions on its own hardware that don’t require network communication. This is why the lights flash and horn can honk in response to fob presses, the BCM is responsible for those aspects itself.
7. Owner tries to jump frunk leads, but the GFM will not open the frunk because the battery voltage is normal and not dead.
8. Since the owner cannot gain access, the car may be towed to a dealer.
9. Due to the network communication failure, some modules may not shut down fully and will create a 12V drain.
10. Also because of the network glitch, the BCM is not able to signal the SOBDMC to wake up the car and recharge the 12V battery. Therefore the 12V battery will slowly drain without being recharged.
11. Eventually the 12V battery will go COMPLETELY DEAD due to the drain. This may take a day or two from what I’m seeing.
12. Vehicle may sit an additional day or two on a dealer lot before it can be looked at.
13. Because the 12V battery was allowed to drain completely dead and was not immediately recharged, it is permanently damaged and will have significant capacity loss due to extensive sulfation.
14. At some point after the 12V battery has gone completely dead, someone tries the bumper leads again and is able to get the funk open (since the battery is actually dead now).
15. Dealer suspects a failing 12V battery, tests it, and it fails the test since it was allowed to drain completely dead.
16. Dealer replaces 12V battery thinking that was the original cause.
17. Because the 12V power was disconnected, the module that caused the glitch reboots and begins to function normally again. CAN communication is restored.
18. Car now functions completely normally, dealer tells customer the 12V battery was replaced and they assume that’s what caused it.
19. ???? Glitch happens again and cycle repeats ???? (hasn’t happened yet, but 12V reset might permanently solve the issue)

*The above is my educated hunch only, nothing has been confirmed from Ford

Again, the 12V battery was collateral damage from the glitch, not really a cause. Performing a 12V reset may prevent the glitch (also a hunch).

This is freaking spot on and matches my experience to the T (or Mach E) so far. Nicely summarized @Mach-Lee. I can confirm 2024 models are affected as well. This "glitch" is going to cost Ford a lot of money if they can't resolve it quickly.

 

[Gungrave223]

In my circumstance (with my 2024 that I drove off the lot less than 3 weeks ago), I did try the fob and the app. I tried everything I could think of to no avail, even the keypad and walk up approach. The tow truck couldn't override the frunk with the bumper access leads. The dealer finally got into the car late in the day the next day. Also, in my case, the app was "frozen" and was reporting my vehicle in the wrong location and with the wrong status (indicated Vehicle is On).

Add the same issue with the app as well.... it was saying my vehicle was on as well

 

[zvez]

There seemed to be a decent charge on the battery... it took me a while to drain the 12v. The last time the car connected to the web, the 12v battery was at 83%. I don't know if that was before or after the update however.

I'm really glad that fingers crossed your issue is sorted

 

[zvez]

This is freaking spot on and matches my experience to the T (or Mach E) so far. Nicely summarized @Mach-Lee. I can confirm 2024 models are affected as well. This "glitch" is going to cost Ford a lot of money if they can't resolve it quickly.

I think Mach-Lee is a national treasure on this forum!!

 

[Brons2]

You guys are freaking me out. Just checked the 12V on Ford.com and it is 100%. Trying to resist turning automatic updates off but thinking about it.

I have target charge set and leave it on the L2 at all times when the car is at home.

 

[933233311602]

Trying to resist turning automatic updates off but thinking about it.

"Automatic" updates are now permanently off for me. From now on, updates will happen by my hand only, while the car is running, and connected to my home wifi.

Completely crazy for something than can paralyze a car if it goes wrong to be left to run "automatically" relying on a half-pint-sized 12V battery that may or may not be up to the task.

Oh, and push-button electric motor doors that exist on 0 other Ford models that need a bizarre wire hack open frunk rip away plastic cladding jump 12 V battery to (hopefully) get into the car (hopefully on a fair weather day and not a deadly cold night). Also completely crazy.

An external connection point to supply 12V power to the entire car in case of battery failure? That thought didn't occur to any engineer at Ford when designing the Mach E?

 

[electric-in-the-desert]

"Automatic" updates are now permanently off for me. From now on, updates will happen by my hand only, while the car is running, and connected to my home wifi.

Completely crazy for something than can paralyze a car if it goes wrong to be left to run "automatically" relying on a half-pint-sized 12V battery that may or may not be up to the task.

Oh, and push-button electric motor doors that exist on 0 other Ford models that need a bizarre wire hack open frunk rip away plastic cladding jump 12 V battery to (hopefully) get into the car (hopefully on a fair weather day and not a deadly cold night). Also completely crazy.

An external connection point to supply 12V power to the entire car in case of battery failure? That thought didn't occur to any engineer at Ford when designing the Mach E?

As stated earlier in the thread, the underlying issue is NOT 12 v drain. That is merely a symptom. The actual bug appears to be a CAN bus lockup/shutdown so the door module is unable to initiate an “open” command to the latch.

 

[Sikkun]

I can agree that not just having a key to manually unlock (even if it was just the trunk) is something I don’t understand.

But really people are just speculating at what causes this.

 

[K2H]

Same issue with me tonight. 23 GTPE stranded in a restaurant parking lot. Same issue with Ford Roadside sending out two tow companies so far today that can’t tow the vehicle. In the meantime trying to drain the 12V battery with FOB as described earlier, but this seems like it’ll take a long while to do. The race is on! Will the 12V battery die first through constant FOB clicking or a correct tow truck make it first! I’m now 2 1/2 hours in…

 

[K2H]

Update:
Ford Roadside gave up on finding a tow after 3 hours and said I should find my own tow, which I did. Awesome.

1. 12V battery still working fine when tow arrived so unable to open frunk and jump.
2. Did not have any new OTA updates since late June.
3. Had L2 charged a couple hours at home prior to leaving for restaurant (40% SOC)
4. I hadn’t opened the app until trying to unsuccessfully unlock car but app still says “charging” and location still at home. So, communication with cloud service somewhere in this series of events was also affected.
5. FOB flashes lights on press but no unlock. App responds with errors when trying to unlock, climate, pop frunk, etc. as others have stated.

I think #3 and #4 are interesting in this whole mess of events and symptoms.

 

[zvez]

Update:
Ford Roadside gave up on finding a tow after 3 hours and said I should find my own tow, which I did. Awesome.

1. 12V battery still working fine when tow arrived so unable to open frunk and jump.
2. Did not have any new OTA updates since late June.
3. Had L2 charged a couple hours at home prior to leaving for restaurant (40% SOC)
4. I hadn’t opened the app until trying to unsuccessfully unlock car but app still says “charging” and location still at home. So, communication with cloud service somewhere in this series of events was also affected.
5. FOB flashes lights on press but no unlock. App responds with errors when trying to unlock, climate, pop frunk, etc. as others have stated.

I think #3 and #4 are interesting in this whole mess of events and symptoms.

Ford roadside assistance giving up on finding a tow is the thing that jumped out at me? But I don't think it's just a ford thing.

 

[K2H]

Ford Roadside: They said during the day they might be able to find a truck but suggested I find my own tow and turn the receipt into my own insurance. My guess is their network of tow companies is very small and pretty useless for an electric car that needs specific handling. This was in metropolitan Minneapolis so not a tiny city.

 

[sparkymartin]

After having my 2024 Mustang Mach EX Premium towed to the dealership on Monday for this exact issue, they released the vehicle back to me on Thursday morning after replacing the 12 Volt battery and declaring the issue resolved. I told them about this wider issue and they seemed comfortable that the issue was fixed. The timing was great, because I was planning on taking my first road trip (450 miles) to see my brother's family and my new nephew. So, I took the car straight from the dealership and embarked on my road trip. Now, 2 days later, I am getting alerts in the app that the newly replaced 12 Volt battery is low. What the heck?!?

Timeline:

• Wednesday, June 26th - 7:00 PM - Bought my brand new car and drove it off the lot.
• Friday, July 12th - 9:30 AM - Received OTA update
• Monday, July 15th - 4:00 PM - Completely locked out of car and had car towed to dealership (a 4 hour ordeal that involved a bad experience with Ford Roadside Assistance that wasted 2 hours of my time)
• Thursday, July 18th - 10:30 AM - Picked up my car that I was told was "fixed" by replacing the 12 Volt battery. Embarked on 450 mile road trip.
• Friday, July 19th - 9:00 PM - Receiving notices in the FordPass app that my 12 volt battery is low.

 

[Mach-Lee]

After having my 2024 Mustang Mach EX Premium towed to the dealership on Monday for this exact issue, they released the vehicle back to me on Thursday morning after replacing the 12 Volt battery and declaring the issue resolved. I told them about this wider issue and they seemed comfortable that the issue was fixed. The timing was great, because I was planning on taking my first road trip (450 miles) to see my brother's family and my new nephew. So, I took the car straight from the dealership and embarked on my road trip. Now, 2 days later, I am getting alerts in the app that the newly replaced 12 Volt battery is low. What the heck?!?

Timeline:

• Wednesday, June 26th - 7:00 PM - Bought my brand new car and drove it off the lot.
• Friday, July 12th - 9:30 AM - Received OTA update
• Monday, July 15th - 4:00 PM - Completely locked out of car and had car towed to dealership (a 4 hour ordeal that involved a bad experience with Ford Roadside Assistance that wasted 2 hours of my time)
• Thursday, July 18th - 10:30 AM - Picked up my car that I was told was "fixed" by replacing the 12 Volt battery. Embarked on 450 mile road trip.
• Friday, July 19th - 9:00 PM - Receiving notices in the FordPass app that my 12 volt battery is low.

They probably didn't reset the BMS properly when replacing the 12V battery. After driving the car for an hour to recharge it, reset the BMS. Instructions here, scroll down: Thread 'How To Get Failed OTAs To Install'

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