2023 Tremor with Gateway Module issue

[jedirulez]

Update: Dealership claimed repairs complete after 45 days, and I picked up the truck a week or so ago. All the issues I took it in for are still occurring. Trailer lights were and have been my biggest concern, the TPMS issue is just annoying and the HVAC issue is hard to test when its in the 100s every day, it was more evident when cooler - might have to wait until Fall to check that.
Working with the Ford RAV/Buyback team this week and waiting on their offer.

I don't believe any of the issues I'm experiencing had anything to do with the Gateway module, and while glad that is "fixed" (not sure how to confirm) still frustrated at the situation and have been taking some time off from thinking about the whole ordeal while waiting on the RAV team.

I've done hours and hours of reading about the Trailer Lights problem - I've yet to see a resolution to anyone with a late model truck and a trailer with LED lights. Every light on my trailer is LED. And both loaner trucks (2022 PowerBoost XLT and 2023 XLT) the dealer provided during the repair had the exact same trailer light issue. A dongle like this from Curt (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AFVOF3M?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details) completely fixes the issue for both loaners and was able to test with my truck once picked up and also resolves the issue. I have done a few hundred miles with the dongle and all good. The trailer works fine with older Fords or newer vehicles from other manufacturers and was completely fine on my 2019 Ranger I picked up the trailer with. I'm going to start a new thread just for this issue.

I was able to get a full copy of the Ford Engineer communication with the dealership service tech - I'll post that tomorrow for future reference.

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[jedirulez]

This isn't just a problem with the legacy mindset of Ford dealerships. I have witnessed similar problem with the local Nissan dealership right next to my Ford dealership.

Neither seem to see the writing on the wall.

The showroom at both dealerships have products ON THE FLOOR that the service department doesn't employ ANYBODY that understands, or as they describe it, "is certified" (code for "trained") to service.

But I'm supposed to believe that Ford and Nissan doesn't offer training?

I believe that is hogwash. ?

This forum is so revealing, regarding. There's now ample evidence that any fella (or gal) who desires to know and understand what makes these modern vehicles tick can easily gain expertise beyond what the local service department has. It's so painfully obvious.

And that doesn't even address the disappointing arrogance, adversarial, and/or apathetic attitude that's becoming far too common.

I can assure you that I wouldn't be disrespectful to anyone at the dealership. I totally understand the bees with honey concept. But the disrespect FOR customers is out of control. It's crazy

I'll never go back to this dealership again - they were horrible to work with. I could never get a hold of anyone in service on the phone, calls would eventually transfer to other parts of the dealership and they would just drop the call instead of transferring me to the service team. They would reply via text 2-3 days after I would ask for an update with the bare minimum of info. Thankfully there are a few other dealers in the area that I have had positive experiences in the past, this one was just the closest to home and work.

 

[Snakebitten]

That Curt adapter you listed for towing an RV with LED lighting is very interesting. If you read the reviews it reveals that other late model trucks are having similar issues with their trucks properly mating with LED RV's.

So why does Curt know how to fix the compatability issues, but the truck and RV manufacturers don't?

Curt seems to have responded to what probably is becoming an issue more and more each day. Good for them!

 

[jedirulez]

That Curt adapter you listed for towing an RV with LED lighting is very interesting. If you read the reviews it reveals that other late model trucks are having similar issues with their trucks properly mating with LED RV's.

So why does Curt know how to fix the compatibility issues, but the truck and RV manufacturers don't?

Curt seems to have responded to what probably is becoming an issue more and more each day. Good for them!

I'm not an electrical engineer by any stretch, my understanding is that the LED lights draw much less power (voltage/amperage?) then traditional lights, normally a good thing haha, and that makes the truck computer think there is an issue and it shuts down the trailer lights and brake controller. That Curt adapter has inline resistors that increase the load essentially tricking the truck computer. Dumb that its needed but works. I've ordered this one (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C4AYR3U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) but it hasn't come yet. Hopefully that one works as well as its much more sleek then the Curt.
What's interesting is there is a delay before the truck recognizes the "issue", it can take 15-30 seconds after connecting the trailer before the truck will throw the errors and then shutdown the communication - we thought we had this fixed several times after re-wiring the trailer plug and re-seating all the relevant fuses on the truck because of that delay. I've seen a lot of reports where people would get the errors on the HUD in the truck but the trailer lights would still function, on my trailer at least the lights behaved very strangely, if at all, once the truck threw the error, odd blink patterns and inconsistently functionality.

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