2022 PowerBoost Intermittent Powertrain Malfunction/Reduced Power Service Light

[Bodhistt]

Hello! I've tried searching for this issue and haven't found anything. Please let me know if this is a known issue.

I have been getting these kinda intermittent service/wrench lights come up on the dash for about a year now.

When I got it the first few times it stayed on long enough that the dealer was able to look at it a little bit but eventually the light cleared itself and they said they couldn't help if the truck isn't showing an error. Finally it happened enough that they could diagnose a connection had gotten too much water in it and replaced part of a harness. The write up never said what was replaced so I don't know exactly.

The issue was resolved for a few months but came back here and there. It always went away after restarting the truck and besides the light the truck acted normal so I've kinda lived with it.

However, This past weekend I was going to tow the boat to the ramp and the light came on as I was leaving my neighborhood. I noticed that I had to apply about 50% throttle or more to get the truck to move from a complete stop. The engine was super slow to respond. It didn't feel like it was struggling at all. Just slow and unresponsive. I pulled into a parking lot to restart the truck but as soon as I tried to pull away the error/light came back on and the same issues were present.

The trailer is in good shape and rolls easily so I don't think there's an issue there. I got it home and checked around the engine bay and everything looked normal from a visual inspection. No loose hoses or belts or leaks.

I unhooked the boat and took the truck for a drive. Everything was completely normal. No issues at all. My OBD2 reader shows no codes or issues with the truck, even when the service wrench light is on.

I'm stumped as to where to go with this as I can't bring it to the dealer unless it's acting up. Which is kinda rare and clears up right away from a restart. I have noticed a pattern of rain or washing the truck causing the issue the next day, but I'm not 100% on that.

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[Snakebitten]

It would be really helpful if you could scan for codes while the cel is lit and the truck isn't behaving normally.

The momentary/intermittent come & go is difficult enough to troubleshoot, but the codes could at least eliminate some percentage of possibilities.

 

[Bodhistt]

I agree it would be helpful.

I have the OBDLink LX scanner. I was able to plug the scanner in while the issue was present but it showed no codes.

The scanner is a bit old but I thought it should at least be able to read trouble codes.

I think the catch is that the truck is showing a 'wrench' light not the CEL.

 

[Snakebitten]

I thought the LX was their newest?
I grabbed one recently for my Mach-E

What app were you using?
I gotta believe there's at least some soft codes being recorded with a wrench light.

 

[Bodhistt]

Yep, that's the one I'm using.

I have an 'old' Pixel phone I'm using with the OBDlink app on it. I switched to an iPhone as my main sometime after I got the scanner.

I was pretty confused when I could see the wrench light on the dash but no trouble codes in the app after refreshing. I'm really at a loss to what next steps would be to dig deeper.

I was trying to read throttle position PIDs for a minute but got lost as I have no reference.

I have the adapter that I can use with a laptop for ForScan but I don't have the subscription set up for it. Would that allow me to see the soft codes or some logs from when the light was thrown up?

 

[Bodhistt]

Hmm,

I just saw this little nugget on the OBDLink website:

Could this be incapable of reading the softcodes?

 

[Snakebitten]

Forscan is a fantastic code harvester.
It's just a bit less convenient needing a laptop while you are running around.

 

[Bodhistt]

OK, I'll get that set up to see what it says and report back.

Hopefully it reveals something.

 

[Bodhistt]

So, I set up FORScan on a laptop and scanned the codes.

There was a DTC in the PCM for Throttle Position "D" / "E".

I decided to check the battery in the morning after a night of sitting and saw it was at 12.05V. Not super low but maybe with the extra electrical load from the boat trailer it was enough to cause some random electrical gremlins.

I've replaced the battery with a new Duracell and will report back if the issue happens again.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Snakebitten]

12.05 resting is a battery at 50%

And even a light load of just waking up the truck, previous to starting it, could easily drop that voltage into the trouble zone for booting up all those modules.

I think you did the right thing

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