Auto-Start failed in middle of road, at night, blocking traffic, with Semi Truck backing past me in reverse

[VailDan]

I posted a thread, down below, in July asking if anyone had any issues with the auto-stop.start on their Broncos. I did not get much of a response of actual issues, but I was going to disable it in Forscan anyway. I went to do it in Forscan and noticed the 2023s have a new code 023A in Forscan, and read on the forums that people that have this code in 2023s have not been able to disable auto stop-start through Forscan like previous models were able to. I know there is another option to tear the dash apart on my new Bronco, but I thought that was overkill. I tried it out and had no issues with the auto stop/start for months. I sometimes would disable it with the button, but I forgot to tonight.

So tonight I am driving down a 2-lane road and a semi truck has gotten to an underpass that it cannot fit through. There are no street lights on this road, and nowhere for the semi to turn around. Everyone has hazards on and is stopped. I stopped, did not turn off the Bronco, but it was in park with hazards and lights on for maybe 4-5 minutes. The engine was idle and had stopped while I had gotten out to talk to the different cars. We are all going to turn around and try to clear out for the semi so he can backup at least half a mile to where he can turn around. I get back in the Bronco and I shift to Drive and gas will not work as engine is stopped. So I put it back in park and hold brake down and keep trying to hit Stop/Start button to turn it either Off or On, but Bronco will not start. No turning, no clicking, but Bronco keeps saying "Full accesories on." I cannot start it, but keep wondering if it is on/idle and try to put it in Drive again and same thing. Back into Park and I power off lights and everything I can besides hazards, but the Bronco will not start. It shows the red battery light when trying to start(is that normal?). It kept saying "Full Accessory Power" and I have hit OK a dozen times and kept clearing the message, but it never would start, or power off. It almost felt like it thought I did not have brake pressed and was telling me your Bronco has accessory power(power without brake been pushed) for windows, radio, etc. It never said anything else about "hold down Brake to Start". I put it back in park and keep hitting the button for several minutes, but no luck. The Bronco keys are in the pocket of my shorts.

Meanwhile the semi comes far back enough from the tunnel that the other cars in front of me can get by, but the truck cannot get past me, and there are lots of cars behind me. The semi truck driver tells me that he is going to have to try to reverse by me in the wrong lane at night, with no street lights, on an extremely narrow road with absolutely zero border/room for any bikes, etc. on side of the road(long ditch). I did have jumpers, but no pliers, or a light besides my phone, to disconnect/reconnet the battery(which I had read about before and was thinking that is what I needed to try next). Someone behind offered to help me jump, but I told him it was not clicking or showing any other signs of the battery being drained. I just could not turn the vehicle either Off, or On. Luckily, right when the truck was going to attempt to squeeze extremely tight right next to me, I tried for the 50th time and it started really easily. I do not think the battery was ever drained, especially with it only being a few minutes and lights being LEDs, but does anyone have any ideas what might have happened or what I might have been missing? I really thought I looked through the dash and tried everything, but this was almost an epic disaster as the odds of this guy being able to reverse past me cleanly were slim.

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...o-stop-start-issues.74158/page-2#post-1984583

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[Dezperado]

Fob battery? Just a guess. I have no auto repair cred.

 

[VailDan]

I really do not know, but maybe. It did not say no key detected, like it does sometimes when I forget the FOB. Bronco is 6 months old with 2500 miles on it. I did go into Ford app on my iphone and no warnings in there, etc. It was like I could not turn it off either. If anyone knows of a way to cut the power to the entire vehicle, without disconnecting the battery cables, please let me know. Hitting the button did not seem to work I so wish there were still ways to push a hidden button or something to switch off all power, or reset it.

 

[Ducati1098]

Send me your VIN. I can check VHR for any codes.
Whatever happened definitely doesn’t have anything to do with auto start/stop, it almost sounds like some type of electrical concern. Possibly a loose ground or something in the fuse box. We have seen a lot of issues from things like that. There’s no reason it should’ve just shut off in park after you walked away.

 

[VailDan]

Send me your VIN. I can check VHR for any codes.
Whatever happened definitely doesn’t have anything to do with auto start/stop, it almost sounds like some type of electrical concern. Possibly a loose ground or something in the fuse box. We have seen a lot of issues from things like that. There’s no reason it should’ve just shut off in park after you walked away.

Here is where I disagree. If I stop the Bronco with foot on the brake and the engine never stops when Bronco is idle, I do not think I ever have an issue.

I have read it is supposed to auto-restart when put into Park, etc. but the issue here is with the engine auto-stopping(unless I hit the button every time I start the Bronco), and then it also not restarting when I want it to. I should have taken some photos of how crazy the situation was.

 

[Ducati1098]

Here is where I disagree. If I stop the Bronco with foot on the brake and the engine never stops when Bronco is idle, I do not think I ever have an issue.

I have read it is supposed to auto-restart when put into Park, etc. but the issue here is with the engine auto-stopping(unless I hit the button every time I start the Bronco), and then it also not restarting when I want it to. I should have taken some photos of how crazy the situation was.

The auto start/stop system will never shut the vehicle off when in park.
So If you stopped with the engine running, put it in park with the engine still running like you said, then auto start/stop didn’t cause it to shut off.

 

[VailDan]

The auto start/stop system will never shut the vehicle off when in park.
So If you stopped with the engine running, put it in park with the engine still running like you said, then auto start/stop didn’t cause it to shut off.

I am sure the Bronco was stopped for a few seconds/minutes before it went into Park, and the Bronco probably shut the engine off there. I understand that you are saying this is not normal and it must be related to something else, but to me any issues or problems restarting a Bronco in the middle of the road where it dies after coming to a stop is probably related to auto-stop/start.

 

[SuperFord]

You don’t seem to understand how auto stop start works. You already stated your desire to get rid of it. Now you are fixated on it being the cause of your recent problem. I think this is called confirmation bias. I agree with Ducati that something else is more than likely the root cause here. Without codes or getting lucky on a visual inspection, it could be tough to pinpoint the problem due to the intermittent (1x) nature. I’d set up a service appointment to have it checked out though. Just my two cents. I hope you get it resolved.​

 

[ScottyC]

Sounds like you didn't process FORSCAN correctly and the culprit lies there, not in your auto start/stop. From what you described, likely it was a FOB misread.

 

[KABQ]

Are you sure you didn't turn it off out of habit when you got out, then bungled the procedure while trying to restart under pressure? This is my first automatic in over a decade and my first push button start- I could definitely see myself getting it wrong.

ASS is definitely annoying, but it seems like a lot of people on here are just looking for a situation where it tried to kill them.

 

[Rydfree]

I am sure the Bronco was stopped for a few seconds/minutes before it went into Park, and the Bronco probably shut the engine off there. I understand that you are saying this is not normal and it must be related to something else, but to me any issues or problems restarting a Bronco in the middle of the road where it dies after coming to a stop is probably related to auto-stop/start.

I can see it possibly shutting off in the short time before you put it into park. I can hardly tell when A.S.S. shuts it off a lot of time and only realize when it restarts.

 

[userdude]

I don't know what's causing your issues (I wouldn't discount @Ducati1098 too quickly), but if you really want a way to shut off ASS permanently, get the Ford tune. I doubt the updates that changed ForScan were done to circumvent the "cheap" fix, but using the Ford-supported tune will help prevent issues with your dealer's service center.

If you're having issues with your Bronco like this, I would strongly recommend taking it to your dealer or one with a good service center and have them run some diagnostics. If it's safety related, although service centers can make it difficult to get warranty work, you really should focus on getting it diagnosed properly so you hopefully get it addressed.

 

[VailDan]

I have re-thought it a few times and here are some notes. I do not think I ever hit the button and powered it off, but I agree sometimes you can do stuff quick and not notice. I did get out of the Bronco with the key fob in my pocket and got at least 50 yards away, so maybe that was a factor? The only Forscan change I have is that double-honk is disabled, but my lights(always leave on auto) stayed on while I was out of the Bronco. My radio was on when I came back, but engine off. So I think the Bronco stayed on, even though the engine had stopped when Idle. Not sure if this helps, and I do appreciate all feedback,

I am not having any other issues with the Bronco. Drove if this morning and no problems at all, but I am now always disabling the auto stop/start when I remember. The mailbox for my home is on other side of the road at the end of a long driveway, so I do typically stop in my driveway and leave Bronco running with fob in my pocket and cross my street to get the mail each day. Similar behavior, but something was different last night. I either went too far away or maybe a combination of the hazards being on did something else? I would think if fox was an issue it would have told me when I was hitting Start. I kept hitting power button with brake down, and fob in my pocket and it would just say "Full Accessory Power" each time, but engine would never turn on and I tried twice to put it in Drive and no luck there. I cannot imagine having done anything incorrect, but stuff like that should not happen because of driver error, etc.

 

[VailDan]

It looks like the forum moderator put this into Issues and Repairs, but it felt more like a glitch. I have kept the OTA updates disabled for past 5 months because I am an Enterprise Admin for an extremely large company and see all the issues that constantly occur from updates with computers. I re-enabled the OTa updates under settings this morning because I was outstanding on one, and maybe it fixed whatever glitch I had on a newer 2023 that should have had 95% of all the latest updates(The OTA stayed on for the first couple of weeks I had the Bronco)

 

[GTTom]

May not apply but under vehicle settings there is a setting for the car to turn off after 30 mins if unattended. Could you have been out of the vehicle that long?

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