HEAT induced drive mode issue

[DYohn]

Out of curiosity, do you have window tint and the larger battery?

Yes and yes.

Sponsored

 

[BMT1071]

Out of curiosity, do you have window tint and the larger battery?
I have wondered if the smaller battery is more susceptible to heat gain especially if driven infrequently or shorter distances (not enough time for the chiller to cool the battery down low enough before parked). ????

I have only lost drive modes once and that was because I was parked in my 125 F driveway with a scanner attached and data logging various temps. I was messing around with the RPM of the A/C compressor to see what would happen and I found out. Won't be doing that again.



We have your back.
Here is a photo of what that looks like. Those of us here in AZ have this image burned into our retinas by now.

My car is RWD SR. Windows tinted. No windshield sunshade yet. Waiting on CoverCraft. I have seen the plug vehicle in message many times.

 

[SnBGC]

This is only my speculation, but I don't think driving in the heat is the issue here.

I'm unable to park in a shaded area at work. So my vehicle sits in broad sunlight in the middle of a huge asphalt parking lot all day. I think the issue is that the vehicle sun bakes while sitting, off, and it takes zero action to thermally regulate itself during that time.

And to add some more information for us to chew on.....

My car is parked out in the direct sunlight.....in a really bad spot which is a 60' wide parking lot between two large concrete buildings about 24' tall. So, it's like a canyon the turns into a Dutch Oven while the sun is overhead. The concrete absorbs the heat as the summer progresses and it's Death Valley in there.

But.....
I get to plug in at work.

However....
The damn car doesn't cool itself while plugged in except for the month of July when I starting using @macchiaz-o 's trick. But then I got the OTA and now I have to make sure I wake the car up so it will cool the battery.

And...
I drive the crap out of my car. It usually doesn't sit for more than 2-3 hours during the day and then I have to go somewhere. This summer, most of my projects have been at State Farm Stadium (NFL facility), or Scottsdale or Queen Creek and all those are pretty far from my office (50-100 miles round trip) so the battery stays cool while driving.

And I have tint, and the bigger battery but I don't know if that makes any difference to be honest.

My brother has a Select with the metal roof but he didn't get his car until mid-late July I think so he got the tail end of the summer. I'll send him a note and see if he is having any issues. He has the same situation as @macchiaz-o . Parks all day in the baking sun and then drives home.

 

[SnBGC]

What was the batttery temperature when it occured?
Temperature of the battery pack can be read with any elm327 adapter and Car Scanner ElmObd2 app.

The battery temp reported by that PID is an average of the individual sensors. Still valid info but just something to be aware of. If one sensor is out of range then the BECM might ignore that one and give the average of the remaining sensors. But a CEL should trigger so we would know something was up.

 

[BMT1071]

And...
I drive the crap out of my car. It usually doesn't sit for more than 2-3 hours during the day and then I have to go somewhere. This summer, most of my projects have been at State Farm Stadium (NFL facility), or Scottsdale or Queen Creek and all those are pretty far from my office (50-100 miles round trip) so the battery stays cool while driving.

I'm just around the corner from the stadium. We should grab a beer at Westgate next time you're out this way.

 

[SnBGC]

My car is RWD SR. Windows tinted. No windshield sunshade yet. Waiting on CoverCraft. I have seen the plug vehicle in message many times.

Good point.
I've been using a sunshade since the spring. That makes a huge difference in the cabin. Not sure if any of that heat gain is able to transfer to the battery pack though. It kinda seems like there might be an air gap in the battery pack so heat transfer to/from the cabin might be limited or minimized. ???? ?

 

[SnBGC]

I'm just around the corner from the stadium. We should grab a beer at Westgate next time you're out this way.

Considering taking my son to the game tonight. I usually give my tickets to coworkers but the Chiefs are my team. (I know, I know......I am a traitor....)

 

[Shayne]

And I have tint, and the bigger battery but I don't know if that makes any difference to be honest.

Doubt it if it does not come on to maintain itself it does not matter what the tint or the battery is. At a certain point it is going to be a problem. I noted that it was dead in -35F nothing but did not have it long enough when cold and was not sure of what it should be doing. The block heaters were plugged in on the ice's. I would hope it has the smarts to heat itself up before charging as charging frozen battery's is extremely dangerous for the owner but now I am not sure. That is why when I read that the car is not smart enough to maintain itself in extreme conditions it threw a flag. This is a major problem and a sever oversite. All those HVB in Texas; exactly same issue is where my money is at.

The car did not even come on to check the 12V when I got it and it died. They fixed the 12V and we need this fixed like yesterday. Hate pushing bad PR on such a great car but if you want your paak or the battery drain on a cheap phone fixed you need to be a bit pushy. Neither of those I give #! about this one I do. Your car is in a deep sleep ............ wtf?

Considering taking my son to the game tonight. I usually give my tickets to coworkers but the Chiefs are my team. (I know, I know......I am a traitor....)

Maybe he does not want to have a beer with you anymore ?

 

[JimmyMachE]

The battery temp reported by that PID is an average of the individual sensors. Still valid info but just something to be aware of. If one sensor is out of range then the BECM might ignore that one and give the average of the remaining sensors.

There are more pids in the Car Scanner (profile Ford Mach-E): battery temp, battery temperature range, battery temp range min and max.

These pids seem to show the temperature variation within the battery pack.

 

[RidingwithScotty]

@Blanked Welcome to the frustration club with this one. I had the same thing happen to me when the screen was only reading 90ish degrees here in VA...also had it happen when it was in the triple digits with humidity and really wish there was more warning than "Drive mode not available". I've tried to prevent this by parking on the shady side of the parking lot at work since I can't plug in there like some lucky folks on this forum. I have not seen the photo provided by @SnBGC when this happened to me though.

 

[AZBill]

Interesting. Here in AZ I've driven in 118F heat with the display on the screen showing 135F due to asphalt heating and never had a similar issue. A/C set to AUTO and 73. The cooling fan gets loud, but that's expected.

I see this as well. If temps are in the low 100s, it seems to read the outside temp OK, but once you hit 110+, it likes to add an extra 10-15F on top of the reading, even when parked in my garage.

I generally keep my car in whisper mode around town and never get any messages about drive modes.

 

[AZBill]

Considering taking my son to the game tonight. I usually give my tickets to coworkers but the Chiefs are my team. (I know, I know......I am a traitor....)

I was at the game on Friday.

 

[chuyqwerty]

Is there a fix for this or does Ford consider this a normal thing? I have the same error (Drive Mode Not Available) whenever it is 90F or higher outside.

 

[macchiaz-o]

Is there a fix for this or does Ford consider this a normal thing? I have the same error (Drive Mode Not Available) whenever it is 90F or higher outside.

There is no fix.

Ford hasn't informed us of the conditions they use to trigger this protective state in the vehicle. Further, they've not yet acknowledged that this is a thing that even happens, so unfortunately, we don't know if they consider it normal or not.

 

[The Electric Duo]

My vehicle lost its drive modes maybe 10 times or so now... It always finds them again on the next key cycle.

Driving slowly before driving quickly isn't going to help. I've lost drive modes while idling at the work parking lot for a minute before moving... I've lost them while leaving the parking lot (moving slowly), and while travelling 35-40 mph as well as 72 mph.

The only constant seems to be that it's frickin' hot outside and the car has been sitting and baking for awhile.

Not sure if it even helps, but you can trick the car into allowing itself to cool down while plugged in to the wall outlet. To do this, change your charging schedule to have a target battery percentage BELOW your vehicle's current percentage. And change the allowable charge hours to include the current clock time.

It sure would be nice if @Ford Motor Company could implement something to cool and protect the battery when it is really hot without having to resort to these tricks.

Sponsored