DevSecOps

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Edits:
08/19/22 - Service update
08/15/22 - Service update

Preface:

First of all let me say this - I'm safe at home, no one is hurt, I'm not mad (I was actually joking with people in DM's while this was happening), but I'm still disappointed at Ford and this recall.

TLDR: Software recall applied, received SVS climbing the Tejon Pass 343 miles from home. Continued my drive home. Received SSN 120 miles from home. Dealer had no loaner, Enterprise had no rentals. Had to ask family to come get me.

So here's my story ---

I went on vacation with family to Newport Beach. It's a beautiful location and while I was down there we went to Disneyland, a concert, the beach and more. It's a place I visit many times a year and I absolutely love it!

Getting there I had to go through the central valley in California and transverse the Tejon Pass in order to drop into Southern California. I got there without issue, the car performed flawlessly. While I was in SoCal everything was great. No issues whatsoever.

Coming home however, was almost as exciting as the Incredicoaster!

Pre-Return Trip Data Points:
  • Last night I charged to 100% SOC at the resort L2 charger
  • Last DCFC was Monday - 4 days prior
  • 2 occupants in the vehicle with luggage (350lbs Max)
  • Temperatures 80-105F
  • 22S41 was applied via OTA 9 days prior
Service Vehicle Soon:

89.5 miles into my return trip, and after a stop at Starbucks for a Bacon Gouda and Late, I began my ascent into the notorious "Grapevine" (Tejon Pass). At an elevation of 1750' above sea level on a 6.8% grade, going 83 mph while overtaking a BMW that decided to cut me off, I experienced SVS. I might add that at the exact moment, I took a bite of my Bacon Gouda sandwich... this might have been the ultimate straw that broke the camels back.

Ford Mustang Mach-E From SVS to SSN - The Tejon Pass Claims Another Mach-E 1660362713798


This is where it happened. Don't mind the truck full of goats -



Red line was my approximate location:

Ford Mustang Mach-E From SVS to SSN - The Tejon Pass Claims Another Mach-E 1660362745652



Service Vehicle Soon Data Points:
  • 89.5 miles into my drive
  • 99F at time of failure
  • 1750' elevation
  • 6.8% uphill grade
  • 81 mph
  • No previous DCFC for 4 days
  • 59.03% SOC
  • 23,185 miles at SVS
  • Pulling 416.7 Amps at time of failure
  • LVB Power = 12.80v
  • HVB Battery Temp 95F
  • Coolant Temp 95F
  • HVB Battery Voltage 336
  • HVB Battery Age = 12.68 months
  • Leakage Resistance = 1239575 Ohms
  • ECU Uptime = 8.53 minutes
Ford Mustang Mach-E From SVS to SSN - The Tejon Pass Claims Another Mach-E PXL_20220812_175016361


The drive continues:


I continued to go over the Tejon Pass like a Prius without any power. Going up that thing with full jail bars was not fun. I then went into Bakersfield for a DCFC top up.

DCFC Stats (Bakersfield, CA):
  • Arrived 35% SOC
  • Left 89% SOC
At the station in Bakersfield I made some phone calls, opened up a case, called my local dealer and prepared some people at Ford for my car next week. We leave the DCFC station in route to the next, and last DCFC before arriving at home. We get to the next station without any significant events and we charge without any issue, this was in the town of Los Banos, CA (yes that means the bathrooms in English).

Second DCFC Stats (Los Banos, CA):
  • Arrived 19% SOC
  • Left 75% SOC
Stop Safely Now:

Just when I thought I was home free, the plot thickens. As we continued the drive all of a sudden I got Stop Safely Now. I immediately pulled into a parking lot and made sure to leave the car running. I was in motion when I received SSN at about 10 mph and I happened to be right next to a parking lot.

I parked the car in a good spot for a tow, backed into a stall with an open exit lane in front of me for easy tow access. I contacted some people at Ford again to see what I should do at this point. I never turned off the car, because I knew that if I did it would be game over.

We weighed the pros and cons of driving the car further and ultimately after some very helpful people consulted with people in the "know" it was determined that driving it home the 120 miles would be too risky. As luck would have it, there was a dealership just 2 blocks away. So the compromise was to drive to the dealer instead. This is ultimately what I did.

SSN Data Points:
  • Electrical Data:
    • Vehicle reported:
      • Negative Contactor: 655.35v
      • Positive Contactor: 5.1v
    • Nominal values:
      • Negative Contactor: 0-1v
      • Positive Contactor: ~365v
  • Average Speed up until this point: 69mph
  • 23418 Miles at SSN
  • 7.3 Amps being pulled on the HVB
  • HVB SOC = 73.37
  • LVB Voltage = 13.27v
  • HVB Temp = 106F
  • Coolant Temp = 95F
  • Leakage Resistance = 393625 Ohms
  • ECU Uptime = 8.52 minutes
The car was reporting voltage shorts at this point.

Ford Mustang Mach-E From SVS to SSN - The Tejon Pass Claims Another Mach-E 1660374031291


Ford Mustang Mach-E From SVS to SSN - The Tejon Pass Claims Another Mach-E PXL_20220812_224414062


The Dealership:


I arrived to the dealership at 4:45PM, just a few minutes before they closed. It's a small town, they are a farming town and the population is just 39k. I didn't have much faith going in.

I go to the service desk and it's one guy. I told him what happened and he said "Let me get my EV techs, they were just trained on this." So he calls up a couple guys and they ask what happened and I told them. The guy tells me "I just got through training on this and I haven't actually worked on an EV before. This will be my first, and quite frankly, I'm scared." He was a really nice guy, they were all really nice.

I drove the car around the to side, turned it off and it never came back to life after that. -Dead-

The one thing it did do, which was weird is that I got an error saying the car wasn't in park when it was. Don't know why this happened.

Ford Mustang Mach-E From SVS to SSN - The Tejon Pass Claims Another Mach-E PXL_20220813_000357474


Unfortunately, since it's a small town they only have 1 loaner and it was out. There's a singular Enterprise rental car facility in the town and it only has 5 cars, all of which were out.

They told me that I could get a hotel and on Monday they would get me into a rental. I asked what other options I had and he shrugged his shoulders. Ford roadside was of no help either. They didn't know what to do.

Ultimately, I had to call family, who drove down 120 miles to come get us and bring us home.

My Take:

The recall is garbage. I've been avidly outspoken about it as most of you know and I continue to be. While it did alert me to the potential issue, it didn't get me home and still left me stranded 120 miles from my house with SSN. Yes, you could blame this on the terrain, the fact that I had to DCFC and more, but reality is that a 450 mile trip was unsuccessful. I had no choice but to take that route and I had no choice but to charge. Ultimately, it's not a fix and shouldn't be considered one.

Ford Roadside was a complete waste of time in my case. I'll be escalating my complaints in this department for sure because they didn't care one bit that I was stuck there. They told me they could only drive me 35 miles and if my house was further I would have to pay for it myself.

If you get SSN don't turn the car off until you are in a safe area. Attempt to get somewhere in short distance and slowly.

Data:

I had 3 cameras rolling the entire trip. I also had data logging via the OBDII. I have a lot of data points and video to go through which will take time. If anyone has any specific questions please feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer.

Service Updates:

08/15 - I was informed that Ford Corporate wants my vehicle towed to a local dealership, therefore the service department in Los Banos will not be working on the car.

08/19 - More detailed service update located here.

Conclusion:

I still have a journey left. The car is sitting, dead, at the dealer, 120 miles away. I have no rental and the HVBJB still has to be replaced. I will update this thread with additional information as it happens.

When I got home I was looking forward to my new pillow that was ordered and delivered while I was on vacation. I thought, well at least there's light at the end of my tunnel for today. Gleefully, I open the box only to find the wrong pillow. I thought, well that sucks, and where's the other box that I was expecting ... hmmm I can't find it...

Ford Mustang Mach-E From SVS to SSN - The Tejon Pass Claims Another Mach-E 1660366322781


This car is a curse!!!
 
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scoopman

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This was at least an entertaining read from the "ignore the truck full of goats in this video". Grapevine: 2, Mach-E GTPEs 0.

Could have been worse, you got it to a dealer safely without a tow, and after your vacation. And the car didn't die until after you got your breakfast sammie.

With a case number I'm pretty sure you can just rent a car and Ford will reimburse you at this point. They reimbursed me for rental and gas. I think the trick might be to see if there's any way to be able to dump a rental car at a location near Los Banos when you go to pick up your car fixed, like a one way Enterprise rental.

I do agree with your impression that Ford has a long way to go to have the right customer experience In this whole issue.
 

ZuleMME

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I honestly dunno if I’m more shocked that it didn’t happen on the first half. It did better than I expected. How were the temps on the 2 legs?
 


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DevSecOps

DevSecOps

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I honestly dunno if I’m more shocked that it didn’t happen on the first half. It did better than I expected. How were the temps on the 2 legs?
Both days were about 100F outside.
 

JohnFoxeSheets

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Damn. Thank goodness for family!

I've been toying with the idea of taking the car on a good long hard drive with HVBJB-killer hills and DCFC charging stops......but without my wife. I figure it will either kill the HVBJB or if it doesn't maybe, just maybe, it'll mean my HVBJB is (somewhat) more robust. Honestly, I'm hoping for the former - especially since the latter would only mean that I'd still have to worry that it was just still a matter of time until............
 
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DevSecOps

DevSecOps

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Damn. Thank goodness for family!

I've been toying with the idea of taking the car on a good long hard drive with HVBJB-killer hills and DCFC charging stops......but without my wife. I figure it will either kill the HVBJB or if it doesn't maybe, just maybe, it'll mean my HVBJB is (somewhat) more robust. Honestly, I'm hoping for the former - especially since the latter would only mean that I'd still have to worry that it was just still a matter of time until............
With 23k on the car and numerous mountain trips to Tahoe and from Sacramento to the bay I figured I had a robust variant. I guess I was wrong. I honestly think that, in time, all GTs will have failure.

In my case, and in most that I've seen, DCFC had nothing to do with SVS. I hadn't been to a DCFC in days.
 

JohnFoxeSheets

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With 23k on the car and numerous mountain trips to Tahoe and from Sacramento to the bay I figured I had a robust variant. I guess I was wrong. I honestly think that, in time, all GTs will have failure.

In my case, and in most that I've seen, DCFC had nothing to do with SVS. I hadn't been to a DCFC in days.
Good to know, though realistically I don't think I can find any long sustained high-speed hills without needing to DCFC to get there... While SF certainly has hills (I live on a 25% grade), you can't drive them at high speeds, nor for long distances.
 

ZuleMME

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I think DCFC plays a larger role in non-GT failures. Not that it can’t happen without. It just happens to fully heat soak the contactors. GT’s can do that by pulling 1080amps here and there for a couple hilly passes.
 

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Thank you for taking the time to let us know what to expect. Just about everyone who lives in California drives the Grape Vine grade sooner or later. I used to drive it about ten times a year. I do have reservations now. No new car should cause this to happen, nor cause such anxiety. California is always hot in the summer.

you are right, the way Ford is handling this is not right. When they profit 8 billion dollars a year, why can’t they make the repairs? Basically, they are expecting us to accept the MME break downs, like “aren’t we lucky, we all will face this out on the streets somewhere, and lucky us we might be able to drive it home!” Not acceptable, Ford.
Someone did a heck of a schmoozing to the safety board!

thanx again, good luck, and call Enterprise, as they may let you do a one way drive, and they will pick up the car for you At the dealer. They are pretty good about that.
 

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Wow, I just can't get over how you guys both SVSed in the same spot less than one mile apart. Scoopman had also just passed a car. Maybe we should call that area "El fracaso"? Ford should drive Mach-E's from Bakersfield to LA all day long for accelerated HVBJB durability testing.

Ford Mustang Mach-E From SVS to SSN - The Tejon Pass Claims Another Mach-E Screen Shot 2022-08-13 at 1.48.32 AM


Those pack voltage readings and isolation fault triggering SSN are also interesting. Wonder if your BECM is toast too or those readings were some kind of software glitch? Obviously there's no way those readings could be real. Did you end up with a stuck contactor code or just the isolation fault?
 
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Those pack voltage readings and isolation fault are also interesting. Wonder if your BECM is toast too or those readings were some kind of software glitch? Obviously there's no way those readings could be real.
The voltages only occurred like that after SSN. All the SVS data for voltages was within tolerance. So something was toasted. It wasn't just once and it happened over sustained periods of time. Why that happened I don't know. That's above my pay grade.

I'm not sure if I have a stuck contactor. I parked the car at the dealership, turned it off and it wouldn't turn back on and go into gear. Since it was 5pm they wanted me out of there so I had to get my luggage and run. I didn't have time to pull codes. I'm sure I'll get that info once they hook it up. They don't work weekends at that dealership so I'll likely know on Monday.
 
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Preface:

First of all let me say this - I'm safe at home, no one is hurt, I'm not mad (I was actually joking with people in DM's while this was happening), but I'm still disappointed at Ford and this recall.

TLDR: Software recall applied, received SVS climbing the Tejon Pass 343 miles from home. Continued my drive home. Received SSN 120 miles from home. Dealer had no loaner, Enterprise had no rentals. Had to ask family to come get me.

So here's my story ---

I went on vacation with family to Newport Beach. It's a beautiful location and while I was down there we went to Disneyland, a concert, the beach and more. It's a place I visit many times a year and I absolutely love it!

Getting there I had to go through the central valley in California and transverse the Tejon Pass in order to drop into Southern California. I got there without issue, the car performed flawlessly. While I was in SoCal everything was great. No issues whatsoever.

Coming home however, was almost as exciting as the Incredicoaster!

Pre-Return Trip Data Points:
  • Last night I charged to 100% SOC at the resort L2 charger
  • Last DCFC was Monday - 4 days prior
  • 2 occupants in the vehicle with luggage (350lbs Max)
  • Temperatures 80-105F
  • 22S41 was applied via OTA 2 weeks prior
Service Vehicle Soon:

89.5 miles into my return trip, and after a stop at Starbucks for a Bacon Gouda and Late, I began my ascent into the notorious "Grapevine" (Tejon Pass). At an elevation of 1750' above sea level on a 6.8% grade, going 83 mph while overtaking a BMW that decided to cut me off, I experienced SVS. I might add that at the exact moment, I took a bite of my Bacon Gouda sandwich... this might have been the ultimate straw that broke the camels back.

Ford Mustang Mach-E From SVS to SSN - The Tejon Pass Claims Another Mach-E Screen Shot 2022-08-13 at 1.48.32 AM


This is where it happened. Don't mind the truck full of goats -



Red line was my approximate location:

Ford Mustang Mach-E From SVS to SSN - The Tejon Pass Claims Another Mach-E Screen Shot 2022-08-13 at 1.48.32 AM



Service Vehicle Soon Data Points:
  • 89.5 miles into my drive
  • 99F at time of failure
  • 1750' elevation
  • 6.8% uphill grade
  • 83 mph
  • No previous DCFC for 4 days
  • 59% SOC
  • 23k miles on the ODO
Ford Mustang Mach-E From SVS to SSN - The Tejon Pass Claims Another Mach-E Screen Shot 2022-08-13 at 1.48.32 AM


The drive continues:


I continued to go over the Tejon Pass like a Prius without any power. Going up that thing with full jail bars was not fun. I then went into Bakersfield for a DCFC top up.

DCFC Stats (Bakersfield, CA):
  • Arrived 35% SOC
  • Left 89% SOC
At the station in Bakersfield I made some phone calls, opened up a case, called my local dealer and prepared some people at Ford for my car next week. We leave the DCFC station in route to the next, and last DCFC before arriving at home. We get to the next station without any significant events and we charge without any issue, this was in the town of Los Banos, CA (yes that means the bathrooms in English).

Second DCFC Stats (Los Banos, CA):
  • Arrived 19% SOC
  • Left 75% SOC
Stop Safely Now:

Just when I thought I was home free, the plot thickens. As we continued the drive all of a sudden I got Stop Safely Now. I immediately pulled into a parking lot and made sure to leave the car running. I was in motion when I received SSN at about 10 mph and I happened to be right next to a parking lot.

I parked the car in a good spot for a tow, backed into a stall with an open exit lane in front of me for easy tow access. I contacted some people at Ford again to see what I should do at this point. I never turned off the car, because I knew that if I did it would be game over.

We weighed the pros and cons of driving the car further and ultimately after some very helpful people consulted with people in the "know" it was determined that driving it home the 120 miles would be too risky. As luck would have it, there was a dealership just 2 blocks away. So the compromise was to drive to the dealer instead. This is ultimately what I did.

SSN Data Points:
  • Electrical Data:
    • Vehicle reported:
      • Negative Contactor: 655.35v
      • Positive Contactor: 5.1v
    • Nominal values:
      • Negative Contactor: 0-1v
      • Positive Contactor: ~365v
  • Average Speed up until this point: 69mph
The car was reporting voltage shorts at this point.

Ford Mustang Mach-E From SVS to SSN - The Tejon Pass Claims Another Mach-E Screen Shot 2022-08-13 at 1.48.32 AM


Ford Mustang Mach-E From SVS to SSN - The Tejon Pass Claims Another Mach-E Screen Shot 2022-08-13 at 1.48.32 AM


The Dealership:


I arrived to the dealership at 4:45PM, just a few minutes before they closed. It's a small town, they are a farming town and the population is just 39k. I didn't have much faith going in.

I go to the service desk and it's one guy. I told him what happened and he said "Let me get my EV techs, they were just trained on this." So he calls up a couple guys and they ask what happened and I told them. The guy tells me "I just got through training on this and I haven't actually worked on an EV before. This will be my first, and quite frankly, I'm scared." He was a really nice guy, they were all really nice.

I drove the car around the to side, turned it off and it never came back to life after that. -Dead-

The one thing it did do, which was weird is that I got an error saying the car wasn't in park when it was. Don't know why this happened.

Ford Mustang Mach-E From SVS to SSN - The Tejon Pass Claims Another Mach-E Screen Shot 2022-08-13 at 1.48.32 AM


Unfortunately, since it's a small town they only have 1 loaner and it was out. There's a singular Enterprise rental car facility in the town and it only has 5 cars, all of which were out.

They told me that I could get a hotel and on Monday they would get me into a rental. I asked what other options I had and he shrugged his shoulders. Ford roadside was of no help either. They didn't know what to do.

Ultimately, I had to call family, who drove down 120 miles to come get us and bring us home.

My Take:

The recall is garbage. I've been an avidly outspoken about it as most of you know and I continue to be. While it did alert me to the potential issue, it didn't get me home and still left me stranded 120 miles from my house with SSN. Yes, you could blame this on the terrain, the fact that I had to DCFC and more, but reality is that a 450 mile trip was unsuccessful. Ultimately, it's not a fix and shouldn't be considered one.

Ford Roadside was a complete waste of time in my case. I'll be escalating my complaints in this department for sure because they didn't care one bit that I was stuck there. They told me they could only drive me 35 miles and if my house was further I would have to pay for it myself.

If you get SSN don't turn the car off until you are in a safe area. Attempt to get somewhere in short distance and slowly.

Data:

I had 3 cameras rolling the entire trip. I also had data logging via the OBDII. I have a lot of data points and video to go through which will take time. If anyone has any specific questions please feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer.

Conclusion:

I still have a journey left. The car is sitting, dead, at the dealer, 120 miles away. I have no rental and the HVBJB still has to be replaced. I will update this thread with additional information as it happens.

When I got home I was looking forward to my new pillow that was ordered and delivered while I was on vacation. I thought, well at least there's light at the end of my tunnel for today. Gleefully, I open the box only to find the wrong pillow. I thought, well that sucks, and where's the other box that I was expecting ... hmmm I can't find it...

Ford Mustang Mach-E From SVS to SSN - The Tejon Pass Claims Another Mach-E Screen Shot 2022-08-13 at 1.48.32 AM


This car is a curse!!!
Roadside Assistance with Ford Norway dismissed me completely (including rental) since I managed to get to a dealership. Doesn't matter that it was a 12 hour drive from home.

I've since learned that most mobility warranties work this way.

Make sure to create your Ford case before you roll into a dealership.

They actually arranged for rental and everything until they realized I was at a dealership. Then they called me back and canceled everything and told me good luck.
Dealership was out of loaners.
 
 




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