Possible Electrical Gremin?

[Deleted member 8941]

After I got home from work today, my mom informed me about something bizarre that happened with her Bronco Sport when she was out at the grocery store. She went to turn her car on and apparently the LCD screen in the gauge cluster was black as well as the rear view camera. Also, the rear-cross traffic alert and parking sensors were not available. My brother was the passenger and he confirmed that he saw some type of warning message on the center stack saying that something was unavailable. Of course my mom thinks I'm some kind of master mechanic and asked if I knew what was wrong but I have no idea. It could be anything. Judging from experiences posted on this forum maybe it could be some type of electrical gremlin? I've heard of BS's just randomly dying on here which heaven for bid if that's the case with ours. However, when I went to turn the BS on, everything was just fine. I put it in reverse, the camera works, parking sensors work, I went to vehicle settings and made sure all of the safety aids were on (which they were) and the LCD screen was nice and bright as normal. I'm not sure what this was but it's making me paranoid. If it happened once, it'll surely happen again. I'll definitely have to keep an eye on it. What do you think? Has anyone else experienced something similar?

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[Dude]

Lots of reports of electrical gremlins similar to what you describe; often one of these are possible solutions,

Red/black terminals at the 12V Battery are not properly tightened

Black cable from 12V Battery to frame ground not properly tightened on the frame (and some reported that the bolt is loose and difficult to tighten)

12V Battery is bad (level 2 diagnostic or similar is recommended to diagnose an actual bad battery)

problem with the alternator or charging system

Etc.

 

[Sleddog]

With my 13 fusion, and 17 F250, in the first few months of ownership I had various gremlins. A stop now prompt with complete loss of power. 8 inch display go black sane with the drivers display. Cross traffic alert failure and few others.

They happened once and cleared with a restart. Stuff like this is not unusual. Seen it many time with other programmed devices. One time gremlins that never re-appear.

I hope that is the case with what you are seeing.

 

[Jill]

After I got home from work today, my mom informed me about something bizarre that happened with her Bronco Sport when she was out at the grocery store. She went to turn her car on and apparently the LCD screen in the gauge cluster was black as well as the rear view camera. Also, the rear-cross traffic alert and parking sensors were not available. My brother was the passenger and he confirmed that he saw some type of warning message on the center stack saying that something was unavailable. Of course my mom thinks I'm some kind of master mechanic and asked if I knew what was wrong but I have no idea. It could be anything. Judging from experiences posted on this forum maybe it could be some type of electrical gremlin? I've heard of BS's just randomly dying on here which heaven for bid if that's the case with ours. However, when I went to turn the BS on, everything was just fine. I put it in reverse, the camera works, parking sensors work, I went to vehicle settings and made sure all of the safety aids were on (which they were) and the LCD screen was nice and bright as normal. I'm not sure what this was but it's making me paranoid. If it happened once, it'll surely happen again. I'll definitely have to keep an eye on it. What do you think? Has anyone else experienced something similar?

I have a 21 Badlands. It’s over two years old. Last week, I had two strange occurrences, three days apart, while I was stopped at a traffic light with my foot on the brake, waiting for the signal to change to green. Suddenly my BL shut down and the shifter rotated to park. It’s at the dealer now for them to look at it tomorrow. They were too busy last week due to winter tire changeover.

 

[Juanchoch]

After I got home from work today, my mom informed me about something bizarre that happened with her Bronco Sport when she was out at the grocery store. She went to turn her car on and apparently the LCD screen in the gauge cluster was black as well as the rear view camera. Also, the rear-cross traffic alert and parking sensors were not available. My brother was the passenger and he confirmed that he saw some type of warning message on the center stack saying that something was unavailable. Of course my mom thinks I'm some kind of master mechanic and asked if I knew what was wrong but I have no idea. It could be anything. Judging from experiences posted on this forum maybe it could be some type of electrical gremlin? I've heard of BS's just randomly dying on here which heaven for bid if that's the case with ours. However, when I went to turn the BS on, everything was just fine. I put it in reverse, the camera works, parking sensors work, I went to vehicle settings and made sure all of the safety aids were on (which they were) and the LCD screen was nice and bright as normal. I'm not sure what this was but it's making me paranoid. If it happened once, it'll surely happen again. I'll definitely have to keep an eye on it. What do you think? Has anyone else experienced something similar?

Hello this has been happens to me also. I left work and noticed my rear view camera never turned off while driving forward. I hit my forward cam and that came on as I sped up it went black and stayed that way. I pulled over and turned sport off hoping to reset but same black screen. I drove home radio playing but no control from screen. Volume knob works but no volume or next control from screen or steering controls. I could change from menu on steering controls though. Fm to am and phone control when connected. After arriving at moms and staying a couple of hours it was ok when I left. Over the weekend it is doing it intermittently need to go to dealer or might try reset I found on forum. Will update later.

 

[CableXJ]

After I got home from work today, my mom informed me about something bizarre that happened with her Bronco Sport when she was out at the grocery store. She went to turn her car on and apparently the LCD screen in the gauge cluster was black as well as the rear view camera. Also, the rear-cross traffic alert and parking sensors were not available. My brother was the passenger and he confirmed that he saw some type of warning message on the center stack saying that something was unavailable. Of course my mom thinks I'm some kind of master mechanic and asked if I knew what was wrong but I have no idea. It could be anything. Judging from experiences posted on this forum maybe it could be some type of electrical gremlin? I've heard of BS's just randomly dying on here which heaven for bid if that's the case with ours. However, when I went to turn the BS on, everything was just fine. I put it in reverse, the camera works, parking sensors work, I went to vehicle settings and made sure all of the safety aids were on (which they were) and the LCD screen was nice and bright as normal. I'm not sure what this was but it's making me paranoid. If it happened once, it'll surely happen again. I'll definitely have to keep an eye on it. What do you think? Has anyone else experienced something similar?

That’s happened twice in 8000 km. First time I just turned off the ignition and opened the door. Closed it and started. Back to normal. Second time I just hit the display button on the screen and cycled through. Came back good as new.
I suspect it is due to frequent stops and starts doing errands.

 

[R W NORRIS New Mexico]

My Big Bend with 14K went "Totally Dark" on the instrument cluster and LCD 8 INCH and the motor stopped, or so I thought. Steering was still OK and as I pulled off the road to a stop, everything simply powered back up. It was like a complete power failure. Had a shop appointment the next morning and they could find no codes and could not find anything wrong. Been three weeks and all is working fine. If you ever find out why it happens let me know. LOL My service dealer thinks i am crazy. I had a passenger that was a witness so if I am crazy, so is she. LOL Good Luck.

 

[BSBB4Les]

OK, today, my wife and I went to run errands. Start up normal. First stop normal. Second stop, went in the store for about 15-20 minutes, came out, started the Bronco Sport and no dash! All the gauges did not move. But the center screen was working and all the lights, turn signals and 360+ worked. Stopped in a parking lot, waited 15-20 minutes still no dash. Taking it to the dealer Monday. Wish me luck!

 

[Mark S.]

OK, today, my wife and I went to run errands. Start up normal. First stop normal. Second stop, went in the store for about 15-20 minutes, came out, started the Bronco Sport and no dash! All the gauges did not move. But the center screen was working and all the lights, turn signals and 360+ worked. Stopped in a parking lot, waited 15-20 minutes still no dash. Taking it to the dealer Monday. Wish me luck!

Was your SYNC screen functional?

 

[BSBB4Les]

Was your SYNC screen functional?

Yes. Seems the only thing that isn't working is the dash. Everything else is functioning normally. I just can't see how fast I'm going! Lol. (Not really funny).

 

[Mark S.]

(Not really funny).

Well, it's a little funny...

Hmmm. Weird. Could be any number of causes. My vote is a connector issue.

 

[BSBB4Les]

Well, it's a little funny...

Hmmm. Weird. Could be any number of causes. My vote is a connector issue.

That's what I'm thinking. It just seems for all the driving we've done, through hot (sometimes extreme) and cold (sometimes extreme) weather, I don't think it's weather related.

 

[BSBB4Les]

OK, so my better half and I took the Sport home and swapped to her Mustang convertible to finish the rest of our shopping. A couple hours later we get home and I go to the Sport and opened the door, lo and behold the dash lights came on. I started it and lights stayed on. Question now is, do I bother taking it to the dealer on Monday and let them run a diagnostics at least?

 

[Dude]

OK, so my better half and I took the Sport home and swapped to her Mustang convertible to finish the rest of our shopping. A couple hours later we get home and I go to the Sport and opened the door, lo and behold the dash lights came on. I started it and lights stayed on. Question now is, do I bother taking it to the dealer on Monday and let them run a diagnostics at least?

Unless it’s repeatable or a connector you can wiggle to demonstrate the problem (so is repeatable) or the typical bad battery issue that a level 2 deep diagnostic would show it seems useless to go to the dealership but if codes are stored that itself makes the trip worthwhile. Unless you can read the codes yourself with a tool like FORScan.

 

[BSBB4Les]

That's the rub. This is a first time I've experienced any problem (or glitch) in the BS. I thought it might have been an update that caused the hiccup, but I looked on fordpass and none was run. I hate electrical issues! This vehicle has sooooo much electronics! Co-pilot 360+! I'm reading others on this forum have experienced this same issue. I'll drive it all day tomorrow and see if it happens again. At least, if it does, I'll be able to give the dealer more info. They aren't local either, so....

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