Auto Start/Stop Malfunction = Engine shutoff

[Burnt350]

Greeting fellow Bronconians. I have an issue on my 22MY Bronco and I'm hoping someone can shed some light into it. 2 Dealership visits and no resolution because of the whole "we can't duplicate the issue" and no DTC's / Fault codes are being generated. Now onto the situation.

This has happened a few times now. I'll come to a stop and auto start/stop will activate like normal. However, when I let off the brake to start start driving again, instead of the engine cranking back over, we'll hear a loud high pitch whine and then the engine just shuts off. The instrument panel will tell us to change gears from D > P > push start and then back to D and I'm on my merry way. I recently had the alternator replaced by Ford under the water logging TSB. Alternator is pushing out a stead 14+ volts. I had Ford test our battery and they said the battery tested fine, but did need a charge, so they charged it and put it back in. Last night, the Bronco died again with my wife and kid on the road this time. Also a few nights ago, the wife was at her mothers house and when leaving it wouldn't crank. We contacted Ford Roadside for a tow, but my FIL "Father in Law" was able to jump her off so we could get it home.

1. I have been putting it off, but I am going to disable the auto start/stop. That seems to be the culprit but what exactly is making it malfunction and why aren't any troubleshooting codes being registered.

2 . I hooked up FS while driving the kid to school today to monitor battery activity and noticed that while driving, the battery current is reading 0 amps but is between 13-14V. When auto stop/start kicks on, battery amps go high because its cranking and then falls back down to 0. Is that normal? Ford said the battery was good but I'm wondering if they only checked the voltage. I'm also seeing that the battery state charge is 80-81%.

This is driving us bananas. Any insight would be appreciated.

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[CarmeloS]

And people wonder why we want to disable them and install A.S.S. plugs

Curious though, my parents range rovers had a physical switch in the back I pulled, and Jeeps have something to pull out as well, is there a physical component to ASS we can remove or disable?

 

[adamruiz2001]

And people wonder why we want to disable them and install A.S.S. plugs

Curious though, my parents range rovers had a physical switch in the back I pulled, and Jeeps have something to pull out as well, is there a physical component to ASS we can remove or disable?

Pretty sure you can disable it through Forscan, I could be wrong, but I think it can be done

 

[CarmeloS]

Pretty sure you can disable it through Forscan, I could be wrong, but I think it can be done

Oh definitely, just need a spare laptop for it as mine probably cant handle it

still, installed the A.s.s. Plug day 2, no regerts

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Greeting fellow Bronconians. I have an issue on my 22MY Bronco and I'm hoping someone can shed some light into it. 2 Dealership visits and no resolution because of the whole "we can't duplicate the issue" and no DTC's / Fault codes are being generated. Now onto the situation.

This has happened a few times now. I'll come to a stop and auto start/stop will activate like normal. However, when I let off the brake to start start driving again, instead of the engine cranking back over, we'll hear a loud high pitch whine and then the engine just shuts off. The instrument panel will tell us to change gears from D > P > push start and then back to D and I'm on my merry way. I recently had the alternator replaced by Ford under the water logging TSB. Alternator is pushing out a stead 14+ volts. I had Ford test our battery and they said the battery tested fine, but did need a charge, so they charged it and put it back in. Last night, the Bronco died again with my wife and kid on the road this time. Also a few nights ago, the wife was at her mothers house and when leaving it wouldn't crank. We contacted Ford Roadside for a tow, but my FIL "Father in Law" was able to jump her off so we could get it home.

1. I have been putting it off, but I am going to disable the auto start/stop. That seems to be the culprit but what exactly is making it malfunction and why aren't any troubleshooting codes being registered.

2 . I hooked up FS while driving the kid to school today to monitor battery activity and noticed that while driving, the battery current is reading 0 amps but is between 13-14V. When auto stop/start kicks on, battery amps go high because its cranking and then falls back down to 0. Is that normal? Ford said the battery was good but I'm wondering if they only checked the voltage. I'm also seeing that the battery state charge is 80-81%.

This is driving us bananas. Any insight would be appreciated.

Hi there! Will you send us a message with your VIN and your local Ford dealer? I can look into things on my end.

 

[KABQ]

This doesn't sound like an ASS problem, but I know everyone loves to hate on it. The ASS should automatically disable itself if the battery is below a certain charge state. The high-pitched noise makes it sound to me like the starter isn't engaging the flywheel like it should. Since it only happens occasionally, it could be a chipped tooth on the flywheel, and putting it in park moves it just enough for the starter to catch again. Just an idea.

 

[JohnnyBronco]

This doesn't sound like an ASS problem, but I know everyone loves to hate on it. The ASS should automatically disable itself if the battery is below a certain charge state. The high-pitched noise makes it sound to me like the starter isn't engaging the flywheel like it should. Since it only happens occasionally, it could be a chipped tooth on the flywheel, and putting it in park moves it just enough for the starter to catch again. Just an idea.

Exactly. High pitched whine is the starter bendix not being thrown into the flywheel splines. Lack of lubricant on the ramps of the bendix or intermittent low voltage or recalcitrant solenoid.

Have the dealer first check wiring tightness at starter and solenoid. Don't know if Ford ever moved away from fender mounted solenoids to integrated in the starter like Everyone else. (Tells how ancient I am)

Then if nothing loose found in wiring they should pull the starter

 

[Burnt350]

Hi there! Will you send us a message with your VIN and your local Ford dealer? I can look into things on my end.

Message sent.

 

[Dral97]

When I first got mine, I was at a busy red light. Similar thing happened except everything shut down. I didn't even have instrument panel power. It finally let me start back up again after about a minute. I think my issue was batter charge. Either way, the A.S.S was not smart enough to disable in my case.

I got the dongle off Amazon for $50 and haven't looked back. Bye A.S.S, don't miss you at all.

 

[Burnt350]

Appreciate the replies everyone. I have a case now open with Ford and have shared your feedback.

 

[Burnt350]

UPDATE: The Bronco died again yesterday. Started up with the bad metal grinding noise. The wife turned it off, and went to start it back up and nothing but a high pitched whine. I got videos of both symptoms thankfully!

Had it towed to the Dealership. Service Advisor heard the grinding noise when she went to start it up and relocate the vehicle "shows how finicky the startup is". When the tech went to move it into the bay, you guessed it, UNABLE TO REPLICATE!! The SA even told the tech she heard the noise and showed the tech the videos and he agreed that it at the very least sounds like a starter issue. The metal grinding could be the missing teeth as mentioned above. Since the tech didn't witness it though, I'm told he can't tear down to inspect in the event what he tears down does not show the issue he runs risk of Ford not covering the labor under warranty. Speaking in second person here.... So you know there is an issue from the video but because you didn't witness it there is nothing you can do, and will let someone drive off in a vehicle that could potentially die on the road and run greater risk of injury to self/others.... How does that make any sense????

I chatted with Ford Support and had all those notes added to my case and escalated to the Customer Service person handling my case, whoever that is.. @Ford Motor Company I still haven't spoken to the person assigned to my case but I did tell the rep, since I have the video, and the tech has seen them, I'm not picking up my Bronco until it's fixed. This read tape BS is stupid especially when video evidence is provided and Ford needs to authorize the disassemble to get down to the issue.

Attached are the videos...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/suXWN9M9KxcAS9mN9 -- Grinding Noise

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Nun8xh6bDcUMbpAUA -- Startup Failure

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