Safety Recall 22S41 - 2021-2022 Mach E - HVBJB Recall [high voltage battery main contactors may overheat]

[MableMachE]

Has anyone with a 2022 select trim received the update OTA?

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[Mike G]

These updates showed up for the Lightning in FDRS this morning:

Coincidence?

 

[musty123]

We had an OTA update on July 15, but in FordPass, going to Ford's recall website says our recall is "incomplete". Does anyone know how we will know when the OTA update to fix this problem has been done?

 

[Wideguy]

Was talking with Ford today and I was told that the certain parameters need to happen for the OTA to occur on 22S41. Not sure I have all of them and some seem pretty standard. Here is what I have:

Car must have had Ignition on and running for at least 30 minutes prior to scheduled update check.
update check can not happen at 12am (choose different time)
Car stopped in Park with parking break on
Doors closed
ignition off
headlights off
battery above 80%

 

[Caramel]

Huh. Interesting. I charge my car to 80% usually. I only do above if I’m planning a road trip. Maybe that’s why I don’t get many otas?

 

[mwtechy]

Was talking with Ford today and I was told that the certain parameters need to happen for the OTA to occur on 22S41. Not sure I have all of them and some seem pretty standard. Here is what I have:

Car must have had Ignition on and running for at least 30 minutes prior to scheduled update check.
update check can not happen at 12am (choose different time)
Car stopped in Park with parking break on
Doors closed
ignition off
headlights off
battery above 80%

I charge to 90% max, if I happen to be on the road for 30min which is rare it's def below 80% by the time I'm stopped and parked. If this is accurate no wonder I'm not getting these.

 

[generaltso]

Huh. Interesting. I charge my car to 80% usually. I only do above if I’m planning a road trip. Maybe that’s why I don’t get many otas?

It‘s the 12V battery that needs to be at 80%.

 

[Caramel]

d

It‘s the 12V battery that needs to be at 80%.

thanks!

 

[rinsmars]

I certainly don't put my Parking Brake on when parked in my garage. If they are talking about "above 80% charged" referring to the 12V battery, where can you see SOC of the 12V battery?

 

[GrumblesTheDog]

I was mucking around in Carscanner today when I noticed there was an entry for HV positive contactor voltage. I'm still waiting for my 22S41 dealer appointment (or OTA if that somehow miraculously materializes first) but in the interim, I wonder if you can infer anything about your contactor health by comparing contactor voltage with your actual HVB voltage? Roughly how much resistance gets generated when they start to pit and start down road to failure? Is it enough that you'd notice a differential between the HVB and contactor-reported voltage?

 

[generaltso]

I certainly don't put my Parking Brake on when parked in my garage. If they are talking about "above 80% charged" referring to the 12V battery, where can you see SOC of the 12V battery?

That list came from a dealer, so don’t believe everything on it (like the parking brake requirement). You would need an OBDII adapter to see the 12V battery percentage, but if you drive often, you don’t really have to worry about it.

 

[macchiaz-o]

These updates showed up for the Lightning in FDRS this morning:

Coincidence?

Yes, most likely a coincidence. The Mach-E counterparts to all of those modules have been updated several times since the start of 2021.

 

[IceBlueSamurai]

How soon after the mail notice does the OTA come?

 

[generaltso]

How soon after the mail notice does the OTA come?

Ford said by mid-August.

 

[Spooky]

Looking at NHTSA 22V412, I get the complaint many of us have that the SW fix is not a fix, does not address the faulty part, and really puts a band-aid on poor part design and quality.

Description of the Defect :	Direct Current (“DC”) fast charging and repeated wide open pedal events can cause the high voltage battery main contactors to overheat. Overheating may lead to arcing and deformation of the electrical contact surfaces, which can result in a contactor that remains open or a contactor that welds closed.
Description of the Safety Risk :	An overheated contactor that opens while driving can result in a loss of motive power, which can increase the risk of an accident.
Description of the Cause :	The design and part-to-part variation of the high voltage battery main contactor is not robust to the heat generated during DC fast charging and multiple wide open pedal events.
Identification of Any Warning that can Occur :	If the contactor opens while driving, a powertrain malfunction warning light will be illuminated and the vehicle will display “Stop Safely Now’ in the cluster when the vehicle experiences an immediate loss of motive power. Should the contactors weld closed while driving, a powertrain malfunction warning light will be illuminated on the next drive cycle, along with a no start condition.

You left out the remedy though, on page 10 or so of the NHTSA report. Something similar to:

Remedy: Updated SOBDMC software will monitor contractor temperature and intelligently reduce battery power to prevent damage to the contractor. Updated BECM software will monitor contractor resistance to identify an overheated contractor and reduce vehicle power to prevent further damage.

Preventing damage to the contractor does seem like a pseudo fix/prevention doesn’t it vs solely a let the car limp to the dealer instead of being found on the road dead…which the second part preventing “further” damage seems to imply it does as well.

The part-to-part variation seems to also indicate not all contractors will fail, just those out of spec?

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