Departure Precondition & Climate not Working

[ChuckA]

That sucks it canceled your trial. Ford is working with my car to hopefully discover the problem with the climate not working. I have to sign an agreement and have tokens installed in my car this week. I’m still not sure if they are a physical part or a software download but if it resolves the problem I’m game.

Tokens are special activation just for your VIN that allows Ford Research to collect data. After Ford tells you the Tokens are there, you’ll do a volume-down>>fast-fwd which will bring up the screen for you to Enable the tokens.

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[Fins160]

Just got the same offer for tokens. Will be moving forward with that option this week

 

[Shayne]

per your suggestion, I found that the Departure Time Preconditioning does work when plugged in. Didn’t know since I never keep the car plugged in.

I signed releases for Ford and they will send me “tokens” for them to dial into my system and do research. I don’t know if they will fix my problem but I’m willing to supply research data so they can improve software.

Maybe take it off the trickle charger and leave the car plugged to L2. See if the car will look after things for you. I know the car will suck juice from the L2 charger once and a while for sometime with no recirc pump running so it is not heating the batteries. All I have that it could be is charging the 12V?

 

[ChuckA]

My problem was not the trickle charger. The issue was caused by leaving the hood up. Not starting off-plug, with the hood up, is a 12v battery protection feature.

 

[E90alex]

My problem was not the trickle charger. The issue was caused by leaving the hood up. Not starting off-plug, with the hood up, is a 12v battery protection feature.

Holdover from ICE vehicle logic. Don’t want to allow remote start if someone is potentially working under the hood.

 

[Shayne]

My problem was not the trickle charger. The issue was caused by leaving the hood up. Not starting off-plug, with the hood up, is a 12v battery protection feature.

The crack between the front fender and hood will slip an extension cord at the nose with the hood closed.

The suggestion was why the trickle charger as it should be no smarter then the car. Maybe in 2021 it was but I think not now. Your setup may be just a hassle and redundant?

 

[ChuckA]

The crack between the front fender and hood will slip an extension cord at the nose with the hood closed.

The suggestion was why the trickle charger as it should be no smarter then the car. Maybe in 2021 it was but I think not now. Your setup may be just a hassle and redundant?

The trickle charger is because the car sits unused for weeks during inclement weather in CT. January was a very snowy and salty month and the car stayed in my garage.

 

[Shayne]

The trickle charger is because the car sits unused for weeks during inclement weather in CT. January was a very snowy and salty month and the car stayed in my garage.

Retired and mine sits for weeks also 5 years and 23,000 miles. Mine sits outside in colder temps and more snow than in CT. It has been plugged to L2 and at least for the last 3 years (HVJB and departure scheduling fixed) no problems. As I mentioned I believe the car should maintain itself better than a trickle charger at this point. It will condition the batteries and charge the 12V. Plus you never need open the hood. Just a thought.

 

[Fins160]

My hood is securely latched, but any chance that it "thinks" it's open? Is there a light or anything on the dash showing it's open? I don't see one... I tried opening and re-shutting it, no help there.

 

[ChuckA]

Retired and mine sits for weeks also 5 years and 23,000 miles. Mine sits outside in colder temps and more snow than in CT. It has been plugged to L2 and at least for the last 3 years (HVJB and departure scheduling fixed) no problems. As I mentioned I believe the car should maintain itself better than a trickle charger at this point. It will condition the batteries and charge the 12V. Plus you never need open the hood. Just a thought.

I get utility incentives by only charging off-peak. If I leave the car plugged in they can’t determine if I’m complying. It’s at 85% SOC in a 25 F degree garage.

 

[Ford of Canada]

Good afternoon, Chuck - could you please send us a a private message with your VIN and some more details regarding this situation with your Mustang Mach-E? We’d like to take a closer look at this. Thank you.

 

[Shayne]

I get utility incentives by only charging off-peak. If I leave the car plugged in they can’t determine if I’m complying. It’s at 85% SOC in a 25 F degree garage.

So you think the car would consume more energy keeping the cars 12V charged than your battery tenderer does? It is also sucking electricity. I charge on low rates and have scheduled that but have no problems with the car maintaining itself whenever it wants. The 10 20 buck subscription during winter months is fine for me but it gets to -5 F here all the time.

 

[Fins160]

SOLVED!

TLDR: Try disconnecting the 12V battery for 10 minutes and then reconnecting. If that doesn't work, try the process below, and then the battery process again.

Posting my resolution here in case it helps someone else. Ford Support installed the tokens on my car and I submitted the issue multiple times, but I never received any guidance or troubleshooting advice. I appreciate they are active on the forum, but actual guidance from the support team is very lacking.

Symptoms:

• Remote climate start failed from FordPass (yellow warning triangle after “Starting…”)
• Lock/unlock worked normally
• Vehicle status refreshed normally
• Charge % and location updated correctly
• Departure conditioning also unreliable
• Onboard Modem Serial Number was blank in the vehicle settings at one point

Here’s what I tried (in order):

Full reset steps attempted first (no fix):

• Removed vehicle from FordPass
• Removed vehicle from ford.com account
• Deleted all driver profiles
• Removed both phones from SYNC
• Reset Phone-as-a-Key
• Factory reset SYNC
• Re-added vehicle and reactivated
• Verified Remote Start settings enabled
• Verified Connected Vehicle settings enabled
• Confirmed hood / doors / liftgate closed
• Reset remote-start counter
• Alarm reset sequence
• Climate baseline reset
• Moved keys away from vehicle

Still failed with same warning triangle.

Then I noticed:

Onboard Modem Serial Number was blank

After doing a TCU sleep reset (turn off car, move both keyfobs >25 feet away, then restart), the modem number came back — but remote climate still didn’t work.

Final fix that solved it:

Disconnected the 12-V battery in the frunk:

1. Disconnect negative terminal
2. Wait ~10 minutes
3. Reconnect
4. Start vehicle normally
5. Turn vehicle off
6. Lock vehicle
7. Retry remote climate

Remote climate started working immediately after that.


Conclusion


Looks like the TCU HVAC authorization state got stuck after the modem reset. Even though FordPass connectivity worked (lock/unlock/status), remote climate still failed until the 12-V reset forced the modules to resync.

If your modem serial number disappears or comes back during troubleshooting, I’d try the 12-V reset before going to the dealer. Fixed it instantly for me.

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