Deep Snow Dash Warnings

[Shotgun76]

Been up in the U.P. for a few days during blizzard conditions; got about 30" of snow since Monday. Driving a '24 Expedition Max SPP on 18" General Grabber A/T that came off a '25 Expy Tremor. Cabin is 9 miles or so from nearest paved road and at least a mile from nearest plowed county road. As such, used 4L for maybe 5 miles but otherwise been in 2H 'Normal' mode. Have done some Eco driving too, just this morning, when we went to town, travelling about 35 min on plowed asphalt roads. Went to drive tonight and warnings were coming up saying Advance Trac requires servicing, brakes need servicing, ABS light was on, and when I went to change drive mode to 'Slippery' it said drive modes were not available. Drove for about 45 min on unplowed roads this evening in 2H. I'm assuming a bunch of sensors are packed with snow and vehicle otherwise seems fine. Any thoughts? TIA!

 

[Fastcar]

Been up in the U.P. for a few days during blizzard conditions; got about 30" of snow since Monday. Driving a '24 Expedition Max SPP on 18" General Grabber A/T that came off a '25 Expy Tremor. Cabin is 9 miles or so from nearest paved road and at least a mile from nearest plowed county road. As such, used 4L for maybe 5 miles but otherwise been in 2H 'Normal' mode. Have done some Eco driving too, just this morning, when we went to town, travelling about 35 min on plowed asphalt roads. Went to drive tonight and warnings were coming up saying Advance Trac requires servicing, brakes need servicing, ABS light was on, and when I went to change drive mode to 'Slippery' it said drive modes were not available. Drove for about 45 min on unplowed roads this evening in 2H. I'm assuming a bunch of sensors are packed with snow and vehicle otherwise seems fine. Any thoughts? TIA!

Yup, that would be my guess as well.

 

[Fastcar]

You might want to check your air filter as well. Running through 30" of snow will pack it in everywhere.

 

[Trainmaster]

Sounds like an ABS issue from the snow and moisture... It will probably clear up. Otherwise, how old is your battery?

 

[Shotgun76]

Drove back home to suburban Chicago yesterday and most snow/ice fell off; sensors cleared. Thanks everyone!

 

[iowacarpenter]

So we have sensors to help it perform in bad conditions… and when we drive in bad conditions the sensors fail. Sounds like modern engineering!

 

[Fastcar]

I'm not surprised that after turning it into a snow plow for five miles in 30" of snow that things got screwed up.

 

[1775SS]

You're all wrong... all these sensors worked perfectly during testing in 80 degree weather.

 

[Fastcar]

You're all wrong... all these sensors worked perfectly during testing in 80 degree weather.

And they worked correctly after they dried out.

 

[tominwi]

Snow and ice and slush here last week and during our 2.5 hour drive home it seemed the lane-keeping feature was not working. Not a big deal for me cuz I tend to turn it off anyway but it had me thinking "where are the sensors/cameras and which are responsible for that" and of course the manual is no help, or at least I couldn't find anything. Anyone know where there's a rundown on them?

Presumably b/c I filled-up and washed the Expy upon return home the lane-keeping will work again next time I try it.

 

[DieselMonk]

Got the same problem with my blind spot sensors. After a 500mi drive in cold temp, snowy and icey roads my sensor go on and off all the time now. Gonna stick my truck in the car wash tomorrow and hopefully that fixes that.

 

[bb37]

Snow and ice and slush here last week and during our 2.5 hour drive home it seemed the lane-keeping feature was not working.

I was driving in a heavy rain storm last summer when I was informed that lane keeping and adaptive cruise control were no longer available due to a sensor problem. I assumed that the heavy sheets of rain on parts of the windshield that were untouched by the wipers was the culprit. Rain stopped. Stuff worked again. Maybe I need to get on a ladder and put some Rain-X on the top center of the windshield.

 

[LokiWolf]

This thread is a mismatch of multiple issues and symptoms all related to Winter weather.

Been up in the U.P. for a few days during blizzard conditions; got about 30" of snow since Monday. Driving a '24 Expedition Max SPP on 18" General Grabber A/T that came off a '25 Expy Tremor. Cabin is 9 miles or so from nearest paved road and at least a mile from nearest plowed county road. As such, used 4L for maybe 5 miles but otherwise been in 2H 'Normal' mode. Have done some Eco driving too, just this morning, when we went to town, travelling about 35 min on plowed asphalt roads. Went to drive tonight and warnings were coming up saying Advance Trac requires servicing, brakes need servicing, ABS light was on, and when I went to change drive mode to 'Slippery' it said drive modes were not available. Drove for about 45 min on unplowed roads this evening in 2H. I'm assuming a bunch of sensors are packed with snow and vehicle otherwise seems fine. Any thoughts? TIA!

Most likely one of your ABS Sensors got caked with snow/ice. Spraying them down with a Silicone or PTFE based lubricant will help with this. Plus just checking to make sure the connectors are fully engaged. Without accurate wheel speeds certain modes will not engage as they require Traction Control to be fully active. You can ALWAYs Engage 4H/4L using the buttons.

Sounds like an ABS issue from the snow and moisture... It will probably clear up.

Ding, Ding, Ding

Snow and ice and slush here last week and during our 2.5 hour drive home it seemed the lane-keeping feature was not working. Not a big deal for me cuz I tend to turn it off anyway but it had me thinking "where are the sensors/cameras and which are responsible for that" and of course the manual is no help, or at least I couldn't find anything. Anyone know where there's a rundown on them?

Presumably b/c I filled-up and washed the Expy upon return home the lane-keeping will work again next time I try it.

Different issue. Camera is the issue. Most likely the main one at the top of the Windshield. "Snow and ice and slush", all things lane keep should not be used in, and ironically could have caused the issue in 2 different ways as to why it wasn't engaging. 1. The build up on the lane marking on the actual road preventing the system from seeing the lines properly. 2. Build up of slush/water in front of the camera at the top of the windshield. Most likely it was a combo of both.

I was driving in a heavy rain storm last summer when I was informed that lane keeping and adaptive cruise control were no longer available due to a sensor problem. I assumed that the heavy sheets of rain on parts of the windshield that were untouched by the wipers was the culprit. Rain stopped. Stuff worked again. Maybe I need to get on a ladder and put some Rain-X on the top center of the windshield.

Yep 100%! I do full treatment on my whole windshield on all of my vehicles, but prep is FAR more important than the product you chose. You need to Glass Clay, and polish before you apply anything. And historically I use RainX. It doesn't last as long, and needs to be reapplied more often as some of the more laong lasting Ceramic flavored options, but it is FAR easier to strip off, and start over. Pair it with the RainX windshield washer fluid, and you have a GREAT combo!

 

[Fastcar]

I haven't driven out of FL before April 15 in 20 years. So, no problems for me.

 

[Fastcar]

Thinking about it, we have the Expy in the car wash a minimum of every other day. No adverse reaction to the water from the under carriage spray.

 

[DieselMonk]

Thinking about it, we have the Expy in the car wash a minimum of every other day. No adverse reaction to the water from the under carriage spray.

I put mine through the car wash the other day and all went back to normal.

 

[tominwi]

Different issue. Camera is the issue. Most likely the main one at the top of the Windshield. "Snow and ice and slush", all things lane keep should not be used in, and ironically could have caused the issue in 2 different ways as to why it wasn't engaging. 1. The build up on the lane marking on the actual road preventing the system from seeing the lines properly. 2. Build up of slush/water in front of the camera at the top of the windshield. Most likely it was a combo of both.

Thanks my lane-keeping stopped working AFTER I'd encountered snow/ice/slush. Highway was clean.

I'm just surprised the system doesn't alert me "your camera is occluded thus lane-keeping can't work".

I remain perplexed as to where Ford might explain where the various cams and sensors are and what each does... guess I'll look in the Service manual. Yep, there it is, the Image Processing Module A IPMA is located top-middle windshield and signals the Lane-Keeping System LKS among other things. Man, this vehicle is complex...

 

[LokiWolf]

Thinking about it, we have the Expy in the car wash a minimum of every other day. No adverse reaction to the water from the under carriage spray.

Correct, water not in a solid or semi solid form is less likely to be an issue, as it flows and moves away from sensors and cameras...

Snow/Ice/slush typically causes more of an issue, both for sensors, and cameras.