Total Electrical shutdown

[tropicvi]

Last week in stop and go traffic, of course right in the busiest intersection on island, during rush hour, in the main driving lane, total electrical shut down. It was as if the battery had been removed from the vehicle. No responses to anything electrical. no flashers, no getting out of park even to move the vehicle out of traffic, no key fob response... total NADA. Called the dealer... no suggestions other than tow truck. and leave it at dealer over weekend... no window winding up possible, no locks, so I was frustrated like you expect... until I manually pushed down the driver door lock pin. Okay I could actually lock the car (all other doors were already locked when power failed.) So, not wanting to have door lock at that instance, I pulled the lock pin up... voila - all the other locks popped, door chime sounded, everything was back to normal... like the battery was reinstalled. Only suggestion was a random security shut down... While driving??? today it happened again. same solution... any ideas, because the dealer will want to see it in failed state, not in operational mode.

 

[jrmexplorer]

Last week in stop and go traffic, of course right in the busiest intersection on island, during rush hour, in the main driving lane, total electrical shut down. It was as if the battery had been removed from the vehicle. No responses to anything electrical. no flashers, no getting out of park even to move the vehicle out of traffic, no key fob response... total NADA. Called the dealer... no suggestions other than tow truck. and leave it at dealer over weekend... no window winding up possible, no locks, so I was frustrated like you expect... until I manually pushed down the driver door lock pin. Okay I could actually lock the car (all other doors were already locked when power failed.) So, not wanting to have door lock at that instance, I pulled the lock pin up... voila - all the other locks popped, door chime sounded, everything was back to normal... like the battery was reinstalled. Only suggestion was a random security shut down... While driving??? today it happened again. same solution... any ideas, because the dealer will want to see it in failed state, not in operational mode.

Hmm.... maybe a short circuit somewhere? I'd start by making sure the battery cables are securely fastened to your battery and that your fuses are all fully inserted and have not blown and I'd take a quick look to see if there are any loose wires hanging around somewhere. I'd still take it into the dealer even if you cannot reproduce the problem - there may be some trouble codes in the computer.

i would send a private message to Cory (FORDCUSTSRVC) asking for help - I would think Ford would be able to help out your dealer in diagnosing the issue.

 

[ah64aviator]

When it fails again, don't correct it yourself. Allow the technician to diagnose in a failed state. Inform him what fixes the problem temporarily. Good luck!

 

[dco43054]

Has anything been added to the Explorer after taking delivery - like an aftermarket security system, maybe? Or some other electrical accessories?

 

[FordService]

Last week in stop and go traffic, of course right in the busiest intersection on island, during rush hour, in the main driving lane, total electrical shut down...

tropicvi,

First, I recommend bringing your Explorer in to your Ford dealer so they can diagnose the shutdown concern, like jrmexplorer & ah64aviator mentioned. If you need further assistance, you can call the US Virgin Islands Ford Customer Assistance Centre @ 1-800-841-3673 (FORD) to speak with a live agent.

...i would send a private message to Cory (FORDCUSTSRVC) asking for help - I would think Ford would be able to help out your dealer in diagnosing the issue.

Thank you for the recommendation, jrmexplorer!

Cory

 

[peterk9]

no getting out of park even to move the vehicle out of traffic,

The vehicle is equipped with a Brake-Shift Interlock that will allow you under certain conditions to shift out of park. Detailed instructions in the manual. I don't think I could know all the steps involved unless I had the manual and a screwdiver or equivalent with me.

 

[baxterdown]

Why are these things popping up again!!??!! I hear brakes and now total loss of power. Look in the Flex forum. We were having these two EXACT same problems with the Flex back in 2009. You'd think Ford would have fix these issues by now.... URGH!

 

[tropicvi]

Just some follow up on my post...

I have not taken it to the dealer yet... (my wife has the car and won't take or make the time to drop it off yet). However it has twice more shut down on her (apparently that is not enough incentive yet). At least there are no high speed highways involved here.

However the reason for the post is to mention variations on the shut down. The second time was again moving in traffic, like battery removed from vehicle again... only she costed to the side of the road. Door lock manually up and down did not fix... but again about ten minutes passed and the car came alive again as normal. Two days later, she parked, shut teh vehicle off normally, but when she went to start it again a few minutes later... totally blank (like battery removed) and again about ten minutes later all is normal.

It is like the car wants a ten minute break now and then.

Battery connections are tight.

And yes it will get to the dealer soon.

 

[peterk9]

It is like the car wants a ten minute break now and then.

Battery connections are tight.

And yes it will get to the dealer soon.

These types of problems are sometimes really difficult to diagnose unless a fault code is generated and stored. When you leave for your appointment don't forget to figure in the 'rest breaks' the Ex will require along the way.
Good luck my friend.

 

[JCat]

This happened to me with a different verhicle.

Left vehicle at dealer and had the service manager drive it home and back to work (dealer) for a few days. Esentually he used it as his personal vehicle. Vehicle died on him one day when he was going home (after a long day). He was more than determined to get it fixed after that ;-).

It was a loose crank sensor (not an Explorer).

Just mentioning my experience so that you might consider letting the dealer drive it for a few days.

 

[tropicvi]

Just mentioning my experience so that you might consider letting the dealer drive it for a few days.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the input... problem is the dealer won't provided a loaner... even though the ex has less than 3K miles.

 

[charliez]

This sounds exactly like the behavior of an automatically resetting circuit breaker with a fast response time followed by the 10 minute sleep to reset. They typically get triggered by a sudden increase i.e. a spike in voltage or arcing, etc.

Knowing that it's a master breaker should narrow down the culprit very much.

 

[tropicvi]

Further followup on my post. And a question.

As mentioned before the total shut down occured three times, within the time frame of a week. Being busy, the vehicle has NOT been to the dealer yet. However it has been several weeks now, with no repeat of the shutdown. I had a chance this weekend to look at the battery connection. It is a type I have not seem before. The attachment to the positive post is a large copper plate with 4 wires leading off it. One I noticed is attached to a small black block attached to the copper plate, with 100 printed in white. Is this a curcuit breaker? with 100 amp rating? And if so, perhaps this is the culprit. I am about to research that, and with the first oil change due, it will be off to the dealer.

I hate to think that had I left the vehicle with the dealer before, I'd have still been without it for all this time, given no repeat episodes.

 

[Smoktya]

Just mentioning my experience so that you might consider letting the dealer drive it for a few days.

Thanks for the input... problem is the dealer won't provided a loaner... even though the ex has less than 3K miles.[/QUOTE]


wow......nice dealer