Mpt Posted May 7, 2023 Report Share Posted May 7, 2023 (edited) Having a wierd electrical issue with my Ford C-max Energi Titanium 2017 - please help! When the car sits under the sun in hot temperature (i know it sounds bizzare, but hear me out!) - the instrument cluster, dashboard, AC, radio, sreen - they won't turn on. Dead. The car would start and drive just fine, all the exterior lights work without issues, windows rolld down/up, but the dashboard/instrument cluster dead as a rock. After driving the car for 5 minutes or so - all the lights/radio/AC, etc magically come to life. I had my car at the local Ford dealership, they thought it has something to do with the EV battery charging sequence, so they updated it, then they said it could have been key fob and alarm module at fault, so they reprogrammed it; i`ve checked the fuse box under the box - there is at least one connector disconnected, and some suspricious wires - i wasn't given explanation on those. The dealership wasn;t able to pinpoint the issue. I found some youtube video of a dude speaking about faulty lead free connection points that crack and may get affected by temperature shifts, but nothing specific. These symptoms happen only during the day when it is hot outside and the car sat under the sun for a while! I know it sounds bizzare, but I`ve tested it numerous times and confirmed. Did anyone experience this issue? How would you advice to diagnose or solve this, especially if the dealership isn't helpful? Thank you very much in advance! Edited May 17, 2023 by Mpt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cr08 Posted May 7, 2023 Report Share Posted May 7, 2023 By disconnected connector and suspicious wires, are these under the glove compartment on the passenger side? Can you get photos and post them? The fuse panel back here is the BCM which is a crucial module for the vehicle and can be in control of some of these functions and I'm curious if someone may have messed with something here that could be interfering. Other than that, it's hard to pinpoint things. If the vehicle drives but the cluster, radio, and climate controls don't turn on, it's doubtful it is EV/battery related. Likely these aren't getting the appropriate ignition on signal from the BCM. But that's an educated guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homestead Posted May 7, 2023 Report Share Posted May 7, 2023 My radio failed to turn on during a heat wave once when it was about 115F. Everything else worked ok and after it cooled down the radio started working again. Your problem sounds more like a fuse or electrical connection problem since many areas were affected. If you can get a electrical schematic for the car look at what fuses/wires are common for the dash displays/radio etc. Might be very tough to troubleshoot that problem. When working on problems like this I used cold spray and heat gun to try to localize the problem area. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mpt Posted May 7, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2023 On 5/6/2023 at 11:13 PM, cr08 said: By disconnected connector and suspicious wires, are these under the glove compartment on the passenger side? Can you get photos and post them? The fuse panel back here is the BCM which is a crucial module for the vehicle and can be in control of some of these functions and I'm curious if someone may have messed with something here that could be interfering. Other than that, it's hard to pinpoint things. If the vehicle drives but the cluster, radio, and climate controls don't turn on, it's doubtful it is EV/battery related. Likely these aren't getting the appropriate ignition on signal from the BCM. But that's an educated guess. Thanks for your reply! Attached please find photo of the fuse box under the glove box and highlighted disconnected connector and cut wires. Any idea what these might be? Also, is there a reason some fuses are missing? I have 0 knowledge of anything electrical.. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cr08 Posted May 8, 2023 Report Share Posted May 8, 2023 Is it possible you can get a better idea where those wires are coming from and confirm the color (more specifically the stripe colors)? I tried to review the wiring diagrams to narrow down what those wire may be for but didn't have much luck. I do see another splice up there (that little blue clip just to the top right of your circle) which indicates somebody was messing about in here. May or may not be the culprit, but it certainly throws up some red flags to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mpt Posted May 17, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2023 Hi all, just an update in case you are interested - i took the car to the same dealership, and they've identified an issue with the Body Control Module, so they`ll be replacing it and reprogramming everything. They managed to replicate the issue by turning the heat full blast and leaving it on for a while. Hopefully replacing the BCM will resolve the issue. A bit disappointed to be honest that a 2017 car with 30k miles, which was babied by both me and the original owner, requires such an expensive repair. I am not sure what could have caused it, or if BCM's are something that are prone to breakage, but that's where we are at the moment. Cheers and thanks everyone who read/commented! homestead, cr08 and Arrival 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mpt Posted June 4, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2023 Hi all, another update. Replacing the BCM did not resolve the issue. Cumulatively, my car was at the dealership for about a month, and they fired a parts cannon multiple times, replacing all sorts of things (bcm, screen, cluster, alarm system etc). In the end, it turned out to be a bad/faulty wire somewhere in the rear of the car! Dealership gave me a 3-pager of all the things they did and tested (i especially liked a highly-technical term "performed wiggle test" ?...) to come to this conclusion, and it has been working fine for a week now. Total charge was $1800 ($800 paid by the extended warranty) and yes, that $1k still hurt. But glad the car is back Okay so far... Any idea on what could have caused the bad wiring? I don't have any non-OEM parts/appliances, except for alarm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homestead Posted June 4, 2023 Report Share Posted June 4, 2023 Maybe one of the connectors didn't have a good electrical connection to the wire(s). Wiggling the connector will make that problem appear/disappear. Hope you have smooth sailing going forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew975 Posted June 8, 2023 Report Share Posted June 8, 2023 (edited) Hi...huhhh...I have the same problem with my 2016 Mondeo. Service technicians are not smart enough...sorry..... They find nothing. Now I discovered that I hit the upper part of the instrument cluster when this happens (because of the heat). And everything turns on automatically. I may have to do this 2 or 3 times. And then it works. So the problem is in the connector or wire that expands due to heat, and there is no contact. Try hitting the instrument cluster from above, and it will work. So far, I have solved the problem by covering the front window and instrument cluster (only from above)with sun-protective foil. And it works. Unfortunately, the electrician is busy for another two weeks. Let me know. Best regards, Andrej Edited June 8, 2023 by Andrew975 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mpt Posted June 13, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2023 On 6/8/2023 at 2:37 PM, Andrew975 said: Hi...huhhh...I have the same problem with my 2016 Mondeo. Service technicians are not smart enough...sorry..... They find nothing. Now I discovered that I hit the upper part of the instrument cluster when this happens (because of the heat). And everything turns on automatically. I may have to do this 2 or 3 times. And then it works. So the problem is in the connector or wire that expands due to heat, and there is no contact. Try hitting the instrument cluster from above, and it will work. So far, I have solved the problem by covering the front window and instrument cluster (only from above)with sun-protective foil. And it works. Unfortunately, the electrician is busy for another two weeks. Let me know. Best regards, Andrej Sorry you are experiencing this issue, i know how frustrating this feels. My recommendation from personal experience - don't go to the dealership; instead of diagnosing the root cause of the issue, they will just try to replace parts left and right. Go to an independent mechanic shop who have a good electrician. This youtuber has some videos on Fords instrument cluster issues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl1pLG0sETM&t=1480s Best of luck and would love to hear back how the issue get's resolved. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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