Major electrical issues.

[ScottyG]

Last week, my 2022 Bronco Sport Big Bend had it's battery die so in typical fashion, I got it jumped however, after getting the car jumped, I'm greeted with all sorts of warnings saying my 4x4, lane assist, remote start, powered accessories, hill assist, traction control, auto start/stop, and a few other things are all unavailable saying that the vehicle needed to be serviced now.

I thought it seemed really weird considering I haven't had any issues with the car until now. I had the pcm recall fixed several months ago but I got jumped and ran to O'Reilly's, got a new battery threw the thing in all the codes went away and called it a day. Until last night when I drove not even 5 minutes down the road, parked the car, turned it off, sat on the phone for a minute, got out of the car and then boom. No power. None. Absolutely nothing. After a few more minutes, all the lights flashed, the car woke up and it cranked up with no issue. Didn't struggle or sound weird. I turned the car off again, sat and waited, got out and boom. Same issue, absolutely zero power and the same thing happened where after a few minutes the car woke back up and everything was fine. Then, on the drive home, it started yelling at me to get the charging system serviced which made me think, well maybe the alternator is dying or dead. At home I grab the multimeter, test the battery and its 12.6v, test the alternator and it's putting out a stable 14.3v. No fluctuations or anything weird and then the car shuts off again.

I took it to the Ford dealership today with it screaming at me the entire drive to have the charging system serviced now and they told me it needs to have it battery control module reset after getting a new battery and that it should be quick and simple. They hook up the code reader, reset the codes, restart the car and then the codes flood in. Immediate warning to service the charging system and the code reader looks like a red and green Christmas tree with all the codes I mentioned above going off again. I ended up leaving the car with them and I am essentially on house arrest until I get it back.

Has anyone else experienced this or does anyone have even the faintest idea of what could be wrong other than maybe the pcm deciding to be done? I made sure everything was put back tight when changing the battery so there's no lose connectors either.

I swear, I just ordered a grille guard and lift kit the day before the battery died last week.

It's at 39,208 miles with oil changer every 5,000 miles.

Sponsored

 

[Dude]

Could be the battery you purchased is defective which is not that uncommon.

Could be the positive and negative cables at the battery terminals are not tightened properly. Similar for the ground connection on the drivers side fender bolt mount.

btw did you purchase an AGM Battery?

Battery Sensor Reset (Battery Management System (BMS) Reset):
When you install a new battery, reset the battery sensor by doing the following:
1. Switch ignition on, and leave the engine off.
Note: Complete Steps 2 & 3 within 10 seconds.
2. Flash the high beam headlamps five times, ending with the high beams off.
3. Press and release the brake pedal 3 times.
The battery warning lamp flashes 3 times to confirm that the reset is successful.

 

[Quashish]

Op mentioned he didn't perform bms reset initially, but after taking car to dealer, they did bms reset and car still has issues. He is now without a car.

 

[Chiefthepup]

Not a mechanic but when it’s erratic like that with that many codes it screams grounding/battery connection problems to me. Keep us updated!!

 

[Kurt]

It's the negative wiring harness. Bad switch. Happened to me after warranty. Also I've gone through two turbos the last one majorly malfunctioning that caused catastrophic engine failure...out of warranty. Told them to shove it up their A$$ they could keep it. F#CK FORD!!!!

 

[ScottyG]

Could be the battery you purchased is defective which is not that uncommon.

Could be the positive and negative cables at the battery terminals are not tightened properly. Similar for the ground connection on the drivers side fender bolt mount.

btw did you purchase an AGM Battery?

Battery Sensor Reset (Battery Management System (BMS) Reset):
When you install a new battery, reset the battery sensor by doing the following:
1. Switch ignition on, and leave the engine off.
Note: Complete Steps 2 & 3 within 10 seconds.
2. Flash the high beam headlamps five times, ending with the high beams off.
3. Press and release the brake pedal 3 times.
The battery warning lamp flashes 3 times to confirm that the reset is successful.

I had no idea that's how you're supposed to reset that on the car. I thought it would just be like normal where you replace the battery and then everything is fine. I'll have to find the receipt but I got the only battery in stock that would work. Everything else was out of stock and at 9pm I didn't have anywhere else I could make it to in time before they closed. I made sure everything was tightened and in place where it should be. My battery wasn't even 3 years old so I don't see why it should have died so soon. My alternator reads good on the multimeter so it's not dead.

 

[ScottyG]

It's the negative wiring harness. Bad switch. Happened to me after warranty. Also I've gone through two turbos the last one majorly malfunctioning that caused catastrophic engine failure...out of warranty. Told them to shove it up their A$$ they could keep it. F#CK FORD!!!!

I'll keep that in mind for when I get the car back. I'm not worried about the turbo or engine failure because I've got a 100,000 mile warranty from ford on the thing. If it mechanically dies then that's for Ford to deal with. I honestly love the car though. It hasn't given me any trouble until now.

 

[Quashish]

It's the negative wiring harness. Bad switch. Happened to me after warranty. Also I've gone through two turbos the last one majorly malfunctioning that caused catastrophic engine failure...out of warranty. Told them to shove it up their A$$ they could keep it. F#CK FORD!!!!

joys of the 1.5L

 

[Kurt]

I'll keep that in mind for when I get the car back. I'm not worried about the turbo or engine failure because I've got a 100,000 mile warranty from ford on the thing. If it mechanically dies then that's for Ford to deal with. I honestly love the car though. It hasn't given me any trouble until now.

I too had a 100,000 mile warranty that covered the first TURBO but the second turbo failure that caused a cracked head occurred out of warranty at 105,000 miles. I'd get rid of it ASAP!!

 

[Dude]

I had no idea that's how you're supposed to reset that on the car. I thought it would just be like normal where you replace the battery and then everything is fine. I'll have to find the receipt but I got the only battery in stock that would work. Everything else was out of stock and at 9pm I didn't have anywhere else I could make it to in time before they closed. I made sure everything was tightened and in place where it should be. My battery wasn't even 3 years old so I don't see why it should have died so soon. My alternator reads good on the multimeter so it's not dead.

Please make sure the dealership checks the battery ground connection on the drivers side fender bolt mount which is a known issue for some Bronco Sports.

Let us know what the dealership finds as the root cause of your issue (once you get the vehicle back). Thanks!

 

[NMhunter]

Report

 

[ScottyG]

Report

Dealership says it's the alternator. Doesn't make sense to me considering I was able to get a good reading from the alternator. Should have the vehicle back today.

 

[GEOGRL]

Could be the battery you purchased is defective which is not that uncommon.

Could be the positive and negative cables at the battery terminals are not tightened properly. Similar for the ground connection on the drivers side fender bolt mount.

btw did you purchase an AGM Battery?

Battery Sensor Reset (Battery Management System (BMS) Reset):
When you install a new battery, reset the battery sensor by doing the following:
1. Switch ignition on, and leave the engine off.
Note: Complete Steps 2 & 3 within 10 seconds.
2. Flash the high beam headlamps five times, ending with the high beams off.
3. Press and release the brake pedal 3 times.
The battery warning lamp flashes 3 times to confirm that the reset is successful.

I read in the owners manual there are all kinds of resets you need to do when replacing the battery

 

[Dude]

I read in the owners manual there are all kinds of resets you need to do when replacing the battery

Not really in practice .. the BMS Reset is the primary item. You may need to reprogram some settings like radio stations but I haven’t had anything like that yet. Maybe because my old battery was disconnected for a short period of time.

What resets are you referring to?

 

[GEOGRL]

Not really in practice .. the BMS Reset is the primary item. You may need to reprogram some settings like radio stations but I haven’t had anything like that yet. Maybe because my old battery was disconnected for a short period of time.

What resets are toy referring to?

Sponsored