Outer Banks Won’t Start (Hot Weather?)

[JTaylor]

To preface, the fact that this issue has happened on really hot days could be a coincidence - but it seems to be a bit more of a pattern now.

I have a 2021 Outer Banks that just passed 30k miles. Starting this past May on a pretty warm day in MD, I went out to my car and it wouldn’t start. Temp was probably about 85 that day, sitting in direct sun. It’s happened twice since then, both days upwards of 90 degrees.

The interiors lights were on, and my engine light was blinking green, but that’s it. Nothing on the dashboard, and car wouldn’t start. I can start the engine via my FOB (still nothing on the inside), and if I shift the car into gear with the engine on, it’ll immediately die. It’ll usually start up after a couple of hours (possibly after the temperature has gone down).

I plan on taking it to get it looked at soon, but just wanted to reach out here first to see if anyone has had similar experiences. Thanks!

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[Mark S.]

My guess would be the battery is bad. Contrary to popular belief, hot weather is as hard or harder on batteries as cold weather.

 

[JTaylor]

My guess would be the battery is bad. Contrary to popular belief, hot weather is as hard or harder on batteries as cold weather.

Thanks! I’m going to have the battery tested in the morning. Hopefully something will turn up and replacing it will do the trick.

 

[Bucko]

We are rapidly getting into the Florida hot season where I live. I have no issues with engine not starting.

I too would have the battery load tested.

 

[SeaJay]

Is the battery the problem if they can start it with the FOB?

 

[NMhunter]

Everything on these vehicles is powered by electricity, so it might be possible that it is battery related. Sounds like one the dealer will be hard pressed to diagnose.

Please let us know what they find.

 

[Bill G]

Sounds similar to “problem“ my 2021 Badlands has had for a loooong time here in the SoCal sun. Try laying the fob in the tray for use w/dead fob battery (you don’t have to remove rubber mat or anything) and try starting with push button. Anytime mine gets hot that’s all I do to end the problem. That’s also the official Ford fix for the non-start problem with “some ‘21 Bronco Sports” — go figure.

 

[JTaylor]

Just to update - dealership tested the battery and it came back fine, and they weren’t able to locate any other issues.

Pretty much just told me to get it towed to them if the issue happens again ?

 

[JTaylor]

Sounds similar to “problem“ my 2021 Badlands has had for a loooong time here in the SoCal sun. Try laying the fob in the tray for use w/dead fob battery (you don’t have to remove rubber mat or anything) and try starting with push button. Anytime mine gets hot that’s all I do to end the problem. That’s also the official Ford fix for the non-start problem with “some ‘21 Bronco Sports” — go figure.

Thanks for this! If it happens again, l’ll give this a go

 

[JTaylor]

Just wanted to follow up here in case this happens to anyone else.

My car was in the shop for probably the majority of the summer due to this issue, with no one being able to find the root issue. I finally got it back yesterday, and my technician is really confident it’s fixed now.

Essentially, they narrowed the suspected cause down to the body control module, stuck a space heater up against it for a few hours to heat it up, and were finally able to replicate the not starting issue. The official diagnosis was “Failed body control module, poor terminal fitment at C219.”

I won’t be able to actually test this out until next summer now, but hopefully this gives a good starting point to anyone else dealing with this and saves you and your shop some time.

 

[Mark S.]

Essentially, they narrowed the suspected cause down to the body control module, stuck a space heater up against it for a few hours to heat it up, and were finally able to replicate the not starting issue. The official diagnosis was “Failed body control module, poor terminal fitment at C219.”

Interesting!

 

[Bill G]

Very interesting. Mine’s been doing it since new (see earlier post), with no real answer. Did Ford give a solution other than as the doc says, “So don’t do that”?

 

[Bucko]

Is the battery the problem if they can start it with the FOB?

OP stated it would start in this scenario, but would stall out when they attempted to drive off.

 

[Bucko]

Just wanted to follow up here in case this happens to anyone else.

My car was in the shop for probably the majority of the summer due to this issue, with no one being able to find the root issue. I finally got it back yesterday, and my technician is really confident it’s fixed now.

Essentially, they narrowed the suspected cause down to the body control module, stuck a space heater up against it for a few hours to heat it up, and were finally able to replicate the not starting issue. The official diagnosis was “Failed body control module, poor terminal fitment at C219.”

I won’t be able to actually test this out until next summer now, but hopefully this gives a good starting point to anyone else dealing with this and saves you and your shop some time.

Good mechanic for sticking with the diagnosis, and coming up with hopefully the long term resolution.

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