Slew of Warnings / Electrical PCM Gremlins - Issues? 2020TC

[KGBKitchen]

I have a 2020 LWB Cargo Transit Connect with some serious electrical / PMU / Computer issues and  I'm curious if anyone else has seen something similar. For reference/comparison I have the 2L I4 engine and the newer 8 speed transmission.

 

The most common gremlin is a sort of radical “coolant over temperature” warning that most often and very erratically happens when I first start the TC. For a while I did not even know what it was because the temp gauge would redline and the inst. cluster screen would flash the red warning text so quickly that I could not read it before it turned into some other message like Door Open... etc. I finally figured it out by filming it with my phone. So this was happening starting at <15K. I have not been able to figure out if there is a pattern. It seems to happen when it’s been dry for weeks, when it snows, when it rains and sometimes it takes months between instances. It’s happened on the first start of the day or on a second start and while driving. Also when it’s been 5°F out or 90°F out.

 

Gremlin #2: An issue where  a sequence of warnings are displayed during one drive—first “Coolant Over Temperature” , then shortly after “pre-collision not available,” then minutes later "Auto Start Stop Disabled" and  “Hill start assist not available.” There was never any indication of a problem in terms of driving - this was one an interstate so I kept to the right lane in case the TC shut itself down or decided to fire the airbags or something else clever.

 

On another occasion there was some sort of legit engine issue where it started running very roughly, lost power, and the tachometer began jumping all over the place. It felt like a cylinder was missing or something, or there was a fuel/air mixture issue. Basically low power and feeling as though the engine was about to stall out. During this incident I got (of all things) a “pre-collision braking not available” and I think an ABS Warning or something to do with Stability control  - not sure - there were several messages in succession. The service wrench light came on and I was told to “Visit Ford Dealer For Assistance”(or something like that). I limped the TC to a gas station and switched it off. Restarted and everything was fine.

 

On two other occasions I have found the TC to be dead, as if it had a zero volt battery. It does not respond to the keyfob unlock button. Once you open the door with the key manually and put it in the ignition there is nothing - not even the overhead light works. But if you turn it on, turn it off and close the door once or twice then it’s back to complete normalcy except that all of the user settings are gone - e.g. sync is completely defaulted as though a master reset was performed.

These issues have been going on from about 15k? to now ~61K.  I have asked two different dealers to investigate and if there is a software update or something that this TC needs and have not had any luck.

 

Apparently all of these errors do not write to a log anywhere or at least the dealers all told me there were no fault codes. In response to the engine roughness the dealer only suggested performing a fuel injection system cleaning.

 

Is anyone else experiencing these issues or similar gremlins?

 

It seems like the vehicle is fine, but I’m wondering when the software is going to really detonate something or leave me stranded for real. I like this vehicle - it’s insanely useful, but I don’t know if I want to keep it if this is going to continue. I’m also kind of afraid of transmission issues that may be coming my way. (No signs yet).

 

Anyway I would be grateful for any feedback or suggestions and I hope sharing all of this may be useful to someone else.

 

[Don Ridley]

I don't believe your dealerships. There appears to be a communication problem in one or more of the networks in the TC. Whenever the warning messages appear the ECU sets a diagnostic trouble code, DTC. These codes are separate from a check engine light. The codes are critical to diagnosing problems is modern vehicles.

 

You may need to go to a sophisticated independent repair shop.They will have a scan tool to read all codes and hopefully shed light on what's happening. Alternately, you can buy a scan tool ($500+) or use a PC and Forscan to read the codes. Forscan is free. Google search this forum and the internet for more info.