2023 Ranger Tremor "Check 4x4" and "Terrain Management Fault".... lead to...

Clank

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Sounds terrifying. Hopefully a quick and easy fix. I accidentally knocked into 4H once after plugging in a charger in the usb port, but 4L is a different story.
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9Zero, we'll see. I've yet to use this dealer, however a friend of ours reported he's received good service from them in the past.... if I run into trouble, I have a few wild cards up my sleeve that would help to move things along. I wouldn't loose any sleep over this if I were you. I did an extensive search over the net today and didn't find a single occurrence similar to my issue. I never had any problems arise with my 2021 Tremor, and this concern may only apply to the 2023 model. Anyway, I'll post another update tomorrow after I communicate with the dealership.

Any update on the mystery 4L problem? Hope they're taking care of you and not playing a blame game.
 
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Tremor-R

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4/14 Update: Ok, they ran the codes and luckily they were retained by the ECU. They traced the issue down to what they called the "battery junction box", which I suspect is the fuse box located behind the battery. They said it was full of water. I find that to be possible since I rinse off my engine (low pressure) whenever I wash the truck and have driven in some torrential rainstorms as of late. They said the part and it's replacement will be covered under warranty. It's supposed to be finished this evening and ready for pick-up. I also heard from a Ford customer care representative and was able to explain the details of what happened. I requested they have an engineer reach out to me so i can better describe the events and what COULD happen should the problem resurface or happen to someone else's 2023 Ranger. She said she'd work on having a "repair engineer" from Ford contact me. I'll know more/post more this evening if it's in fact ready. If not, I'll post another update this Monday evening. On a side note, I haven't received any grief from my local dealer, and they've been consistent in their communication and reporting.... so far so good. Stay tuned....
 

9zero1790

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4/14 Update: Ok, they ran the codes and luckily they were retained by the ECU. They traced the issue down to what they called the "battery junction box", which I suspect is the fuse box located behind the battery. They said it was full of water. I find that to be possible since I rinse off my engine (low pressure) whenever I wash the truck and have driven in some torrential rainstorms as of late. They said the part and it's replacement will be covered under warranty. It's supposed to be finished this evening and ready for pick-up. I also heard from a Ford customer care representative and was able to explain the details of what happened. I requested they have an engineer reach out to me so i can better describe the events and what COULD happen should the problem resurface or happen to someone else's 2023 Ranger. She said she'd work on having a "repair engineer" from Ford contact me. I'll know more/post more this evening if it's in fact ready. If not, I'll post another update this Monday evening. On a side note, I haven't received any grief from my local dealer, and they've been consistent in their communication and reporting.... so far so good. Stay tuned....
that is awesome! stick with that dealer from now on. if belton was not so far id do it..
 

Jason B

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I can see how rinsing the engine can get water in there, but not by driving thru rain. I live in Louisiana, torrential rain is a normal occurrence.
 


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4/14 Update: Ok, they ran the codes and luckily they were retained by the ECU. They traced the issue down to what they called the "battery junction box", which I suspect is the fuse box located behind the battery. They said it was full of water. I find that to be possible since I rinse off my engine (low pressure) whenever I wash the truck and have driven in some torrential rainstorms as of late. They said the part and it's replacement will be covered under warranty. It's supposed to be finished this evening and ready for pick-up. I also heard from a Ford customer care representative and was able to explain the details of what happened. I requested they have an engineer reach out to me so i can better describe the events and what COULD happen should the problem resurface or happen to someone else's 2023 Ranger. She said she'd work on having a "repair engineer" from Ford contact me. I'll know more/post more this evening if it's in fact ready. If not, I'll post another update this Monday evening. On a side note, I haven't received any grief from my local dealer, and they've been consistent in their communication and reporting.... so far so good. Stay tuned....
I think you are lucky they are covering the repair under warranty. This is just my opinion, but I would not be rinsing the motor off anymore. If you really want to clean that motor, I think the steam cleaner is the way to go.
 
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Tremor-R

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4/18 A.M. Update: Repairs were completed yesterday and picked it up late afternoon. So far, so good.... currently at work so I'll update with further details this evening.
 
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Tremor-R

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I think you are lucky they are covering the repair under warranty. This is just my opinion, but I would not be rinsing the motor off anymore. If you really want to clean that motor, I think the steam cleaner is the way to go.
Jim,

No, the dealer found the fuse box lid was not properly seated, which explains the rain issue we had in Salt Lake. Considering the fuse box is located near the hood/fender/cowl junctions, I can see how it might be possible. As for spraying off the engine, I use a pressure washer with the nozzle set on the widest spray pattern setting allowed (wider pattern = less applied/concentrated pressure) and stand back a few feet from the front of the vehicle when spraying... never had an issue cleaning an engine this way for the last 35 years.
 

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Jim,

No, the dealer found the fuse box lid was not properly seated, which explains the rain issue we had in Salt Lake. Considering the fuse box is located near the hood/fender/cowl junctions, I can see how it might be possible. As for spraying off the engine, I use a pressure washer with the nozzle set on the widest spray pattern setting allowed (wider pattern = less applied/concentrated pressure) and stand back a few feet from the front of the vehicle when spraying... never had an issue cleaning an engine this way for the last 35 years.
Interesting. How about changing that to "I have only had one major issue cleaning an engine this way for the last 35 years." The fuse box is right behind the battery. I am not sure how you really get it wet unless the water comes in from the top or the vehicle is submerged. If the water came in through the wheel well it would have to bend around to get on top of the box. That is very unlikely. If the Ranger really had an issue with this, I think you would see a number of posts on this forum about it.
 
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Tremor-R

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Interesting. How about changing that to "I have only had one major issue cleaning an engine this way for the last 35 years." The fuse box is right behind the battery. I am not sure how you really get it wet unless the water comes in from the top or the vehicle is submerged. If the water came in through the wheel well it would have to bend around to get on top of the box. That is very unlikely. If the Ranger really had an issue with this, I think you would see a number of posts on this forum about it.
Jim, you're partially correct... I've now had ONE major issue, but only as a result of what I had stated earlier, "the dealer found the fuse box lid was not properly seated ...". The consensus is that the vehicle arrived from the factory with the lid off kilter. That revelation alone indicates the probability that my assessments have been correct. As for the lack of similar posts on this thread, not everyone that owns a Ranger is a participant within this community; the lack of similar issues expressed on this site in no way negates the fact that this oversight in QC happened to me. Thanks for chiming in and have a great afternoon ;)
 
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Tremor-R

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Sorry for the update delay.... had some Honey-Do's to take care of last night after work.

It appears that the lid for what they're calling the, "Battery Junction Box" (fuse/relay box behind the battery) was leaking. As a result of water intrusion from engine spray downs and possible leakage between the hood/fender/cowl gaps, Relay 86 (for the transfer case shift motor... JB3Z7G360B) and it's socket had severely corroded terminals. They replaced the junction/fuse box, lid, relay, and cleared the codes. Everything was covered under warranty and there were no dealer related issues. I'm currently in process of reaching out to a Ford Engineer to discuss what happened and how to avoid it from happening again. I'll continue to keep you guys apprised as to my progress.... certainly don't want this to happen to anyone else.
 
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Tremor-R

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Still waiting to hear back from Ford. Thus far, the issue hasn't reappeared and the truck appears to be behaving normally. I'll post again as soon as I'm able to discuss this with someone related to driveline engineering.
 

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If you haven't received a phone call from a Ford Engineer, your probably not going to get one. Most companies do not want their engineers talking directly to customers. This is what the customer support team is for. If the engineers start doing customer support, they quickly become the most expensive customer support employees in the company.
 

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Well, I was hoping my first post on Ranger5G would be more of a traditional meet and great, but unfortunately I had something happen to my new Ranger this evening that has me a bit scared. My wife and I were picking our daughter up from work this evening when I received two messages, "Check 4x4" and "Terrain Management Fault". Both were followed by the image of a wrench appearing on the lower left of my center display. When parked, I cycled the truck off and on again and the wrench symbol was no longer visible. On our return home we had just left the expressway when the messages and wrench reappeared. When approaching our first stop sign the truck violently jerked us to a sudden stop from about 20mph with 4-Low flashing on the center display. Both my hands were on the wheel and my wife was looking out the passenger window when this happened.... neither one of us had our hands anywhere near the Terrain Management knob. I know that the truck isn't supposed to shift into 4-Low unless it's in Neutral, but it did.... while in drive. Thank God this didn't happen on the freeway. I'm going to have the truck towed to our local dealer tomorrow and will give frequent updates as they become available. In the meantime, I would advise anyone receiving those fault codes to drive cautiously and would advise against driving at high speeds until you have it looked at by your dealer. If anyone else out there has experienced something similar, please let me know.

Scott
I just had this issue while driving on the freeway. Everything you said happened to me right down to a T. Very scary. I ended up getting it towed to a dealer and they'll be taking a look at it. This seems to be a design issue. I wonder if there will be a recall.
 
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Tremor-R

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I just had this issue while driving on the freeway. Everything you said happened to me right down to a T. Very scary. I ended up getting it towed to a dealer and they'll be taking a look at it. This seems to be a design issue. I wonder if there will be a recall.
Sandy,

I'm so sorry this happened.... yes, it's scary! I'm glad to hear that nobody was hurt. About 4 months after it happened, I broke a front CV/Axle while doing some VERY MILD off roading on a gravel surface (forest service road up in Arkansas). I had the vehicle towed to my dealer in Texas and referred back to the 4-LO engagement incident as to the probable underlying reason. Unfortunately, they denied my warranty claim because I had lifted the vehicle (1.5" in front). I have the diff drop kit installed, and even after taking angle measurement's with my Fluke and proving that my CV angles were within spec, the Ford engineer they referred my case to claimed that I had abused the vehicle.... unbelievable. I'm actually a bit scared to take mine offroad now for fear that other drivetrain components have been weakened as a result of the 4-LO auto-engagement. PLEASE KEEP ME POSTED!! If I can be of help, feel free to send me a private message and I'll provide you my contact info.

Scott
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