Marlin's Dead Low Voltage Battery (LVB) -- Followed by Stuck in Park

ChasingCoral

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I'm starting this as a separate thread intentionally. I've heard others having similar problems (such as the Deep Sleep thread https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...drained-dead-update-mach-e-jump-started.3457/) and others. Mine may be the same or the Deep Sleep could have been due to even colder temperatures.
(If you want to read about the stuck in park problem, jump to here:
https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...vb-followed-by-stuck-in-park.3490/post-112892.)

Saturday night
On day the evening of Day 4 in My Travels with Marlin (https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/my-travels-with-marlin-gb-fe-delivered.3298/post-108609) I introduced the dead LVB incident.

I didn't drive Marlin Saturday but was in the car several times to check and set features throughout the day. Marlin was plugged in to charge some of the time. I had taken him off charge to access features that required the car to be started. He had been unplugged for several hours when I went out about 10:00 pm to check one last thing and to make sure he was plugged in overnight. He started having a complete melt down. He started running through various system checks and failing all of them. He auto-rebooted. He started making lots of thunking noises. To be honest, I was scared.

I started taking pictures and video to document what was going on and reached out to some friends with various aspects of Mach E expertise. I finally just disconnected the negative lead to the battery and went to sleep tired and frustrated.

The videos are in a playlist called Marlin Shutdown 13 Feb 2021:

First up: The Meltdown. Temperature 25Ā°F
Marlin started running through repeated system checks, all failed:
Videos 1 & 2



I attempted to plug in the EVSE but there was no response
Video 3


At the same time, there was a limited set of lights staying on:


I heard a popping sound that made me think it was the brakes when I heard it from the right rear:
Videos 5 & 6



Those few lights that were on were dimming fast:
Video 7


I finally tracked down the thunking sounds. They turned out to be popping of the speakers, heard in the doors and right rear subwoofer location:
Videos 9 & 10



In the Frunk area, I removed the rear luggage compartment cover to access the battery and it was only reading just under 7.5vdc.
Video 11

Removing the rear luggage compartment cover gives you access to the negative battery cable and an ability to reach under to put a probe on the positive battery lead. However, there is no safe way to jump the battery at this point as the positive lead is under a metal crossbar (under that red cap).
Ford Mustang Mach-E Marlin's Dead Low Voltage Battery (LVB) -- Followed by Stuck in Park AGM battery


Not wanting to further drain the battery, I disconnected the negative terminal and the popping sounds ended. I left it that way overnight (temperature in the 20s). Before turning in, I found that the driver side door open and latch would not engage when trying to close it. Of course, the driver side door was open as I worked on Marlin.

After I disconnected the 12v:
Driver side door open and latch would not engage when trying to close it.
Video 12


I had to leave the car open all night with door ajar.
Passenger side front door was locked and could only be opened from inside using manual pull. I don't know of any way to open it from the outside but didn't spend a lot of time testing.
Back doors and lift gate were closed. Unlike the front doors, I learned there is no manual pull on back doors. I don't know of any way to open these from the inside or outside but didn't spend a lot of time testing.

Tired and frustrated, I went in. Sent the videos to some folks for discussion and went to sleep.

Sunday morning
5 Hours later I woke up. Posts from my friends had various suggestions to try. While I wanted to put a lot of time into these, I had numerous church responsibilities so I squeezed in only the essential. Good news is I now had light. It was also now a balmy 27Ā°F.

I labored to remove the left luggage compartment cover. Removing these two covers is a real pain! I know Ford didn't anticipate many people needing to get jumps, but a large access panel or pair of smaller access panels in the left-hand luggage compartment cover to access the 12v positive jump terminal and negative ground point would make a lot of sense. Those large panels are not easy to remove in cold, dark conditions.

While I think I didn't damage the left one Sunday morning, while removing the rear luggage compartment Saturday night I broke off one of the permanently-molded clips, lost one of the slip-on clips and cracked the middle of the cover. This was despite having removed the rear cover off a Mach E once before. Access points like those at the headlights would make accessing the jump points much easier (see picture).
Ford Mustang Mach-E Marlin's Dead Low Voltage Battery (LVB) -- Followed by Stuck in Park Frunk panels


I took a video of what it looks like with these panels removed
Video 13


I checked the LVB. It was now up to 11.5v after resting. With wishful thinking well in hand, I reconnected the battery in hopes there was enough power. Not a chance. the systems energized better but the meltdown of system check failures struck again, so I disconnected the negative battery cable again. This did make the driver side door work. When I let the door close by accident I learned the driver's door now latched (locking me out until I reconnected the 12v). I made sure not to latch the hood as I didn't want to rely on those two leads in the front bumper actually opening the frunk space.

I put a trickle charger on the battery, connecting to the positive jump lead and the negative post on the battery.
Video 14


I considered jumping Marlin but remember my mention of the Saturday freezing rain? Getting into our other two vehicles would take a while as they were frozen shut.
Ford Mustang Mach-E Marlin's Dead Low Voltage Battery (LVB) -- Followed by Stuck in Park IMG_6662


So, I "went" to church (via Zoom of course). After a few hours the battery was over 12v, so I reconnected the negative cable to the battery post and Marlin started up like nothing had ever been wrong. I drove around the block -- no problems at all.

With Marlin running fine, I resumed my plan and drove to Rocket Frog for my beer and chocolate pickup. 80 miles R/T and everything was fine.

This is where this story bifurcates. You can go back to My travels with Marlin -- day (https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/my-travels-with-marlin-gb-fe-delivered.3298/post-108730) or continue the saga of the LVB here as it unfolds.
 
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ChasingCoral

ChasingCoral

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Part 2 of this saga is getting to the bottom of the problem. Here's where I think a very important message needs to be included: Ford is really standing behind the Mach E.

Note that Marlin shut down on Saturday night. The friends I mentioned in the first post reached out to some folks in Ford. The Mach E engineering team was communicating with me on Sunday. By Sunday night they were already running some diagnostics they could do on the telemetry the car sends out and had started reviewing the videos I posted above. I dropped off Marlin Sunday afternoon. By Monday morning Ford engineers had been talking with the management and shop foreman at Koons Ford to prepare diagnostics and work. That's where we stand now. I feel confident that they are all working to figure out this problem to get Marlin back in top shape and prepare to help others who have posted similar issues. More on this as I find out how it is going.
 

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Part 2 of this saga is getting to the bottom of the problem. Here's where I think a very important message needs to be included: Ford is really standing behind the Mach E.

Note that Marlin shut down on Saturday night. The friends I mentioned in the first post reached out to some folks in Ford. The Mach E engineering team was communicating with me on Sunday. By Sunday night they were already running some diagnostics they could do on the telemetry the car sends out and had started reviewing the videos I posted above. I dropped off Marlin Sunday afternoon. By Monday morning Ford engineers had been talking with the management and shop foreman at Koons Ford to prepare diagnostics and work. That's where we stand now. I feel confident that they are all working to figure out this problem to get Marlin back in top shape and prepare to help others who have posted similar issues. More on this as I find out how it is going.
You would make a great pioneer! I love your attitude with the situation. I feel a little guilty that Bucky continues to work so well for me (today is day # 7).
 

machefan

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I hope engineering is working with my dealer too. Itā€™s there all day today and the service person called to say they are waiting for help from Ford Engineering.

Note sure if the service person doesnā€™t have the latest but itā€™s there for the night.

Thanks for documenting your issue, not sure we are all related to the same problem or each is unique.
 


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ChasingCoral

ChasingCoral

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You would make a great pioneer! I love your attitude with the situation. I feel a little guilty that Bucky continues to work so well for me (today is day # 7).
I truly wish I weren't getting to pioneer this LVB issue! I hope Bucky stays plucky!
 

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Mark, your patience, stamina and resolve are great!! I hope all works out for you. I must admit that looking through your posts and trials/tribulations has scared the sh*t out of me. We go to a lake house in northern PA (really in the boonies - Thompson, PA) and if I was there and my MachE wouldn't' start I'd be stranded - have never, ever experienced that with my Nissan Murano ICE (7 years old).
 

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I truly wish I weren't getting to pioneer this LVB issue! I hope Bucky stays plucky!
I have to admit the trunk thumping made my day, why you ask?

Since I live in NJ, when I heard the thumping coming from the rear of a car it had a totally different meaning for me. The entire time watching it, I kept thinking someone is in your trunk. I was imaging if you were at Walmart with this going on someone would calls the COPS on you.

I am here for ya, we all are here for you... Your issue makes mine look like I am crying wolf. Again glad you got it going with the help of some really great folks here.

Sorry I found humor in it, I know it's a frustrating situation.
 

RVAtom

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Man there is a lot not to like about that article. A lot of it sounds really similar, and it is requiring a trip to the dealership for an update. Isn't the new F-150 supposed to do OTA too? Is that a feature that is going to be added to both a little way down the line?

I also really didn't love seeing a report of one built less than a month ago in Michigan having the problem. It is one thing for a car to be built the week of Thanksgiving and sit around for the most part for 60-80 days before getting into a garage having that problem, but on a truck that new we shouldn't be expecting the battery to just drain down in that short of time.

I wonder if there is some Sync 4a issue maybe?
 

VegStang

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Sorry to see this post, glad that hopefully Ford is pulling out all the stops to solve the problem.

Some of these videos remind me of an issue I had with my Pacifica PHEV that shut down when I was on a road trip in Texas during the winter. It took 4 service trips to the dealer to finally diagnose the issue and replace the onboard charging module that was causing a variety of problems- from not charging (random prior to the road trip, after having the vehicle for about 2 weeks) to total shutdown and dead 12v battery.

Thankfully I have not had any more issues with the charging/HV battery since.

The "stop safety now" message is eerily reminiscent of the HV coolant pump issue that many Escapes had years ago (bad batch of Bosch pumps.)
 

JSOrange97

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Man there is a lot not to like about that article. A lot of it sounds really similar, and it is requiring a trip to the dealership for an update. Isn't the new F-150 supposed to do OTA too? Is that a feature that is going to be added to both a little way down the line?

I also really didn't love seeing a report of one built less than a month ago in Michigan having the problem. It is one thing for a car to be built the week of Thanksgiving and sit around for the most part for 60-80 days before getting into a garage having that problem, but on a truck that new we shouldn't be expecting the battery to just drain down in that short of time.

I wonder if there is some Sync 4a issue maybe?
Someone in another thread articulated their experience with Acura and Bluetooth. I had the same issue in my ā€˜06 Acura, where a glitch in the Bluetooth handsfree would cause battery issues. Had to swap out the Bluetooth modem gear and the problem went away. I wonder if some of these issues are the result of MMEā€™s ā€œphoning homeā€ too often, draining the 12V battery. If so, Iā€™d like to hope thereā€™s an easy fix.
 
 




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