Something weird

[peteostro]

This happened to me around I think 3000 miles. I has not happen since. When I took my car in last week for an oil change, I told them about it. They looked up the TSB and said there was nothing about the issue.

[oldschool1962]

Well??????? Not exactly the thing you want to see in a new car. Last time we had issues with a vehicle it was in a 2004 Trailblazer and we ended up in Lemon Law He!! and finally traded it in on a 2005 Odyssey.

 

A couple of the issues mentioned here have happened to me.

 

The first thing was the right side dash screen fluttered. Things became sort of weird after that in the fact that the battery would charge, mileage was all screwed up and the general performance of the vehicle. This was around the 2nd day of ownership or maybe 200 miles. Brought it in and they couldn't find a thing. The Tceh reset the entire system and it worked great after that until we hit around 400 miles. Turned the car off one Sunday night and went out Monday morning to find the dash, MPG and trip were all reset. About 6 blocks into driving....the left side dash screen fluttered. I was going to bring it to the dealer right away but on the way up there it just operated normally. No hiccups, glitches or issues. Nothing like bringing it to the dealer and they hand the keys back and say......couldn't duplicate the problem. Well Duh!!!!!!

 

Anyhow this evening, went out for dinner and the dash reset itself again. Didn't want to mention it twice but the same reset occured this time.....dash went from empower to the second setting and it went from the graph setting to the leaves. Last time it went from the leaves to the graph. Only this time the trip didn't rest but when driving the car, the long term MPG was registering 2mpg when in full EV mode that lasted for 4 blocks. Then it changed and slowly crept up to 27mpg when we finally got to the dealership. Trouble is I have driven that route a half dozen times and acheived 38mpg.

 

Something is definitely rotten in Denmark here. I am going to bring the vehicle in thursday to have it looked at.

 

After dealing with Chevy on the Trailblazer (wiring and heater issues) and Ford on the SportTrac before that (issues with a tire wear problem) Ford swore it was caused by the 4WD. The front tires had feathered edges at 20K. I did to proper rotation and balance too....they did it. Anyhow it couldn't be from the 4WD because the SportTrac was 2WD. When I mentioned that they just stood and stared at me like I was speaking in ancient tongue's. Then they started to just pull indescriminent reason outta their arses. The dealership I am currently dealing with is trying to dismiss the issue or ignore it all together. It's just a thing where they say there has been o documentation of an issue or "the compter doesn't say there is a problem". Nothing pisses me off more than when the dealer starts pulling things outta their arse, dismissing you or not investigating the issue just to get you to move on.

 

Anyhow, I owned a Honday Odyssey for almost 5 years (2005 totaled after rearended by a F-250 at 55mph....bought secon in 2006 and just traded it in on the FFH) and had less issues in 5 years than in two days with this FFH. Wife has a Prius and has not had issue one with anything. You don't want to have to walk out to your brand new vehicle and look for something to be wrong or to happen but that's exactly what is happenening here. How can I plan a trip in this things when I don't know if this is the start of something much bigger. Don't exactly want to get stuck in the boonedocks on a trip somewhere. Anyhow thanks for the opportunity to vent. :banghead:

[aceinc]

Regarding the screen intensity change, I believe you have your headlights on "automatic on" and when going into dark places (like under overpasses) it turns on the headlights, and the dash/screens will change intensity.

 

Paul

[oldschool1962]

Arrived at the dealership today to have them look at what has been happening. Believe me, there has been more issues (similar to what have been posted here) but the system has not reset itself since my last remarks.

The right-side screen has fluttered and distorted several times (not sure about the left....an attention vs. driving attention thing) and the MPG graph has just cleared itself several times. The short-term and Long-term MPG readings have been screwed up for a week or so and finally....after hitting the reset button on the steering wheel a dozen times.......they have come back into line with my driving habits. As an example.....the readings fluctuated between 16.5 and 29 for a week after filling up and resetting both trip and MPG. Funny thing was neither my driving habits nor destinations hadn’t changed. The different screen displays of the short and long-term MPG have not been in sync either. All have registered a different number throughout the last week or so.

I'm not really sure what to make of this. New car+problems+problems listed here=nightmare from He!!. There’s just over 1500 miles on the odometer and nothing but issues with the computer so……………. the mind is not resting easy at the moment. :rant:

 

Oh yeah (first edit)..........

 

It was nice of the dealership to offer a ride home.....they stressed that this was going to be an "all day repair" but I can't understand why, even after I explained that there was no way I could get "trapped" at the house for the entire day.......they didn't offer to put me in a loaner. Given the newness of the vehicle and my repeated stops for issues.........I don't know....maybe it's because of my Customer service background but I woulda thought.....ahh nevermind. :finger:

 

One more thing (second edit)..................

 

Evidently there is a TSB for issue like this but not a specific issue. After a 1/4 tank of gas in test drives and ideling plus time on the Tech line.......the computer was reprogramed. System seems fine, a bit more stable than before and also the EV mode seems to work better. Still have another 1500 miles before the vehicle reaches the "break-in" period as stated in the owners manual so......we'll see.

Edited December 1, 2009 by oldschool1962

[ICEY]

Something weird happened to my dash yesterday.

 

Mine did the same thing about three weeks ago. I parked at a grocery store, went in for a few minutes and did not notice it until I got on the road home. I don't know what caused it but feel like it will happen again.

 

Similar happening to mine. Turned it on (guage in Enlighten mode) frove about 4 miles. 00.0 on the mpg redaout, the ACC, PWR, and instant mpg needles either jumped around sporadically or never moved. Got home turned the car off and on a couple times and all was ok for about a week. Did the same thing. This time I did not turn off but drove to dealer and took service guy for a ride to show him. He e-mailed Ford hot-line and was told (he said) that they never heard of this. No correction was offered (ok, this may be all new to them). This all happened first week or so in Nov. All has been ok since then. Although intantant mpg has a couple of times started out at 99.9 and worked its way down whereas all the other times mpg starts at 00.0 (if I had reset it) or at the last mpg when I last parked it.

 

 

Steve

[fsb99]

ame='cgul' date='08 August 2009 - 02:14 AM' timestamp='1249726463' post='12378']

 

 

Similar happening to mine. Turned it on (guage in Enlighten mode) frove about 4 miles. 00.0 on the mpg redaout, the ACC, PWR, and instant mpg needles either jumped around sporadically or never moved. Got home turned the car off and on a couple times and all was ok for about a week. Did the same thing. This time I did not turn off but drove to dealer and took service guy for a ride to show him. He e-mailed Ford hot-line and was told (he said) that they never heard of this. No correction was offered (ok, this may be all new to them). This all happened first week or so in Nov. All has been ok since then. Although intantant mpg has a couple of times started out at 99.9 and worked its way down whereas all the other times mpg starts at 00.0 (if I had reset it) or at the last mpg when I last parked it.

 

 

Steve

 

Happened to me last week ~ 6500+ miles. That's a total of 3 times now.

Edited December 16, 2009 by fsb99

[ICEY]

Visit your dealer, there is a TSB on the ecm, and I think it may solve the dash reset issue....Mine did it to, then the next day the speedometer stuck at 0, and nothing I tried would make it work again. The computer update Ford issued has resolved both problems so far.

 

 

Do you know the TSB number?

 

 

Steve

[ICEY]

Happened to me for the third time last week ~ 6500+ miles.

 

 

Have you spoken to Ford about it yet?

[oldschool1962]

Last week the MPG graph cleared itself and went blank. Kinda like it was set to none in the display preferances but it was actually still on the graph setting. Right side instrument display fluttered again too. This was all after being reprogrammed. Before the recent display issues I was pulling avg MPG of 41....now I'm down to 36.7.

 

Sent a note to my sales person last night but still have yet to get a reply. One of the things that has seemed to really suffer since last weeks issues is the MPG. As I just stated my average nyumbers are those.....but my City MPG has really tanked and is running between 26-30.

 

I know it's been mentioned in other posts that the display doesn't provide accurate numbers. This still is unsettling to me in so many different ways considering the display is such a big part of the vehicle's operating system....I alread mentioned these aren't "idiot lights" so they really should provide a very close to accurate display of information.......Just to mention it....weather here hasn't been too cold not have my driving habits changed.......but something is still not right.

 

How can the vehicle give the impression it's functioning well after being "reprogrammed" but after it gathers information it starts to falter? Maybe I wouldn't have such a poor impression of things in other posts if the vehicle would funtion better or without issue from the IC?

Edited December 16, 2009 by oldschool1962

[fsb99]

Have you spoken to Ford about it yet?

 

I talked to a Ford engineer when I was invited to a Ford marketing event, they have not heard of that before. I guess it takes a few of us to report to dealers before they start investigating. I will mention to the dealer next time I get a chance.

[ICEY]

I talked to a Ford engineer when I was invited to a Ford marketing event, they have not heard of that before. I guess it takes a few of us to report to dealers before they start investigating. I will mention to the dealer next time I get a chance.

[/quote

 

 

Ok, thanks

 

Steve

[oldschool1962]

Okay....unrelated to the weird stuff.....maybe.......The indicator eye on the battery is now red. Plus the vehicle stopped regen charging while driving yesterday. It also would not charge when I lifted off the gas. And.....YES the car was adequately warmed up especially since I had been driving for 45 minutes and the battery was below 1/2 charge on all the gauges....including the HEV screen on the info setting of the Nav system.

 

I"M SOOOOOOO CORNFUSED!!!!!!!!!ARRGGGHHHH!!!!!

 

Able to get an appointment Monday morning. This oughta be fun.

[rfruth]

hey 1962 my 12v was green till my head-gasket r&r then it was red (I moaned about it) they said it happens a lot ((per Ford))... they finally replaced my 12v then it was blank ((new 12v)) (not red or green) then after a few miles it was red then a few miles later back-to-blank so the eye is not to be believed ?

[oldschool1962]

rfruth, this is not directed at you so........It's just the frustration of the way things get handled these days......and the dealerships are some of the main contributors........

 

I guess my agrument to Ford will be......How the Hell can I tell if the battery is good or not if a major source for indicating it's good or not say's it's not good?!?!?!

 

The logic.....or lack there of.....behind some of the explanations from the Dealerships and their people drives me up a wall. If I hadn't worked in a Service station....ya'll remember those....12 pump islands to allow attendants to fill your tank, wash the windows, check the tires, 5 bays for service, tow trucks, etc.......and my Father hadn't been a Certified A&P Mechanic (that's Airframe and Powerplant) for the last 50 plus years.........I wouldn't know the difference but....I do! And somehow I get the impression from many out there that if it came to it....these would be the same folks to say that........ if big red warning light in the middle of a Nuclear Power plant were to come on for no explained reason....everything was normal! These dot's, lights, gauges, sensors, etc, etc, etc.....all serve a purpose and if they are malfunctioning or flat out don't work or misrepresent the info.....then what purpose do they serve. So what...the battery may be fine....but a component of the battery isn't.

 

They can sing and dance all they want but they are going to replace the battery until All aspects of it perform as it was designed. Heck....they can do the same with the car until it does the same. I am definitely not afraid of the Lemon Law. Last time we used it......all it took was 3 instances of the same problem ....documentation from the dealership......

 

Right now I'm working on 2-3 instances of 4 seperate issues!

[FFHdriver]

rfruth, this is not directed at you so........It's just the frustration of the way things get handled these days......and the dealerships are some of the main contributors........

 

I guess my agrument to Ford will be......How the Hell can I tell if the battery is good or not if a major source for indicating it's good or not say's it's not good?!?!?!

 

The logic.....or lack there of.....behind some of the explanations from the Dealerships and their people drives me up a wall. If I hadn't worked in a Service station....ya'll remember those....12 pump islands to allow attendants to fill your tank, wash the windows, check the tires, 5 bays for service, tow trucks, etc.......and my Father hadn't been a Certified A&P Mechanic (that's Airframe and Powerplant) for the last 50 plus years.........I wouldn't know the difference but....I do! And somehow I get the impression from many out there that if it came to it....these would be the same folks to say that........ if big red warning light in the middle of a Nuclear Power plant were to come on for no explained reason....everything was normal! These dot's, lights, gauges, sensors, etc, etc, etc.....all serve a purpose and if they are malfunctioning or flat out don't work or misrepresent the info.....then what purpose do they serve. So what...the battery may be fine....but a component of the battery isn't.

 

They can sing and dance all they want but they are going to replace the battery until All aspects of it perform as it was designed. Heck....they can do the same with the car until it does the same. I am definitely not afraid of the Lemon Law. Last time we used it......all it took was 3 instances of the same problem ....documentation from the dealership......

 

Right now I'm working on 2-3 instances of 4 seperate issues!

My indicator went red the second day I had the car. Dealer checked battery and replaced it. Been green ever since.

[lolder]

My battery was almost red when the car was delivered in July. The dealer said drive it. The red went away and the green appeared about a week later and remains green. The voltage from the DC to DC converter reads about 13.5 vdc when the car is "on". I don't know if it ever goes higher. That's about the correct "float" voltage for a lead/acid battery. The loads are essentially fans, headlights and defrosters, no engine starting. There is a warning light for the low voltage charging failure.

[oldschool1962]

My battery was almost red when the car was delivered in July. The dealer said drive it. The red went away and the green appeared about a week later and remains green. The voltage from the DC to DC converter reads about 13.5 vdc when the car is "on". I don't know if it ever goes higher. That's about the correct "float" voltage for a lead/acid battery. The loads are essentially fans, headlights and defrosters, no engine starting. There is a warning light for the low voltage charging failure.

 

The car has around 2600 miles on it and I have been driving it for almost 2 months.

Edited December 20, 2009 by oldschool1962

[oldschool1962]

I apologize for the second reply in a row but it's a new day and there's much to be said.

 

First off I made my appointment(s) thru the Vehicle owners web site....received confirmation an everything. I arrived at he dealership and they didn't have my appointment. Said that they haven't downloaded the e reports because of weather. Now I have heard weather as an excuse for many, many, many things but never heard a computer related weather issue.....other than power being out but that wasn't the case.

 

Anyhow, I was told that theye were a ton of "Appointments".........stress on the word....and it would be a while.

 

Next, the service rep didn't even start a song and dance. He started into the ....YOU CAN"T GO BY THAT ON THE BATTERY. Tone and all. Now I'm a former Executive Chef so I have a rather thick skin. I'm also no Cef Ramsay but I have had my moments so I wasn't being overly sensitive to the Service reps attitude. He was making me out to be a totally stupid individual. I decided not to sit there and argue with the peach and decided to make my comments here and to the Dealership GM.

 

Anyhow....here I sit. Supposed to be on our way to Atlanta for Christmas but here I wait. Feeling like an idiot for giving Ford a chance to show me how much they've improved over the years but I guess youy can only polish a turd so much....in the end....it's still just a turd

[ace43]

Sounds like you need a hug, dude. At the risk of getting into an argument, I'm going to play Ford apologist for a little bit. First, regarding the mixed up computer-made appointment, I don't know where you took your FFH for service, but in my neck of the Central VA woods, we have 22 inches of snow, schools and offices are closed, and everything is screwed up. I can't even get to my own mailbox yet. Maybe their "Internet Manager" is in a ditch somewhere or digging out of his own driveway. It's a pretty trying time around here.

 

But, second, what problem are you going in for? That wasn't clear to me. Did your battery meter turn red?

[rfruth]

hey 62 (and all) I had pretty much the same experience getting my 12v battery replaced, got the YOU CAN"T GO BY THAT ON THE BATTERY, I mentioned the owners manual says if the eye is red contact a dealer (had to say this to my service advisor AND his boss before I got a new battery) after all was said & done I told them both if this is a common problem FoMoCo needs to know so they can find a new supplier, rewrite the manual, something . . .

[Noel]

I have also seen the panel intensity change (the twitch as folks here are calling it); but I noticed that it occurs when going under a wide overpass (or tunnel). Perhaps this is associated with automatic dimming?

 

Yep, I'm sure of this. There is some automatic brightness changes built in based on light sensing or something.

 

Noel

[ICEY]

Yep, I'm sure of this. There is some automatic brightness changes built in based on light sensing or something.

 

Noel

 

 

Sure, the light sensor is that little black knob center dashboard. Cover it up and you'll see how it works.

[engratsea]

The first time i brought the FFH back from the dealership and restarted it in the driveway the history reset. I specifically asked the dealership about this during purchase and they told me it was taken care of because it was a newer car. I guess I will have to get it addressed next time in.

[jblas16]

Something weird happened to my dash yesterday. I filled up and drove home, then made a couple of small trips and done for the night. I woke up this morning and started my drive and found that the dash went from Empower to Enlighten and all my short term averages are gone. No one else at home to mess with my car, which is in a garage all night. Anyone else experience this? Seems like it reset itself to some kind of default setting.

 

This happened to me this afternoon as well. I'm just over 10,000 miles and the car was fine this morning. Hopefully the dealer will have more information about this.

[engratsea]

Anyone gotten anywhere with the MPG history reset issue? Mine seems to reset while driving every 200 miles or so; I have also seen the right LCD flicker. Doesnt give me a warm and fuzzy.