I Can't Stand This "Something is Plugged into the Bed" Message

[Snippy]

I'm working on a permanent solution in my bed for a fridge & portable power station. Everything works as it should but EVERY TIME I turn on the truck and attempt to shift out of park It locks itself out and I have to wait for a message to appear on the dash that says something along the lines of "something is plugged into the bed press ok to shift out of park".

@Ford Motor Company I get it, it's a safety message to ensure that you don't drive off when you're plugged into something outside of the bed. Can we please create a setting in the settings panel to overwrite / dismiss this? To me it almost defeats the purpose of having the pro power on board.

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[Snakebitten]

Imagine your post just a decade ago.
Or better yet, before Y2K.

Now imagine someone reading the post.
"He's doing what? Is he saying that there's 120V residential electrical outlets in the bed of his truck? And in addition, his dashboard knows he has something plugged into the outlet? Get outta here! That's not possible"

 

[fordtruckman2003]

I remember when this was added. We know someone somewhere drove off with something plugged in the back of truck. No one here has fessed up to dragging power tools down the street yet though.

At least one person kept saying it would never let them shift out of park. I believe they were starting truck and getting out to plug in then getting back in truck.

If it is a switch to tell when door is open you could probably bypass that. If it is detection based off something actually plugged in I think you'll have to live with it.

Might be something unknown we can adjust in Forscan for this too? I know it was added in software even for the lowly 400w trucks.

 

[HammaMan]

Imagine your post just a decade ago.
Or better yet, before Y2K.

I did have a 2kW inverter that I installed into my 08 Tundra so it was possible. Just no OEM decided to really up the game until the last few years.

I think if the tailgate is up that it shouldn't throw the error w/ no drive thing -- it should just toss you a reminder that something is plugged into the bed (w/ gate up) and just go away after 10 seconds. It's not unheard of to actually have things plugged into the bed. Very obvious setup for those w/ tool battery chargers or a little refer.

 

[Snippy]

Unfortunately it happens with the tail gate up as well. I’ve reached out to folks who know about forscan, and hopefully someone can find something.

 

[Pedaldude]

I don’t have to worry about that but the constant warnings and chimes when backing up a trailer are equally obnoxious. Yes! I know that reverse braking assist and the parking sensors are unavailable. That’s why I’m getting in and out of my truck and putting the transmission in park! The most stupid part of that, is even if you still disable those features in the driver assist menu; the warnings persist!

As above, welcome to the 21st century and get used to all the annoying nanny features and just feel lucky that they still let us drive our own trucks.

Hopefully sanity can return soon but I doubt it!

 

[fordtruckman2003]

Unfortunately it happens with the tail gate up as well. I’ve reached out to folks who know about forscan, and hopefully someone can find something.

We need to pull asbuilt from some of the VIN numbers people post that are way behind on OTA. Give a better chance of finding it, if it even exists in there. I think it is just a software enabling of what was always possible and not in the asbuilt but who knows. ?‍

 

[HammaMan]

Just go read the forscan spreadsheet and flag things of interest.

 

[fordtruckman2003]

Just go read the forscan spreadsheet and flag things of interest.

Not everything is on there.

 

[Sojourner]

Nanny messages b/c we live in a Nanny State where all the l'il nannies need someone to always be watching over them. The fruits of helicopter parenting. Wanting all the benefits and none of the responsibilities that go with being an actual, mature adult.

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. "Your door is open," "the tailgate is down," "the vehicle is not in park," "check your rear seat for occupants," and on and on.

We, as a species, are clearly stupider and more fearful than at any time previous. Pathetic.

Ban the nanny messages and bring back the colossal metal monkey bars! And get off my lawn!

 

[Snippy]

ok so quick update. Possibly made some progress today. Turns out there are magnets embedded into the outlet cover door and then on the main outlet area. That’s how the truck determines if it’s open.

Taping a magnet near the outlets themselves (see pic) disables the message on the dash and the truck no longer stops you from shifting out of park.

Here’s the problem. When there is no magnet you get the prompt on the dash stopping you from shifting out of park, but you ALSO get a message on the 12” screen that says “something is plugged into the bed outlets would you like to turn on generator mode”.

With the magnet in place the message on the 12” screen no longer appears because the truck thinks nothing is plugged in. So you have to manually turn on pro power onboard every single time you drive.

My goal is to be able to shift out of park without a warning AND get prompted to turn on generator mode.

 

[HammaMan]

ok so quick update. Possibly made some progress today. Turns out there are magnets embedded into the outlet cover door and then on the main outlet area. That’s how the truck determines if it’s open.

Taping a magnet near the outlets themselves (see pic) disables the message on the dash and the truck no longer stops you from shifting out of park.

Here’s the problem. When there is no magnet you get the prompt on the dash stopping you from shifting out of park, but you ALSO get a message on the 12” screen that says “something is plugged into the bed outlets would you like to turn on generator mode”.

With the magnet in place the message on the 12” screen no longer appears because the truck thinks nothing is plugged in. So you have to manually turn on pro power onboard every single time you drive.

My goal is to be able to shift out of park without a warning AND get prompted to turn on generator mode.

Good catch on the magnet tell

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