Fuse 18 blowing 2020 ST

[LVST]

Hello.
First post here. My wife has a 2020 ST that’s running an e30 tune . I only mention that because I am looking for answers other than “tow it to a dealer”.

Fuse 18 for the starter motor keeps blowing. Drove it to Costco, and 2 other separate trips today with no issue. She went to make another trip and it would not crank at all. Just the lights on the dash. Battery is charged. I looked up a diagram and fuse 18 was blown. I tried another one and same thing. Showing code P06E9.

I did what everyone else does and searched every forum post I could find. I’ve seen a g210 wire mentioned, but no information on how to check it.

It’s been problem after problem with this truck. It was at the dealer 3 weeks ago for 6 weeks for a cat replacement because it had the death rattle and it finally turned into an exhaust leak.

My theory is that a wire is too close to something after they worked on it and it’s causing a short. Can someone point me to the starter, because of where I think it is, it’s looks like a nightmare to get to. Anything else I should check? I don’t mind soldering some wires. I’m currently working on a VW race car so I’m decently familiar with wrenching, but not Ford specific.

Thanks in advance.

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum.

I found this on the Internet but the battery is located on the passenger side in a 2020 I believe.
"Locate the battery on the driver side of the engine compartment. Disconnect the positive and negative cables with a socket wrench. Crawl under the passenger side of the Explorer to locate the starter mounted between the engine and the transmission. The starter is secured by two bolts."

The easiest way to find it is probably to follow the positive battery cable. It should be attached to the starter.

Peter

 

[LVST]

Welcome to the Forum.

I found this on the Internet but the battery is located on the passenger side in a 2020 I believe.
"Locate the battery on the driver side of the engine compartment. Disconnect the positive and negative cables with a socket wrench. Crawl under the passenger side of the Explorer to locate the starter mounted between the engine and the transmission. The starter is secured by two bolts."

The easiest way to find it is probably to follow the positive battery cable. It should be attached to the starter.

Peter

Thank you. I found that as well. For such a large vehicle, it’s really tight in there. I’ll try to trace the cable down.

 

[LVST]

FIXED! So maybe the dumbest mechanical issue I’ve seen. When the dealership replaced the down pipe/cat assembly, they forgot to put a bolt back, and it fell down and was shorting the starter to something else. I peeled back the heat protector and saw this

The bolt fell somewhere else but it started up after I replaced the $11 fuse. Now the question is where did the bolt come from? Looks pretty big to be unimportant.

 

[themishmosh]

Nice detective work! That looks like one of that downpipes bolts. I would make sure they are all there.