23 XLT ER - Recurring Major System Failures

[CrazyKingHenrik]

Hey everyone,

Looking for some advice/to see if anyone else has experienced something similar with their Lightning.

I purchased a 10k mile, Certified, 2023 F-150 Lightning back in February and it's already been in the shop twice for major system failures.

The first time, on April 11th, it completely went haywire on start up – a total "Christmas tree" of warning lights popped up. It had to be towed to Ford. It was there until April 24th, and while it seemed to be running again when I got it back, they apparently couldn't pinpoint the exact cause.

Fast forward to today, May 3rd, and it happened again while I was driving. The exact same cascade of error lights. After almost and hour of turning on/off, I managed to get it restarted and limped it back to Ford.

The error messages I've seen include (but aren't limited to):
* Lane-Keeping System Fault (LKS Fault)
* Stop Safely Now warning
* Service AdvanceTrac notification
* Parking Sensors Fault
* Pre-Collision Assist Not Available
* Front Motor Fault

The first time I confirmed 12V was charged with a multimeter. The second time my Lightning ended up in “Engineering mode” on one of the restarts and also showed 12.3V of power.

Has anyone else encounter this issue with their Lightning? I'm starting to get really concerned about the reliability of this vehicle.

Any insights or advice would be greatly appreciated!

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[B177y]

Sounds like a bad 12 volt battery or one that is ready to fail. Could also be a bad DC-DC controller which takes energy from your high voltage battery or "traction battery" (HVB) and charges the 12 volt battery "low voltage battery" (LVB). Think of the DC-DC as your alternator in an ICE vehicle.

Lots of threads describing this issue. A failing LVB causes lots of weird problems, error codes, and warning lights all at the same time.

PM your VIN to @rugedraw or @Mike G and they can try to see what your error codes are and try to pinpoint the problem.

 

[CrazyKingHenrik]

Thanks for response. I have certainly seen the other 12V threads all over here and Reddit. The fact mine has been fully charged both times and the amount of warning codes I received seemed excessive in comparison to those. I’ll shoot those two a message.

 

[Henry Ford]

I agree with @B177y. 12.3V doesn't sound fully charged to me. If you tested it with the truck off it seems slightly low, but it's hard to say if it's bad based on that. If you tested it with the truck on it should have been over 14V and isn't being charged.

 

[CrazyKingHenrik]

Multimeter was around 14 the first time. Here is what I’m referencing for the 12.3V. It showed 12.4 periodically which made me think it was a live view.

 

[Al_V]

Multimeter was around 14 the first time. Here is what I’m referencing for the 12.3V. It showed 12.4 periodically which made me think it was a live view.

How do you get this info to display?

 

[Firn]

Make sure your truck recieved the updated 12v battery BMS.

Remove and charge the 12v externally. When you reinstall do the 12v BMS reset procedure (I think it's in the owners manual, some button press sequence).

Clean all connections to the 12v and ensure everything is tight and connected well.

Consider replacing the 12v battery. It seems a little premature but you never know how it was treated previously.

 

[TaxmanHog]

It's been a while since seeing issues with the 12v distribution / fuse circuit breaker box, but a couple of members had loose fasteners on one of the buss bar connections, take look at that and make sure they are snug.

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/new-truck-tried-to-kill-me.17002/post-343751

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/new-truck-tried-to-kill-me.17002/post-344039

 

[B177y]

Did you charge on the battery posts while still connected to the truck or did you use the posts under the trim panel or did you remove the battery?

If you charge using the battery posts while still connected, you bypass the BMS and will get odd behavior. Remove the battery to fully charge, reconnect, then reset the BMS.

If you removed the battery and charged it and then reconnected it, the BMS isn't involved so you have to reset the BMS after reinstalling.

If you charged it by using the jumping posts under the trim panel, the BMS is in the loop and it is supposed to calibrate appropriately. It might be worth a try to remove the battery, have it tested, charge fully, reconnect, reset BMS and see if the problem comes back.

Or just replace the battery, charge it, connect it, reset BMS.

 

[rugedraw]

Message me the VIN and I'll take a look to see if I see anything helpful. It'll most likely be tomorrow.

 

[CrazyKingHenrik]

How do you get this info to display?

I wish I could tell you. It popped up as the display on one of the 1,000+ on and off sequences I did to get it back running and to the dealer.

 

[CrazyKingHenrik]

Did you charge on the battery posts while still connected to the truck or did you use the posts under the trim panel or did you remove the battery?

If you charge using the battery posts while still connected, you bypass the BMS and will get odd behavior. Remove the battery to fully charge, reconnect, then reset the BMS.

If you removed the battery and charged it and then reconnected it, the BMS isn't involved so you have to reset the BMS after reinstalling.

If you charged it by using the jumping posts under the trim panel, the BMS is in the loop and it is supposed to calibrate appropriately. It might be worth a try to remove the battery, have it tested, charge fully, reconnect, reset BMS and see if the problem comes back.

Or just replace the battery, charge it, connect it, reset BMS.

Sorry, this EV stuff is still pretty foreign to me but when I used my coworkers battery jumper/charger the first time it was trying to use the jumping posts on the far right. Since the battery was 13V+ I didn't think it was doing anything anyway?

I'm wondering if I can convince the dealer to replace the 12V...

 

[B177y]

Sorry, this EV stuff is still pretty foreign to me but when I used my coworkers battery jumper/charger the first time it was trying to use the jumping posts on the far right. Since the battery was 13V+ I didn't think it was doing anything anyway?

I'm wondering if I can convince the dealer to replace the 12V...

Sounds like you did it the right way, but like @Firn said, you never know what the person before you did or what the dealer did....

From what I've read on here, this 12 volt battery management isn't just an EV thing, it's a modern car thing. Sounds like everything now has a BMS system that requires different charging procedures and resetting of the BMS. It's nothing like what I have dealt with previously with my admittedly old-school vehicles. Progress.... Our EV 12 volt in the Lightning (and Mach-e) is more sensitive because it's so tiny. (Insert joke about how it's not the size that matters but how you charge it).

Have the dealer test the 12 volt. Might be covered under your "certified" agreement?

Unfortunately, many dealership mechanics aren't fully up to date on EVs yet either, sometimes you need to hold their hands and tactfully try to explain what they should do without challenging them.

 

[ScottC]

Multimeter was around 14 the first time. Here is what I’m referencing for the 12.3V. It showed 12.4 periodically which made me think it was a live view.

Kacey Musgraves….a good choice.

 

[CrazyKingHenrik]

Kacey Musgraves….a good choice.

Lol! My wife and I were having a nice chill ride until this happened

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