rattlesnake04 Report post Posted November 9, 2009 Background: FFH ordered late March delivered late May. Love the car - fully equipped even with remote start - ice blue. Had an electrical failure 10/17 @ 11:00PM while driving back to northern VA from Harrisonburg (about 140 miles) pouring rain; car has about 3700 miles on it and the long term mpg was 37.4. Got the big wrench warning with battery charge failure - stop ASAP; the battery charge level was down near 0. Of course I had to stop as power was lost. Luckily I got to the shoulder of the road. Called roadside assistance for tow. Luckily, they came in less than 30 minutes; had to also call a taxi as there were 4 people in the car. The vehicle was towed to the tow lot and delivered to Sterling Ford on following Tuesday. The dealer had the car for over a week tracing the problem. They concluded the DC to DC converter was bad and got Ford's approval to replace it. Got the car back about 10/28. Working fine... On 11/5 afternoon, the same big wrench and electrical failure warning came on when I started the car in the garage to leave. Needless to say, the hybrid battery level was down near 0 (the battery was probably over half when it was put into the garage in the morning). Had to get the car towed again to the dealer. Had to help the tow truck driver to push it out into the street before he could hook it up. As of the morning of 11/9, still no word as to the problem. I am currently driving an Edge loaner. Has anyone else experienced this kind of electrical failure, or are they learning from me? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lolder Report post Posted November 9, 2009 The DC to DC converter only goes one way, to charge the 12 v. battery from the HV battery. That could not have been the problem. The HV battery is charged mainly from MG1. You have problems in the EV system. It shouldn't take that much time to figure it out. Lee Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Oman Report post Posted November 9, 2009 I have the diagnostic guide for the HV system. There are about 4 dozen things that will cause the charge failure error, the diagnostic code out of the ODBC will be specific. The interesting thing though is that you said the battery discharged overnight. There is only one thing that can cause this (assuming that there was really a good charge when it was parked). The HV interlock is disconnected when the car is off so the 12V and HV systems are completely separated. If the HV battery actually discharged then the only possibility is the HV pack or the controller module that is mounted to it. The fact that it discharged overnight is the critical information that the mechanic should know. The computers continuously monitor the voltage differentials between all the main circuits. Anything abnormal will cause a failure alert. Leaving something "on" in the car can only discharge the 12V automotive battery under the hood and there is some protection for this in the form of auto-off for most of the commonly left-on devices. There must be a charge in the 12V battery for the high-voltage interlock to engage so a dead 12V will cause the car to fail to start even if there is charge in the HV pack. Jon The DC to DC converter only goes one way, to charge the 12 v. battery from the HV battery. That could not have been the problem. The HV battery is charged mainly from MG1. You have problems in the EV system. It shouldn't take that much time to figure it out. Lee Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rattlesnake04 Report post Posted November 9, 2009 I have the diagnostic guide for the HV system. There are about 4 dozen things that will cause the charge failure error, the diagnostic code out of the ODBC will be specific. The interesting thing though is that you said the battery discharged overnight. There is only one thing that can cause this (assuming that there was really a good charge when it was parked). The HV interlock is disconnected when the car is off so the 12V and HV systems are completely separated. If the HV battery actually discharged then the only possibility is the HV pack or the controller module that is mounted to it. The fact that it discharged overnight is the critical information that the mechanic should know. The computers continuously monitor the voltage differentials between all the main circuits. Anything abnormal will cause a failure alert. Leaving something "on" in the car can only discharge the 12V automotive battery under the hood and there is some protection for this in the form of auto-off for most of the commonly left-on devices. There must be a charge in the 12V battery for the high-voltage interlock to engage so a dead 12V will cause the car to fail to start even if there is charge in the HV pack. Jon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rattlesnake04 Report post Posted November 9, 2009 Actually, the discharge was not overnight; it was probably from the morning to the afternoon. And I am just assuming that the ev battery was discharged based on what the dash display was showing. It seems to take the dealer many days to track down the problem. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rattlesnake04 Report post Posted November 28, 2009 Final Solution: Got the car back finally on 11/25. They replaced the Battery Electronic Control Module (BECM). I'll try to abbreviate the tech notes: Codes P0AFA, P1A14, P0A0A, U0100, U100, P0685, P0562. Performed Pinpoint tests HJ-1 thru HJ-9. Hotline verified that HJ-9 was wrong in the EVTM. Performed HJ-9 thru HJ-11. The repair in the pinpoint tests are wrong again. Hotline gave pinpoint tests not in EVTM. Verified BECM to be bad. So that was a $286 part and $1098 labor time. I still love the car. I hope this is the last tow to the dealer for a long time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Oman Report post Posted November 29, 2009 All the HV components do a bunch of testing when they fire up. There was a cascade of errors that look like started with the HVB not getting the charge it should have. That would then be sensed and the system would put out the critical failure. My guess is that it is an isolate incident. That is an insane amount of labor. It must look simpler in the diagnostic guide than it it actually is... if Ford authorized that amount of labor. Jon Final Solution: Got the car back finally on 11/25. They replaced the Battery Electronic Control Module (BECM). I'll try to abbreviate the tech notes: Codes P0AFA, P1A14, P0A0A, U0100, U100, P0685, P0562. Performed Pinpoint tests HJ-1 thru HJ-9. Hotline verified that HJ-9 was wrong in the EVTM. Performed HJ-9 thru HJ-11. The repair in the pinpoint tests are wrong again. Hotline gave pinpoint tests not in EVTM. Verified BECM to be bad. So that was a $286 part and $1098 labor time. I still love the car. I hope this is the last tow to the dealer for a long time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
