Battery issue and something else?

[Blivit]

So I have a 2020. Owned for 2 years, 57k miles now. It was a Ford certified pre owned. It's been problem free other than the leaking cv axles. Passenger side replaced last year, drivers side replaced yesterday. The battery is either original or was replaced during the certification process, not sure.

Wife picked it up this morning after the dealer replaced the driver's cv axle and drove to an appointment, no issues. She parked, went to her appointment and came back to a no start, just clicks. All the error lights were on on the dash. She couldn't get the jump box working so she called AAA then called me. I'm certain the no start is the battery. However, according to her, it was smoking under the hood while trying to start and right after (she said it was a lot.) When it got back to the house, I was able to jump it but it does have a fairly strong burning electronics type smell under the hood. I let it sit and drove it around the block. No smoke but the smell is still kind of there. All electronics function... No dtc codes... No noises.... Fluid levels good.... I'm stumped.

The battery.. Ok, those fail. But the smoke and smell that occurred at the same time?

 

[FORZDA3]

The battery ground or other start cable likely left loose by the dealer “technician”…

 

[Blivit]

The battery ground or other start cable likely left loose by the dealer “technician”…

She said the smoke was coming from the driver's side.. Which is the side axle that was replaced. Is there a ground on that side that would have been undone for that replacement?

 

[Cdubya]

If it happened when starting and all you heard was a click, I would look at the starter as the cause of the smoke/burnt smell.

 

[Blivit]

If it happened when starting and all you heard was a click, I would look at the starter as the cause of the smoke/burnt smell.

It only clicks when the battery is dead. If I jump it, it will start fine with no clicks or issues. So far, I have yet to see any smoke myself. I plan to get underneath it today in addition to replacing the battery.

 

[Blivit]

I just noticed this as well; my fordpass app says the vehicle is on...but it isn't....

 

[Drsobczakst]

If there was smoke, a lot of it and, a nasty smell you should be able to locate some sort of indication of what it was by looking for burnt wires or charring on other components. I would pull the battery cover under the cowl and have a look at the terminals to see if you can see anything. Additionally if you have a scanner you can run a check to see what hard codes have been stored in the system. There is a chance that a terminal is loose and was arcing while she was trying to start it and that could be what cause your issues. There are a few fuses i would check as well....I would pull the fuse cover off located under the cowl on the driver side and double check fuse 18 (starter) its a 30amp, I would pull fuse 146 (Battery electronic control module) its 15amp and, I would also pull fuse 168 (low voltage disconnect) its a 20amp. All of these have a relationship with the battery and is worth the time to see if any of them took a crap during this event. Fuse data can be found starting on page 312 in the manual

Now, there is also a failure to start sequence as well. It won't fix your smoke and smell issues but again, its there for you to refence on page 174 in your manual.

Let us know what happens!

 

[Drsobczakst]

I just noticed this as well; my fordpass app says the vehicle is on...but it isn't....

This is going to be an issue with your SYNC system and your TCU (Telemetry Control Unit) it's what talks to FordPass along with several other functions... I just had that happen to me and its b/c my APIM (the module that runs the SYNC System) took a crap and wouldn't let me update the SYNC software. I would try updating your software and seeing if that fixes your issue. If not, you'll have to take it in and have them look at it. If you're still under warranty its covered....

The dead give away if your system is functioning correctly is you'll have the data arrows (data transmission indicators) and a triangle (location of ST if selected as "on" in FordPass in SYNC settings) show up in the upper right hand of your screen. It might take a few mins to see it once you're driving .... check out my thread on all this below. i just spent 2-3 weeks getting all this fixed on my 21'

https://www.explorerst.org/threads/sync-3-4-issues.7423/page-2#post-95631

 

[Blivit]

If there was smoke, a lot of it and, a nasty smell you should be able to locate some sort of indication of what it was by looking for burnt wires or charring on other components. I would pull the battery cover under the cowl and have a look at the terminals to see if you can see anything. Additionally if you have a scanner you can run a check to see what hard codes have been stored in the system. There is a chance that a terminal is loose and was arcing while she was trying to start it and that could be what cause your issues. There are a few fuses i would check as well....I would pull the fuse cover off located under the cowl on the driver side and double check fuse 18 (starter) its a 30amp, I would pull fuse 146 (Battery electronic control module) its 15amp and, I would also pull fuse 168 (low voltage disconnect) its a 20amp. All of these have a relationship with the battery and is worth the time to see if any of them took a crap during this event. Fuse data can be found starting on page 312 in the manual

Now, there is also a failure to start sequence as well. It won't fix your smoke and smell issues but again, its there for you to refence on page 174 in your manual.

Let us know what happens!

Thanks. She described it as a lot but I know we have different interpretations of that. I definitely smelled something last night but never saw smoke in the 15-20 minutes I let it idle in the driveway after I jumped it or the 5 minute drive I took around the block. Last night I only did a quick visual check on things before it got dark. I'll look more today. She said the smoke was coming from down low on the driver's side; starter maybe?

 

[Blivit]

Update: adding to the fun. Now that it's daylight, I am inspecting things. There is a "cut" harness right next to the driver's axle that they replaced. I don't recall seeing this before. There are 4 wires that are cut right next to the newly replaced and. Unsure if this is new... Getting underneath to see if I can find the other end... But this seems too coincidental.

 

[Drsobczakst]

Update: adding to the fun. Now that it's daylight, I am inspecting things. There is a "cut" harness right next to the driver's axle that they replaced. I don't recall seeing this before. There are 4 wires that are cut right next to the newly replaced and. Unsure if this is new... Getting underneath to see if I can find the other end... But this seems too coincidental.
View attachment 24320

its raining where i am otherwise i would go look under mine for reference. That does look a bit odd tho....... hard to tell in the picture but it does look like someone put E-tape or heat shrink over them. If it is dry later, ill go look at mine for you

 

[Blivit]

Upon further inspection... The wires do have heat shrink on them and a blob of something on the ends. Possibly not new but no idea what this would be or why it is like this. Makes sense to me though that if one of those are contacting metal and there is voltage there, that equals bad things.

Battery is still dead so I can't start it to drive up on my ramps to look at this more.

 

[Blivit]

The cut wires are old. No voltage to them. No idea what they may have been for. They are part of the alternator harness. Regardless, I've re heat shrinked them covering the ends and moved them away from any metal.

Took the battery out (wtf Ford!?!) and will pick up a new one and call it a day for now.

 

[Cdubya]

Have you ever had the FADA replaced with a non-FADA intermediate shaft? Could be why the harness was cut. I would think if you had a FADA and the harness was cut, it would trigger a code though.

 

[Blivit]

Have you ever had the FADA replaced with a non-FADA intermediate shaft? Could be why the harness was cut. I would think if you had a FADA and the harness was cut, it would trigger a code though.

FADA? I bought this used 2 years ago. Certified pre-owned from Ford. Never been any codes or issues.

 

[FORZDA3]

Yeah the dealer idiots fucked up your car and tried to cover their tracks, OR it was already fucked up and they didn't tell you. Either way your dealer sucks, as is the norm. Learn to fix it yourself, or this will happen EVERY time. It may go unnoticed for years, but it will bite you for sure. Dealer shops are literally the worst place to take your vehicle for anything other than trading it in.

 

[Blivit]

Yeah the dealer idiots fucked up your car and tried to cover their tracks, OR it was already fucked up and they didn't tell you. Either way your dealer sucks, as is the norm. Learn to fix it yourself, or this will happen EVERY time. It may go unnoticed for years, but it will bite you for sure. Dealer shops are literally the worst place to take your vehicle for anything other than trading it in.

Maybe. I don't like dealerships either. I do fix and maintain all of my vehicles on my own unless it's warrant work. The explorer has only been to a dealer 3 times in the 2 years I have owned it, all for warranty work. If a dealership did whatever this is, it could have been before I bought it.

 

[Blivit]

Sadly I thought I had this fixed...but it isn't 100%. I replaced the battery and reset the bms. Immediately after, it fired right up. Now, if it sits for a few hours or overnight, it struggles to start (it will start but is slow in doing so.) Still no smoke seen by me and the smell that was there is mostly gone as well. Still no dtc codes. Something seems to be drawing from the battery that wasn't there before. Ugh...have to contact the dealer as this has to be something they did.

 

[Cdubya]

I would not discount the smoke and burnt smell. You need to trouble shoot what exactly that was from.

 

[FORZDA3]

There is likely a high resistance short to ground or a component causing the slow start and initial smell. Dealer goons fucked it up, as normal. You'll see…. They cant help it working flat rate. If they were actually docked pay for their returns, it would help, but not eliminate buffoonery.