Red Ring of HEAT

[EasyPass]

There's 42 update-able modules on the car. Sync is just one of them. There's no way to see what versions of software the car has without dealer specific tools. Even if you did see the software versions it's likely not going to mean anything unless you track those versions. Additionally, different trims and years can have different revisions making it all that more complicated. OTA's can update all but 3 of these modules. To be clear, not all OTAs are Sync. Here's a piece of what it looks like:

Vehicle Information:
ABS Anti-Lock Brake System - LK9C-2C219-CD LK9C-2D053-CD
ACCM Air Conditioning Control Module - LJ9H-19F611-AB LJ9H-14D491-AB
ACM Audio Front Control Module - LJ8T-18K810-ZHG JX7T-14C302-JB
APIM SYNC Module - DSMU5T-14G670-CA MU5T-14G676-CA

Yeah, I get it. It's complicated.
My concern stems from a situation I was in around the end of last year where a Sync update was stuck, apparently, and the little annoyances I was dealing with daily weren't going away until some manual intervention was executed. I only was able to glean my underlying situation by digesting many of the post on this forum that pointed to that circumstance. I went back to the dealer for the first time in January after original purchase last August and explained what my expectations were for their effort. I was completely satisfied with their work and haven't been back since. However, in the big picture perspective, without some fundamental feedback in a complex system the average lay person is completely in the dark under these conditions.

I'm going back to the dealer, for my second visit ever, the first week of August mainly for my 10k mile checkup, but also expect to get the safety recall for the HVJB and also BlueCruise instead of waiting for those to show up whenever they feel like it.

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[MrsLofgreen]

This ends up being a good story but you need to read through the pages to understand how not ready for long trips this vehicle actually is.

This is my second MME. I owned a 21 which I lucked into while waiting 11 months for my order to arrive. I can deal with all the software glitches that are annoying but I can still get from A to B safely. Took 21 on a 170 mile trip up in the AZ mountains. Topping 8000 ft at points climbing effortlessly although consuming electrons at an alarming rate. No worries as we arrived at destination with 37% reserve. Piece of cake.

This was a trial run for our summer trip to San Diego. I wanted to get a good feel for the car climbing and on the road with AC on, car loaded and changing environs. Desert heat to start at 115+ to mountains where nights are in the 30's. All boxes checked. Next box, charging. Went to only EA charger within 150 miles of destination. Plug and Charge worked perfectly. Car charged faster then I thought it would. All good. Return trip home even better as mostly down hill. Last box checked. July 4th weekend surprise get call from Ford your 22 arrived early! Well early is a relative term I guess. 11 months is hardly early but ok.

Pick up 22. All good. Car perfect. has 91 useable vs 89 (Excellent for the SD trip) set up car now that I'm an expert all settings in car and Ford pass.

Feeling pretty good about trip except new car has 200 miles and I think about what if the new car bug bites? Have faith I thought.

Pack car. Really packed as we are gone for a month. Precondition battery at home, fully charged ready to go.

All good, very good. Quiet on road comfortable power to spare etc. First charge stop at EA in Dateland (I could make Yuma easily but why push it as I will need one more booster anyway) Plug and charge didnt work. Called Ford they said the APP was recently updated and restart phone and update car when you arrive in SD. Ok. Enter Credit card and zoom 20 minutes to 90% and we leave for EL Centro CA. Very hot place. 37 feet below sea Level if you believe Ford Nav. Blue Cruise no longer working hands free. Ok, sitting in car for a few hours call Ford. Same deal you need an update.

An update for a 2 week old car that presumably had all updates done at delivery to take care of the recall for the frying contactors.

But ok. Pull into EA charger 116 degrees. Plug-in. Charge fault. Red Ring at Charger port. There was 8 chargers. Tried all 8 twice. Call EA. They were very nice and said the heat does some weird things with these cars and out equipment.

Called Ford AGAIN. They said its EA and not us. Sooooooo, now they are pointing at each other. I cant make it to San Diego. I cant charge. And these two are acting like two politicians pointing at each other.

Wife said lets find a dealer in small town that can fix this car on a Friday afternoon as a walk in. Riiiiiiiiight. So, off we go. Very nice people and helpful. Well, we got one guy that knows a little something about these as we dont sell these. 3 hours later he says try it now L2 charges ok. We dont have an L3. I updated your software and hopefully that fixes it. Hope.

Well, it worked. For now. Charged to 85% in 25 minutes. Drive to San Diego. Temp went from 116 to 69 in 2 hours. Blue cruise works again. Plug and Charge works again. Etc etc.

@Ford what gives? What happened? Did car get delivered with old software? Did the car glitch and revert to old software somehow?

This worked out well because of some very nice small town folks that care about people.

I know this is a long read. I tried to do my homework and check all things out and settings before going through the hottest place on the planet during the summer. To me car is not reliable for road trip despite all these stories of I drove 4 million miles and not a thing went wrong. I say BS!

Also live in AZ. The past week, with temps over 110, I have been getting the red ring when I attempt to charge via my Ford Connected Charger at home. It does start charging fine, but then an error will pop up in the app saying the scheduled charge did not start. I will go out, unplug, plug in again and it will start to charge, but it won't last long. I assume it is because of the heat. My software and car have all applicable updates available. If anyone else has any ideas, please let me know!

 

[SolarAB]

Also live in AZ. The past week, with temps over 110, I have been getting the red ring when I attempt to charge via my Ford Connected Charger at home. It does start charging fine, but then an error will pop up in the app saying the scheduled charge did not start. I will go out, unplug, plug in again and it will start to charge, but it won't last long. I assume it is because of the heat. My software and car have all applicable updates available. If anyone else has any ideas, please let me know!

Yes the red ring problem does seem to be heat related. But last summer it was extremely hot and it never happened once. Something has changed in the software - for the worse.

 

[1969Camaro]

While I get that its hot. Haven't seen any Teslas having heat related charging issues. If it is heat related, very poor design.

 

[MrsLofgreen]

Yes the red ring problem does seem to be heat related. But last summer it was extremely hot and it never happened once. Something has changed in the software - for the worse.

You are right, I have had mine since March 2021 so I went through a full Summer last year and never had this issue.

 

[paul hrabovsky]

Something similar happened to us over the weekend. No problems with our 21 for more than a year. Wife came home and hooked it up to charge for the coming week. Error lights indicated a problem. Took it in for manual updates and had everything checked out. Seems that OTA updates only loaded part way. Apparently, the updates included a cooling function to become active at a certain battery temperature but didn't finish telling the car or the charger what to do and interpreted the lack of information as an error and wouldn't charge. After the updates, when put on charge with hot batteries, the car must be turned on to access the cooling mode to enable charging. Eventually the MME turned itself off and continued to charge.

 

[1969Camaro]

*****UPDATE****

Finally drove back after nearly a month in San Diego. The trip went as it should have on the way there. Left with 95% charge. Stop #1 charged to 80% in 25min no issues. Stop number #2 also no issues heat and all. Total return trip charging 50 minutes to cover 400 miles.

I think initial update for contactors failed resulting in no L3 charging ability.

Restored some confidence in this vehicle. Not sure I will attempt another long trip until the bugs are worked out.

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