Chargin Ring lost a quadrant

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couchracer

Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2016
Messages
21
Location
North County San Diego
Purchased a 2012 FFE from Carmax, the upper right quadrant on the charging ring has never lit up. Has anyone replaced the ring by themselves? Standard warranty is over, but would this be considered part of the battery and thus still under warranty?

Ran the car to about 15% SOC and when I plugged in I didn't see the ring light up, so I was in a bit of panic.
 
couchracer said:
Standard warranty is over, but would this be considered part of the battery and thus still under warranty?
I don't know, but seems worth a shot. The 8-year / 100K warranty is supposed to cover "special components" related to the fact that the vehicle is electric.

Plus, knowing the state of the charging process would seem like a fairly basic piece of functionality for an electric vehicle.
 
I had this happen on my Energi. They had to replace the entire plug assembly. It was a very expensive part and it took all day at the dealer. Hopefully Ford didn't design the Focus the same way. Might be under warranty like WattsUp posted.
 
Straight from the warranty info online:

• The following Focus Electric parts are covered during this extended
coverage period: battery packs; high-voltage battery conditioning
pump, hoses, valves; charger and charge cord.
Note: Lithium-Ion Battery Gradual Capacity Loss
The Lithium-ion battery (EV battery) will experience gradual
capacity loss with time and use (similar to all lithium-ion batteries),
which is considered normal wear and tear. Loss of battery capacity
due to or resulting from gradual capacity loss is NOT covered under
the New Vehicle Limited Warranty. See your Owner’s Manual for
important tips on how to maximize the life and capacity of the
Lithium-ion battery.

I'm going to plead my case that is specific to the electric portion and thus should be covered by warranty. Otherwise, it's just a light that is out. As long as I can tell it's charging, it doesn't affect the car. It's going in for the required recalls on Thursday.
 
You can try to get the warranty to cover it, but I doubt it...unless you work it a bit. Mine went out when it was new...same quadrant and was replaced at no charge, so I know how it feels to not have it.

On my wife's Ford Flex, the fuel gauge went out at 4 years. The Flex has a powertrain warranty for 5 years and covers the fuel system. Could argue that the gauge is important so you know when to put fuel in, but the answer was eventually no. When I called the dealer for the appointment, the service adviser thought it would be covered but it wasn't. When they called to give me the news, they explained that if the fuel pump were out, it would have been replaced. My problem was with the sender unit attached to the fuel pump. Apparently, you can buy a sender unit separately. But if you buy a new pump, you get the sender unit with it. As it was, the sender unit would cost me $800 to replace.

If the light ring and the charge port were one unit and the charge port didn't work, then that would probably be covered. So to make a long story short, the dealer eventually agreed to get it replaced under warranty when I told him I'd buy 4 new tires...which were on-sale and I needed anyway.
 
Car is in for recalls, asked about the charge ring. Was told they would look into it with a $125 diagnostic fee, which I understand. But how does one quadrant go out while the rest stay lit? I'll call Ford and see what they say.
 
You might want to find out how much a new one is before you pay $125 to have them diagnose it. For $125, I think I'd just live with it the way it is...or at least diagnose it myself. However, if you want to take your chances, just replace it. I've read on this forum, including myself, where the charge ring quadrant went out and had to be replaced. There is a good possibility the part just simply needs replacement. And if you're handy, perhaps you can find a way to the back of the until and see if it is simply a loose connection.

A little due diligence might save you some money.
 
When you pull out the old one, please post some close up pictures. I would like to see if they are repairable. So any one has one replaced ask for the old part back. They may not do it if it is warranty repair. I would like to know what part failed and why it failed?
 
Jeffand-
I actually found a FFE from a front end crash test on CL and contacted the "owner". Charge port still there (may use for a J1772 extension...) but he said the ring was damaged. He's over an hour away, I'm going out that direction in a couple of weeks. Going to see if I can't get a hold of the ring and check out the LED's. Maybe use one quadrant to repair mine. Then do some research on the actual emitters to see if I can't get red, amber, and green to replace some of the blue on the car. That and 180 degree rotation should match the MFT display and color code the charge levels. I'm not that savvy with soldering and such, so if I get the part cheap and it works, I'd probably just send the rest to someone who wants to play for shipping costs.
 
I would like to see pictures to see if it serviceable. If the parts are buried under quarter inch of hard epoxy could make it impossible to repair.
 
My 2014 Focus had same issue with the charge ring. The dealer took a long time to get to the car but fixed it under warranty.
 
I'm surprised that the charge port isn't covered under the EV warranty. The charge port light ring & charge port are one piece. It actually is the entire SOBDMC module that has to be replaced. That's why the part is so pricey. The SOBDMC is the module that controls charging of the HVB.
 
hybridbear said:
I'm surprised that the charge port isn't covered under the EV warranty. The charge port light ring & charge port are one piece. It actually is the entire SOBDMC module that has to be replaced. That's why the part is so pricey. The SOBDMC is the module that controls charging of the HVB.

Ford has had the car for over five weeks. Finally back to CarMax and they replaced the charge ring, only to discover that it was the module that was out. Might be covered under warranty, but CarMax is taking care of it.

Just sucks since I drove the car for five weeks, and they have had it for the last six. The auxiliary heater core went out, and Ford of Escondido denied the warranty. Still Carmax's problem, but I'm going to have a chat with the service department about it.
 
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