Running boards have mind of their own, dealer says drive more?

[Calidad]

Follow Up: I started leaving my battery maintainer connected for longer periods (as opposed to just overnight), and out of nowhere I suddenly have AS/S! I have noticed that I need to put extra pressure on the brake pedal after the car has come to a stop in order for it to activate. So I can bring the car to a stop using light pressure on the pedal, but no AS/S. But when I add extra pressure on the brake pedal, the AS/S kicks in. One other thing I have noticed is when I bring the car to stop and place in P to shutdown, the AS/S activates until I put the trans selector in P, at which time the AS/S deactivates and the engine re-starts.

Get a new battery. Most modern cars have issues with poor battery voltage. They will all start on a junk battery but they will have various electrical issues as a result.

 

[Silver-Bullet-Bus]

My drivers running board has been acting up for about three weeks. Stays out sometimes, others it goes in and out a few times.

dealer said it showed a code for low battery, but they couldn’t get it to act up. This is odd because it did it this morning before going in and did it tonight also. Their solution is to drive it more. Trouble with that is I drove 400 miles over the weekend, so the battery should be fully charged. it has 12500 miles on it, so while it doesn’t go much, it goes often enough I think to charge up.

they checked voltage with a meter, and checked the cold cranking amps, which were fine. They said all the connections and sensors etc were fine.

anybody deal with this before?

No big secret, here. These electric up & down running boards are a constant pain, with a mind of their own.

Honestly, probably a good candidate for class action.

Keep after your dealer, because that’s what your warranty is for, & you have 2 additional years on new Ford parts.

I put a new motor on mine 6-8 weeks ago & it’s still acting up.

 

[lobsenza]

Batteries cause problems in modern cars. i try to put all of my vehicles on a battery maintainer once a month for overnight. That greatly extends battery life. I just replaced my battery in a 9 year old Genesis following this strategy. The AS/s on my 4.5 year old Navigator still works following this strategy.

 

[bigboi66]

Just got a message from the dealership and they stated it was my battery. I have not been back to verify, however, before dropping it off I brought it to AutoZone and they check my battery and it was still good. I will be picking up the old battery and bringing it to the store again to check it. After that when the expy is ready I'll follow up and report to see if all is well. I just can't imagine how a low battery will deploy 1 running board and not the other. Also how it only is an issue with side passenger door and none of the others.

 

[HazBeen]

Service Awareness Newsletter - Power Running Board (PRB) Deployment Concerns ‐ Grinding Noise, Auto Reversal And/Or Stopping In Mid‐Travel, DTCs

 

[bigboi66]

Just went to the shop and they gave me my old battery they stated was bad. I had it tested elsewhere and it still reads good. Haven't got the expy back as I have ongoing issues with the drivetrain so I can't test the running boards myself. I'll follow up when I get it back.

 

[Mr Big]

Just went to the shop and they gave me my old battery they stated was bad. I had it tested elsewhere and it still reads good. Haven't got the expy back as I have ongoing issues with the drivetrain so I can't test the running boards myself. I'll follow up when I get it back.

90% of the time they NEED A GOOD CLEANING AND LUBE!
I clean and grease mine at least 4 times a year.

 

[Calidad]

90% of the time they NEED A GOOD CLEANING AND LUBE!
I clean and grease mine at least 4 times a year.

I ‘m finding the same here. I used a nylon bristle brush on the pivot points got some crud off and used a chain oil spray that foams up initially and basically rinsed the pins good in chain oil. That seemed to get rid of the gritty/ crunchy hinges

 

[bigboi66]

90% of the time they NEED A GOOD CLEANING AND LUBE!
I clean and grease mine at least 4 times a year.

Why would this be an issue on one side and not the other. We park in the garage and it has not rained when we have had the issues

 

[Mr Big]

Why would this be an issue on one side and not the other. We park in the garage and it has not rained when we have had the issues

One could get dirtier or dryer than the other? Not sure although they need occasional maintenance.