Hi everyone,
I'm trying to help my mother in law get back into her car. 2016 C-Max Energi. It has been at the dealership for nearly 5 months waiting for Ford to make the part she needs. Q4 2022 came and went and now they want her to take the car back because it is taking space on the lot and they don't know when/if a part (Telematic Communications Unit) will be available.
After digging around the forums, reddit, and anything else I can find. Here is what I think I know. I would love any guidance y'all can provide on the bullets below. Most importantly I want her to be able to drive her car with confidence. We really don't care about all the bells and whistles at this point.
Ford has known issues with 3G/4G and releases a TCU upgrade for a lot of models but unfortunately with the C-MAX it doesn't work. They go back to the drawing board and a year later there is still no solution. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2021/MC-10204043-0001.pdf
I don't really know what the TCU does but I did see in one of the threads that it isn't required. https://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/14268-tcu-module-power-drain-affects-power-steering/?tab=comments#comment-87268 I would love to know more about how to "bypass" if that is an option. While it would be nice to have all the features of the vehicle, at this point all she needs is a car that gets from point A to B.
Reading through other owner's issues I see C-MAX has had lots of problems over the years (power steering, radio, battery, etc) - they all seem to have the common issue of "battery drain." A lot of the stuff is dated and my guess is there is a troubleshooting guide somewhere or perhaps someone here that can help me go through a few diagnostic tests and or known fixes for common things. I'm willing to pull fuses or ask for software updates if I know what to ask for.
I'm also willing to just keep the car on a trickle charger for the next 6 months if that will help. Have her keep jumper cables or a battery jump starter in the trunk. Anything really to get her back into her car.
Questions:
1) Before we get the car back from the dealer is there anything we should be asking them? Specific diagnostics run, results, error codes?
2) Are there any resources OTHER than the dealer. Perhaps someone who might be able to help and is within 2 hours of Los Angeles?
Thank you!
- Amanda
