Randomly shuts down

[Kmcilvaine]

my 2015 ford explorer sport 150,000 miles started an unwanted random feature of dying while driving. Not just the engine dies, but 100% shutdown. Only features that work during the event(s) are horn and "radio". IMMEDIATELY before this started, I had the windshield wiper reservoir replaced, and headlight bulbs burnt out. I mention those because I thought it odd that both headlights burn out same time, but dropped new ones in, they both work now. The reservoir - I had that done by others, and they may have taken out the throttle body, not sure. This never happened prior to headlights going out, and now i am wondering if when i was searching for too long for a non existent head light relay, did i mess up another relay?

When driving, there is no warning, just shut down. AWD light pops on for 2 seconds, engine and everything else goes dead. Coast to the side in N, and wait 3-4 minutes, starts back up, no error codes. It does seem to happen more when it is heat soaked, but not always. I dropped it a ford dealer this morning, but they warned me that they may not be able to find anything.

 

[J_C]

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Stock 2011 - 2019 Ford Explorer Discussion

2011 - 2018 Ford Explorer, Explorer Sport, Explorer ST, problem solving, maintenance, TSB, service bulletins, owner reviews, specifications, Ecoboost.

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Your situation is an odd one, the only thing that comes to mind is possibly your alternator is failing when it gets hot, possibly the voltage regulator failed to a shorted state and this blew the headlights, or see another theory below in this post.

AFAIK, the wiper reservoir comes out through the wheel well with the liner off. That doesn't necessarily mean someone didn't take your throttle body off anyway, but I don't think it needs to come off to do the reservoir.

How do you think you might have messed up a relay? The only thing related that seems relevant since it does function till it dies, is if you did not put a relay back in fully and with temperature causing expansion of metal, it temporarily breaks the circuit. It seems pretty unlikely. I'm not suggesting it couldn't be a relay, but rather that I doubt you caused it unless you didn't put relay(s) back in fully, in the correct locations.

wait 3-4 minutes, starts back up, no error codes

Are you waiting till it starts back up to try to pull trouble codes or have you also tried when it dies and won't start? Since you stated only horn and radio, I assume it won't even crank the engine? The other voltage related issue I wonder about is if your battery cables or some part of the battery charge circuit has a bad connection, and this both caused high spikes in voltage from the alternator that blew the headlights, but also causes an intermittent open circuit to the battery when heated up. This might be something you could check with a multimeter, 12V at the battery clamp where it connects to the battery terminal, and also after the circuit breaker assembly on the clamp.



When you checked for trouble codes, did you use a basic OBD2-only type scan tool, or a more full featured scan tool that is capable of pulling Ford-specific trouble codes outside of the OBD2 code set? If not the latter, that is what I would try next, except it's already at the shop now.

Hopefully the shop is honest and doesn't just tell you that you need a big ticket item like the PCM, when it could be a wire/connector/relay/etc. There is a 2014 workshop manual linked below in my sig, if you want to follow the diagnostic troubleshooting procedures in it or look at wiring diagrams, "almost" all of which will be applicable to a 2015.

 

[RangerX]

Thread moved to proper section.

 

[peterk9]

my 2015 ford explorer sport 150,000 miles started an unwanted random feature of dying while driving. Not just the engine dies, but 100% shutdown. Only features that work during the event(s) are horn and "radio". IMMEDIATELY before this started, I had the windshield wiper reservoir replaced, and headlight bulbs burnt out. I mention those because I thought it odd that both headlights burn out same time, but dropped new ones in, they both work now. The reservoir - I had that done by others, and they may have taken out the throttle body, not sure. This never happened prior to headlights going out, and now i am wondering if when i was searching for too long for a non existent head light relay, did i mess up another relay?

When driving, there is no warning, just shut down. AWD light pops on for 2 seconds, engine and everything else goes dead. Coast to the side in N, and wait 3-4 minutes, starts back up, no error codes. It does seem to happen more when it is heat soaked, but not always. I dropped it a ford dealer this morning, but they warned me that they may not be able to find anything.

Welcome to the Forum.
I believe it's unusual for both headlight bulbs to go out at the same time. If there was a power surge then the fuse should have blown. I would think that an issue like this would set a trouble (DTC) code which the dealer should be able to retrieve.

Peter

 

[The Speculator]

I would check for a bad ground around the area of the washer fluid reservoir.

 

[Kmcilvaine]

quick update, Friday the dealer pulled all the codes, said they were mostly low voltage warning codes, battery got replaced last month. The car ran for 3 hours (of course) never shut down for them. The plan is for me to drive it hoping it stores some new relevant codes. They said based on the total blackout it goes through, it is an internal "network" issue. Either a short, or a ground. I had pointed out that the ground near the battery looked corroded, he said its such a large ground, that wasnt the issue. I pick the car up today, no further ahead but spent $560.

When the dealership went to start it, it would not start. They said there was a bad fuse inside the car, #18. When replaced, car started. I have driven it over 100 miles, no issues thus far. I am skeptical, as the issue was intermittent, a bad fuse doesn't explain it Imo but so far so good.

 

[J_C]

Sorry to hear it's not fixed despite spending $560. Depending on how it looks, I might go ahead and clean that ground, just to rule it out and because the corrosion may only get worse over more time. I'd also poke around the engine bay power distribution box, maybe take it loose and look at the wiring to it.