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2018 Explorer Limited- multiple caution messages

EastTexas

New Member
Joined
January 13, 2021
Messages
7
Reaction score
1
City, State
Tyler, TX
Year, Model & Trim Level
2018 Explorer Limited
Hello everyone. My 2018 Explorer won’t start. Ran fine one day, wouldn’t start the next. When turning the power on, I get red low oil pressure, red engine coolant over temp, yellow service advance Trac, yellow hill start not available, full accessory power active, cross traffic system fault, and blind spot system fail messages. The brake pedal is also very stiff. I tried plugging in an OBDII scanner to retrieve codes, but I get a “Linking Error” every time. The scanner works on my 2018 Mustang GT, so it’s not the scanner. I’ve cleaned the battery terminals and connections and even swapped to a different battery from my truck. No change in symptoms. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
 



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Hello everyone. My 2018 Explorer won’t start. Ran fine one day, wouldn’t start the next. When turning the power on, I get red low oil pressure, red engine coolant over temp, yellow service advance Trac, yellow hill start not available, full accessory power active, cross traffic system fault, and blind spot system fail messages. The brake pedal is also very stiff. I tried plugging in an OBDII scanner to retrieve codes, but I get a “Linking Error” every time. The scanner works on my 2018 Mustang GT, so it’s not the scanner. I’ve cleaned the battery terminals and connections and even swapped to a different battery from my truck. No change in symptoms. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
Battery?
 
























Does the engine try to turn over at all or is all quiet when you hit the start/stop button? Do your headlights come on at all? Interior lights?
Usually a bad battery can cause the dash to light up like a Christmas tree as one member put it but you seem to have eliminated that. Having likely eliminated a bad battery it may seem strange to ask but have you tried boosting it at all?

Peter
 






How about other end of battery cables where they attach to the vehicle?
Are they clean/tight?

BTW, the stiff brake pedal is, for the most part, normal. It's vacuum assisted, so with the engine off, there's nothing to replenish the vacuum in the booster. If you pump the brake pedal when the vehicle is off, it is usually easy the first press (still residual vacuum in the booster) and then gets stiff the next time.
 






Does the engine try to turn over at all or is all quiet when you hit the start/stop button? Do your headlights come on at all? Interior lights?
Usually a bad battery can cause the dash to light up like a Christmas tree as one member put it but you seem to have eliminated that. Having likely eliminated a bad battery it may seem strange to ask but have you tried boosting it at all?

Peter
It doesn’t try to turn over at all, but the headlights, interior lights and dash all light up. I’ve had my charger on it and tried with the battery at 💯 and the charger set to a 15a rapid charge. My charger doesn’t have the boost function though.
 






....or bad ground?
 






How about other end of battery cables where they attach to the vehicle?
Are they clean/tight?
Checked the ground where it attaches to the frame. It’s tight.
 












I wonder if the issue could be with the ignition switch since every other thing seems to be good. I believe all those lights you mentioned come ON when you press the start/stop button but then go OFF after the engine starts.

Peter
 






I wonder if the issue could be with the ignition switch since every other thing seems to be good. I believe all those lights you mentioned come ON when you press the start/stop button but then go OFF after the engine starts.

Peter
That’s a good thought and what I will check next. Thanks!
 






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