Vehicle shutting off - acting erratically

ChrisInAustinTX · Oct 20, 2020

Has anyone ever seen anything like this before? The vehicle will not start with the push button, only with the remote start key. The vehicle slowly loses power during idle and doors will not unlock or open. Eventually it shuts down and then will not restart again unless you use the remote start (in the video it was the last time we were able to start the car with the push button, the dealer was unable to start it unless they used the remote). The lights and instrument clusters flicker. No error codes at the dealership. Two day wait for service. The dealer service center employees all seemed very perplexed. I saw a software update rolled out this morning according to my FordPass app. video below

LokiWolf · Oct 20, 2020

ChrisInAustinTX said:
Has anyone ever seen anything like this before? The vehicle will not start with the push button, only with the remote start key. The vehicle slowly loses power during idle and doors will not unlock or open. Eventually it shuts down and then will not restart again unless you use the remote start (in the video it was the last time we were able to start the car with the push button, the dealer was unable to start it unless they used the remote). The lights and instrument clusters flicker. No error codes at the dealership. Two day wait for service. The dealer service center employees all seemed very perplexed. I saw a software update rolled out this morning according to my FordPass app. video below

The update you saw is an update to the Ford Connect module. All Ford Connect vehicles get them periodically.

Replace the battery. Most likely there is a dead cell. Popular today apparently. Remote start requires less voltage, because nothing inside the vehicle has to come on. Starting from inside the vehicles requires all modules to energize, hence the flickering dash.

This is battery season...

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

ChrisInAustinTX · Oct 20, 2020

LokiWolf said:
The update you saw is an update to the Ford Connect module. All Ford Connect vehicles get them periodically.

Replace the battery. Most likely there is a dead cell. Popular today apparently. Remote start requires less voltage, because nothing inside the vehicle has to come on. Starting from inside the vehicles requires all modules to energize, hence the flickering dash.

This is battery season...

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

But why would the car start just fine when using the remote start on the key fob?

Zig10 · Oct 21, 2020

ChrisInAustinTX said:
But why would the car start just fine when using the remote start on the key fob?

Loki mentioned it above. Remote start doesn't power up all of the interior lights, stereo, running board deployment, etc. It just starts and fires up the HVAC. When you open the door, then the rest of the electronics energize.

I'd vote bad battery too. Had something similar happen to my '16 Yukon. All of the electronic gingerbread in these vehicles is not friendly to batteries...

Matthew Abrams · Oct 22, 2020

ChrisInAustinTX said:
Has anyone ever seen anything like this before? The vehicle will not start with the push button, only with the remote start key. The vehicle slowly loses power during idle and doors will not unlock or open. Eventually it shuts down and then will not restart again unless you use the remote start (in the video it was the last time we were able to start the car with the push button, the dealer was unable to start it unless they used the remote). The lights and instrument clusters flicker. No error codes at the dealership. Two day wait for service. The dealer service center employees all seemed very perplexed. I saw a software update rolled out this morning according to my FordPass app. video below

Must be battery. but odd for it to be faulty for being so new, right?

side note - I see we both use the wireless charging tray for hand sanitizer

dlcorbett · Oct 22, 2020

The battery goin bad is common, I wrote that on your YouTube comments lol. I used to work at a car lot and bad batteries was a thing on new cars cause they would sit half the time until someone turned it on to burn all the electronics on it.

ChrisInAustinTX · Oct 22, 2020

dlcorbett said:
The battery goin bad is common, I wrote that on your YouTube comments lol. I used to work at a car lot and bad batteries was a thing on new cars cause they would sit half the time until someone turned it on to burn all the electronics on it.

I saw that, thank you! It still seems odd to me. I have Ford corporate looking into it because the vehicle’s behavior is not normal for a simple dying battery. Especially one purchased brand new, wasn’t on the lot long, + the fact that batteries like this should last 7-10 years. Still haven’t heard anything from the dealer in 2 days. I have a feeling they will replace the battery and the issue will reappear soon.

Deftones · Oct 22, 2020

7-10 years on a battery? I want to live on that planet.

LokiWolf · Oct 22, 2020

Deftones said:
7-10 years on a battery? I want to live on that planet.

My thoughts exactly...7-10 in a modern car is an imaginary number.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

ChrisInAustinTX · Oct 22, 2020

LokiWolf said:
My thoughts exactly...7-10 in a modern car is an imaginary number.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Brain fart, sorry. 3-5 years. Although my 2014 Acura MDX’s OEM battery had a 108 month “warranty”. Finally just replaced it after 7.5 years.

Vehicle shutting off - acting erratically

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