Stop Safely Now, No AC, 12V issue, High Voltage issue

[BillsMafia21]

So this is my first time posting...on any forum. I'm more of the "sit in the back and listen" kind of guy. I've visited this site many times for research and information. Anyways, I bought a first generation 2022 Lariat Lightning and fell in love right away. The first 3 years were "good" (lots of updates, lots of glitches) A little over a month ago I was out with my family and when it was time to go home I got the "stop safely now" and the car would not start. I tried waiting, disconnecting the 12V to no avail. Flat bedded to the dealership. Of course it sat there for a week with no one looking at it. While it sat there, I went over myself and replaced the 12V battery as I found out the 12V should be replaced every 3 years. Tried to reset the BMS but it was still stuck in the stop safely mode. When they finally got it in the shop they said there was a bunch of modules that had to be reprogrammed and that there was an issue with the cruise control system. After another week the technician deemed that there was an open circuit in a wire harness behind the front bumper.. all set, $650 plus the new battery. $650 was manageable but the 16 days without it was tough (I run a carpentry business) I get home and charge up and the wife asks to take the truck for a trip. She tells me the AC is not blowing cold air. I re-set my preferred changing times and called it a night. Next morning I have a charging error on my phone and the truck is back in the "stop safely now" mode. I test the 12V battery and it is showing 11V on my tester. I trickle charge up to ~15V but no luck. The dealership sends a mobile tech and the computer is coming back with a high voltage ground code and he said it will be another flat bed trip. Another week later they start into it. It seems they get the truck to move and charge but say the SoC is an issue and some code relating to the high voltage system. After they exhaust their ideas of how to diagnose the problem they call up Ford and they tell them to run the heat for 20 minutes while testing and then run the AC for 20 minutes and test. They tell me the AC isn't blowing cold air that the freon is gone. They tell me I need to fix the AC to continue diagnosing the high voltage issue. A couple days later they tell me a hot and cold port hose are leaking and that it will be $3300 to fix the AC and this won't fix the high voltage issue, just let them continue to diagnose. I'm furious at this point as I'm now on 6 weeks without the truck. I've contacted Ford directly and they are trying to work with me. I can't justify spending $3300 to make the air cold in a truck that doesn't work. And if they need to fix this to "fix" the high voltage issue then I believe it should be covered under the 8yr/100,000 mile warranty. They say the part is not covered. The truck has 65,000 miles and I don't see an end in sight for this problem. The quality of this vehicle is very disappointing and I believe it is a result of Ford trying to get the first EV truck on the market. If anyone has any insight on these issues it would be greatly appreciated.

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[Maquis]

Call the Ford BEV team and have them open a case. Anything in the high voltage area is covered by the 8 year / 100K BEV warranty. Unless caused by damage, etc.

Perhaps @Ford Motor Company can chime in?

 

[BillsMafia21]

I currently have a case open and they have been contacting the dealership to try and figure this out. So far the BEV representative has been the most helpful and is currently trying to alleviate the cost of the AC repair. I would rather them find the issue with the high voltage problem first, I don't see how making the air cold in my truck is going to solve a high voltage issue...

 

[Ford Motor Company]

So this is my first time posting...on any forum. I'm more of the "sit in the back and listen" kind of guy. I've visited this site many times for research and information. Anyways, I bought a first generation 2022 Lariat Lightning and fell in love right away. The first 3 years were "good" (lots of updates, lots of glitches) A little over a month ago I was out with my family and when it was time to go home I got the "stop safely now" and the car would not start. I tried waiting, disconnecting the 12V to no avail. Flat bedded to the dealership. Of course it sat there for a week with no one looking at it. While it sat there, I went over myself and replaced the 12V battery as I found out the 12V should be replaced every 3 years. Tried to reset the BMS but it was still stuck in the stop safely mode. When they finally got it in the shop they said there was a bunch of modules that had to be reprogrammed and that there was an issue with the cruise control system. After another week the technician deemed that there was an open circuit in a wire harness behind the front bumper.. all set, $650 plus the new battery. $650 was manageable but the 16 days without it was tough (I run a carpentry business) I get home and charge up and the wife asks to take the truck for a trip. She tells me the AC is not blowing cold air. I re-set my preferred changing times and called it a night. Next morning I have a charging error on my phone and the truck is back in the "stop safely now" mode. I test the 12V battery and it is showing 11V on my tester. I trickle charge up to ~15V but no luck. The dealership sends a mobile tech and the computer is coming back with a high voltage ground code and he said it will be another flat bed trip. Another week later they start into it. It seems they get the truck to move and charge but say the SoC is an issue and some code relating to the high voltage system. After they exhaust their ideas of how to diagnose the problem they call up Ford and they tell them to run the heat for 20 minutes while testing and then run the AC for 20 minutes and test. They tell me the AC isn't blowing cold air that the freon is gone. They tell me I need to fix the AC to continue diagnosing the high voltage issue. A couple days later they tell me a hot and cold port hose are leaking and that it will be $3300 to fix the AC and this won't fix the high voltage issue, just let them continue to diagnose. I'm furious at this point as I'm now on 6 weeks without the truck. I've contacted Ford directly and they are trying to work with me. I can't justify spending $3300 to make the air cold in a truck that doesn't work. And if they need to fix this to "fix" the high voltage issue then I believe it should be covered under the 8yr/100,000 mile warranty. They say the part is not covered. The truck has 65,000 miles and I don't see an end in sight for this problem. The quality of this vehicle is very disappointing and I believe it is a result of Ford trying to get the first EV truck on the market. If anyone has any insight on these issues it would be greatly appreciated.

Hey Dave, send me your VIN and case number via DM so I can gather information and pull in others on my side to help. We'll do our best to get you sorted!

 

[El Duderino]

The HV battery is cooled by the A/C when needed. If it doesn't work then the HV battery system throws DTCs. Possibly not letting the system run or make diagnosis possible.

Your stuck between a rock and a hard place. The A/C needs to be operational for the truck to function. Can't run without A/C like vehicles in the past.

Hopefully in the end Ford will cover the repair costs and all will be well again.

 

[Heliian]

The a/c was the problem all along.

Your dealer just can't follow troubleshooting guides very well.

If you look in the Ford app you should see a message explaining that stop safely now came up and that you can't drive again after you shut it off.

I had a compressor failure in March. Only took a competent dealer 1 day to diagnose, 1 day to get the part and another to fix it.

These are great trucks, but since they are so new, a competent dealer is necessary for any technical issues.

 

[Zprime29]

The a/c was the problem all along.

Your dealer just can't follow troubleshooting guides very well.

If you look in the Ford app you should see a message explaining that stop safely now came up and that you can't drive again after you shut it off.

I had a compressor failure in March. Only took a competent dealer 1 day to diagnose, 1 day to get the part and another to fix it.

These are great trucks, but since they are so new, a competent dealer is necessary for any technical issues.

I agree, it sounds like the A/C not working was at least part of the problem. Not sure about the wire bit, may or may not be related. Keep us posted on what gets covered. I don't recall there being much consistency when it comes to the 8yr/100k warranty covering anything that isn't the motor or the HVB itself. Everything else is in no man's land.

$3300 seems a bit excessive to fix the leak. Not surprising though from a business that charges $80 to swap out the cabin air filter. Ford really needs to do a better job putting pressure on the dealers to start acting like they care instead of robbing their customers blind. I'm intrigued enough by their UEV design to watch, but if there is nothing about getting the dealers on board and providing adequate training/staffing of techs then I'm not going anywhere near them.

 

[BillsMafia21]

The a/c was the problem all along.

Your dealer just can't follow troubleshooting guides very well.

If you look in the Ford app you should see a message explaining that stop safely now came up and that you can't drive again after you shut it off.

I had a compressor failure in March. Only took a competent dealer 1 day to diagnose, 1 day to get the part and another to fix it.

These are great trucks, but since they are so new, a competent dealer is necessary for any technical issues.

I am finding out the hard way about the dealers not being equipped with the knowledge and technicians to work on these trucks. The dealership I'm at now only has 2 guys qualified to work on the EV's.
I've been checking my Ford app for the "stop safely now" messaging and explanation but nothing is showing. I'm assuming the dealer must have wiped the system or something.

 

[Heliian]

Not sure about the wire bit, may or may not be related

From what I gathered from the conversations with the repair centre is that the fault shows up as a high circuit or something along those lines that sounds like it would be wiring related. There isn't a code that says "your a/c system is failing the hvb drive". They then had to troubleshoot which component was causing that error, which in turn required them to disconnect harnesses and check for which circuit was bad. In my case, the compressor had failed, they slapped a new one in and she was good to go. However, I have extended warranty so only the 100$ deductible. Out of pocket I image it would have been 3-4gs.

only has 2 guys qualified to work on the EV's.

Qualifications are one thing, competency is another. You can send a tech on a course for the qualifications but that doesn't mean they're competent troubleshooters or even competent with electrical systems. A lot of techs don't even know how to use a multimeter properly and some are still afraid of computers.
On the inverse, you could have a lube tech with more skills than some "master" mechanics.

Always get a second quote from another dealer if you're into big bucks out of pocket.

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