OEM battery warranty?

[inmanlanier]

Update - they're still stymied. Quite discouraging.

 

[tvanhall]

Update - they're still stymied. Quite discouraging.

Yikes! Did you finally get your vehicle back? Findings?

 

[inmanlanier]

Yikes! Did you finally get your vehicle back? Findings?

Sorry for the delayed response. I had a total knee replacement on Tuesday so occasionally when the Percocet gives me some relief I tend to a few normal life matters .

Essentially no change, however some slightly more disparaging news. They are believing this is the door control module because they noticed the car lights up many (but not all) of the exterior lights after several minutes sitting on its own without any stimulus. They have another aviator in the shop with a bad door control module that's been there for 72 days! Why 72 days, you ask? Because there is some faulty software (firmware?) in the vehicle that totally obstructs any updates to firmware and or replacement of the hardware. Ford engineering has not been successful until just Thursday in giving them a working procedure on how they may try and go about replacing that vehicle's door control module. As such they are reticent to attempt a repair to mine at this time. If they have success on the other car, maybe we'll go forward on mine. Isn't that wonderful?

Note there are no codes, no clues, no nothing, as to what triggers my vehicle going into the point where it starts to drain the battery. They believe they know the large main relay that is the culprit for the largest current draw that kills the battery however until they figure out which module(s) are triggering that breaker to close, and what they can do for remedy, it's all trial and error. For the two of us owners - needless to say - that is not acceptable.

The service writer's candor with me was very much appreciated. This may be a situation where I will cease ownership of the vehicle after they repair it. If I can't own a vehicle with some reasonable modicum of reliability to where I go somewhere out of town, something happens, and no one can figure out for weeks at a time what it is - such ownership is a non-starter. Ford's rigor of design on these electronic systems is woefully lacking. It is totally unacceptable in today's day and age to have such a crappy system. I get it: you need to run a failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) and then design your instruction sets, your troubleshooting procedures, your fault codes to give you entry points in diagnosis when something happens. The more equipment and processors that you have exponentially drives up the challenge of properly identifying all those likely entry points into troubleshooting. However, it's a must. In this situation and many posts I have followed - Ford has failed miserably here: on a case by case basis they learn potential failure modes and then design a repair. Agreed, no troubleshooting manual is flawless, however the amount of posts where they have to do this is way beyond reasonable.

We'll see what the next step is and I'll post again.

 

[tvanhall]

Sorry for the delayed response. I had a total knee replacement on Tuesday so occasionally when the Percocet gives me some relief I tend to a few normal life matters .

Essentially no change, however some slightly more disparaging news. They are believing this is the door control module because they noticed the car lights up many (but not all) of the exterior lights after several minutes sitting on its own without any stimulus. They have another aviator in the shop with a bad door control module that's been there for 72 days! Why 72 days, you ask? Because there is some faulty software (firmware?) in the vehicle that totally obstructs any updates to firmware and or replacement of the hardware. Ford engineering has not been successful until just Thursday in giving them a working procedure on how they may try and go about replacing that vehicle's door control module. As such they are reticent to attempt a repair to mine at this time. If they have success on the other car, maybe we'll go forward on mine. Isn't that wonderful?

Note there are no codes, no clues, no nothing, as to what triggers my vehicle going into the point where it starts to drain the battery. They believe they know the large main relay that is the culprit for the largest current draw that kills the battery however until they figure out which module(s) are triggering that breaker to close, and what they can do for remedy, it's all trial and error. For the two of us owners - needless to say - that is not acceptable.

The service writer's candor with me was very much appreciated. This may be a situation where I will cease ownership of the vehicle after they repair it. If I can't own a vehicle with some reasonable modicum of reliability to where I go somewhere out of town, something happens, and no one can figure out for weeks at a time what it is - such ownership is a non-starter. Ford's rigor of design on these electronic systems is woefully lacking. It is totally unacceptable in today's day and age to have such a crappy system. I get it: you need to run a failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) and then design your instruction sets, your troubleshooting procedures, your fault codes to give you entry points in diagnosis when something happens. The more equipment and processors that you have exponentially drives up the challenge of properly identifying all those likely entry points into troubleshooting. However, it's a must. In this situation and many posts I have followed - Ford has failed miserably here: on a case by case basis they learn potential failure modes and then design a repair. Agreed, no troubleshooting manual is flawless, however the amount of posts where they have to do this is way beyond reasonable.

We'll see what the next step is and I'll post again.

Very disappointing. So sorry you have to endure this. I hope your knee replacement PT goes well and you are off and running again soon (pun intended)...
Software/firmware glitches hit so many brands and items (think appliances in your home). Lincoln/Ford is not the only manufacturer fighting these issues. Having said this, good luck to you on a permanent fix.

______________________________

 

[inmanlanier]

I hope your knee replacement PT goes well and you are off and running again soon (pun intended)...

Thanks, tvanhall, this is my 2nd knee. Outpatient torture started Friday. I use an outstanding dude who's a doctorate PT. We hit 130 degrees and strength targets the last time in 12 weeks. It's painful but worth every squeal.

 

[inmanlanier]

Okay, the car was delivered yesterday afternoon to the house. It was at a 61% charge when it left lincoln. I decided to start it after an overnight stay with nothing in between. It has started up fine. We'll cross our fingers.

The cause was traced to the right rear door open/close switch/sensor. It would intermittently fail indicating an Open door, however it would not illuminate/show on the dash as an open door(?)! That was the cause of the periodic external light display. No record/count of intermittent door open indications between stop and restart. We'll see how it goes going forward. How challenging in today's new world of electronics.

Peter, I'm curious how this device would send a single to some portion of the vehicle, but not other portions of the vehicle. That infers to me there are actually two levels of open which means two different settings and I would assume to micro switches. Can you do your parts research, look up the part, and let me know how many wires are connected to it? That's more regarding my intellectual curiosity than anything else.

 

[peterk9]

I think you would need an in-depth maintenance manual to come up with that answer. Did they replace a part and if they did was there a part number?

Peter

 

[inmanlanier]

LOL, Peter I didn't want you to go through a research project. I was simply noting that you always pop up parts once people are asking so I thought I'd avail myself. Yes, in fact and an update to the above - it is the door latch. I'm assuming that means it's the device that not only indicates position, but also holds the door into position. The part number is LC5Z-54264A26-H. Don't bother looking it up for me.

One question for all, because I was unsuccessful looking at my Lincoln app on the phone etc. The service manager when I called was able to immediately tell me battery state, as in charge amount. She was in her office, not at the car. I assume this means at their facility they can remotely monitor the condition of most of the vehicles in the service bays. Is there a way that we as the customers can also view some of these parameters from afar when our vehicle is within range of a Wi-Fi or cellular network? That would be nice to know.

______________________________

 

[peterk9]

Out of curiosity, I looked it up just to see if it was the part I was looking at yesterday. It was not.


Peter

 

[inmanlanier]

Our Aviator is working fine - it appears the latch was the correct culprit. What has since unfolded is with regards Lincoln's commitment to caring for their customers; read on if curious...

A couple of days ago I got an email from the Lincoln Concierge desk. More on that after this paragraph. Since originally when the car did not work, it was 2 days in a row where we called roadside - that then triggered a call from Concierge (I think two days after the 2nd tow to the dealership). I was surprised they did this on their own. I was happy working with the local service writer, however Concierge called me to let me know they were following the issue and wanted us to know they were there to ensure our vehicle was properly repaired. I shared with them I was hoping for a loaner (one not available initially), but I was on the list when the next was available. The next day I got the loaner. For both folks (the service writer and the concierge employee) I expressed concern about owning a vehicle with such sophisticated electronics that it can die and there's no trace (codes/obvious symptoms per se) to explain. Since we travel to North Carolina several times a year and mileage soon running out on our base warranty, I was concerned. As you all now know, all worked out.

Today we got a call from the author of a Concierge desk email (of a couple of days ago). He was concerned that he had not heard back from us. I explained I just got a total knee replacement, daily emails were not my highest priority yet - apologies. He then explained that his email was an offer to us for the Lincoln Premium Extended warranty service plan - to increase the base warranty by 2 years and mileage to 100K miles. It was to be purchased for us on behalf of Lincoln - no expense to us. My wife and I were astonished. I told him I'd get back with him.

Sure enough - that's what was in the offer. Needless to say we've accepted the offer; I should receive the revised plan by next week or so. The nice benefit of the plan is that upon nearing the expiration of that coverage, should I wish, I can actually buy additional coverage at that time. So, in summary, we will now have the Lincoln Premium Extended Warranty plan for 100K miles, 6 years after in-service date.

To those of you like I could have tended to be in years gone by, I'm hopeful that my respectful conversations with the service writer and concierge folks sincerely communicating our disappointment and concern for long term reliability - I think the kind but clear communication of the message may have made a difference here. We were never disrespectful, condescending or belligerent - just anxious and concerned. They listened and offered the best tool to show us how they back their product and want our loyalty.

Apparently Lincoln is in it for the long haul for their customers. We are very impressed and grateful.