Ford Focus Electric Forum

Bought a new 2016 FFE two weeks ago.
Twice, it suddenly stopped running while I was driving.
A message appeared, "STOP SAFELY NOW".
There was a picture of a wrench, which, per the owner's manual, meant that there's a problem with the power train.
The first time it stalled, it worked again after 1/2 hr.
The second time it happened, it didn't work again for 2 hours, after a tow truck took it to the Ford service dept.
Ford service couldn't find anything wrong.
But it was just luck that the stalls occurred when I wasn't on a freeway or bridge, and when I wasn't in a hurry.
Has anyone else experienced this?

Apparently you haven't seen this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=900

Interesting that its happened to you so early. Usually to clear it you turn everything off, open the door, close the door, and restart.

Check your 12V battery voltage (a quick check that may show something, or not).

omg they still haven't fixed it in the 2016?

jmueller065:
I did see that thread, but the last entry was over 2 years ago.
If I follow the procedure you recommended, will the problem stop for good?
Anyway, it's been at the dealer for the last 5 days. They're trying to recreate the problem.

No: The turn off everything, open the door, close door, restart. Sequence is used to clear the fault after the SSN message (you had said it took a while to clear it--2 hours I think at one point).

After all the software fixes/recalls (mentioned in that thread) most of the SSN errors have been a physical fault in the car (e.g. not some generic software bug). Hopefully your dealer can reproduce it and get it corrected for you.

The intermittent type FFE SSN reports I've read about in the last couple years appear to have been caused mostly by a connection issue with contacts at the high voltage wiring harness.
They usually just clean the contacts at the dealer or on older models pre-2014 they replace the whole wiring harness.

Refer to Ford TSB 15-0031
http://oemdtc.com/12505/stop-safely-now ... ford-focus

If it makes you feel any better, I got the little wrench thing two years ago. Stopped, "rebooted", and have been fine since.

If it happens again, capture the incident with your phone, and have the dealer give it the once over.

I just experienced this last night on my way home from work. Still had 29 miles of range showing (about 30% charge left). Turning onto a busy road, I got the SSN warning, and when I stopped at the light a few seconds later the car died. Everything stayed on, but the accelerator was dead. I tried to turn the car off but it wouldn't respond. I put my hazard lights on, but of course other drivers were pretty annoyed because I was blocking a lane. There is no shoulder in that spot, only a turn lane, so I had nowhere to go anyway.

After a couple of minutes of desperately trying to turn it off and on again (hey, if it works for computers...) it finally responded. It turned off, and when I turned it on again it operated normally. I only had a couple of miles to get home.

I have 18,000 miles on my 2016 FFE. I have a relatively long commute (32 miles each way) and I charge at home (110v) and at work (220v). Most of the drive is on the NJ Turnpike, so 70-75mph. Thankfully the stall did not occur on the highway!

Conditions were cold but above freezing. Roads were dry. I can't think of any immediate environmental issues that could have contributed, although we have had a lot of rain lately.

Being the first time, I am nervous about it happening again, but I'm not upset about it. However, if it happens again I will lose confidence in the car. It's been great for me until now, but this is a major problem and a genuine safety concern. Reading others' experiences on this board, it seems like Ford has no clue why this is happening and thus has no valid fix.

Hate the be the bearer of bad news but it will happen again and the problem will only get worse until you cannot drive it at all. Usually this is related to corrosion with one of the high voltage plugs or damage to a safety wire that goes along side the HV wires to detect if a HV wire has been cut. What happened is the car detected a fault with the HV system so it disengaged the battery contactors to prevent any HV from leaving the HV battery. That is why you couldn't go anywhere but the car still appeared to be on. It is also possible that your problem is with the battery or Traction Control Module (TCM). The TCM is the assembly that contains the motor, inverter, HV junction box, and gearbox. Unfortunately the FFE's error logging and self diagnostics leave a lot to be desired, so I wouldn't be surprised if the dealer can find nothing wrong. It's like the thought of having to chase down intermittent faults never crossed Ford's minds when they designed the FFE. It may be counter intuitive but hopefully your FFEs fault goes from intermittent to consistent so they can actually figure out what is wrong. Keep us updated as to what they find.