Mr. Fusion Posted November 15, 2013 at 01:56 AM Report Share Posted November 15, 2013 at 01:56 AM I've had the annoying Auto window up/down losing it's auto function, and the Fob not associating with the memory settings since day one. I always figured I'd get it fixed when I had to take it in for something bigger, but 9,000 miles later, the car has been flawless (Except above annoyances), so I decided to take it in just for these issues. They said they "reprogrammed the computer" to fix the issues. Sounds right... I pick up the car, and leave with a drained big battery - So now I'm P1ssed... I get home and notice the passenger door lock LED doesn't light up. Of course I have to now bring it back in, and set up appointment 2 weeks out. 2 days later, I get a "Power steering warning" message while on the highway. Everything seems fine, I click OK. I park (Crooked) and have to start the car back up, and now I get "Lane keeping system failure" message and "Steering loss. Stop safely" message. And now NO POWER STEERING whatsoever. I drive the car 40 miles from work to the dealer, w/out power steering (Way harder than driving a non power steering car) End of following day I get the "We have our best guy on it all day, and can't figure out what's wrong - need it another day" Next day they call to say they "Reprogrammed the computer" again to fix it, but want to keep it an extra day to make sure. I finally get it tonight, and LED lock works and PS works. About 4 miles into my drive (Outside air around 45 degrees) I click AUTO and 73 degrees, and it's now blasting cold air on my feet. Now, the AUTO is acting like it has the Fan override going on. I turn around to take it back. They instantly start with the "Well it's supposed to do that" line. I said I'm leaving it - check it out in the morning. All of this because I was getting irritated with the Auto windows losing memory. Anyone experience this??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TX NRG Posted November 15, 2013 at 04:41 AM Report Share Posted November 15, 2013 at 04:41 AM Wow. Sorry they messed up your car. Did they perform TSB 13-10-4 for your window problem? http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/pubs/content/~WT/~MUS~LEN/3545/tsb13-10-04.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Fusion Posted November 15, 2013 at 05:04 PM Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2013 at 05:04 PM Well, big shocker... The dealer is saying that this is normal. Heading out there this afternoon. Would be nice to have a TSB to show him, but can't find anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Energized Posted November 15, 2013 at 06:45 PM Report Share Posted November 15, 2013 at 06:45 PM When set to Auto, and when temps are colder outside than inside, the air will flow to the feet, not the vents. Depending if there is heat available from the ICE or just electric heat available will determine how fast the "cold" air feels "warm". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Fusion Posted November 15, 2013 at 11:06 PM Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2013 at 11:06 PM Understood. I have 4 vehicles that have "Auto" EATC. In 45 degree outside climate, the second I turned on Auto, it blew frigid cold air on my feet as if the fan was in the High setting. I powered it off, turned on by hitting Auto, and the same thing happened. After a minute or two, it started getting warm. I went to the dealer today, and it worked fine. 50 degree outside air, cold car. Turned on Auto, and nothing blew out (Maybe a tiny bit of air) until 2-3 minutes, then it cranked out the heat. They didn't do any kind of fix, so I will monitor it and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Energized Posted November 16, 2013 at 08:53 PM Report Share Posted November 16, 2013 at 08:53 PM (edited) Does the auto up feature retain its functionality? Edited November 16, 2013 at 09:20 PM by Energized Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Fusion Posted November 16, 2013 at 09:43 PM Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2013 at 09:43 PM (edited) How many of those 4 Auto EATC's have electric heaters? None. My Energi doesn't have an electric heater. It has an electric element that heats up the coolant, just like an ICE would. The electric Focus has an electric heater, but that's not one of my 4. Edited November 18, 2013 at 10:40 PM by Mr. Fusion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FusionEnergi Posted November 18, 2013 at 10:05 PM Report Share Posted November 18, 2013 at 10:05 PM (edited) Yep, the first time they reprogrammed my computer it went wacko, luckily I was able to return it the very next morning and have them correct it. Now all is well. I will now only take in when necessary and will have them complete all issues at one time. Edited November 18, 2013 at 10:05 PM by FusionEnergi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffPrice Posted November 23, 2013 at 05:55 PM Report Share Posted November 23, 2013 at 05:55 PM (edited) 2 days later, I get a "Power steering warning" message while on the highway. Everything seems fine, I click OK. I park (Crooked) and have to start the car back up, and now I get "Lane keeping system failure" message and "Steering loss. Stop safely" message. And now NO POWER STEERING whatsoever. I drive the car 40 miles from work to the dealer, w/out power steering (Way harder than driving a non power steering car) End of following day I get the "We have our best guy on it all day, and can't figure out what's wrong - need it another day" Next day they call to say they "Reprogrammed the computer" again to fix it, but want to keep it an extra day to make sure. I too have had the power steering issue. Mine occurred exactly as yours did except I was about 4 hours from home on a Sunday. I drove home with no power steering and to the dealership the next day. They found a bad part but of course had to order it so I had a rental for 2 days. No recurrence of the trouble. Edited November 23, 2013 at 05:57 PM by JeffPrice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickrye Posted February 15, 2014 at 04:15 AM Report Share Posted February 15, 2014 at 04:15 AM My wife's 2013 Energi is has been in the shop for the past three days due to the "Power Steering Fault" and subsequent "Power Steering Failure" issue. The error tripped during a cold snap here in Central Texas (low 30's). The dealer found that one of the tires was down to 28psi (should be 35)...and claims that low tire pressure can trigger an internal "high friction" error code in the power steering monitoring system. I'm not buying it as the warning first posted during highway travel...not during a low speed turn. After the failure, my wife had to have the vehicle towed to the dealer (3000 miles on car). The dealer relayed that they contacted Ford and ended up resetting error code to make the problem go away. Unfortunately - this is NOT a resolved issue from my point of view. Very concerned. For those of you on the forum that have seen this issue, what has your experience been after the repair? Curious how big this issue is. The fact that the dealer does not have a good understanding of the root cause of a potentially life threatening issue has put a very dark cloud over an otherwise fantastic car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Fusion Posted February 15, 2014 at 04:22 AM Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2014 at 04:22 AM I guess I never followed up on this... After my reprogram, the power steering failed again. This time they replaced the rack. No problems since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TujuMaster Posted February 15, 2014 at 04:37 AM Report Share Posted February 15, 2014 at 04:37 AM Wow, who knew there was so much software in this car that could make this thing go crazy? I had my car reprogrammed and all I had was a mirror that would always reset it's position on the drivers side. It did that until I restored it back to memory. But still, it's kind of scary in a way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickrye Posted February 15, 2014 at 09:16 AM Report Share Posted February 15, 2014 at 09:16 AM Thanks Mr Fusion. Is there anyone else on this forum that has seen this issue, and had the dealer reset/reprogram the software had the problem resolve without resorting to the replacement of the steering rack? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickrye Posted February 15, 2014 at 04:19 PM Report Share Posted February 15, 2014 at 04:19 PM I wanted to give the group an update. I picked up the car this morning and got to read a "hotline assistance request" from the dealership tech to Ford. In short, it said that the tire pressure sensor illuminates a light on the dash at ~25% below the door placard value. On my car the placard says the tires should be filled to 35psi....so the sensor should illuminate at 26psi. But, my power steering shut down when the tire pressure was at 28psi....so there was no dashboard warning prior to being stranded without power steering. In the end, the recommendation from Ford is to check tire pressure manually...don't rely on the dashboard indicator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Fusion Posted February 15, 2014 at 05:07 PM Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2014 at 05:07 PM It's funny you mention low psi... I always set my hybrid tires to the max psi, but my passenger rear tire also has a slow leak. Dealer couldn't find the leak. It actually kicked on a low psi warning during this zero degree run. I literally couldn't add air because the valve was frozen. I used a heat gun to un-freeze it. Then moisture spritzed out of the valve. But since mine was on the rear, I can't see how that would have ruined my rack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meyersnole Posted February 15, 2014 at 06:50 PM Report Share Posted February 15, 2014 at 06:50 PM I wanted to give the group an update. I picked up the car this morning and got to read a "hotline assistance request" from the dealership tech to Ford. In short, it said that the tire pressure sensor illuminates a light on the dash at ~25% below the door placard value. On my car the placard says the tires should be filled to 35psi....so the sensor should illuminate at 26psi. But, my power steering shut down when the tire pressure was at 28psi....so there was no dashboard warning prior to being stranded without power steering. In the end, the recommendation from Ford is to check tire pressure manually...don't rely on the dashboard indicator. This is disappointing. My Acura showed the pressure in each tire, and was pretty accurate. I kinda miss that. 25% is quite a lot, I think they should rethink this boundary in a future software update. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted February 15, 2014 at 07:10 PM Report Share Posted February 15, 2014 at 07:10 PM All cars are now mandated to have a pressure too low sensor in each tire as a result of the SUV rollover problem years ago that was blamed on low tire pressure.An actual pressure readout is up to the manufacturer to provide but it would still have to display the warning if the tires were too low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meyersnole Posted February 15, 2014 at 07:36 PM Report Share Posted February 15, 2014 at 07:36 PM My question is, what is too low? 25% seems a bit much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted February 15, 2014 at 08:57 PM Report Share Posted February 15, 2014 at 08:57 PM Here is the government documentation for TPMS. http://www.safercar.gov/Vehicle+Shoppers/Tires/Tires+Rating/TPMS It doesn't specify what "low" is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meyersnole Posted February 16, 2014 at 01:14 AM Report Share Posted February 16, 2014 at 01:14 AM Love how much, even after a year, I continue to learn on this message board. Went out and checked all my tires, most were pretty close 32-33 but one was at 30. Guess I won't put so much trust in that light going forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordService Posted February 17, 2014 at 02:32 PM Report Share Posted February 17, 2014 at 02:32 PM ... After the failure, my wife had to have the vehicle towed to the dealer (3000 miles on car). The dealer relayed that they contacted Ford and ended up resetting error code to make the problem go away. Unfortunately - this is NOT a resolved issue from my point of view. Very concerned. For those of you on the forum that have seen this issue, what has your experience been after the repair? Curious how big this issue is. The fact that the dealer does not have a good understanding of the root cause of a potentially life threatening issue has put a very dark cloud over an otherwise fantastic car. rickrye, It sounds like your dealer, with the tech hotline, got everything all squared away for you. If you need anything in the future, don't hesitate to reach out to me for help! Ashley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickrye Posted February 20, 2014 at 01:16 AM Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 at 01:16 AM Thanks Ashley, I would be interested in any information as to weather or not there will be an update to the firmware that allows the power steering fault to be reset by the driver if the air pressure is restored. It is pretty concerning that owners are currently required to go to the dealership to reset this "fault". Any slow leak that would increase tire wear on a non-electronic power steering car is not a show stopper....on this car, it appears that if I drive too far from a major city with a dealer, I could get myself into trouble with the current software. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordService Posted February 20, 2014 at 02:33 PM Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 at 02:33 PM Thanks Ashley, I would be interested in any information as to weather or not there will be an update to the firmware that allows the power steering fault to be reset by the driver if the air pressure is restored. It is pretty concerning that owners are currently required to go to the dealership to reset this "fault". Any slow leak that would increase tire wear on a non-electronic power steering car is not a show stopper....on this car, it appears that if I drive too far from a major city with a dealer, I could get myself into trouble with the current software. rickrye, Designers and engineers are always looking for ways to improve vehicles, but the things they are working on are considered proprietary information and can't be shared. Your dealer's service manager is going to be among the first to find out about any updates, so I recommend keeping in touch with him or her. Ashley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rexracer Posted February 20, 2014 at 06:58 PM Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 at 06:58 PM My question is, what is too low? 25% seems a bit much. 25%, so 26psi is not to low to be safe, and thats the problem with the setup. Its only there to set off a safety flag, not to give constant feedback like Acura does (I had 2, and it was great always knowing what your PSI was). on our race cars we regularly could run down to 20psi or lower depending on the conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted February 20, 2014 at 07:04 PM Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 at 07:04 PM It depends on the vehicle. For a top heavy SUV 26 PSI is way too low. It's a federally mandated band-aid. If the car doesn't have a system that displays all of the actual tire pressures it is worthless.A high quality tire pressure gauge is not that expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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