2017 Navigator / Expedition No start

[romanmak]

Hey all,

Very interesting problem I’ve got and need help with.

Last night, we walk out of a grocery store and start the car via remote as we are walking towards it. We get in the car and cannot get it out of park. Turn off the car and on a few times and goes into drive. Dash said restart now or key required every time we tried to restart it. (Not detecting key?)

While driving home, car kept throwing error messages for blind spot monitoring and kept the mirror lights for the system on the entire way home.

We get home, turn the car off, unload the kids and groceries and the car will not react to anything we do, no AUX power, no radio, start/stop button is completely useless.

We have two keys, tried putting both keys into console slot. Nothing except the lock & unlock buttons are working.

The car has turned into a brick on our driveway.

What could the issue be?

 

[Yupster Dog]

What could the issue be?

Start with checking the battery/alternator.
If the alternator is bad, the truck would have run down the battery coming home from the store to where it can't start.

 

[romanmak]

Car has 47k miles on it, we got a new interstate from Costco for it in September to be safe. If it were key fobs it would only be one, otherwise it’s both fobs as well :/

 

[Yupster Dog]

If it were key fobs it would only be one, otherwise it’s both fobs as well :/

Agreed, plus putting the fobs in the secret spot and still no start rules out fob batteries

 

[GlennSullivan]

As Yupster said, if it is the alternator, the battery or the FOBS would not matter. The other possibility, which happened to me, is the battery terminal corroded to the point that it was not making a solid connection, at that point, even if the alternator is functioning properly, it is not charging the battery. These later model Expys are SUPER SENSITIVE any kind of voltage variations. Even a small amount of corrosion on a ground wire can cause them to do crazy things.

 

[romanmak]

I will check the ground again today, I don’t think it’s a power issue though. The dome lights work fine, but just about nothing else will light up. I figure even if it was a power/voltage issue the gauge cluster would allow me to turn the ignition into accessory mode. But it doesn’t even do that :/

Does anyone know where the module perhaps could be for the keyless entry system? Also if it’s the same module that controls the Cross Traffic Alert & Blind Spot Monitoring system?

I’ve got a hunch when we were getting the car detailed we may have used excess amount of water to wet vac the front carpet in the car a few months ago. Maybe the moisture caught up to us?

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

I will check the ground again today, I don’t think it’s a power issue though. The dome lights work fine, but just about nothing else will light up. I figure even if it was a power/voltage issue the gauge cluster would allow me to turn the ignition into accessory mode. But it doesn’t even do that :/

Does anyone know where the module perhaps could be for the keyless entry system? Also if it’s the same module that controls the Cross Traffic Alert & Blind Spot Monitoring system?

I’ve got a hunch when we were getting the car detailed we may have used excess amount of water to wet vac the front carpet in the car a few months ago. Maybe the moisture caught up to us?

You’re overthinking the problem.

I’d bet you have a bad battery (bad cell) and/or loose or corroded battery terminal connectors (and posts).

 

[romanmak]

Battery is 5 months old from Costco, no corrosion on either battery terminal or ground. I’m pretty sure at this point it’s not the battery.

If it was battery I’m sure it would have allowed the horn to honk when you double lock, the start/stop button would at least light up and allow for accessory power to come on.

Dome lights work fine.. I can unlock and lock doors from my key fob.

Just to be safe I’ll see if I can get a Voltameter and make sure the battery is fine

 

[Yupster Dog]

Just to be safe I’ll see if I can get a Voltameter and make sure the battery is fine

With your digital volt meter it is very easy to check battery cables and connections by doing a Voltage Drop Test

 

[GlennSullivan]

Remove both battery terminals for half an hour, letting all systems power down including any voltage left in capacitors.

During that period, test the battery voltage, If low voltage, charge it without terminals connected. Check voltage after charging.

While charging check all fuses for any blown ones.

When fully charged and before you reconnect it, do a load test on battery. If it fails the load test, have it replaced under warranty (you stated it was new).

If it load tests good, recharge and reconnect to vehicle making certain all cables around both battery terminals are clean and tight (there multiple cables connecting to each terminal - see pic). Any slight corrosion on any of these connections will cause electrical issues / gremlins.



BTW last fall I had major issues with my trailer brake controller, working, not working, half working. See below, the entire issue was related to a ground wire buried above the spare tire that was not loose at all but after removing it I found a tiny bit of corrosion, not enough to cause issues with a normal 12V auto circuit to cause any issues, but with todays micro voltage digital auto systems, that is no longer the case.

See here.

**UPDATED WITH SOLUTION** Trailer Connectivity Issue

**Update** For those of you that may run into the trailer disconnected / no trailer brakes problem described below, try this solution first. I took my Expy to a Friends house and connected it to his trailer which is know to work correctly. My truck still exhibited the same “trailer...

www.expeditionforum.com