Odd AC Charging behaviour

[Adventureboy]

sorry i'm getting to you late...haven't been online for the past few days.

it's 100% NOT an EVSE or wiring issue. Both EVSEs register everything correclty upon connecting and both charge at full normal speed to other EVs. It's 100% the lightning...and now it has stopped AC charging again. And my dealership can't see the truck for two weeks...so yeah, first ford, and unless they at least fix this and cover my extra charges (since DC is literally 3-4x the price of me chargning at home...and nowhere near as convenient), this will be my last.

Should have stretched and gone for a rivian at this point. I hope my opinion changes.

Summary of symptoms:
- Your onboard charger is flaky.
- Your modem (gateway) is offline
- Your AC is flaky.

Perhaps try a 12v reset (pull the 12v negative terminal for 5-10 minutes and replace). This might clear its brains and get communications back online. It should at least restore the modem(gateway) communications so your dealer can see the truck again, even if only temporarily. If the symptoms are the same after the reset, then a trip to the dealer is likely needed. Any chance you negotiated a bit of a warranty when you bought it?

I had a similar GFI situation in my first year with my 2023, and it also happened to be a Grizzl-E EVSE. The truck would DCFC but intermittent on L2. It got progressively worse until it finally quit, and they replaced the Onboard charger - no problems since. Incidentally, any module that is not working as it should can cause communication errors with other modules.

Rivian isn't trouble-free on this front either, nor is any complex vehicle, EV, Hybrid, ICE....

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[truthlesshunter]

Summary of symptoms:
- Your onboard charger is flaky.
- Your modem (gateway) is offline
- Your AC is flaky.

Perhaps try a 12v reset (pull the 12v negative terminal for 5-10 minutes and replace). This might clear its brains and get communications back online. It should at least restore the modem(gateway) communications so your dealer can see the truck again, even if only temporarily. If the symptoms are the same after the reset, then a trip to the dealer is likely needed. Any chance you negotiated a bit of a warranty when you bought it?

I had a similar GFI situation in my first year with my 2023, and it also happened to be a Grizzl-E EVSE. The truck would DCFC but intermittent on L2. It got progressively worse until it finally quit, and they replaced the Onboard charger - no problems since. Incidentally, any module that is not working as it should can cause communication errors with other modules.

Rivian isn't trouble-free on this front either, nor is any complex vehicle, EV, Hybrid, ICE....

I totally agree that rivian isn't trouble free either...but that's the one I wanted more and hesitated with ford for a few reasons...but the wife, believe or not, wanted the lightning more so here we are..it's just been rough with the dealerships since purchase, and now this stupid charging issue

I didn't negotiate a warranty...but this should be the on board charger and should be covered under the battery warranty, no? and...this happened straight from the (ford) dealership. How could they sell something that doesn't work correctly off the lot in good faith?

 

[Adventureboy]

I totally agree that rivian isn't trouble free either...but that's the one I wanted more and hesitated with ford for a few reasons...but the wife, believe or not, wanted the lightning more so here we are..it's just been rough with the dealerships since purchase, and now this stupid charging issue

I didn't negotiate a warranty...but this should be the on board charger and should be covered under the battery warranty, no? and...this happened straight from the (ford) dealership. How could they sell something that doesn't work correctly off the lot in good faith?

Definitely frustrating. Yes the Onboard charger and charge port are covered under the 8 year warranty.
Also check the coolant level in the tank on the drivers side. You can see it with the frunk open through the actuator slot. That needs to be about 1/2 full and I think AC uses that coolant.

 

[Zprime29]

The 2 dealerships nearest to me also book 2-3 weeks out every time I call them. I suspect you'll be out of pocket for the DCFC expense. I was out of pocket paying gas for an ICE loaner while my truck was in for some recall work. It sucks, but if you can stick it out I don't think you will be disappointed a year down the road.

Maybe Brian @Ford Motor Company can help get things rolling a bit quicker. I'd also take a short video of the truck faulting when it occurs to show the dealer.

 

[truthlesshunter]

The 2 dealerships nearest to me also book 2-3 weeks out every time I call them. I suspect you'll be out of pocket for the DCFC expense. I was out of pocket paying gas for an ICE loaner while my truck was in for some recall work. It sucks, but if you can stick it out I don't think you will be disappointed a year down the road.

Maybe Brian @Ford Motor Company can help get things rolling a bit quicker. I'd also take a short video of the truck faulting when it occurs to show the dealer.

good point about the video. i'll do that tonight when i get home.

regarding gas, dc charging, etc...I told them I shouldn't be out of pocket for a warranty expense. That's the whole point of a warranty, especially for a truck that i literally JUST bought. Like AC has worked once basically (the night before I was supposed to bring it in). So I told that to the service manager and he said they can file the gas receipts as part of the claim if i was on a loaner. I told him the same thing today if i'm charging DC. It's asinine that I'm paying way more for something that should just work and is likely covered under warranty.

 

[Zprime29]

Finger's crossed they make everything right for you. Would be great to see a positive dealership experience when it's all said and done.

 

[chl]

sorry i'm getting to you late...haven't been online for the past few days.

it's 100% NOT an EVSE or wiring issue. Both EVSEs register everything correclty upon connecting and both charge at full normal speed to other EVs. It's 100% the lightning...and now it has stopped AC charging again. And my dealership can't see the truck for two weeks...so yeah, first ford, and unless they at least fix this and cover my extra charges (since DC is literally 3-4x the price of me chargning at home...and nowhere near as convenient), this will be my last.

Should have stretched and gone for a rivian at this point. I hope my opinion changes.

I meant wiring inside the truck - there were two posts similar to yours and it turned out some rodent had chewed wires inside the charge port on the truck that was causing the failure to L2 AC charge...unfortunately, that wasn't covered by one dealership, the other one did cover it as a good will gesture.

Since it is intermittent, then it could just be a loose wire/connection in the charge port on the truck.

Others have pointed out possible causes as well above.

You might want to check the repair history on this USED vehicle if you haven't already, it could be this was one of those vehicles that had mysterious problems that Ford and the techs could not solve - rare but it happened according to one post here.

Most of us have had NO major issues with our trucks, just minor annoyances with the software and the 12v battery, which are not unusual in EVs and other modern computers with wheels.

We all sympathize with your frustration, many of the dealerships and tech are high quality but there are always outliers.

I have had zero issues with my 2012 Nissan Leaf in the 14 years I've owned it - so I have hung on to it as my back-up ride. So far my 2023 Lightning Pro (bought new in Jan 2024) has been reliable, and it's great in the snow and ice, as well as functioning as a back-up power source in the event of an outage.

Hopefully your Lightning will be back on the road soon.

 

[truthlesshunter]

I meant wiring inside the truck - there were two posts similar to yours and it turned out some rodent had chewed wires inside the charge port on the truck that was causing the failure to L2 AC charge...unfortunately, that wasn't covered by one dealership, the other one did cover it as a good will gesture.

Since it is intermittent, then it could just be a loose wire/connection in the charge port on the truck.

Others have pointed out possible causes as well above.

You might want to check the repair history on this USED vehicle if you haven't already, it could be this was one of those vehicles that had mysterious problems that Ford and the techs could not solve - rare but it happened according to one post here.

Most of us have had NO major issues with our trucks, just minor annoyances with the software and the 12v battery, which are not unusual in EVs and other modern computers with wheels.

We all sympathize with your frustration, many of the dealerships and tech are high quality but there are always outliers.

I have had zero issues with my 2012 Nissan Leaf in the 14 years I've owned it - so I have hung on to it as my back-up ride. So far my 2023 Lightning Pro (bought new in Jan 2024) has been reliable, and it's great in the snow and ice, as well as functioning as a back-up power source in the event of an outage.

Hopefully your Lightning will be back on the road soon.

I appreciate it. I've had the whole repair history through both Ford and Carfax prior to buying it. Nothing at all but maintenance popped up except an "open recall" that the ford dealership i bought it from said they actioned and carfax hasn't updated.

This is my fourth EV and my main backup car is a Lucid and is working great (knock on wood) so not scared of EVs. I'm more frustrated with ford than it being an EV at the moment.

I just didn't expect such a headache right off the bat...and that ford shows no sympathy that I literally just got it. I get you have other clients...but a truck that doesn't work properly on the drive home is a huge red flag.

 

[chl]

I appreciate it. I've had the whole repair history through both Ford and Carfax prior to buying it. Nothing at all but maintenance popped up except an "open recall" that the ford dealership i bought it from said they actioned and carfax hasn't updated.

This is my fourth EV and my main backup car is a Lucid and is working great (knock on wood) so not scared of EVs. I'm more frustrated with ford than it being an EV at the moment.

I just didn't expect such a headache right off the bat...and that ford shows no sympathy that I literally just got it. I get you have other clients...but a truck that doesn't work properly on the drive home is a huge red flag.

I hear ya.
Hope it's something minor at can be fixed easily.
The charge port J1772 only has the one cover on the Lightning - on my Leaf there is an inner plastic cover as well as the outer metal cover.

Weather (corrosion) and dirt build-up could be an issue.

Some posts and videos about cleaning the J1772 contacts around. Might be worth a try?

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