Car will not start

[Guest]

Update. Ive been told that ford has escalated the issue again and they are waiting for a call from ford. Sounds like more waiting to me. How did you guys go about getting a payment erased by ford? Did you talk to the dealer about it or did you contact ford directly? Or did ford just offer it up after you got your car back?

 

[scottt]

Contact Ford directly, and have a case opened.

 

[tinilk]

They've installed all of the parts associated with the SSN recall but are seeing "further issues" with the electrical system. They have a Ford Tech line Assistance case open and waiting for more replies from Ford's engineers. Also "suspect that there is some sort of software logic concern with the motor control module. Ford engineering is currently looking further into it." Wat.

Maybe they could just ship both our cars to Michigan so Ford's engineers can tear into them first-hand. Would be faster to get this resolved but cost them more.

Carbuff, wouldn't they only erase a payment if you didn't have a loaner? The idea being they'll cover you for the time you don't have your car, either financially or by providing a replacement car. But not both. Or so I would think?

(Never mind that we've each spent over $100 at gas stations)

 

[Guest]

They've installed all of the parts associated with the SSN recall but are seeing "further issues" with the electrical system. They have a Ford Tech line Assistance case open and waiting for more replies from Ford's engineers. Also "suspect that there is some sort of software logic concern with the motor control module. Ford engineering is currently looking further into it." Wat.

Maybe they could just ship both our cars to Michigan so Ford's engineers can tear into them first-hand. Would be faster to get this resolved but cost them more.

Carbuff, wouldn't they only erase a payment if you didn't have a loaner? The idea being they'll cover you for the time you don't have your car, either financially or by providing a replacement car. But not both. Or so I would think?

(Never mind that we've each spent over $100 at gas stations)

Well, I see what youre saying about the loaner car but I am paying for an electric car that I dont have use of. The loaner is fine for a short term thing but going on 2 months is another deal. My gas savings were a big part of my decision to buy the car and were helping to make the payment. So now Im still making a payment and having to buy gas too. Im in the same boat with the waiting for ford to call and all. I see no end in sight. I think my car is destined for the crusher. I think at the 2 month mark Im going to have to start NYS lemon law proceedings. So, theyve got till march 9. That will be 9 weeks. And its not like Im getting my new car back, its a used car, a 2013.

 

[tinilk]

I hear you. I'm not happy buying and burning gas and I very much miss the better driving experience that I bought an EV for.

I hadn't thought about the lemon law...I bought new so in MA I would've only been covered for the first year or 15k miles.
I'm curious how much of a legal pain it turns out to be if you go that route!

 

[Guest]

So, after a month of being nice and patient, I called ford to complain and see what could be done. I wasnt out to slam anyone or anything but after 2 months there was probably gonna be a pile under the bus. I talked to Darren in the EV section. He was very nice and all. Opened a case, escalated it, (sounds familiar). I told him the whole story and the present situation and what I was expecting. He said that he would call me back monday and was looking into getting me reimbursed for gas and payments. He said they would contact the regional service field office and see about getting an ev expert out there in person to look at my car. He was very nice and understanding and hopefully this will get the ball rolling towards getting my car back or declaring it non fixable or whatever.

 

[Guest]

So I was contacted by ford. They sent a tech to the dealership to look at my car. Last I heard from them they were leaning towards replacing the TCM. They had to do a few more tests before ford would ok to change it. Ford asked for a copy of my payment invoice so they could reimburse me, but not until the work was finished. I still dont feel confident that my car will be fixed soon. The dealer has not given me an update in a week. Maybe they fired my contact person. Maybe I'll have it back by the summer.

 

[triangles]

My guess is you might have it by the end of may... Anyway keep the updates coming.

 

[tinilk]

I'm at 9 weeks that my car has been at the dealer and I've put more than 2k miles on the rental car.
Latest update: They're troubleshooting the whole electrical system. The remaining active DTC's pertain to the HV battery contactors. The vehicle is not seeing the presence of the HV battery, as if the contactors are not connected even though they are. Ford's engineers don't have an answer yet.

 

[Guest]

I'm at 9 weeks that my car has been at the dealer and I've put more than 2k miles on the rental car.
Latest update: They're troubleshooting the whole electrical system. The remaining active DTC's pertain to the HV battery contactors. The vehicle is not seeing the presence of the HV battery, as if the contactors are not connected even though they are. Ford's engineers don't have an answer yet.

Yes, most of my conversations with ford have been blah,blah, blah, troubleshooting, blah, blah, blah, diagnosing. I got a call from some guy who wasnt even my assigned rep. He was calling on behalf of her. I guess shes got "people" to handle the disappointing calls. Ive only put around 800 miles on the loaner, partly because I dont want to be putting gas in it. I do notice that the mfm app has logged zero activity with the car for the last couple of weeks. It hasnt been charged or driven in weeks. I now know that there are 109 ffes in my region because thats what place im in on most of the achievement categories.

 

[Guest]

Got an update from the dealer. They have condemned the TCM. Thats what they said. Troubleshooting has found it to be bad and most likely the source of the problem. They ordered the part and will install it next week when it arrives. They seem fairly confident. Hmm, are we taking bets? Lol. On a side note my car was fully charged and driven 4.8 miles today. Strange.

 

[tinilk]

It sounds like they're way ahead on yours...narrowed down to a single component! (maybe?)
My car can't be charged or driven at all, until they figure out why it's not "seeing" the HV battery.

My dealer did say Ford is sending out "some" field reps to look at it. I hope that means before end of the month.

 

[triangles]

Got an update from the dealer. They have condemned the TCM...

Wow you get a new motor, gearbox, and inverter!

 

[Guest]

Got an update from the dealer. They have condemned the TCM...

Wow you get a new motor, gearbox, and inverter!

I had wondered about that. I thought the tcm was just that box on top of the "motor", that all the orange cables plug into. But I had seen posts that suggested that it was the whole motor assembly. I had searched for images of the tcm and all I ever came up with was an underhood shot of the motor with the cover off suggesting that it was just that top part. Is it really the whole motor assembly?

 

[triangles]

Yes the TCM is that whole hunk of metal bolted together in the position that would be the engine in an ICE vehicle. It consists of the motor, gear box, inverter, and high voltage junction box. That box on top with the orange wires is the high voltage junction box. You've got the battery coming in on the driver's side and on the passenger side the HV going out to the DC-DC, heater, and AC compressor. I will throw out an uneducated guess that maybe there is a problem with the inverter. Since the inverter is a part of the TCM assembly they just replace the whole assembly as it would be impractical (cost prohibitive) to train the dealership mechanics on how to disassemble a TCM and repair an inverter.

Think of it as like an automatic transmission in an ICE car. A dealer will not disassemble a transmission to fix it. They will replace it with a new one. This is probably because modern automatic transmissions are extremely complicated and it would be impractical to keep someone with the necessary specialized training at each dealer to work on bad transmissions.

Except for the part about the whole assembly being the TCM take the rest with a grain of salt as it's just wild speculation on my part.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for that explanation. I posed that question to my dealer tech contact and he said yes, it was just the box on top but that the whole assembly would be replaced if they replaced it. That answered my question but it was the word if that struck me as odd. I had been told last week that the part was being ordered so "if" must have just been a poor choice of words on his part. I think ford is supposed to call me today so I will make sure the part has been ordered. I think monday and thursday are my contact days for ford corporate. I still dont think the dealer knows I called ford. I think they still think the ford tech guy just showed up out of the blue (no pun) to help them out. The dealer also told me that I needed to talk to the service manager about getting my payments refunded. When I told them that I had taken care of that with ford already they still insisted that I needed to go through the service dept for that. I told them that ford had already received my info to take care of that for me. They were like oh, ok.

 

[Guest]

It sounds like they're way ahead on yours...narrowed down to a single component! (maybe?)
My car can't be charged or driven at all, until they figure out why it's not "seeing" the HV battery.

My dealer did say Ford is sending out "some" field reps to look at it. I hope that means before end of the month.

I hope those field reps get there sooner than later. Have you called ford corporate yet? After I did that the field rep was at the dealer within 2 days, they opened up a case for me, initiated a twice a week update call schedule with me and took my paperwork to get my payments refunded once the car was fixed. It seems to have gotten something done in a week that couldnt get done in 9 weeks previously.

 

[tinilk]

I haven't called corporate yet. What number did you call? And what magic words do I need to say to get connected to Darren? Sounds like he's definitely the guy to talk to.

 

[Guest]

I haven't called corporate yet. What number did you call? And what magic words do I need to say to get connected to Darren? Sounds like he's definitely the guy to talk to.

I called the customer service number. Then I followed the prompts to get to the EV car section. Darren was just the guy I got. Im sure there are many others. Just tell them that you understand its new tech and all but its been 2 months and you feel that the dealer may need some help from a field rep. The ford ev expert needs to actually go and look at your car. Also tell them that the loaner is nice and all but youve been making payments on a car you have not seen for 2 months. They will probably assign you a case number and someone will probably email you as your rep. They will most likely ask for your statement so they can get the ball rolling on refunding payments once the car is fixed. Good luck, I hope it gets results for you.

 

[Guest]

So, my suspicions were correct about the word if. It turns out that they only requested authorization from ford to order the TCM. They are waiting for an answer. I was told that if ford says yes then they will have over $20,000 in warranty repairs into my car. The TCM is $15k alone, im told. What if ford says no? Do they buy back my car? Offer up a replacement? For 15k I could get a used 2015 or 16 with a warranty. LOL. So, basically, more waiting.