New Ranger...complete electrical system failure & quick fix (for now)

[Kenneth Snell]

I wanted to post this since I purchased a 2019 Ranger approximately three months ago and have added 3,300 miles without a mechanical/electrical incident until a few days ago...drove my morning commute and everything was good to go until I parked the truck and turned it off. Much too my confusion, I noticed that although the engine was off, all the other systems were still on and would not shut down (A.C., radio, dashboard lights, etc.). Waited a few minutes and tried to restart the engine but the truck would not respond. Additionally, I noticed the key fob was unresponsive, and the dash board was flashing numerous warnings like "engine oil level low" and "check engine" to name a few.

At this point the truck was totally unreponsive and I was concerned about the battery draining so I pulled the negative lead off the terminal, waited about one minute and reconnected. Not sure what initially happended to the electrical system but disconnecting and reconnecting the battery somehow "rebooted" everything and I was able to start and drive the truck with no issues.

Later that day I drove to dealership and spoke to a service writer. Explained what happened and he had no way of offering
an explaination. I requested that one of the techs run a diagnostic check, but he claimed since I disconnected the battery I essentially "erased" any error codes. Bottom line is that he said they could not do anything for me unless I could replicate the occurance...

Scratching my head at this point I was attempting to correlate this incident with anything out of the ordinary, and realized on the morning the system failed it was incredibly humid where I live on the east coast. I do park the truck outside on the driveway (all the garage space has been taken up by my wife's car and motorcycle), so one logical explaination is that condensation formed somewhere within the electrical system and created a short.

My question is has anyone ever heard of or experienced this type of system failure, and if so, did you locate/determine the source? Any input would be much appreciated!

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[P. A. Schilke]

I wanted to post this since I purchased a 2019 Ranger approximately three months ago and have added 3,300 miles without a mechanical/electrical incident until a few days ago...drove my morning commute and everything was good to go until I parked the truck and turned it off. Much too my confusion, I noticed that although the engine was off, all the other systems were still on and would not shut down (A.C., radio, dashboard lights, etc.). Waited a few minutes and tried to restart the engine but the truck would not respond. Additionally, I noticed the key fob was unresponsive, and the dash board was flashing numerous warnings like "engine oil level low" and "check engine" to name a few.

At this point the truck was totally unreponsive and I was concerned about the battery draining so I pulled the negative lead off the terminal, waited about one minute and reconnected. Not sure what initially happended to the electrical system but disconnecting and reconnecting the battery somehow "rebooted" everything and I was able to start and drive the truck with no issues.

Later that day I drove to dealership and spoke to a service writer. Explained what happened and he had no way of offering
an explaination. I requested that one of the techs run a diagnostic check, but he claimed since I disconnected the battery I essentially "erased" any error codes. Bottom line is that he said they could not do anything for me unless I could replicate the occurance...

Scratching my head at this point I was attempting to correlate this incident with anything out of the ordinary, and realized on the morning the system failed it was incredibly humid where I live on the east coast. I do park the truck outside on the driveway (all the garage space has been taken up by my wife's car and motorcycle), so one logical explaination is that condensation formed somewhere within the electrical system and created a short.

My question is has anyone ever heard of or experienced this type of system failure, and if so, did you locate/determine the source? Any input would be much appreciated!

Hi Kenneth,

This incident should have never happened. Vehicles should be able to be outside in all environments. We have soak sheds at Ford that a vehicle must live in at 100% humidity. I think you have a wiring connector that is not fully seated and that moisture has gotten into it...as it has not recurred, I am leaning toward a engine compartment connector, not the interior of the vehicle.

If this recurs, your best bet is to get it on a rollback and drop it off at the dealer with all systems on... Otherwise, if you just start pushing engine compartment connectors together, you might find the offending connector...Something is very wrong here.
Good luck!

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[chasvs]

I live in Florida and have had my Ranger Since February, parked outside all th e time. To say we have humidity here is an understatement and I have not had anything like that happen to mine!

 

[Kenneth Snell]

Hi Kenneth,

This incident should have never happened. Vehicles should be able to be outside in all environments. We have soak sheds at Ford that a vehicle must live in at 100% humidity. I think you have a wiring connector that is not fully seated and that moisture has gotten into it...as it has not recurred, I am leaning toward a engine compartment connector, not the interior of the vehicle.

If this recurs, your best bet is to get it on a rollback and drop it off at the dealer with all systems on... Otherwise, if you just start pushing engine compartment connectors together, you might find the offending connector...Something is very wrong here.
Good luck!

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Phil, thank you for the feedback. I checked the connectors in the engine compartment but did not see anything that looked out of the ordinary.
As of right now the truck has been working fine without any issues. Time will tell...

 

[Mellow]

There's also some big ones along the frame that can be see under the truck... if they weren't fully seated, I can see them just popping loose and then back together..

 

[joeb427]

I live in Florida and have had my Ranger Since February, parked outside all th e time. To say we have humidity here is an understatement and I have not had anything like that happen to mine!

Plenty of humidity here in SC too. No issues.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

There's also some big ones along the frame that can be see under the truck... if they weren't fully seated, I can see them just popping loose and then back together..

Hi,

One of the big offenders is the connector behind the left front headlight...Mine was not fully seated...a real bear to get to one handed but heard it click and all was well...

best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[Mellow]

Hi,

One of the big offenders is the connector behind the left front headlight...Mine was not fully seated...a real bear to get to one handed but heard it click and all was well...

best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Phil, can you elaborate on this more? I looked in that area, I see the big one between the battery / headlight but I'm assuming that is not the one you're talking about because that's easy to get to... Maybe easier to get to by pulling some fender well cover back?

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Phil, can you elaborate on this more? I looked in that area, I see the big one between the battery / headlight but I'm assuming that is not the one you're talking about because that's easy to get to... Maybe easier to get to by pulling some fender well cover back?

Hi Joe,

The connector to which I referred is between the Horse Collar and the back of the headlight bucket. The Horse collar is the front end structure to which the radiator attaches, etc.

best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[Mellow]

Hi Joe,

The connector to which I referred is between the Horse Collar and the back of the headlight bucket. The Horse collar is the front end structure to which the radiator attaches, etc.

best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Thanks! Will give it a look-see.

 

[IngotSTX]

The same thing happened to the F150 I had about 20 years ago. I started it up on a foggy morning and the electrical system went haywire. I was able to drive it to the nearest dealership. They said they had to replace a faulty relay as well as the battery which was somehow destroyed.

 

[Mellow]

I couldn't find any issues... just gonna wait until it happens often enough to throw a code or need a tow.

 

[Sabasigh]

My new Ranger didn't make it a block from the dealership when the tail lights went out: https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/tail-lights-not-working.3555/

It's been sitting @ dealership for 2+ weeks now going back/forth with Ford on what to troubleshoot next. Dealer claims to have tried different harnesses, different tail lights and none have fixed the issue. Sometimes the lights will work for the first 2 mins then go out. Dealer thinks its the BCM/Body Control Module(?) but Ford supposedly has other ideas.

This reminds me when i went to England back in 1999 and saw the Focus...fell in love with the car. Came back to States and Ford was releasing a US model. Conventional wisdom was never buy a first year car...but i figured "hey, they've got bugs worked out since its been in Europe for some time." Well not so much. I think i got a recall letter on the Focus by the time i drove it home from the dealership. Even recalls on that car were recalled. Still loved it but it was not a great experience.

Same thinking with the Ranger...man this thing's been out forever round the globe...surely the launch model will be flawless.

 

[Roofhopper]

No mass produced machines will ever be flawless, seems to be a small percentage of new Ranger owners that are having complex issues. This type of stuff happens whether it’s new model year or not

 

[Sabasigh]

I would consider it flawless if i could've at least made it home from the dealership while the ink was still wet on the sales contract.

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