Terrain Management / AdvanceTrac System Errors

[gdecamp]

For those who have dealers who can find "no fault codes" - RUN A VEHICLE HEALTH REPORT WHEN THE CODES SHOW UP AND BEFORE THEY CLEAR! They can't say it doesn't show up when it's right in your file! !

Awesome idea!!!

 

[rmp301]

Last time it happened to me in the wet, I tested it by flooring it, and the 4wd still seemed to work though.

I was told that the 4wd WILL work ....... The upshift and downshift timing of the tranny by Terrain Management would be inop though.

 

[rmp301]

Awesome idea!!!

No fault code showed when I brought it in and the TMS was inop. Worth a try though ........ I'll have to wait it out and try it when it does it again.

 

[jrmexplorer]

No fault code showed when I brought it in and the TMS was inop. Worth a try though ........ I'll have to wait it out and try it when it does it again.

The following showed up on my vehicle health report:

Urgent
TC, IVD, RSC Event or Fault
TC, IVD, or RSC OFF Indication
Forward Collision Warning


I also took a video of the errors/warnings and showed them to the dealer.

 

[HeloMech365]

Brand New Ex XLT TMS faulting!

It's nice to know that I'm not alone with this issue. I bought my 2012 Explorer XLT on 12-12 and it's been in the dealership since 12-19. I found the fault the very next day (12-13) and it doesn't work a full 1/3 of the time we drive it. They can't figure it out and Ford Help line hasn't provided the answer yet. So I'm stuck in a rental car if and when they figure it out. Unbelievably frustrating to have my new truck in the dealership longer than I have owned it! I have a garage full of Fords ('05 Freestar and '07 Focus until I bought the '12 Ex), but this is by FAR the worst experience I have had with ANY vehicle I have ever owned.

 

[rmp301]

It's nice to know that I'm not alone with this issue. I bought my 2012 Explorer XLT on 12-12 and it's been in the dealership since 12-19. I found the fault the very next day (12-13) and it doesn't work a full 1/3 of the time we drive it. They can't figure it out and Ford Help line hasn't provided the answer yet. So I'm stuck in a rental car if and when they figure it out. Unbelievably frustrating to have my new truck in the dealership longer than I have owned it! I have a garage full of Fords ('05 Freestar and '07 Focus until I bought the '12 Ex), but this is by FAR the worst experience I have had with ANY vehicle I have ever owned.

I agree with you whole heartedly on this. I have a 2004 Escape, 2010 Fusion and a 2010 Mustang and this truck is by far my worst new car experience. Had many Chryslers and had numerous problems with them ........ Now I experience the same situation with the Ex. TMS fault, Power liftgate and now a fault with the Nav card ...(5 times already). There is never a definative answer as to why these problems crop up and you just learn to live with them. Although the Service Dept tries to fix the problem, I feel that I own a 10 year old car that always needs to be tweeked ....... I bought it so I wouldn't have to! If not for this forum, I would think I am the only one experiencing this ....... Everytime I speak with the Service Dept they say not a single Ex has been in for any of my complaints ......... Ford SHOULD have a large database concerning these issues and have ready fixes at hand at this point in time. :roll: xlt purchased 10/13 1,600 miles.

 

[HeloMech365]

That's a great way to describe it. It does already seem like a used car that they can't find a part for or something. What really irks me is that I can't seem to find that spot to apply pressure to. You can chew the dealership out all you want, but if you alienate your mechanics, you will really never see your vehicle again. Luckily, Cory is a Ford Service Rep apparently watching this board. I PM'ed him and hopefully he can get the proper info sent to my dealership. Now at least I have a contact at Ford and I can start climbing their ladder to hopefully get a solution out. I seem to have reached the top of the chain at the dealership....from a customers perspective, at this point in time, I have seen only really minimal effort from all involved (dealership, Ford) at this point to get my truck returned to service. If people are going to lengths to fix this, no one has told me.

 

[FordService]

...Now I experience the same situation with the Ex. TMS fault, Power liftgate and now a fault with the Nav card ...(5 times already)...

I want to see this resolved, rmp301. I can help by arranging a call from the Customer Service Manager in your area. So I can do this, please send a PM with your VIN, contact info, dealer name/state, and approximate mileage.

...Luckily, Cory is a Ford Service Rep apparently watching this board. I PM'ed him and hopefully he can get the proper info sent to my dealership. Now at least I have a contact at Ford and I can start climbing their ladder to hopefully get a solution out...

HeloMech365,

I sent a reply, so please check your inbox for the details.

Cory

 

[jrmexplorer]

My dealer resolved this by replacing a steering angle sensor.

 

[rmp301]

I want to see this resolved, rmp301. I can help by arranging a call from the Customer Service Manager in your area. So I can do this, please send a PM with your VIN, contact info, dealer name/state, and approximate mileage.


HeloMech365,

I sent a reply, so please check your inbox for the details.

Cory

Corey: PM sent txs

 

[HeloMech365]

HeloMech365,

I sent a reply, so please check your inbox for the details.

Cory

Got the PM, thank you!

My dealer resolved this by replacing a steering angle sensor.

I'm not beyond suggesting fixes as no one has any better ideas. I will be sure to discuss this with the dealership when I talk to them today. I appreciate it! I'm all ears for any other suggestions.

 

[FordService]

My dealer resolved this by replacing a steering angle sensor.

Thanks for the update, jrmexplorer; that’s great to hear!

Corey: PM sent txs

I appreciate the heads up, rmp301; check your inbox for my reply.

Got the PM, thank you!...

HeloMech365,

You’re very welcome. Drop me a line via PM if you’d like any more details forwarded.

Cory

 

[jdaniel]

Helo- I believe we have your vehicle here at our dealership, since this issue started we have probably spent 4+ hours on the phone and multiple hours following Ford's advice from tech assist. Like all repairs there is a road map and directions that need to be followed and we work very closely with Ford is this regard. As of last night and again this morning there has been no "warning light" on. The steering position sensor has at this point been ruled out, along with the battery that has been replaced per Ford. The next steps involve wiring overlays to determine which circuit may be causing the problem. The difficult part from our stand point is the failure only happens once every 20-40 starts. We're plugging away and have been on the phone with Ford again this a/m.

 

[HeloMech365]

Helo- I believe we have your vehicle here at our dealership, since this issue started we have probably spent 4+ hours on the phone and multiple hours following Ford's advice from tech assist. Like all repairs there is a road map and directions that need to be followed and we work very closely with Ford is this regard. As of last night and again this morning there has been no "warning light" on. The steering position sensor has at this point been ruled out, along with the battery that has been replaced per Ford. The next steps involve wiring overlays to determine which circuit may be causing the problem. The difficult part from our stand point is the failure only happens once every 20-40 starts. We're plugging away and have been on the phone with Ford again this a/m.

I applaud all of the service techs working on my vehicle for their efforts in this matter. Nothing gets done without your time, energy, and dedication. My customer service qualms are not directed at or implied about the floor techs, their efforts, or talents. The customer service issues here directed at the higher management and Ford itself.

 

[pomerjo]

I had the Terrain Management Fault for over 6 months. After several trips to my local dealer (even installed an onboard computer) they could NOT capture the error code. Issue was esacallated up to a regional Ford Rep. She had me take the vehicle to a dealer she works closely with. The dealer had the car for over 2 weeks. They installed another onboard computer and they were able to capture the error code. With that error code they replaced the throttle body and thought that had solved the issue. A few days later the problem started to reoccur.

In keeping the vehicle longer they finally found an enginer at Ford who instructed the service tech to "overlay the harness from PCM connector 175E to ETC connector C204D R,R ETC and PCM cut old wires install new harness on LE134 and RE134 BU/OG, clear all codes and retest"

This finally resolved my problems. Thought is that there is some voltage irregularity which is causing a bogus code to be sensed. It also seems that not all engineers at Ford are aware of this.

 

[FordService]

...We're plugging away and have been on the phone with Ford again this a/m.

Thanks for your dedication and for taking the time to post, jdaniel.

I applaud all of the service techs working on my vehicle for their efforts in this matter. Nothing gets done without your time, energy, and dedication...

HeloMech365,

Keep us in the loop with how things progress.

...This finally resolved my problems. Thought is that there is some voltage irregularity which is causing a bogus code to be sensed...

That’s great news, pomerjo; I’m glad to hear your concern was resolved.

Cory

 

[JAZNY]

I've seen this fault at least 10 times since April. Every time it occurred, I cleared it by shutting off the vehicle, pulling the key, opening and closing the door (just to make sure).

With all of these faults, I was very quick to move from inserting the key to starting the engine (no pause in the motion).

Trying something different, I now insert the key, look down to wait for the red light to light up on the TMS dial, then start the engine. So far after several months doing this, I have not had any more faults.

Could be a coincidence, but perhaps the timing is part of the issue and solution.

 

[pomerjo]

Thanks... That's interesting. I have a limited with a keyless ignition and I have tried several times waiting before starting the vehicle but I still had the error.

One more interesting fact was that it only happened on my vehicle when the outside temperature was below 40 degrees. That's why the error condition stopped happening in the spring and summer.

Best of luck.

 

[rmp301]

I've tried the slow start as well, but am finding that I have become so paranoid watching the TMS dial trying to avert this error. Again, I am treating this truck as though it were 10 years old and I'm trying to baby it into submission! I'm frankly dissapointed in this oddity. I thought that the Jeep would have it's problems with the terrain height management system so I shied away from looking. I now have a situation with the Ex and no one seems to know why. Look how many of us are complaining about it. I just met a guy at the hardware store that bought one ...... Loves it except for the TMS Fault light! ............ Ford needs to take a closer look at this problem and get it straightened out.

 

[HeloMech365]

OK everyone, sorry for the long post but I think I have a lot of relevant info. First, my Ex is not fixed yet. They are trying a last-ditch solution (which I'll get to in a second) so it's either this fixes it, or it is going back to Dearborn next week (at least that's my current understanding). This is for people who are having problems at start up.
Here's some background info on the truck to frame this issue up: The Ex has a couple of "main" computers that interface with the various modules throughout the truck that they are assigned to. The "main" computers have a set time window during boot up at the initial turn of the key to find all of their assigned modules or they start generating faults. For this issue, the current theory is that the "Body Control Module" (which looks after the TMS) is not finding the TMS within the allotted time limit. According to the dealership, the TMS is actually working, but the BCM is turning off the icon on the TMS selector and showing a "fault" just because it didn't "check-in" on time. So the Ford engineer on site has a new BCM coming for my truck to see if i have a "slow computer." I am hopeful for this fix because it fits the symptoms noticed by the techs: when they pull up any other Ex next to mine and just see how my truck reacts compared to the other. In all cases my truck is "slower" than the others on the lot. The BCM is the controlling computer for the things being "slow". Once again, this is not THE fix yet but the next logical fix once the communication timing issues cropped up.
As a further note for ALL Explorer owners, this communication timing issue was a KNOWN PROBLEM during development. Ford elected to produce the vehicle knowing that this issue could happen. So ALL Explorers on the road have the potential to have this problem. This particular fault only happens during start and not after. If you have a TMS fault pop up while driving along you have a different problem.
I will keep everyone up to date as this effort plays out.