Yellow Wrench Recently

I've been getting a yellow wrench seemingly randomly and relatively infrequently (maybe 6 times in 4 months). It usually goes away by itself the next time I get in the car. I've initiated a vehicle health report while the wrench is displayed on the dash, but the report always comes back clean with no issues. Any one else have these yellow wrench false alarms?

DavidJohnson said:

I've been getting a yellow wrench seemingly randomly and relatively infrequently (maybe 6 times in 4 months). It usually goes away by itself the next time I get in the car. I've initiated a vehicle health report while the wrench is displayed on the dash, but the report always comes back clean with no issues. Any one else have these yellow wrench false alarms?

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I used to get a yellow wrench every few weeks, but only when adjusting the cruise control up/down, usually at freeway speeds. This was annoying since it disabled use of cruise control until I stopped the car, turned it off, waited 30 seconds, and then restarted. I could always get the yellow wrench to go away like this, and then I wouldn't see another one for weeks.

But... since I had the recalls applied (around New Years), I haven't seen any yellow wrenches. But, also since then, I've noticed that cruise control stepping (pressing the button to increase or decrease speed) is much smoother (almost imperceptible). Before the update, adjusting speed via the cruise control was "clunky" (you could feel a distinct change in speed). So, perhaps the update also changed the way cruise control manipulates the throttle (to be softer, whereas previously it was too harsh and could somehow cause a yellow wrench).

Hmmm, I don't hardly ever use cruise control. I drive 95% in the city at under 45mph. Lots of stop n go. If I had to attribute it to something, it seems maybe I see it more when I unplug my charger from the wall and the charge isn't complete. But, I have no proof of 'this happens every time I do that'. I thought maybe the clean VHR was a clue, but maybe not. I'll keep looking for correlations. Thx!

DavidJohnson said:

Hmmm, I don't hardly ever use cruise control. I drive 95% in the city at under 45mph. Lots of stop n go. If I had to attribute it to something, it seems maybe I see it more when I unplug my charger from the wall and the charge isn't complete. But, I have no proof of 'this happens every time I do that'. I thought maybe the clean VHR was a clue, but maybe not. I'll keep looking for correlations. Thx!

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So, I take it you see the yellow wrench at ignition-time, when the car is not moving?

Mine always occurred while the car was moving. (Also, like you, whenever I issued a VHR while a yellow wrench was showing, the report was always clean.)

DavidJohnson said:

Hmmm, I don't hardly ever use cruise control. I drive 95% in the city at under 45mph. Lots of stop n go. If I had to attribute it to something, it seems maybe I see it more when I unplug my charger from the wall and the charge isn't complete. But, I have no proof of 'this happens every time I do that'. I thought maybe the clean VHR was a clue, but maybe not. I'll keep looking for correlations. Thx!

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Am I reading correctly that you unplug the charger from the wall while the J1772 handle is still in the car's charge port and charging? I'm pretty sure this would be why you are seeing the yellow wrench. I saw it maybe 4 times in my 1.5 years wih the FFE- twice around the time I experienced a few SSN incidents, once after my wide unplugged the 120v charger from the wall before from the car, and once when my circuit breaker tripped while the car was charging. The latter two showed up when I started to back out of the garage on the first drive after the unplug/circuit trip. I know my wife unplugged it this way other times and I didnt get the yellow wrench, and my power went out at least one other time without an ensuing wrench, but it must sometimes respond this way.
The handle should be removed from the charge port before unplugging the unit from the wall. When you depress the handle button, it tells the charger what's happening and the charger likes this better.

dmen said:

Am I reading correctly that you unplug the charger from the wall while the J1772 handle is still in the car's charge port and charging? I'm pretty sure this would be why you are seeing the yellow wrench.

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For what it's worth, I've done it both ways (remove handle first OR unplug EVSE first) and never seen a yellow wrench in close proximity to those circumstances. In my case, the EVSE is either the Ford OEM unit or a ClipperCreek LCS-25.

I always unplug from the handle at the car. Sometimes if my go time is active, the fan etc is running while I unplug the *handle* of the charger.

dmen said:

DavidJohnson said:

Hmmm, I don't hardly ever use cruise control. I drive 95% in the city at under 45mph. Lots of stop n go. If I had to attribute it to something, it seems maybe I see it more when I unplug my charger from the wall and the charge isn't complete. But, I have no proof of 'this happens every time I do that'. I thought maybe the clean VHR was a clue, but maybe not. I'll keep looking for correlations. Thx!

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Am I reading correctly that you unplug the charger from the wall while the J1772 handle is still in the car's charge port and charging? I'm pretty sure this would be why you are seeing the yellow wrench. I saw it maybe 4 times in my 1.5 years wih the FFE- twice around the time I experienced a few SSN incidents, once after my wide unplugged the 120v charger from the wall before from the car, and once when my circuit breaker tripped while the car was charging. The latter two showed up when I started to back out of the garage on the first drive after the unplug/circuit trip. I know my wife unplugged it this way other times and I didnt get the yellow wrench, and my power went out at least one other time without an ensuing wrench, but it must sometimes respond this way.
The handle should be removed from the charge port before unplugging the unit from the wall. When you depress the handle button, it tells the charger what's happening and the charger likes this better.

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Now that the dealer replaced the high voltage wiring harness a couple of months ago, I have not had another SSN but I now get a yellow wrench virtually every day I drive the car. I don't use cruise control so can't tell if that is affected. Don't experience any other symptom other than the annoyance of the light coming on. When I turn the vehicle off and back on, the light goes away but within the next few miles it will appear again. Dealer has no clue.

wjs said:

Now that the dealer replaced the high voltage wiring harness a couple of months ago, I have not had another SSN but I now get a yellow wrench virtually every day I drive the car. I don't use cruise control so can't tell if that is affected. Don't experience any other symptom other than the annoyance of the light coming on. When I turn the vehicle off and back on, the light goes away but within the next few miles it will appear again. Dealer has no clue.

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If you are able to have the yellow wrench appear while you're at the dealer do they tell you what DTC it is showing?

Made sure to go back to the dealer and turned it over to them with yellow wrench on. They say that they do not see anything but I don't trust that they are competent.

wjs said:

Made sure to go back to the dealer and turned it over to them with yellow wrench on. They say that they do not see anything but I don't trust that they are competent.

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If there's a wrench there's a code... I can't believe they're saying that.

Ok, went back today and code was POAA6. Left it with them so they can consult with Ford.

That is a high voltage insulation resistance fault. If the dealer already replaced the harness, it could be a fault somewhere either in the inverter assembly or the battery module themselves. There could be water intrusion in the battery modules. Since they can't go into the battery modules, they'll probably just replace the batteries under warranty. Don't accept another harness replacement. There's an issue somewhere else. Also, don't accept "we don't know". Get them to replace another high voltage component under factory warranty. It's their problem, make them solve it.

wjs said:

Ok, went back today and code was POAA6. Left it with them so they can consult with Ford.

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You can reach out to Ford Service on Twitter to get your regional CSM involved. Sometimes this can help.

Taken almost two weeks so far (out of town on business so no hardship) but dealer is replacing the electric motor! Should be completed by Wednesday or Thursday. Now the motor and the high voltage wiring harness will have been replaced. Guess only high cost component left is the battery which could be next if yellow wrench is not resolved. I'll keep everyone posted.

Week before last I started getting the Yellow Wrench warning.
It would shut off (reset) if I stopped and turned it off for 30 min or so but as soon as I drove it a block it would turn back on.

I took it to the dealer here twice with the code displayed but they could not pull any codes or reproduce the problem and gave the car back. They did a software update the first time it was in and it worked for two 30 mi trips, the second time they did some checks and Ford told them it might be the cable harness (they replaced one right after I got the car) and they would need it for at least two days to "rebuild the harness".

So I made an appointment for this week that they could have it from Wednesday through Saturday (I was about done with it and 3rd time would be a lemon) and I told them I did not feel safe driving it.

I needed to go to the store the Saturday before the appointment and got in and pressed Start and got two clicks and a text message "12 volt battery low" I put my load tester on the 12v battery and it showed 10v and was below the BAD rating on the load test.
The car is just over two years old and over 36,000 miles so I thought I would just replace the 12volt battery.

AutoZone did not stock one, neither did Oreilly but Batteries Plus had one that was pretty close just about 1/2 to 3/4 inch longer and 600 CCA instead of the stock one with 390 CCA. The old one was still taking a full charge but the load tester showed it had failed. They also did a test on the old one at AutoZone and Batteries Plus and showed it had failed.

The Duracell SLI96R fit (just barely) and seems to work fine and big connector on the Negitive side (with the temp sensor) had room to fit.
Once I replaced the 12volt battery the Yellow Wrench has quit showing up.
I called and canceled my appointment with Ford.

Here is the link to the replacement:
http://www.batteriesplus.com/product/43722-SLI96R-Duracell-Battery/560-SLI/4299-Car-and-Truck-Batteries/651572-Ford/Transit-Connect/2010-to-2012-L4-2-dot0L-590CCA.aspx

You can also do a google search for: Duracell SLI96R.

Green Roger said:

Week before last I started getting the Yellow Wrench warning.
It would shut off (reset) if I stopped and turned it off for 30 min or so but as soon as I drove it a block it would turn back on.

I took it to the dealer here twice with the code displayed but they could not pull any codes or reproduce the problem and gave the car back. They did a software update the first time it was in and it worked for two 30 mi trips, the second time they did some checks and Ford told them it might be the cable harness (they replaced one right after I got the car) and they would need it for at least two days to "rebuild the harness".

So I made an appointment for this week that they could have it from Wednesday through Saturday (I was about done with it and 3rd time would be a lemon) and I told them I did not feel safe driving it.

I needed to go to the store the Saturday before the appointment and got in and pressed Start and got two clicks and a text message "12 volt battery low" I put my load tester on the 12v battery and it showed 10v and was below the BAD rating on the load test.
The car is just over two years old and over 36,000 miles so I thought I would just replace the 12volt battery.

AutoZone did not stock one, neither did Oreilly but Batteries Plus had one that was pretty close just about 1/2 to 3/4 inch longer and 600 CCA instead of the stock one with 390 CCA. The old one was still taking a full charge but the load tester showed it had failed. They also did a test on the old one at AutoZone and Batteries Plus and showed it had failed.

The Duracell SLI96R fit (just barely) and seems to work fine and big connector on the Plus side (with the temp sensor) had room to fit.
Once I replaced the 12volt battery the Yellow Wrench has quit showing up.
I called and canceled my appointment with Ford.

Here is the link to the replacement:
http://www.batteriesplus.com/product/43722-SLI96R-Duracell-Battery/560-SLI/4299-Car-and-Truck-Batteries/651572-Ford/Transit-Connect/2010-to-2012-L4-2-dot0L-590CCA.aspx

You can also do a google search for: Duracell SLI96R.

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You may still want to have the Ford dealer reset your BCM to account for the new battery. If your battery is different that what the car thinks is installed you may have issues with the 12V battery in the future because the car won't know how to charge it correctly.

I had a problem with the Satellite Radio. It needed a master reset. I decided to let the dealer do it, since it was a used 2014 that was only a week old. I am glad I did. It got the yellow wrench after the reset. They reset a unit and I still have yet to see the yellow wrench.