Powertrain Malfunction warning message

Saracino23

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I don’t think it’s the Roush tune. At least not in my case. I had issues before the tune. The dealership already replaced my throttle body. And it’s actually become more frequent since they did that.
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Dahveed

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I don’t think it’s the Roush tune. At least not in my case. I had issues before the tune. The dealership already replaced my throttle body. And it’s actually become more frequent since they did that.
I didn’t have any experience with the truck without it as it was installed before I bought it. To be honest, I don’t even know if the tune has been there since about last October. Which was the first time I took it in for this. They went through their troubleshooting steps and ended up updating calibrations in the PCM.

One of the next times it happened, I too suspected the throttle body. Shut off the truck, unplugged it and plugged it back in (hoping for a poor connection). Started the truck back up and it was pissed. Acted like it was running on 2-3 cylinders. Shut it off. Gave it a couple minutes and started it back up and it was fine.

At this point I just want them to do something. I’ve not had my truck for two weeks now.
 

Jms81661

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Saracino23

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I don’t think it’s the Roush tune. At least not in my case. I had issues before the tune. The dealership already replaced my throttle body. And it’s actually become more frequent since they did that.
Turns out it was the tune causing my issues. I haven’t had my truck for a month. I finally got it back today, without the Roush tune installed. They said they don’t have an update for the errors it caused my truck to have. At this point I just want my money back from Roush. I made a phone call to their customer service last week. Hopefully they can get me taken care of, and I would be willing to try their product again in the future.
 

Montana Ranger

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This morning after going to fill up at the gas station, I got into my Ranger and pushed the start button. It did not start and flashed a very quick message which I could not read. After a few more attempts to start it, the truck turned over. This was very different then the hundreds of times I’ve started it. A little wrench symbol popped up. I figured it was a maintenance reminder as the truck now has 18,200 miles on it. I noticed I could not set the cruise control. When I got home I checked FordPass and there was a message indicating a Powertrain Malfunction and directing me to take the truck in to have the problem looked at. Has anyone else had this happen? If so, what’s the deal?
Just had this exact same thing happen over the weekend.

I had just stopped for fuel. Afterwards when I hit the start button, I noticed that the brake pedal was "hard" (suggesting loss of vacuum, which should not have happened within the 5 minutes the engine was off) and the truck did not start. Saw a message that came and went. I hit the start button again to turn everything off. I waited a few seconds and tried again. This time it started, but displayed the little wrench icon along with what may be the most useless message I've ever seen: "See Manual". No suggestion as to which section of the 493 pages of the manual I should focus on.

As we were out of town, I quickly returned to our campsite while the truck was still running. As we had no Internet at this location to further research the problem and it was late, so I figured I'd deal with the issue in the morning.

The next day when I tried to start the truck, it fired right up as normal and surprisingly the little wrench icon was gone and it was as nothing had ever happened at all. That is with the exception of the notice I got on the FordPass app when I was again in cell rage alerting me that I had suffered a powertrain malfunction and that I should get to a dealer asap.

Screenshot_20210915-115509_FordPass.jpg


I carry a code reader with me and I checked to see if there were any live or pending faults. There were none. The only evidence I have of anything happening is the message on the FordPass app. Our 138 mile drive home was uneventful.

Of course, as with pretty much everything these days it's going to be over a week before my dealer can see it. We are coming up on 2 years of ownership and 24,000 miles. 4x4 Lariat, no modifications.
 


Fawnbuster

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Mine always starts, it throws the code about once a month always after i have driven it for 20-40 minutes, then shut if off long enough to eat a meal etc. Starts without hesitation but as soon as i put it into drive the dinger goes off and the wrench lights on, the tranny usually shifts funny while i drive it. I can let it sit 5-10 minutes and it self clears, or if i just drive it home and shut it off, by the next morning its self cleared and like it never happened. I get the same fault code on the Ford pass app as well. I have not been clearing the messages off the app, i leave them on there as evidence to show the dealer IF I can get the problem to show up when they are open and can see what i mean. Did not have the problem before i had them put the tune in, just odd that the transmission and crash avoidance act up at the same time when i have not messed with either of them. The dealer initially said it could be a bad ground on a tiny wire in the harness but after seeing that it pops up almost 4 weeks apart so far, i don't think its a ground, more like a bad code in the software someplace that links the 2 systems.

Each time it has happened it has been late afternoon, dry roads and weather and no car wash involved.
 

P. A. Schilke

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Mine always starts, it throws the code about once a month always after i have driven it for 20-40 minutes, then shut if off long enough to eat a meal etc. Starts without hesitation but as soon as i put it into drive the dinger goes off and the wrench lights on, the tranny usually shifts funny while i drive it. I can let it sit 5-10 minutes and it self clears, or if i just drive it home and shut it off, by the next morning its self cleared and like it never happened. I get the same fault code on the Ford pass app as well. I have not been clearing the messages off the app, i leave them on there as evidence to show the dealer IF I can get the problem to show up when they are open and can see what i mean. Did not have the problem before i had them put the tune in, just odd that the transmission and crash avoidance act up at the same time when i have not messed with either of them. The dealer initially said it could be a bad ground on a tiny wire in the harness but after seeing that it pops up almost 4 weeks apart so far, i don't think its a ground, more like a bad code in the software someplace that links the 2 systems.

Each time it has happened it has been late afternoon, dry roads and weather and no car wash involved.
Hi Mike,

Good for you to save the Ford Pass error messages. I could still be an ground issue but which and where is the question. I cannot speak for current protocol, but grounds were a Delta item at the assembly plant. Delta meant they were checked and double checked for integrity. Not 100% reliable but pretty good. Problem grounds were when self taping screws were used and somehow did not cut through the paint to provide reliable ground.

What I found on our drive evaluations when something was flaky is that the repair folks knew the suspected electrical connections. I found that the repair techs knew their stuff but the plant did not listen until it was brought to their attention by someone beyond the lowly repair tech....Arrogant!

Best.
Phil
 

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Hi Mike,

Good for you to save the Ford Pass error messages. I could still be an ground issue but which and where is the question. I cannot speak for current protocol, but grounds were a Delta item at the assembly plant. Delta meant they were checked and double checked for integrity. Not 100% reliable but pretty good. Problem grounds were when self taping screws were used and somehow did not cut through the paint to provide reliable ground.

What I found on our drive evaluations when something was flaky is that the repair folks knew the suspected electrical connections. I found that the repair techs knew their stuff but the plant did not listen until it was brought to their attention by someone beyond the lowly repair tech....Arrogant!

Best.
Phil
Thank you Phil, I agree with you, grounds are tricky to trace down especially in a vehicle, it just seems odd that it happens in warm dry weather about 4 weeks apart.
The service manager said they will leave the ticket open just in case. He said the suspected wires (according to Ford in Detroit) are pretty tiny low voltage wires that interconnect between all of the modules. If this was a daily problem i would let them keep the truck and tear it apart but its so much fun to drive and happens so rarely I will live with it for the time being. By saving the error messages I hope to be part of the solution and not part of the problem.
 

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Thank you Phil, I agree with you, grounds are tricky to trace down especially in a vehicle, it just seems odd that it happens in warm dry weather about 4 weeks apart.
The service manager said they will leave the ticket open just in case. He said the suspected wires (according to Ford in Detroit) are pretty tiny low voltage wires that interconnect between all of the modules. If this was a daily problem i would let them keep the truck and tear it apart but its so much fun to drive and happens so rarely I will live with it for the time being. By saving the error messages I hope to be part of the solution and not part of the problem.
Hi Mike,

Good head on your shoulders!

Best,
Phil
 

Montana Ranger

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Finally had the dealer look at my codes today. One was p0217 for overheating suggesting a stuck thermostat. The other was p2196 for too much fuel in the exhaust, suggesting a stuck purge valve or such.

I've never seen the temperature budge, even when towing my camper in >100 degree heat up mountain passes during the heat bomb.

Either way, they're gonna replace the thermostat and purge valve. Someday. When the parts become available.
 

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Ever since my dealer removed the Roush tune from my truck it's been problem free.
 

D Fresh

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Ever since my dealer removed the Roush tune from my truck it's been problem free.
I believe that Roush tunes have been suspected and removed for a few problems posted here. Good to hear you're good now
 

Dahveed

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I believe that Roush tunes have been suspected and removed for a few problems posted here. Good to hear you're good now
Yep, now I'd just like to get my money back. But guess what? No one wants to talk about it.
 
 



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