Conflicted

[dlcorbett]

Good morning. I'm writing this in a seedy hotel room, not able to sleep because I'm conflicted. If you seen my previous write ups, Ive written about an issue with my navigator getting a powertrain fault error and cutting off power during our road trips. Last time this happened was in June on both legs and before this, a couple month's prior with my wife and family while i was deployed. After being told by multiple dealers that they cant find an issue, was able to get a "local" dealer to look at it and they changed a sensor that conveniently wasn't covered under my warranty. No problems since, well until tonight. It happened again, not even an hour distance from the last time it happened. However it happened at midnight, so no open dealer or service shop, no lincoln concierge, and limited support from roadside assistance. What's more odd is that the ride to our destination, it was perfect. Last few times, it happened to and from the destination. Luckily, we were less than a mile from a hotel, so let it sit, drove there and parked it. Taking it to a dealer close by and hopefully get some help. It's hard to get diagnosed because it always happens hours from my home, seemingly at random, day/night, wet/dry and when I get it to a dealer, the warning lights disappear as do the codes. The only constant, it happens after 10 or so hours of drive time, regardless of fuel stops and bathroom breaks. And yes, it's being turned off during those stops and breaks.

Now for the conflicted part. I love the truck, but my trust in it is gone. This is the 4th time it has happened, with no answers as to why it's happening. Finally got a "fix" just for it to happen AGAIN. As noted, i get its probably hard to diagnose, but that's not my fault. I bought it for a reason and when i use it for that purpose, it cant fulfill its duty as intended. Of all the vehicles I owned, this is the only one that can't make this trip safely. Hell, I had an 09 navigator that I bought with 100k miles on it. In the 3 years and 65k miles we had it, not once did it do this, and the distance it was traveling was even greater (1700 instead of the current 1200 one way miles). Idk what to do. It's not a good time to replace it even if I wanted to, but then the question is, with what? I'm so annoyed and befuddled, I just want the damn thing fixed. I have absolutely no other issues with it, but the one issue I have is becoming an huge inconvenience, unsafe(its shutting off power and controls at highway speeds), and possibly a money sink. I wanted to trade it when it was first doing this but I trusted the dealer and couldn't find anything I liked nearly as much. I don't want to start searching, but its looking like I may need to. So conflicted and heartbroken...sorry for the early morning rant.

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

Has the electronic throttle body control been replaced?

 

[dlcorbett]

No it has not. Service did not bring that up as a fix when they had it for a week.

 

[5280tunage]

Sorry to hear about your issues, your posts have always been helpful and I wish I could help more. For me personally, this is why I started carrying my Autozone special code reader with me. So that if I were on a long trip I could pull over and reset the codes easily and get back on the road. I know many will say that defeats the systems in place, but my issue was related to simply putting on a CAI. Finally put the redirect tube in the turbo intake to help but it still happens occasionally during heavy acceleration.

At this point, the only thing I could suggest would be a call to Ford, which may be worse than trying to exit a black hole, but be armed with your service request numbers and tell them the situation.

 

[JimW]

I have had the powertrain fault error at least 4 times. No fix at my dealer either. I had reduced power but was still able to drive. I was able to stop and turn off the vehicle to turn off the code.

 

[BMW2FORD]

Sad to hear it sounds like no one at the dealer wants to seriously look into what’s happening. Id try another dealer or other two options are to load Forscan on a lap top and get a license / OBD connector or get a cheap Harbor Freight $30 code reader. I bet there’s faults stored to work with. I’d rather go the Forscan option since you can then add things like the numeric coolant value above the bar graph, honk in exit with key and stuff like that as well. Once you see what codes are stored it’s not too hard to fix it or have peace of mind knowing what it is and if it’s going to leave you stranded or not.

 

[Left Coast Geek]

sadly, warranties don't pay for diagnostic time. very few shops have a proper diagnostician on hand. I occasionally watch a youtube channel by a freelance diagnostician[*], he can spend 5 or 10 hours tracking down the root cause of an obscure problem, and many times, its a 'no parts' repair. the worst are the cars which have had the 'parts cannon' fired multiple times using cheap aftermarket parts so there's MORE problems hiding the original problem.


[*] - https://www.youtube.com/@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics/featured

 

[rd618]

Sorry to hear this. ESP with the family on an already long ride.
I have a Bluetooth MX+ Obd adapter and forscan on my phone. I get a bunch of error messages that also seem to magically disappear. At least this way I have some tracking and history of them and can reset if needed.
My 2 cents, piece of mind and safety is worth more than a vehicle. You might take a bath getting into something new, consider it a loss/bad investment and focus on the future. There are other trucks out there that are decent and probably more reliable. In the back of your mind you’ll never trust taking it on a long trip, and what if you’re not the one driving. Sucks for sure, but without a “ah we found the issue” resolution id consider something else.

 

[5280tunage]

I don't know @rd618, I'm not convinced there is much better out there right now. I'm always keeping an eye just in case mine craps out. But seriously, for this size, towing capabilities, there isn't much out there. I love some things about the Sequoia but there are things I really dislike, the forced hybrid, the awful trunk space, and even the new TT for Toyo has had it's issues. The GM platform is probably the closest in capabilities but even those have had their issues. I do love the availability of airbags in that line though. Not to mention that I truly love the forced induction at altitude. I was skeptical, this was the first non-V8 I've had in 20 years. But granted that lack of technology can also mean better reliability, but 6 and 1/2 dozen. The quality really doesn't seem to be getting any better though in Ford.

 

[rd618]

I don't know @rd618, I'm not convinced there is much better out there right now. I'm always keeping an eye just in case mine craps out. But seriously, for this size, towing capabilities, there isn't much out there. I love some things about the Sequoia but there are things I really dislike, the forced hybrid, the awful trunk space, and even the new TT for Toyo has had it's issues. The GM platform is probably the closest in capabilities but even those have had their issues. I do love the availability of airbags in that line though. Not to mention that I truly love the forced induction at altitude. I was skeptical, this was the first non-V8 I've had in 20 years. But granted that lack of technology can also mean better reliability, but 6 and 1/2 dozen. The quality really doesn't seem to be getting any better though in Ford.

Not much better out there. But there are alternatives. Can still stay with ford but their quality hasn’t improved, their dealer repairs are becoming a hassle too. There isn't a brand I'm excited about, all have their flaws.