I've seen it mentioned before that there's a process to bypass the HVIL checks - that is, ignore that fault when it occurs. I doubt it's persistent, but that might be worth doing while troubleshooting.
2012 Candy Blue FFE, 100K+ Miles
33.5kWh battery pack, 26.4kWh EtE
40A+ L2, CHAdeMO, CCS pending
Sorry I didn't post a reply. I do have the car working now for several weeks now. All is good. So yeah, it was the interlock issue, but not with the service disconnects. It was the HV connector at the driver's side rear wheel. Basically, the Ford Service people totally destroyed that connector. Not only was the clamping latch busted, but the 2 tabs on both sides of the connector on the battery pack were busted off. That's what the mating connector interfaces with to clamp the connection down. So when I just pushed the connector on all the way, the car would go into drive.
So with all that figured out, I buttoned everything back together and started testing it. No issues. So I started driving it to work and back...about 10 miles each way...no issue driving, but everytime I finish driving or before driving again, I reach under and push the connector to ensure it is fully seated. On 2 occasions, it had wiggled out a little as I could feel the movement on the connector when I pushed down on it.
If it were just the latch on the connector on the end of the high voltage cable, that could be replaced...but the one on the battery also needed replacement. So what I did was to make two metal (stainless steel) brackets that uses the same screw holes that secure the connector to the battery. With those in place on each side of the connector, I ran a nylon wire tie between them to secure hold the connector in place. It has been holding tightly for that last few weeks. So now I just need to check it every couple of months to make sure everything is still firm and snug. So far so good.
I have a writeup with pictures over on the facebook forum along with another write up on replacing the contactor. It is worth signing up for that facebook group if you ever need help with anything.
Thanks. I just couldn't come to terms with letting the car go or paying $14,000 for a battery swap. The thing I found odd about the contactor is that Ford does have the pack of contactors in the upper battery available for $900. It is odd because it seems the Ford techs don't go inside the battery even though the error code said exactly what the error was...positive contactor stuck closed. Anyway, glad they didn't because now I know even more about the car to do the work myself. As for the broken HV connector, that's just disappointing...but I had a friend with some extra sheets of stainless steel so I made a couple of brackets out of it. I'm happy with the result as it doesn't put any additional stress on the plastic connectors which seem to be a little brittle. Anyway, good luck with your vehicles. I hope to get a few more years out of mine...at least.