Lazarus the Bronco. Extreme safety issue

[Gravesgrg]

2022 WT 4DR LUX, ~3900 miles
Was stopped at a light (autostart engaged) and when the light turned green I lifted my foot from the brake and the truck died. Flashed something about hill assent (or descent) was not available (BTW this event was the second time I saw something about the hill assist. I don't know why that error would come up. I live in relatively flat Maryland.) and said to shift into park to restart. When I shifted into park the dash went dark and all electrical power was lost.

I COULDN'T EVEN TURN ON THE HAZARDS!!! It was as if the battery were disconnected.

I started pressing start and my key fob. People were honking. A semi-truck was behind me blaring and I couldn't do anything.

I gave up trying to start the vehicle and began looking for the towing assistance on my app. Then miraculously, after three or so minutes, the dash came back to life all by itself and I started the truck and drove away, embarrassed.

50 miles later I was at another light, and, you guessed it, when I lifted my foot from the brake the truck died with NO CODES or WARNINGS. It was dead closer to 5 minutes this time (I have a video of my exasperation) before it came back to life. No codes in my Ford Pass App.

So what would happen if there were no cars behind be and the truck had died. I didn't have brake lights or hazards so if someone came up behind me they would think I was moving and could plow into me.

I HAVE NO WAY OF WARNING ANYONE THAT THE TRUCK IS DISABLED. SERIOUSLY FLAWED AND DANGEROUS, FORD!!!!!!!!!!!

And...the dealer can't get the truck seen until 1/10. I have to drive my father to dialysis three days a week and every time I stop I fear the truck will die putting both of us in danger. I have no other backup transportation (unless you think a 78 year old can hold onto a motorcycle with his roller-bag he takes to dialysis)

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[Combustion_King]

does it still do it with auto start no engaged?

 

[Jazer]

Have you checked your battery terminals, fuse box bolts & grounds for tightness? This has happened to numerous people and turned out to just be a loose negative battery terminal or fuse box bolt.

 

[Gravesgrg]

does it still do it with auto start no engaged?

I am driving it now with AS disengaged. Made the 20 mile trip this morning with no issues. I'm going to keep AS off to see if it reproduces itself

 

[mike8675309]

2022 WT 4DR LUX, ~3900 miles
Was stopped at a light (autostart engaged) and when the light turned green I lifted my foot from the brake and the truck died. ...

Just to clarify, first of all, this can happen in any vehicle at any time. What you described sounds like a loose battery ground or another cable.
People honking at you, and being impatient can go pound sand if you have a problem.
If safe to do, you would have wanted to get out of your vehicle and pop the hood indicating you are disabled since your hazards were not working.
You should bring the vehicle to a qualified shop (doesn't have to be a dealer) and describe the problem. If it is a simple loose item, they should be able to track it down within an hour, so that should be less than $100.

 

[MNBigfoot]

Just to clarify, first of all, this can happen in any vehicle at any time. What you described sounds like a loose battery ground or another cable.
People honking at you, and being impatient can go pound sand if you have a problem.
If safe to do, you would have wanted to get out of your vehicle and pop the hood indicating you are disabled since your hazards were not working.
You should bring the vehicle to a qualified shop (doesn't have to be a dealer) and describe the problem. If it is a simple loose item, they should be able to track it down within an hour, so that should be less than $100.

If I was a betting man, I'd take the over.

 

[Gravesgrg]

Have you checked your battery terminals, fuse box bolts & grounds for tightness? This has happened to numerous people and turned out to just be a loose negative battery terminal or fuse box bolt.

WTF FORD!

Tightened the neg terminal. Hoping this fix will cure the cause.

 

[Jazer]

WTF FORD!

Tightened the neg terminal. Hoping this fix will cure the cause.

Did you get any turns on it? My friend said hers didnt even feel loose but after hers did the same thing as yours, twice, they got a lil bit out of it and it's been fine since. It doesn't take much to disrupt the connection... and also given that it tends to do it once auto-start kicks on at a stop makes it (battery electrical connection/ground somewhere) the most likely suspect.

 

[toughtoaster]

At least you may have figured out the issue

 

[Gravesgrg]

Did you get any turns on it? My friend said hers didnt even feel loose but after hers did the same thing as yours, twice, they got a lil bit out of it and it's been fine since. It doesn't take much to disrupt the connection... and also given that it tends to do it once auto-start kicks on at a stop makes it (battery electrical connection/ground somewhere) the most likely suspect.

I agree with your friend regarding the difficulty in getting any turns on the bolt. Initially I didn't align the dohicky nut and got almost no clamping force. I used a 10mm socket with a hand tightener instead of a 3/8" ratchet since I didn't want to overtighten it. With my brute force fingers I think I got a sufficient amount of grip so that I the cable wouldn't rotate when I tried to move it. Will def be part of maintenance checks going forward...just odd that it would "find" the connection after a few minutes. Maybe was restarting the CPU? That's a long bootup.

THANKS TO YOU ALL FOR THE TERMINAL CONNECTION SUGGESTION!!!

 

[eander]

I hope this has been resolved, but if not, you may want to contact your father’s social worker at dialysis to find out if there are any transportation assistance programs that he may qualify for as a fall-back plan. Often times, Medicare does offer assistance for this since it’s considered a life-sustaining procedure. It’s less than ideal of course, but it’s better than strapping him onto the bike, or using ambulance/ED resources when he needs emergent dialysis…

My source: I’m a Nephrology pharmacist that works closely with our large ESRD population

 

[Lifeliberty]

WTF FORD!

Tightened the neg terminal. Hoping this fix will cure the cause.

Eek! Id probably blame your dealer, they are supposed to check that before releasing the vehicle. You can noticeably see it isn't seated. Doesn't speak much for their service dept

 

[Gravesgrg]

I hope this has been resolved, but if not, you may want to contact your father’s social worker at dialysis to find out if there are any transportation assistance programs that he may qualify for as a fall-back plan. Often times, Medicare does offer assistance for this since it’s considered a life-sustaining procedure. It’s less than ideal of course, but it’s better than strapping him onto the bike, or using ambulance/ED resources when he needs emergent dialysis…

My source: I’m a Nephrology pharmacist that works closely with our large ESRD population

Thanks. Backup plan was/is UBER but it's $40 each way but that's $1K/month which is unsustainable. Trying to arrange public assisted transportation.

 

[Newbie]

Ford quality control:

 

[Jazer]

Eek! Id probably blame your dealer, they are supposed to check that before releasing the vehicle. You can noticeably see it isn't seated. Doesn't speak much for their service dept

Yeah it needs to be shifted down farther on the terminal.

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