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

[Dice Roll]

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?

 

[TheDoug]

I have heard of others having this issue. Mine will sometimes take a long time to retract after I get in and then start to drive off. Others have reported random deployment when they are not supposed to. I am not sure what the root of the problem is.

 

[Going_Going_Gone]

I have pretty much the same vehicle with similar miles. I can say from experience that, if one of the doors is ajar, the running board on that side will not retract until your speed reaches somewhere near 5mph and then will lower again when you stop (because the car thinks the door is open and someone will be getting in or out). This happened to me yesterday after I loaded the dogs in the back seat and didn't slam the door hard enough. There was a "door Ajar" message that I did not notice until I kept hearing the running board go up and down. Immediately stopped and got out and slammed the rear door.

My battery is getting old and doesn't charge up like it used to. Every once in a while I have to hook up the trickle charger for a day or so to bring it back up to where the running boards retract when the door closes and the intelligent access touch sensors on all doors react to my touch. I suppose I could bite the bullet and buy a new battery, but I want to see how long I can stretch it out. Besides that, I kinda like not having the auto stop-start feature work due to the older battery.

 

[Dice Roll]

Hmm. My auto start still works. Never have a door ajar message. I figure this is a weak sensor thing, but not sure how to get them to keep looking. I could try another dealer, but I lost a lot of time on this today and sure don’t want a repeat. Feel like I need to lead them to the solution, unfortunately.

 

[lv2drive]

same for me - started occasionally, & then increased in frequency...

dealer did their usual fix it first, grease etc, & sent me home a couple times until they finally replaced the front motor under warranty.

i think there's a closure / anti-pinch sensor of some sort in the mechanism that seems to fail, which confuses it so it thinks its meeting resistance... & ultimately fails consistently... mine stayed down until i hit 5mph & then retracted.

since they put a new one about 4 months ago, it's been perfect.

 

[Zig10]

When my battery started wearing down my running boards started acting up along with the perimeter sensors to unlock the doors. The auto start/stop stopped working as well.

If you want to test his theory throw a charger on the battery and top it off. If they behave for a little while then you have your answer.

Cars today are so voltage-sensitive that a weak battery can be blamed for just about anything, and unfortunately is often the culprit. In my '16 Yukon it caused the transfer case to malfunction.

 

[MikeL867]

This happens to me after every winter up in Northern Canada. I need to turn off the running boards because they get so iced up that they stop retracting.

So in the spring, once they go down the first time, they never go up again. The fix for me is to pressure wash the mechanism at the front where there is a larger diameter bar just behind the step, as well as the mounting brackets that hold the step. After I’ve done that, I use WD-40 very liberally to clean those areas as well. You will need to make sure the running boards are set to auto, and then open and close the door while “helping” the running boards back up (this usually only affects my drivers side - so that’s the one I focus on). Each time the running board comes down, use more WD-40. After 6-10 times, it should go up and down on its on. I then use white lithium grease and spray all the parts I used WD-40 on. It will work great until the truck goes through another -50C winter.

I just did this yesterday on the truck for the fourth year in a row, so I know it works.

 

[BPL1975]

I have an issue with my '22 with less than 1000 miles on it. The running boards retract within 2 seconds even with the delay settings turned on. So when I go to put the kid in his car seat and shut the door, they start retracting before I get around to the back of the vehicle. The dealers answer was to leave the drivers side door open which I thought was a lazy response. They go up and down so frequently I'm sure I'll be replacing the battery or the motors for the running boards sooner than expected.

 

[Maxine the Max]

I have an issue with my '22 with less than 1000 miles on it. The running boards retract within 2 seconds even with the delay settings turned on. So when I go to put the kid in his car seat and shut the door, they start retracting before I get around to the back of the vehicle. The dealers answer was to leave the drivers side door open which I thought was a lazy response. They go up and down so frequently I'm sure I'll be replacing the battery or the motors for the running boards sooner than expected.

That's what I do if I'm cleaning etc in the vehicle or I've gotten in my seat before the kids open the back door. I just leave my door ajar until they are in so it doesn't have to go up and down twice. I've tried turning them off and getting in without but I'm too short and I know it would be impossible for the kids. I have a platinum we bought used but I think if I ordered new. I would get an xlt and add options. So you would have fixed running boards.

 

[Dice Roll]

After over 600 miles of driving since Friday, I believe the “drive it more” conclusion is false. There has to be a bad sensor or dirt in the mix someplace that is causing this. The pass side has never done this. Maybe I can try cleaning as was suggested here.

 

[goathead]

Just picked up a 2020 Limited. When we got to the dealership, the driver-side board wouldn't retract. They determined that the motor needed replacement. I can tell that they lubricated it in an attempt to get it to function properly. It's awaiting the motor for replacement, but in the meantime, it has been retracting 90-95% of the time. I will try what MIkeL867 stated and hope to prevent future problems.

 

[hapEcat]

We sometimes have the same problem.
It's not a battery, or a drive it more problem, but a door sensor problem.
One of the door sensors on that side is not telling the running board; "OK, I'm closed now, and you're no longer needed, so retract".
When ours acts up, I go to that side and open/close both doors (sometimes multiple times), until it retracts.
Our dealer cannot reproduce the condition, even after bringing it in with a board deployed. Now I just exercise the door sensors on that side until the board goes up. It's not a frequent occurrence, maybe once a month.

 

[Dice Roll]

Mine happens several times a day. Reminds me of my two Lincoln mark 8s. Both of those cars would keep saying door ajar and keep the lights on inside. Sprayed oil on the door latch area and that would solve it for a spell.

doesn’t ever trick the computer into thinking the door is open on this one. Anybody know if it uses a separate sensor for the running boards and for the door ajar? Be weird, but people do some strange things sometimes designing stuff.

 

[F150 Pat]

Same thing. 2019 drivers side only. I’ve had it in. Lube job. Still bad. I unbolted the front hinge but it won’t come off the step. Do I need to unbolt both hinges to remove the step? I want to see which hinge is causing the problem. Has anyone taken a hinge apart? Can you?

 

[shellman00]

This happens to me after every winter up in Northern Canada. I need to turn off the running boards because they get so iced up that they stop retracting.

So in the spring, once they go down the first time, they never go up again. The fix for me is to pressure wash the mechanism at the front where there is a larger diameter bar just behind the step, as well as the mounting brackets that hold the step. After I’ve done that, I use WD-40 very liberally to clean those areas as well. You will need to make sure the running boards are set to auto, and then open and close the door while “helping” the running boards back up (this usually only affects my drivers side - so that’s the one I focus on). Each time the running board comes down, use more WD-40. After 6-10 times, it should go up and down on its on. I then use white lithium grease and spray all the parts I used WD-40 on. It will work great until the truck goes through another -50C winter.

I just did this yesterday on the truck for the fourth year in a row, so I know it works.

I had the same issue on my 2021 Expedition. Power wash, then WD40 followed by lithium grease

 

[2020-MAX-Limited]

My 2020, bought December 2022 with 72K miles, is doing the same thing. My battery is weak. I get the low power warnings all the time (going into deep sleep). AS/S has never worked with message "charging the battery" I occasionally put the battery on a charger overnight to top it off, after which a battery load test shows GOOD charge. Nothing helps the AS/S and now the running boards. I simply shut off the running boards due to the erratic behavior.

 

[Lisa Hawn]

This happens to me after every winter up in Northern Canada. I need to turn off the running boards because they get so iced up that they stop retracting.

So in the spring, once they go down the first time, they never go up again. The fix for me is to pressure wash the mechanism at the front where there is a larger diameter bar just behind the step, as well as the mounting brackets that hold the step. After I’ve done that, I use WD-40 very liberally to clean those areas as well. You will need to make sure the running boards are set to auto, and then open and close the door while “helping” the running boards back up (this usually only affects my drivers side - so that’s the one I focus on). Each time the running board comes down, use more WD-40. After 6-10 times, it should go up and down on its on. I then use white lithium grease and spray all the parts I used WD-40 on. It will work great until the truck goes through another -50C winter.

I just did this yesterday on the truck for the fourth year in a row, so I know it works.

We live in the Interior of Alaska. We had the same problem with ice/snow/mud build up on the running boards. We solved this by purchasing Weathertech front mud flaps and the problem went away.

 

[bigboi66]

I am having the same issue and I'm in Florida. 2020 expy max limited 72k . Got it in February and it's been in the shop more than I've had it.
The running boards drove me and my kids crazy as they need it to get in and out. Ford stated it was a battery and they are currently working the issue now. I'll post back with an update.

 

[Calidad]

Low battery definitely causes issues. Just replaced my 2019 battery btw the costco battery was identical to the ford battery. Running boards were first to get goofy. Then sun roof and other extras. Also sun vs expansion seems to affect the running boards ie sunny side binds up occasionally when in the sun. Flip the car around shade the board that binds up no issues.

When I get a minute I was goito loosen the bolts a little set it in the sun let it expand then cycle the boards and re seat the bolts see if that addresses the binding caused by sun vs expanded metal etc.

 

[2020-MAX-Limited]

My 2020, bought December 2022 with 72K miles, is doing the same thing. My battery is weak. I get the low power warnings all the time (going into deep sleep). AS/S has never worked with message "charging the battery" I occasionally put the battery on a charger overnight to top it off, after which a battery load test shows GOOD charge. Nothing helps the AS/S and now the running boards. I simply shut off the running boards due to the erratic behavior.

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.