Electrical system drain service required

[jstaebell]

My Mach e has been at the dealer for a week and a half for an electrical system drain. My dealership is certain they know the part they need to replace, but says that Ford engineering is not allowing them to order the replacement part for warranty repair. Engineering keeps making them do additional tests that require waiting overnight to see if there's still a drain. I know they want to avoid spending too much money on a warranty repair, but enough is enough.

Does anyone have any idea how I can escalate the issue and get Ford engineering to pay attention and help me get my car back? I tried DMing @Ford Motor Company here two days ago but they haven't responded. I tried calling Ford "customer service" but they said they had no way to communicate with Ford engineering!

Even though the car has been flawless for 1.5 years until now, I feel like I'm going to have to wait until I can invoke the lemon law to get any attention from Ford engineering....

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[kens]

Don't know how much it'll help, but have you opened a case with the BEV team? (800) 392-3673

 

[jstaebell]

Don't know how much it'll help, but have you opened a case with the BEV team? (800) 392-3673

Thank you for the info. I tried calling that number and I think it's just the same customer "support" group that I already spoke with. All they could do was read to me what the notes are from engineering, they said they were unable to escalate to engineering. I cannot believe there is no process at all to escalate technical issues. I've gone from avidly recommending the Mach e to everyone I know to now counting down the days until I can request my money back.

Engineering seems determined to try everything possible to avoid ordering a replacement BCM. Every day for the last 10 days the engineering department has told the dealer to try something and let it sit overnight to see if that fixed it. All I am asking for is for a line in the sand: I want engineering to agree that if today's "try something" doesn't work, then yes, we will give authorization for the dealer to order a replacement BCM. Is that so unreasonable? Is it unreasonable to expect an ability to escalate a technical issue to a manager or senior engineer?

BTW, it's now been 3 days since I DMed @Ford Motor Company and they haven't even acknowledged me, so they've gone from helpful to worthless.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

Did your car ever actually exhibit and electrical system drain? Did you check or monitor the 12Vbattery? Or was this based solely on the warning message popping up on the dash? If it was the dash message, was it recurrent thing? Or just once or twice?

 

[jstaebell]

Did your car ever actually exhibit and electrical system drain? Did you check or monitor the 12Vbattery? Or was this based solely on the warning message popping up on the dash? If it was the dash message, was it recurrent thing? Or just once or twice?

I saw the 12v battery SOC was low, and the SOC increased after the car was driven for a while. After a day or two, the warning message came back and I took it to the dealer.

The dealership tested the 12v battery, and replaced it the first day because it tested bad. However, they still are seeing a large drain on the battery overnight. For a week, they have been convinced that it's a bad BCM, but Ford engineering keeps insisting on trying things to avoid replacing it. Today they are trying something different to see if it fixes it, which is the same story I've heard for 10 days.

I understand that modern cars are complex computers, but as a computer scientist, I know that at some point you have to draw a line in the sand and say "if this doesn't fix it, we replace it." For Ford, that appears that point is one day shy of the minimum to invoke the lemon law.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

I saw the 12v battery SOC was low, and the SOC increased after the car was driven for a while. After a day or two, the warning message came back and I took it to the dealer.

The dealership tested the 12v battery, and replaced it the first day because it tested bad. However, they still are seeing a large drain on the battery overnight. For a week, they have been convinced that it's a bad BCM, but Ford engineering keeps insisting on trying things to avoid replacing it. Today they are trying something different to see if it fixes it, which is the same story I've heard for 10 days.

I understand that modern cars are complex computers, but as a computer scientist, I know that at some point you have to draw a line in the sand and say "if this doesn't fix it, we replace it." For Ford, that appears that point is one day shy of the minimum to invoke the lemon law.

So due diligence was done on the 12V. Thats what I wondering. The BCM makes sense after that. I wasn’t doubting you, but we get a lot of folks here who don’t even try to apply logic.

 

[jstaebell]

So due diligence was done on the 12V. Thats what I wondering. The BCM makes sense after that. I wasn’t doubting you, but we get a lot of folks here who don’t even try to apply logic.

Thanks for checking. I'm actually happy with the dealership, they seem to be doing good. If it were up to them they would have replaced the BCM a week ago. The test du jour from Ford is to wipe the BCM unit's memory and reinstall the software in case it's corrupted. That sounds reasonable but I am fed up with the testing. How many weeks do I have to go before they agree to replace the unit? At this point I'm just about willing to just buy one out of pocket to have the dealership install....

Again, thanks for checking.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

I understand. My wife’s car got a new BCM a couple years ago. They had the car For a couple months. Luckily they gave me a brand new MME as a loaner. I put so many miles on it that it had to be removed from the loaner program by the time I gave it back to them. ?

 

[jstaebell]

I understand. My wife’s car got a new BCM a couple years ago. They had the car For a couple months. Luckily they gave me a brand new MME as a loaner. I put so many miles on it that it had to be removed from the loaner program by the time I gave it back to them. ?

Two months? Wow thanks, I feel lucky now! I'm only two weeks, but I have been stuck in an Escape....

The latest is the dealer says that wiping the BCM and reinstalling files seems to have fixed it, so it must have been a corrupted file. When I said I was surprised Ford paid them for two weeks of labor diagnosing it instead of just replaced the BCM, he said they might be in short supply and they want to save them for people who really need them, like you. That also made me feel better, since it's a reasonable thing to do. Thanks for the support.

 

[Mach-Lee]

The latest is the dealer says that wiping the BCM and reinstalling files seems to have fixed it, so it must have been a corrupted file. When I said I was surprised Ford paid them for two weeks of labor diagnosing it instead of just replaced the BCM, he said they might be in short supply and they want to save them for people who really need them, like you. That also made me feel better, since it's a reasonable thing to do. Thanks for the support.

They also want to know how to fix the problem with software if it happens on other vehicles, that can save a lot of labor and unnecessary part replacement on hundreds of other vehicles. You're the index case.

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