Engine won’t turn off in generator mode. Dealer has no fix. Help!

[Fordbab1]

My F150 Powerboost engine will not turn off when in generator mode even with nothing plugged in. Sequence of events are, press start switch and engine does not come on, put in generator mode and engine stays off till there is what I assume a charge needed and engine comes on, problem is it stays on…..like for hours, even with nothing plugged in. It is still supplying power to the outlets when running though. Have checked all fuses. Tried my friends powerboost with exact same items plugged in pulling only about 1000 watts and it did the usual 10 mins or so off one minute on. Anyone else have this issue and have a fix for it? Took to dealer and they were easily able to recreate the issue but they response was “we can’t fix it since it isn’t throwing any codes.” I was getting an alert on my phone though of “ground fault detected even when they tried it at dealer and it kept running in generator mode. Dealer told me to call Ford which I did and they basically provided no help other than offering to submit a buyback request offer. Maybe they know there is a major issue with the generator mode and are just offering this when the issue arises. Frustrating as only traded the old F150 in for the new one bc of the generator. Any help would be appreciated!!

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[JEB]

This is a long shot. Get your starting (not hybrid) battery tested. If it’s weak, the generator might be running in an attempt to recharge it. It keeps running because the starter won’t hold the charge. As I said, long shot. But a lot of weird electrical stuff is caused by a bad starting battery.

 

[UGADawg96]

Just to verify, you have the 7.2kW or 2.4kW ?

 

[Ford Motor Company]

My F150 Powerboost engine will not turn off when in generator mode even with nothing plugged in. Sequence of events are, press start switch and engine does not come on, put in generator mode and engine stays off till there is what I assume a charge needed and engine comes on, problem is it stays on…..like for hours, even with nothing plugged in. It is still supplying power to the outlets when running though. Have checked all fuses. Tried my friends powerboost with exact same items plugged in pulling only about 1000 watts and it did the usual 10 mins or so off one minute on. Anyone else have this issue and have a fix for it? Took to dealer and they were easily able to recreate the issue but they response was “we can’t fix it since it isn’t throwing any codes.” I was getting an alert on my phone though of “ground fault detected even when they tried it at dealer and it kept running in generator mode. Dealer told me to call Ford which I did and they basically provided no help other than offering to submit a buyback request offer. Maybe they know there is a major issue with the generator mode and are just offering this when the issue arises. Frustrating as only traded the old F150 in for the new one bc of the generator. Any help would be appreciated!!

Hey there. We definitely want to take a closer look at your truck's generator issue. Could you please send over a private message with your VIN and the name/location of your local Ford dealer to get started?

 

[catfishkid1986]

Did you ever get a resolution to this? With the storms last Friday here, I have started having the same issue. Fri and Sat night the truck operated normally, cycling on and off. Only used a quarter of a tank of gas in 36+ hrs. Sunday night it ran constantly for I'm guessing 15 hrs, because it used over a third of a tank. I even unplugged everything and watched the truck continue to run for 10 minutes and not shut off. The engine compartment felt warm, but the temp gage read TDC as normal when fully warmed up.

Thanks for any input.

 

[EricR]

Connect a quality battery charger to your 12v battery and then plug it into a PPoB outlet?

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Did you ever get a resolution to this? With the storms last Friday here, I have started having the same issue. Fri and Sat night the truck operated normally, cycling on and off. Only used a quarter of a tank of gas in 36+ hrs. Sunday night it ran constantly for I'm guessing 15 hrs, because it used over a third of a tank. I even unplugged everything and watched the truck continue to run for 10 minutes and not shut off. The engine compartment felt warm, but the temp gage read TDC as normal when fully warmed up.

Thanks for any input.

Hi there – send a message to us with your VIN and approximate mileage. l'll look into this for you. Thanks!

 

[DBL R]

This is a long shot. Get your starting (not hybrid) battery tested. If it’s weak, the generator might be running in an attempt to recharge it. It keeps running because the starter won’t hold the charge. As I said, long shot. But a lot of weird electrical stuff is caused by a bad starting battery.

This is what I’ve ran into. If I’ve let the truck sit for over 7-10 days then try to immediately use hybrid or mobile generator the truck will stay running for a significant amount of time (60+ minutes) before allowing hybrid or mobile generator functions. Ford’s battery management doesn’t allow the 12v battery to charge past a fairly low percentage (I believe close to 80% off the top of my head). So a better battery or changing battery management with forscan can certainly help if this is the cause.

 

[Lipscomb Soccer Dad]

Did you ever get a resolution to this? With the storms last Friday here, I have started having the same issue. Fri and Sat night the truck operated normally, cycling on and off. Only used a quarter of a tank of gas in 36+ hrs. Sunday night it ran constantly for I'm guessing 15 hrs, because it used over a third of a tank. I even unplugged everything and watched the truck continue to run for 10 minutes and not shut off. The engine compartment felt warm, but the temp gage read TDC as normal when fully warmed up.

Thanks for any input.

I’ve had this exact same problem. I bought this specific truck so that I could use my truck camper off grid. Did you ever find a solution for this? If so, please share. Thank you!
Will

 

[lars]

I’ve had this exact same problem. I bought this specific truck so that I could use my truck camper off grid. Did you ever find a solution for this? If so, please share. Thank you!
Will

Try doing generator mode with AC inside the car turned off. I seem to recall some people having better success with that.

 

[Lipscomb Soccer Dad]

Try doing generator mode with AC inside the car turned off. I seem to recall some people having better success with that.

I should have mentioned that. I do have the AC off inside the cab so that I’m pulling very little power from inside the cab. It seems like Ford doesn’t have a fix for this issue. Thanks

 

[Fishstxy]

Same issue here very frustrating. I’m camping off grid with truck in generator mode. If I leave it connected all night it will cycle normally for several hours but eventually it will fail to turn off and settle into perpetual idle.

I can now tell exactly when this happens. Normally it will start, hover at 1200 rpm for a minute then go high idle for about 90 seconds, then shutdown. When it fails it completes the high idle but instead of shutting down it falls into a normal idle and won’t shut off.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

I’ve had this exact same problem. I bought this specific truck so that I could use my truck camper off grid. Did you ever find a solution for this? If so, please share. Thank you!
Will

Hello there! Are you still experiencing this engine concern? If so, I would like to look into it on my end. Please send over a private message with your VIN and the name/location of your local Ford dealer.

 

[TravelingMike]

Hey guys, this started happening to my truck too. I purchased this vehicle for the sole purpose to go dry camping with our trailer. We planned to do a bucket list of parks through the US (Zion, Yellow Stone, Grand Teton, national parks) and stay at some state parks along the way. Up here in Ontario Canada there aren't to many places that don't have power hookups but I have due to power outages had to use it's generator mode to run the aircon twice, and it worked flawlessly last year, this week was a different story. The area that we are camping in had a planned power outage for 6 hours on a day that had an extreme heat warning. This is what this truck was built for so I started up the generator mode. The engine did not start up right away, it took about 5 minutes before it did but after about 30 minutes I realized it's not turning off. Has there been any updates about this problem?
The truck is a 2022 XLT 3.5L with the 7.2 Kilowatt inverter.

 

[travisN000]

No updates or solutions that I have found, other than to just shut off the truck for a few minutes, and restart it. I've had mine work normally for 4 days during a ice storm power outage early this year, but on the evening of the 4th day it started running continuously... I've also had it do this after only a few hours of use. No predictable pattern that I can tell

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