Urgent help needed. "Stop Safely Now" with some codes

[2013CMaxOwner]

Hi All,

with battery charged overnight.txt I just bought this 2013 Ford C Max Hybrid SEL As Is. I drove it home  (about 10kms) from sellers house. Just before I reached home, car kind of stalled for a second and "Stop Safely Now" message appeared on the dashboard along with Tire pressure sensor fault message. Car dropped down to around 20km/hr. I barely made it to home. And since then, it doesn't start anymore. Everytime I try to start, it attempts to start and the stop Safely Now message pops up. I thought it had something to do with TPMS so I made sure all tires were properly inflated. Still error didn't go. I have a cheap OBD2 scanner. Prior to buying the car, it had a check engine light and my tester picked up P2401 Evap system leak code. Still the car was drivable.

After doing a lot of reading in the last 3 days, I got Forscan for windows with a proper scanner and scanned the car for DTCs. Here are the codes I received from Forscan.

 

SOBDMC P0A0A: 13 (Circuit Open)

SOBDMC P0A92: 71 (Actuator Stuck)

SOBDMC P1A10 (Battery Disabled)

 

No errors found in BECM

 

PCM P2401 (This code was there before Stop Safely Now message)

 

APIM B1215 (probably not so crucial)

APIM U2100 (not so crucial either)

 

After reading for a bit, I think the top two are the ones needing to get worked on. I don't know where to go from here. I am a bit handy when it comes to car repairs but this is new for me since it's my first hybrid.

 

Any help would be appreciated!

Regards.

 

 

 

with battery charged overnight.txt

Edited September 15, 2023 by 2013CMaxOwner
It's my first post. I tried to upload the Forscan report but it won't let me. Please delete the attachment of it's not allowed. Thanks

[jestevens]

Reading from here..

http://www.fordservicecontent.com/ford_content/catalog/motorcraft/OBDSM1700_HEV.pdf

It says the SOBDMC is a charger module that is designed to charge the car from AC input .. do you have a C-MAX Energi -- and have you been able to open the charge port and charge the high voltage pack?

Either that or maybe the high voltage battery pack relay is stuck open? Do you hear any relay clicking noise in the back when you "start" the car? When the car is off the relay is normally open to disable the High voltage components of the car .. when you command the car to start, if all the checks pass it will command the relay to close, which connects the high voltage components of the car to the high voltage battery pack. There is a HVB safety plug that can be manually pulled to ensure HVB is disconnected while servicing the car, perhaps this plug is loose ?

All speculation on my part .. Edited September 18, 2023 by jestevens

[BiigAl]

I just started having this same issue with the Stop Safely Now message.  First time was last week and the second time was tonight.  After driving for about an hour the ICE would stop and dash warning would come on.  I pulled over to the side of the road and pressed Engine Stop button and then opened the door to completely turn everything off.  
 

It would restart again and run fine.  But now I’m worried it will shut off again during rush hour traffic.  
 

I have a OBDLink II scanner but it shows no codes.  This makes me think it is not a logic problem and that it is mechanical.  Maybe something is overheating and causing an electrical open circuit.  
 

2014 Cmax Hybrid SEL 125k miles. 

[2013CMaxOwner]

On 9/18/2023 at 5:23 PM, jestevens said:

Reading from here..

http://www.fordservicecontent.com/ford_content/catalog/motorcraft/OBDSM1700_HEV.pdf

It says the SOBDMC is a charger module that is designed to charge the car from AC input .. do you have a C-MAX Energi -- and have you been able to open the charge port and charge the high voltage pack?

Either that or maybe the high voltage battery pack relay is stuck open? Do you hear any relay clicking noise in the back when you "start" the car? When the car is off the relay is normally open to disable the High voltage components of the car .. when you command the car to start, if all the checks pass it will command the relay to close, which connects the high voltage components of the car to the high voltage battery pack. There is a HVB safety plug that can be manually pulled to ensure HVB is disconnected while servicing the car, perhaps this plug is loose ?

All speculation on my part ..

Thanks for the reply.

No I don't have the Energi. It's the hybrid only version.

I also checked the HVB disconnect and it is seated well in and in locked position.

Here is some update.

I deleted the SOBDMC P0A0A: 13 (Circuit Open) code using ForScan and rescanned for the codes. P0A0A didn't come back and SOBDMC P1A10 (Battery Disabled) code also disappeared and didn't show up either. Tried to start the car and it's behaving like before.

Then I deleted SOBDMC P0A92: 71 (Actuator Stuck) code and tried to start the car, but the car still wouldn't start and the same Stop Safely Now message appears. Also rescanned for codes and the P0A92 Actuator Stuck Code came back but reset of the codes are gone.

As far as how car behaves everytime I try to start is that it would kind of shake as if it wanted to start something and right after Stop Safely Now message would appear.

As you said it could be relay that is stuck or something else. Do you have any suggestions regarding relay and how it could be fixed if it's the problem?

Also now that the SOBDMC P0A0A: 13 (Circuit Open) is gone, my focus is on the SOBDMC P0A92: 71 (Actuator Stuck) code since it has returned back after deleting it.

I read somewhere that it could be related to the transmission. So I called Mr. Transmission to get their input. I provided them with the code and he said that he has seen it before (not with CMax though) and it's pretty common with other Hybrids especially Toyota Highlander. He said that they will have to diagnose it to find out how many actuators are of the issue here. He said that there are two actuators in Ford Focus and it might be the same with C-Max. I am supposed to get the car towed to their shop tomorrow and keep my fingers crossed that it is what they are saying and it's not something else.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions which I could try before taking it to the mechanic.

 

Regards.

[2013CMaxOwner]

Here's the video of the startup and how it sounds like before Stop Safely Now message appears on the dashboard.

Maybe this will help.

 

Thanks 

[jestevens]

Yeah, that's the thing I notice too is the shuddering noise right before the "Stop Safely Now" .. Honestly, I would just take it to Ford .. P0A92 is Hybrid Generator Performance? There may be a problem with the drivetrain. I would not take this hybrid car to a third party transmission shop. (I wonder how many HF35 transmissions or hybrids they've routinely worked on?) Edited September 19, 2023 by jestevens

[jestevens]

I hope they were able to help you -- let us know what happens..

[2013CMaxOwner]

Update:

 

I took it to Mr. Transmission and they kept it for weeks and didn't look at it at all.

Then I dropped it off to The Ford dealership. Today, they called me back and said that the car is not turning. And according to them, it could be the transmission that is stuck or it could be the engine not turning. The only way for them to be sure of is by removing both the engine and the transmission off the car and try manually turning each. Just to do that, they quoted me $2200 Canadian dollars plus tax. After that they would quote me for the repairs costs.

I think it's the transmission. C max generally have transmission issues. I don't see it being engine. It was running fine before this Stop Safely Now message appeared.

 

Any suggestions?

Thanks 

[Lacienega]

I would think so too...never heard of a C-max having engine failure but plenty of trans issues