2018 PLATINUM SUDDEN/INTERMITTENT POWER FAIL?!?

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LokiWolf

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Engine never stops running...
For it to be a Pump issue, Engine won't necessarily stop running, but pump can't supply requested pressure. So basically it now has very little power. It is something to look at, but would definitely have a stored code if you are using something like the Dealership system or FORSCAN.
 
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George Hanson

George Hanson

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This! Check the battery.

Do you have access to FORSCAN? If you do, I would do a complete scan of all modules.

Does the Motor rev when it happens? Does it sputter? Can you rotate to Neutral and back to Drive?
It's not the battery.

I do not have access to FORSCAN but the vehicle is at the dealer where they performed the full monty and isolated it as a transmission problem, of some kind.

They reached out to Ford "technical support" who acknowledged the issue and further said they do not have a fix for it but are "working on a published repair but they don't have a repair available for it at this time".

What p***es me off is on Monday the tech who did all the work unequivocally said the vehicle is unsafe "for you and anyone around you" and said the next step was to "set up a case with Ford" and "get you a long term loaner and that should take a day"...

...and after 2-days of non-returned phone calls my sister went over there Wednesday afternoon and the Service Manager trotted out and said there was nothing he can do and tried to get her to take the truck home and stiffed her on the loaner vehicle promise ‍, claimed all the loaners are out "on long-term repairs with vehicles that have been disabled".

This dealer is part of an 18-store group...but they can't scare up a loaner for a nice young lady who had a near-death experience on I-294...and even further the Service Manager suggested she just take it on home today!

Needless to say we refused to take the truck back at this time.

(to be continued)
 
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5280tunage

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I had a very long chat with a great service manager recently. Here's the thing (that he says anyways) about loaners. Ford the mothership controls loaner vehicle availability for dealers. essentially it's a percentage of new car sales is how the loaners from Ford are accounted for at dealers. Dealers can always elect to buy vehicles on their own at discounted pricing to serve as loaners, but they aren't covered by Ford and Ford won't usually reimburse the dealer for the use of the vehicle as a loaner. So, given that no dealer is really selling a lot of new vehicles now (and likely may not in the future given Ford's direction to transition more to a built to buy model), loaners are almost all but gone.

One of my local large dealers was receiving a whopping total of 4 new vehicles (outside of a custom orders) for resell, they are concerned Ford is going to scale back their loaner numbers even more, even though they have folks waiting 4 months for service with a loaner. Customers are getting blistered here, it's a bad situation all around and I feel it's only going to get worse.

I truly wish Ford would take some of these 10's of thousands of vehicles sitting in lots waiting for some electronics and turn some into loaners. No one cares really if they don't have rear seat climate controls, or even other luxuries like a full sound system. Some people just need a form of transportation for now, as long as the safety systems are intact, why not.
 
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George Hanson

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I had a very long chat with a great service manager recently. Here's the thing (that he says anyways) about loaners. Ford the mothership controls loaner vehicle availability for dealers. essentially it's a percentage of new car sales is how the loaners from Ford are accounted for at dealers. Dealers can always elect to buy vehicles on their own at discounted pricing to serve as loaners, but they aren't covered by Ford and Ford won't usually reimburse the dealer for the use of the vehicle as a loaner. So, given that no dealer is really selling a lot of new vehicles now (and likely may not in the future given Ford's direction to transition more to a built to buy model), loaners are almost all but gone.

One of my local large dealers was receiving a whopping total of 4 new vehicles (outside of a custom orders) for resell, they are concerned Ford is going to scale back their loaner numbers even more, even though they have folks waiting 4 months for service with a loaner. Customers are getting blistered here, it's a bad situation all around and I feel it's only going to get worse.

I truly wish Ford would take some of these 10's of thousands of vehicles sitting in lots waiting for some electronics and turn some into loaners. No one cares really if they don't have rear seat climate controls, or even other luxuries like a full sound system. Some people just need a form of transportation for now, as long as the safety systems are intact, why not.
Excellent information.

My irritation stems from the expectations set by the technician on Monday, pretty much said it wouldn't be a problem.

I did open a case directly with Ford yesterday and am waiting on them to reach out...was promised a call-back there within "1 business day".
 
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5280tunage

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Excellent information.

My irritation stems from the expectations set by the technician on Monday, pretty much said it wouldn't be a problem.

I did open a case directly with Ford yesterday and am waiting on them to reach out...was promised a call-back there within "1 business day".
Good luck with that, I spent 9 months fighting with Ford corp, whatever you do, don't accept the response "we have no way to escalate your issue, I don't have a supervisor for you to escalate to, etc". Hope your experience is better than mine.
 

texevora

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My guess is this is the widespread 10R80 transmission issue (just google it). Ford is trying to ignore it/run out the clock on it, bc I would imagine it's a fundamental design issue with the 10R80 and they don't want to have to replace thousands of transmissions that are experiencing these issues.

I have a friend who works for Ford in a technical training capacity with dealers, and he tells me it's totally hit or miss which cars have these issues vs not, and that it's a problem with the software (not sure why they can't come out with a fix by now if that's true). Resetting the PCM does nothing, as it eventually starts acting possessed after driving it a while.

I unfortunately have a '19 that has been plagued with 10R80 issues for 2 years straight. Trading mine in next week for a '22 that hopefully does not have the same issues.
 
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George Hanson

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@texevora & @5280tunage thx for your input/feedback.

I got involved because like a lot of ladies in automotive situations of this nature my sister is overly trusting and isn't wired to push back. Fortunately our Mom suggested she loop me into the conversation.

This could get interesting so I hope you guys will keep your eyes on this space. I assume this site has a direct message function but if not, and if there's any specific info you want to share 1-on-1, just send me a mssg at georgehansonllp (at) Sergei's place.

I prefer to get along but am ready to go to the mat on this one because of the way the dealer has whipsawed my sister around. In my opening gambit I gave them the chance to be the "good guy" in a scenario where we team up and push on Ford together, but they just couldn't wrap their mind around that. All communication has been cordial but they don't want to help.

We do have a few arrows in our quiver that most don't. Who knows if any of those arrows will ever hit a target but I am damn sure willing to load up the bow and let fly!

A few things to note:

1. On Monday after the technician did all the analysis (1 full-week after she dropped off the vehicle, SMH) he called my sister to give her a report...well, she tried to conference me in. I missed the call but damned if my voicemail didn't pick up and record the bulk of the conversation. The info in that recording is very specific from a safety perspective, what Ford knows and is doing about it (or not), and the actions he and the dealer would take on her behalf.

2. After that they went dark so she went over in person 2-days later to speak with the technician (who seems quite competent and nice frankly) in person and he said he'd have to go speak with his boss, LOL. After 10-12 minutes of huddling they (Service Manager and technician) came out together and the Service Manager just blew her off and tried to get her to drive off in the vehicle -- well, she recorded that too (intentionally this time).

3. My sister is a tenured PhD in the field of Corporate Strategy and has a Wall St. background, and has published regularly in top academic journals. She also has a burgeoning media presence (TV, radio & print) in the market where she lives (and the dealer trades). This situation is absolutely a soft-ball across the center of the plate in her world.

I checked in with Ford again today (they never called) and our "case" has been assigned to K**** who assured the operator he'd get back to me "at his earliest convenience". Good news is the operator gave up his contact info.

We've kept an even-hand so far and are hoping they (Ford and dealer) will make it right without us having to load up the bow...we shall see.

Cheers fellas...
 
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texevora

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If it's the same issue I've been having, you can easily reproduce the issue by coasting at highway speeds (60-80mph), then floor it (100% throttle as if you're needing to pass somebody quickly.

When the issue happens, the transmission will "slip into neutral", the rpms will zing to redline (due to it being in neutral). Then 1 of 2 things will happen:

1) it will slam (with an very loud crunch/bang and the car will shake/shudder) into too low of a gear (the gear indicator will show 1st gear at highway speeds) for a split second, then you'll lose power (ie car will stop responding to throttle inputs), and after a second or two, it will shift normally and power will be restored.

2) you will lose power, you'll hear a metallic rattle coming from underneath the car, you will "lose power" ie car will stop responding to throttle inputs and the car coasts for 2-3 seconds, then it will shift into gear. You'll see a brief "shift sys fault" error followed by a "see manual" and wrench icon, which both disappear after a second or two.

Good luck. Hopefully you can get Ford to either replace the transmission or lemon law buy-it-back (though not sure if that's possible with a CPO). Would suggest taking videos of the issue so that they can't claim "couldn't reproduce" which every dealer and every make on the planet claims when they want to avoid fixing something.

Very interested to hear how things turn out for you.
 

5280tunage

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Unfortunately most of us on here are dealing with the poor customer care aspect of Ford (and frankly quality too). No one on here enjoys taking their rigs to the service center, over and over and over, but Ford doesn't seem to care. Or at least they care more about making things difficult than they do the customer service side of it. Seriously, they make us all feel like we're imagining these issues, and that we're trying to cheat or something. And when you do furnish things like video evidence, and they still come back with, well I have to experience it, for it to be true!

Eg: my issues with a simple USB port problem. It took four trips to the service center, each one anywhere from 2-5 hours long to troubleshoot and replace one part at a time. When I asked the electrical tech why it was done this way, he said it was because Ford requires them to test things in certain order, one at a time. I said, to me that's pretty crappy, in the sense that why couldn't they gather all of the possible parts first, then troubleshoot them in a single visit. His answer was simply, Ford won't accept returns on ANY electrical part even if it's unused, and that they won't be reimbursed by Ford if it's not done in a certain way. So there I was, 5 total visits (4 with parts) with anywhere from 3 to 10 days in between to get each part. I sort of get the APIM being done alone, its coded to the VIN by the supplier, but the USB cables and ports? those could have all been done at once.

Anyway, when there are service queues about 50 cars deep at all of my local Ford dealers, there are essentially no loaners, and staffing issues at service centers, Ford seems heck-bent on making things even harder to try and reduce warranty liabilities. But in the end the customers are left hanging. And I get my next statement is MHO, but walk into the service center of a Ford dealer, then say Lexus or Acura. They all cost about the same now (in fact ours are in many cases even more), but the service is way different. I have to take my wifes car in finally, the first unscheduled service visit on a 5yr old Acura, as its leaking A/C refrigerant. Meanwhile, my Expy that cost roughly 2.2X what hers cost, has been in over 25 times in 3 yrs. When quality appears to be job 10, I sure wish their service at least felt better, but I believe this is symptomatic of issues all the way up the top (again MHO). And I get it, many folks can simply dump their rigs, go buy something else at $20K over asking, and be done with it, but I sure can't/won't.

I sure hope both @George Hanson and @texevora get their issues figured out, I know it sucks to say it, but you may need some council to put some pressure on Ford, even an expensive but well drafted letter from a good firm can get the ball rolling. Be safe!
 

bryz_expy

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My 2019 is currently at the shop for a new accelerator assembly. But I got codes for it specifically (and other possible erroneous ones). Potentiometer failed according to notes. Engine faults, as well as limp mode/wrench, etc.
 
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