2017 Energi with 9,000 Miles Won't Start

[Paul Creed III]

So, I go to leave work tonight, hop in, and before I can press the start button, all of the dash displays go dark as does the touch screen. The shifter dial has the amber "P" light blinking and I hear a clicking noise coming from the front. Nothing works at all. 

 

Waiting on roadside assistance now. 

[meyersnole]

So, I go to leave work tonight, hop in, and before I can press the start button, all of the dash displays go dark as does the touch screen. The shifter dial has the amber "P" light blinking and I hear a clicking noise coming from the front. Nothing works at all. 

 

Waiting on roadside assistance now. 

 

Missed this earlier. Sounds like your 12v battery died. Hopefully that is all that it was and you are back up and running again!

 

I am guessing they are still putting in 390 amp batteries in these cars. IMO, they really should be using a larger capacity battery. 

Edited April 7, 2017 at 10:25 PM by meyersnole

[Paul Creed III]

Missed this earlier. Sounds like your 12v battery died. Hopefully that is all that it was and you are back up and running again!

 

I am guessing they are still putting in 390 amp batteries in these cars. IMO, they really should be using a larger capacity battery. 

 

Yup, the 12volt battery was dead. Dealership told me that I wasn't driving it right since I switch between EVNow and EVLater as road conditions dictate rather then use Auto all the time from which the mythical alternator can charge the 12v battery. What's interesting is that the telemetrics unit which stopped working in January started working again right away after the 12v battery was recharged. Sounds like there was a software issue that prevented the 12v battery from getting charged when plugged in at night and a full reboot (from a dead 12volt) solved the issue. Seems to me that Ford could have added a simple 12v battery gauge so we know what the thing's up to; I mean, we've had one of those gauges for, what, a 100 years now on "old fashioned" cars. 

[Gkinla]

Actually you were driving it right, it's called battery management. Freeway speed is more efficient using EVLater, city or country roads better off using EVNow, until the drive battery is depleted then the Energi goes into auto mode automatically. There is no alternator to charge the 12v battery, mythical or otherwise, the 12v battery is charged from the HVB, using a DC to DC converter and the final 12v battery charge when plugged in.

 

When I'm stuck in slow city traffic I put the trans in Low. You can almost use the go pedal as one pedal drive. Regen braking becomes more aggressive, sometimes I can go several miles without touching the brakes. It took a while to get used to it but I think it's more efficient using low in the city for slow and go traffic. It seems like the EV miles lasts longer because of the extra regeneration. I know the User Manual states not to use Low for long periods, I'm second guessing that it's referring to Freeway speeds.

 

When I was having trouble with my 2013 FFH, "System Off to Save Battery", I bought a cigar lighter DVM to monitor the 12v battery. 4 year ownership, 4 replacement batteries. Still use it today on my 2106 FFE. One year ownership 9500 miles 12v battery still okay.

 

Edited April 11, 2017 at 01:23 AM by Gkinla

[Paul Creed III]

Actually you were driving it right, it's called battery management. Freeway speed is more efficient using EVLater, city or country roads better off using EVNow, until the drive battery is depleted then the Energi goes into auto mode automatically. There is no alternator to charge the 12v battery, mythical or otherwise, the 12v battery is charged from the HVB, using a DC to DC converter and the final 12v battery charge when plugged in.

 

When I'm stuck in slow city traffic I put the trans in Low. You can almost use the go pedal as one pedal drive. Regen braking becomes more aggressive, sometimes I can go several miles without touching the brakes. It took a while to get used to it but I think it's more efficient using low in the city for slow and go traffic. It seems like the EV miles lasts longer because of the extra regeneration. I know the User Manual states not to use Low for long periods, I'm second guessing that it's referring to Freeway speeds.

 

When I was having trouble with my 2013 FFH, "System Off to Save Battery", I bought a cigar lighter DVM to monitor the 12v battery. 4 year ownership, 4 replacement batteries. Still use it today on my 2106 FFE. One year ownership 9500 miles 12v battery still okay.

 

 

I've used Low a few times; need to get into the habit of using it more when in the city.

 

What cigarette lighter DVM did you buy? That might be a good investment. 

 

BTW, I continue to drive it by switching modes myself. 

[meyersnole]

I've used Low a few times; need to get into the habit of using it more when in the city.

 

What cigarette lighter DVM did you buy? That might be a good investment. 

 

BTW, I continue to drive it by switching modes myself. 

 

I bought this one, looks similar.

 

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B007Q2HOYK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Gkinla]

I use this one now, the other only had one 2.1a, 5v port. This one has two high power USB ports.

 

https://smile.amazon.com/Charger-Display-Voltmeter-Adapter-Portable/dp/B01N9KF1K7/ref=sr_1_83?ie=UTF8&qid=1492022247&sr=8-83&keywords=cigarette+power+usb+volt+meter

Edited April 12, 2017 at 06:36 PM by Gkinla

[Paul Creed III]

I purchased a cigarette lighter 12volt monitor. When the car initially wakes up after opening the doors (with the charger now unplugged) and before pressing the Start button, voltage is close to 12; once the Start button is engaged and the car is "running" on either the HVB or the ICE, the voltage remains in the mid-14's.  

[Paul Creed III]

Update: after driving yesterday with no voltage issues and leaving it parked overnight at a hotel unplugged, I got up to 35 degree weather and a "system off to save power" message on the touchscreen with the voltmeter noting 10.5volts for a couple seconds right after pressing the Start button and with the voltage then increasing to over 14 as the HVB took over. 

 

I'm going to keep a close eye on it but I see a dealership visit in my future very soon. 

[Paul Creed III]

In May, I had to take the car in for more "system off to save power" messages and two software updates were applied to resolve the issue. Last week, the "system off..." message reappeared and the car is back at the dealer. No new software updates and the 12volt battery tests fine. 

[Paul Creed III]

Barely one month since the last visit to the dealership for the "System Off to Save Battery", it is occurring several hundred miles from home. I am leaving the car "on" all the time so I don't have to rely on the 12volt battery until I get home.

[Paul Creed III]

Dealer had the car for a week. They finally replaced the 12volt battery after it failed testing, installed an update to the BCM, and did a master reset of Sync stack. 

[jj2me]

2017 FFE here, also with restarting problems (5 occurrencess within the last ~300 miles), but with no low battery warnings. Instead, the car goes crazy with chimes and warnings popping up, like this last time, "Stop Safely Now", "See Manual" (with wrench icon), Pre-collision assist not available", "Shift to Park", "Service Advanced Track", "Hill Start Assist Not Available". I fiddle around with pushing the Start button (blinking green), opening and closing the door, etc., until it finally starts (within 2 to 20 minutes).

 

The 12V battery was replaced after the first two occurrences, the dealer said they found it had an intermittent short. Fault codes are network communications, or none in 3 of the 5 occurrences. The check engine light comes on (at least once I saw a red battery icon also), but in those 3 occurrences of no faults retained, it goes off after I get the car to start.

 

I haven't found any symptoms like that in my searches. Two failures to start after the new 12V seemed like they might be 12V battery charge related. One followed about 100 miles of hybrid-only driving with 0% HVB (the dealer used it all up, and I went directly on vacation without the charging cord), so maybe the 12V couldn't be charged by the HVB? Another might have happened while the 12V battery was low (a few days later my Battery Tender reported less than 80% charge). But neither gave a low battery indication, and fiddling got the car started. Other causes of two occurrences (one before, one after the 12V replacement) might be restarting with the ScanTool OBDLink LX in the car.

 

Great car if I can ever get this sorted out.

[jj2me]

Found and fixed my Energi's chimes/warnings/no-start problem, due to the help of ScanTool.net's Brian in their forum.

 

It turns out that this is a common problem with Torque Pro when it does automatic protocol detection.  The fix is to connect and find out what protocol is used with our car (Settings icon --> Vehicle Profile --> Edit --> scroll to Preferred OBD2 Protocol [mine said ISO-15765-4CAN11/500]), and then set that rather than automatic detection (Adapter Status --> OBD Protocol).

 

The ScanTool OBDLink LX, which is supposed to go to sleep after you shut off the car, also has an issue with Torque Pro (it doesn't sleep), since Torque Pro by default changes the sleep settings.  I haven't tested this successfully yet, but the instructions are to reset the bluetooth adapter (hold button for 15 seconds), and in Torque Pro, check the item that tells it not to sleep (Settings/gear icon --> Settings --> OBD2 Adapter Settings --> ScanTool.net (OBDLink) Power Savings [check this box]).

 

I'm thrilled to have this nice car back acting normally.

[muzicman61]

So you're saying it was the OBD2 scanner that was the problem and not the vehicle itself?

[murphy]

This is not the first time an OBD II scanner has caused problems on the buss..  Are you aware that it must be disconnected to run a Vehicle Health Report?

[jj2me]

So you're saying it was the OBD2 scanner that was the problem and not the vehicle itself?

 

A hopeful "Yes."  (Technically it's Torque Pro that's initiating the problem I experienced.)  I've since found a similar problem and cause in a Subaru Forester forum, so it indeed seems that it's a common problem with Torque Pro's automatic protocol detection.

 

I only say "hopeful" because two of my last three occurrences were without the OBDII dongle inserted.  Those two were minor (less chimes and warnings, no check engine light), and I was able to get driving in a minute or two.  Maybe those were due to remnants of remembered state from the other failures?  Or odd glitches due to the battery replacement and running hybrid mode for so long?

 

EDIT: P.S. I'll mostly be pulling the bluetooth adapter rather than depending on the OBDLink LX's sleep function, because their FAQ says it sleeps after 2 hours.  I expected something like 5 minutes till sleep.  Too risky, i think, with our weak 12V batteries.

 

 

 

By default, OBDLink is configured to turn off automatically, after 2 hours of inactivity. In this Sleep mode, the ‘Power’ LED flashes briefly, once every 3 seconds.

Edited August 19, 2017 at 04:44 PM by jj2me