Powertrain Malfunction Reduced Power Messages

[lesha30]

Hello! I've purchased my 2023 F150 Lightning Lariat ER from a local dealer back in Sept 2025 with around 18K miles on it. The truck has been flawless up to this point, and I've put around 10K miles on it so far. I've started getting "Powertrain Malfunction Reduced Power" error messages in the Ford app yesterday, and it hasn't stopped since. The truck drives just fine, other than the messages.

I've taken it to my local dealer, who told me that the 3 year warranty ran out 2 weeks ago (of course), and I would need to pay $230 for basic diagnostic service. They've tested the 12V battery, and said it was good.

Before I go and spend the money, do you have any other recommendations (e.g. reset, pull 12V battery, etc)?

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[The Weatherman]

If it is a HV drive train battery/motor issue you have an 8yr/100,000mi warranty.

If it is a battery module issue they should charge a diagnostic fee.

 

[DavidS]

Just as additional piece of information, you will get the same warning if the shifter module is going bad. The Powertrain fault seems to be pretty generic. Similar to a check engine light.
If you haven’t gotten an OBD scanner yet, that would be a good first step so that you can get enough information to make informed choices on next steps.

 

[Piquette]

Consider buying an extended warranty. As my service technician said to me, there is a lot that can go wrong on our trucks that can be expensive to diagnose/repair.

 

[Heliian]

Call a dealer with your vin and ask them to look at the telemetric codes. Should point you in the right direction.

A 230$ diagnostic fee for checking codes is insane, find another dealer.

 

[lesha30]

After 3 days, the dealer was able to pinpoint the issue to a short in a wire. They also identified the coolant battery diverter needed to be replaced. All in they came back to me with a $1700 bill. This is CRAZY. They said troubleshooting the short was $900 and $800 for the diverter, which they have already replaced, as part of troubleshooting the original issue (no authorization asked for nor given). Service advisor said he reached out to Ford to see what could be done to "soften the blow", but they declined the request, because I'm not the original owner. This sucks! Is there anything I could do?

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