Truck won't go in electric mode

[simon]

Hi everyone,
I have a '22 Powerboost that started driving a little odd and won't go into electric mode, or on occasion it will very briefly when slowing down to stop at a red light. The second you get your foot off the brake at hit the gas with the lightest tap ICE will kick on, or often times after a few seconds at a stop the ICE will fire up. The Power Flow screen will either state "battery charging" or "engine cold", which is odd considering at that point I had been driving about 30 minutes in 90 degree weather. Fuel economy has been around 10 to 15 mpg.

Any ideas what to check? I did recently hardwire a dash cam and tapped fuse #2 for accessory (switched) power and fuse #4 for constant power. Realizing electronics are weird and sensitive, any way this could have done something?

Thanks!

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[Borchelt]

Do you have the original 12V batteries? Ford is known for shipping earlier models with faulty batteries. Don't rely on the dealer tests that the batteries are good. At this point, your batteries are 3+ years old.

I've seen lots of posts on this forum around various issues that low voltage can cause.

 

[tsigwing]

Hi everyone,
I have a '22 Powerboost that started driving a little odd and won't go into electric mode, or on occasion it will very briefly when slowing down to stop at a red light. The second you get your foot off the brake at hit the gas with the lightest tap ICE will kick on, or often times after a few seconds at a stop the ICE will fire up. The Power Flow screen will either state "battery charging" or "engine cold", which is odd considering at that point I had been driving about 30 minutes in 90 degree weather. Fuel economy has been around 10 to 15 mpg.

Any ideas what to check? I did recently hardwire a dash cam and tapped fuse #2 for accessory (switched) power and fuse #4 for constant power. Realizing electronics are weird and sensitive, any way this could have done something?

Thanks!

Did it exhibit this behavior before the dash cam?

 

[Dds2014]

I was getting similar electrical issues with my original Ford battery and low battery messages every couple weeks so I bought a battery maintainer. It would temporarily “fix” the problems but I’d still notice BlueCruise only working sporadically. Swapped the battery for a new one and no longer have any low battery messages and everything is smooth. I thought the battery was also the cause of the harsh transmission shifting but it wasn’t the battery. I posted a thread on the rough shifting which is a separate problem.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Disconnect the dash cam and put both the main 12v and aux batteries on charge until they show full charge. Then drive it and see how it behaves. If it's no longer doing it then the issue is a weak or depleted 12v supply and the truck is just doing what it's supposed to trying to recharge the 12v supply. If this ends up being the case then consider this dash Dongar cam adapter (if yours has the auto dimming rear view) It's accessory hot only but won't cause a parasitic drain on the 12v system.

 

[simon]

Thanks, guys! To answer the questions:

1. yes, both the batter under the hood and the aux battery are the originals
2. The truck did not exhibit this behavior before the dashcam. I'm not convinced it's the dash cam since other members on the forum have hard wired dashcams using these fuses and no reported problems, but I'm still not ruling it out. The behavior started a week or so after the dashcam

I tested both the battery under the hood and the aux battery (I disconnected them before testing) and they both tested good. Is my tester giving fake news? I forgot to mention, that for parking mode on the dashcam I have the low voltage cut out set to 12.2 V.

Disconnect the dash cam and put both the main 12v and aux batteries on charge until they show full charge. Then drive it and see how it behaves. If it's no longer doing it then the issue is a weak or depleted 12v supply and the truck is just doing what it's supposed to trying to recharge the 12v supply. If this ends up being the case then consider this dash Dongar cam adapter (if yours has the auto dimming rear view) It's accessory hot only but won't cause a parasitic drain on the 12v system.

Doesn't the truck have the ability to charge the 12v battery from the high voltage battery when ICE is not running?

 

[simon]

I just plugged in FORscan and have a plethora of errors, though I'm not sure if any are related.

DSM: U0422 - Invalid Data Received From Body Control Module
HVAC: B10B8 - Push Buttons
HVAC: B1083 - Recirculation Damper Motor
PCSM: U0415 - Invalid Data Received From Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS) Control Module

It seems like multiple and unrelated errors do point to a voltage issue. But batteries tested fine?

 

[simon]

Well, in case anyone is wondering, I had the battery connected to a charger for nearly 24 hours. Afterward it still tested good with 915 cranking (not cca this time) amps. I went for a 30 minute drive and nothing changed.

Any ideas on what to check? I am still getting quite a bit of “engine cold” messages in the power flow screen

 

[Borchelt]

Geez Simon,,

Don't know what to tell you. It's a long shot but make sure your fuses are seated properly in the fuse box. When I got my 21 PB, half of them were barely in place.

Good luck!

 

[JohnTrigger]

The 18.07 milliohms on the one test output you show is not good. Should be generally less than 10.

 

[simon]

The 18.07 milliohms on the one test output you show is not good. Should be generally less than 10.

even for a battery that small? It’s fixed at 125 A, so assuming 125 A current * 0.018 ohms = 2.25 V drop at max current, which doesn’t seem totally unreasonable.

Geez Simon,,

Don't know what to tell you. It's a long shot but make sure your fuses are seated properly in the fuse box. When I got my 21 PB, half of them were barely in place.

Good luck!

thank you! I checked the fuses per your suggestion. Some of them were loose and I pressed them back in.

I went on a 9.9 mile drive, which had a good bit of highway driving so I didn’t expect much electric miles. But it didn’t enter electric a single time, not even slowing down to stops. I made an appointment at the dealership and we will see what they say

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