Stop Safely Now Warning

[Jasper7821]

Update from Ford.
I'm picking up my car this afternoon and they cannot locate a problem. They inspected the wiring harness and found no shorts. They did not remove anything form the car except for the passenger seat.
I knew it was a software glitch and their will be another software update in a few weeks sometime in September that should hopefully fix the SSN warnings.

I did get another notice in the mail about software 3.6 will be available in August but I don't think that's the update for the SSN.

 

[robochimp]

That's really not too reassuring...

I have my FFE back as well and just pray while driving in the carpool lane at 75 that what the dealer told me about my "bent PCM pins" is true.

I don't know about anyone else, but when on the freeway, I'm now all too aware of pull off zones...it's very stressful when there are none (405 Sepulveda pass for example) My imagination fills in the blanks based on my experience so far.

...think we need something a bit more concrete than this, Ford.

 

[ComedyGuy]

Good News: My carpool lane stickers arrived today!

Bad News: My FFE is still at the dealer for the SSN warning.

Last time I spoke to the service department they said "we checked the trouble codes and found nothing wrong - come by and pick it up."

I escalated it to a supervisor and asked that they please take a closer look at this forum and contact Ford to make sure. Kinda feels like they are blowing me off.

Any magic words I should tell them to help them get to the bottom of it?

 

[robochimp]

Magic words:

Yes...tell them if anyone is injured during an SSN event, they will have a very big problem.

and...you are concerned for your safety and the safety of others.

I told my service manager to drive it until they got the SSN message...320 miles later, it happened to them.

Ford will do nothing if the dealer can't confirm it. If there is confirmation, they then call it into "Ford Hotine"

 

[ComedyGuy]

Magic words:

Yes...tell them if anyone is injured during an SSN event, they will have a very big problem.

...you are concerned for your safety and the safety of others.

I told my service manager to drive it until they got the SSN message...320 miles later, it happened to them.
Ford will do nothing if the dealer can't confirm it.

Good tips. It truly is a safety issue. My wife and daughter don't want to drive it anymore and I'd rather they didn't.

Your service manager drove it 320 miles? Wow!

 

[robochimp]

After having SSN happen on 2 separate occasions, a total of 6 times, my wife is still extremely reluctant to set foot in it.

I tried to reassure her by telling her that the dealer assured me they "found and corrected the problem"... and yes, as much as I love this car, I think I'm still fooling myself into believing this - this is now the source of a large amount of driving anxiety for me, to be quite honest.... I don't think anyone will ever understand how it feels unless it happens to them. In an ICE, even if the "check engine" light comes on, it is usually possible to still be under some power to at least get you off the road. In our case, it's digital logic (On/Off) that seems to be akin to a "panic fault" shutdown.

in total, the dealer tech drove it nearly 500 miles - took 320 to hit an SSN and 180 of subsequent testing after the fix. I was snooping the whole time using the web app "myfordmobile" and noting the places my car had seen and mileage.

if you haven't signed up for it, you should:
https://bev.myfordmobile.com/content/country/default/jsp/login/login.faces

 

[ComedyGuy]

After having SSN happen on 2 separate occasions, a total of 6 times, my wife is still extremely reluctant to set foot in it.

I tried to reassure her by telling her that the dealer assured me they "found and corrected the problem"... and yes, as much as I love this car, I think I'm still fooling myself into believing this - this is now the source of a large amount of driving anxiety for me, to be quite honest.... I don't think anyone will ever understand how it feels unless it happens to them. In an ICE, even if the "check engine" light comes on, it is usually possible to still be under some power to at least get you off the road. In our case, it's digital logic (On/Off) that seems to be akin to "panic fault" shutdown.

in total, the dealer tech drove it nearly 500 miles - took 320 to hit an SSN and 180 of subsequent testing after the fix. I was snooping the whole time using the web app "myfordmobile" and noting the places my car had seen and mileage.

if you haven't signed up for it, you should:
https://bev.myfordmobile.com/content/country/default/jsp/login/login.faces

Haha - similar situation here.

I went from having to fight to drive my own car to the rest of the family having no interest......

It's no longer the coolest car in in the garage. They prefer the old Prius now.

 

[Dreaming-in-Focus]

Robochimp, I would be wary that the problem has been corrected - I have had mine in the shop five different times, with two hardware replacements (instrument cluster and coolant pump). Each time I have been assured that the problem had been found and that it would not happen again. I'm at 53 days toal out of service with no solution - I'm sure you have seen my posts. I love my car as well, but dont know that I will ever trust it again, certainly not while my family is onboard. Apparently "engineering is aware of the issue" and a real solution is on its way. We shall see.

After having SSN happen on 2 separate occasions, a total of 6 times, my wife is still extremely reluctant to set foot in it.

I tried to reassure her by telling her that the dealer assured me they "found and corrected the problem"... and yes, as much as I love this car, I think I'm still fooling myself into believing this - this is now the source of a large amount of driving anxiety for me, to be quite honest.... I don't think anyone will ever understand how it feels unless it happens to them. In an ICE, even if the "check engine" light comes on, it is usually possible to still be under some power to at least get you off the road. In our case, it's digital logic (On/Off) that seems to be akin to a "panic fault" shutdown.

in total, the dealer tech drove it nearly 500 miles - took 320 to hit an SSN and 180 of subsequent testing after the fix. I was snooping the whole time using the web app "myfordmobile" and noting the places my car had seen and mileage.

if you haven't signed up for it, you should:
https://bev.myfordmobile.com/content/country/default/jsp/login/login.faces

 

[Jasper7821]

The dealer drove my car 63 miles and couldn't get it to happen either.
BUT, like I said in my earlier post Ford is aware of the SSN and will be coming out with a software update in the next few weeks. At least that's what my dealer told me.

 

[WattsUp]

The dealer drove my car 63 miles and couldn't get it to happen either.
BUT, like I said in my earlier post Ford is aware of the SSN and will be coming out with a software update in the next few weeks. At least that's what my dealer told me.

Nah... he just meant they're working on a new "Stop Safely Now" graphic. It will use pastel colors and be accompanied by soothing music, to make the situation less stressful. The color theme will even be user-selectable via SYNC voice-command, so you can keep your hands on the wheel while pulling over.

 

[ComedyGuy]

Latest update from the dealer: the service supervisor told me to keep the dealer supplied rental until Tuesday when a Field Service Engineer can have a look. The supervisor told me that my car had "both trouble codes" that indicated that it needed a software update. Unfortunately, there is no software update available and they have no idea when the software update will be ready.

So I'm driving a Flex until I hear otherwise.......back to the gas pump........

 

[Susan]

I have to admit I am a bit terrified now. I have 2 of these cars both purchased in August. I found this site. It seems like Ford is posting complaints. There are only 10 listed.

http://www.aboutautomobile.com/Complaint/2013/Ford/Focus/Electrical+System

 

[unplugged]

I have to admit I am a bit terrified now. I have 2 of these cars both purchased in August. I found this site. It seems like Ford is posting complaints.

These are complaints filed with the NHTSA. The website you linked to is just re-posting the complaints made about the FFE. Ford is not posting these.

Before you get too terrified, you should remember that often, when someone experiences a safety issue, the first thing they go to are forums such as this. I am not downplaying the very disconcerting experience these owners have had, but you must remember that a very small percentage of owners have experienced the SSN warning.

Now, to be clear, if a very small percentage of owners had their car blow up or catch on fire, this would be a pretty important issue. Similarly, a car stalling for no particular reason should be an important issue. But the chance of it happening to you in particular are pretty low.

The problem in Ford arriving at a solution is compounded by the fact that the reasons for a general SSN fault are many. Some cars have been remedied, others have sat around because they can't seem to find the error. Hopefully, the situation will be solved soon for those few that have their cars sitting without a remedy.

I did find 19 complaints about the SSN issue filed with the NHTSA so far for the 2013 FFE. I found 17 filed so far for the 2012, so it doesn't appear that any particular year that comes up with the problem. I will note one thing: PLEASE, when filing a NHTSA complaint, note in the first sentence that this has to deal with the ELECTRIC version. More than 75% of the complaints don't specify that it is the FFE, and as a result, unless you know what to look for, it doesn't show up as the FFE, just a run-of-the-mill Focus.

 

[Jasper7821]

My service advisor told me that Ford corporate told him mid September for the update that will solve the SSN issue. So we'll see.

 

[unplugged]

My service advisor told me that Ford corporate told him mid September for the update that will solve the SSN issue. So we'll see.

I hate to be a pessimist, but I can't imagine any one update fixing the issue. The problem is that the SSN is a warning about a myriad of faults that come down to one warning. (Sort of like a Windows, "General Fault" that provides no particular clue to the average user.) Each of the SSN warnings might have several causes.

On the other hand, maybe Ford put all the causes in one grand software update that will fix the problem.

 

[nallgaier]

I'm hoping that by "fixing the issue", they don't mean fixing all issues associated with the SSN failure, as in that case I share your pessimism.

What I hope is that they have simply reprogrammed the error so as to not completely power down the car. It seems that for the vast majority of cases this extreme response is not necessary, as evidenced by the ability to turn the thing right back on after jumping through some hoops, (e.g., opening and closing the door). If it's supposed to be like the check engine light, it should behave that way... i.e., just light up to let you know something's funky. You drive it home, or pull over if you're really nervous, and then deal with it. If Ford engineers can figure out a way for the computer to distinguish between the really dire circumstances (extremely rare, like a short in the high voltage system or something) from the less serious ones (everything I've read about on this forum), then the rest of the reprogramming would be easy.

Raise your hand if this would satisfy you.

Yeah, mine's up too.

 

[Susan]

unplugged: Thank you for the clarification. I appreciate your thoughtful response and careful research regarding the number of complaints.
nallgaier: Very well said. My hand is up!

I am so excited about our cars and really want the situation to work out for all of us.

 

[ComedyGuy]

Update 9/3/13 -

I heard from the Service Supervisor that they don't feel good about releasing the car. They are in contact with Ford technical people at the local and corporate level.

In the mean time I am driving a Ford Fusion. Not nearly as fun or cool as the FFE or the BMW 650i I traded in for the FFE.

 

[Dave]

I have ONLY used the L1 charger supplied with the FFE and I got a SSN in the first week. It happened within the first 300 miles!!!

The vehicle is in the shop currently being diagnosed and the Sync software is being updated and marker light recall applied.

I hope Ford gets to the bottom of this problem before they blow a big hole in their EV project!

 

[cta4762]

For the record, I had the SSN experience on my 2013 FFE when it had 200 miles on it. I was safely parked in a supermarket parking lot. I had made two previous trips that morning, covering 15 miles. I tried to turn the car on and got the SSN message. I tried several times to start it and called Ford roadside assistance. Before the truck arrived the car finally started. I drove it to the Ford dealer and left it off. They had it two work days. They said they called Ford, and they didn't find any problem with the car, and they asked me to pick it up which I did. They said no code had set. The car now has 2000 miles on it and SSN has not recurred.

The most annoying thing about this car is that I can place calls with my cell phone thru the car, but it will not accept calls. The phone rings but I can't pick up. The dealer said it's a problem with My Ford Touch. They said my car has the latest software and there is nothing they can do. My girl friend can't stand that to call me she has to call, hang up, and wait for me to call back.

-Allen, 2013 Ice Storm FFE