Another Stop Safely Now Thread...

I own a FEH 2007, 111k miles. The 12V battery had a little bit of corosion (blue powder around the positive terminal). After sitting for two months in the garage w/o driving (wife and kids were on a long vacation with in-laws) the 12V battery was fully discharged. I had it recharged and tested for functionality and according to Walmart it is fully functional. I put it back into the car, noticed also some light corrosion on one of the battery cables, but lights, radio etc were all working fine. However, suddenly the „Stop safely now“ popped up on the display. The car would not start anymore.

Before towing it to the dealership I checked with the key turned whether the MEC pump was working. My impression was it was not (no bubbles in the cooling liquid, no movement of the pump itself). However, the dealership told me that they do not think that it is the MEC pump. They read the error codes and got P0A08 (DC / DC CONVERTER STATUS CIRCUIT / OPEN) and P0A0C (HIGH VOLTAGE SYSTEM INTER-LOCK CIRCUIT LOW) . They called me and told me that we need to replace the DC/DC converter which I agreed to – luckily I bought a used one. The car would still not start. They’ve been struggling with the second error code over 5 weeks (!!) w/o any resolution. I suggested to replace all of the relays what they did however that did not resolve the issue. They called me today and told me that Ford would not cover any further diagnosis work and they believe that it is the transmission. When I asked for a cost estimate for further diagnosis and potential replacements they said they cannot tell but it could be everything between 400$ and 5000$ and they don’t think that it is economic.

Due to the long time it took them to work on the diagnosis/(missing) cause of the second DTC (car now 45 days at the dealership), their bad communication style (I always had to call to get an status update) and Ford’s lack of commitment to resolving this Hybrid issue I am very suspicious of their capabilities and in particular their conclusion about the transmission.


Any advice of potential causes for P0A0C would be highly appreciated! Also any recommendations for a trustful Hybrid technician in the Greater Houston/Spring,Texas, area would be helpful. I have not given up on my vehicle! Thank you.

 

Finally, I have found a capable hybrid technician at C.A.R.S. Conroe, TX, who was able to fix my series of issues (Stop safely now, error codes P0A08, P0A0C). The main error cause were broken and corrosive ground wires in the harness. Furthermore, after replacing the wires the technician also found that the 12V battery could not consistently keep at least 30% of its voltage level such that the interlock circuit would shut down/protect the high voltage system. Vehicle is now up and running J Very happy that I did not give up on it!

Lessons learned: 1) Ford is not comitted to its vehicles beyond the warranty period despite the given security issue 2) Don’t take the first diagnosis as god given. The cause of the error code about the DC DC converter was the broken wiring and not a damaged DC DC converter. Hence, the replacement of the converter by the dealership was unnecessary (thanks for destroying $1000) 3) Go with old hybrid vehicles to independent repair shops – in my case they were much more dedicated, professional and charged lower labor rates 4) Last but not least: Don’t give easily up on your vehicle. Even if the dealership tells you to dump it there might be a simple reason which an experienced Hybrid technician can resolve. Good luck!

 

A good non-Toyota hybrid tech is worth his or her weight in gold. The "service advisors" at my dealership claim to see FEH's all the time, but keep trying to sell me $700 annual maintenance work orders, despite the fact that I have almost 15 years of experience with my FEH. The last one needed to see in my owner's manual that all I needed was my tires rotated and an oil change.