Battery / APIM issue, now ACM issue.

[JDaleo]

At first, they didn't want to put in another battery because it tested okay, just a low SOC. That was even after they charged it and had it sitting for about 3-4 days while they waited for one of the seats, or APIMs, can't remember. I complained enough that they finally did a "courtesy replacement". Once they did that replacement, he said the ACM started throwing codes. I never heard anything else about the ACM, and don't see anything about it on the docs, so I wonder if he meant yet another APIM. This was a demo car for the VP, and he had the battery replaced after about a month or two as well, same thing, low SOC, trouble shifting, according to their notes, they put it on the charger and the SOC actually went down. Now, I don't know if I believe that exactly, or if they just said that so Ford would replace the battery.. he is the VP, after all. But this would technically be the 3rd battery in the truck since build, and 3rd APIM. There's obviously something that's draining it, and they don't really seem interested in finding out what.. Or maybe they did test things and just didn't tell me. They mentioned they tested the "charging system", aka they did a 30 second test on the alternator, probably.. But I don't know if they actually went in to see what module is pulling a bunch of power after they turn it off.

Sponsored

 

[Gros Ventre]

If Ford left the batteries intended for all of those trucks that went into the field parking lots while awaiting chips... Standing and unused... that hurts batteries. They do all sorts of odd things. There is a self discharge rate of something like 1% a week and the are manufacturing impurities in the contruction of the battery that can come out and plate onto the active material. If you reduce the sureface area of the active material enough it will lose capacity. But at the same time the chemistry of the battery will cause it to show good unless under a load. So I think these battery problems are related to that. Get a new battery and be done with it...

 

[JDaleo]

If Ford left the batteries intended for all of those trucks that went into the field parking lots while awaiting chips... Standing and unused... that hurts batteries. They do all sorts of odd things. There is a self discharge rate of something like 1% a week and the are manufacturing impurities in the contruction of the battery that can come out and plate onto the active material. If you reduce the sureface area of the active material enough it will lose capacity. But at the same time the chemistry of the battery will cause it to show good unless under a load. So I think these battery problems are related to that. Get a new battery and be done with it...

That's the thing, they put a new one it, and it started throwing even more codes. I don't get it. As of right now, the ACM and APIM are working with the last APIM replacement, but the GPS is . It stopped working once they did a reset in the settings menu, and followed with each APIM.

 

[Gros Ventre]

That's the thing, they put a new one it, and it started throwing even more codes. I don't get it. As of right now, the ACM and APIM are working with the last APIM replacement, but the GPS is . It stopped working once they did a reset in the settings menu, and followed with each APIM.

Well... if they used a battery out of those batches that sat around, then nothing changed... Much as Ford owes you a good battery, I'd just split for one from a place like NAPA. In my case over Thanksgiving travels, I did just that... not a peep since.

 

[JDaleo]

Well... if they used a battery out of those batches that sat around, then nothing changed... Much as Ford owes you a good battery, I'd just split for one from a place like NAPA. In my case over Thanksgiving travels, I did just that... not a peep since.

Yeah, might be worth a look. The old one would drop about .1v every 3-4 hours until it hit around 12v or 11.9v. the new one is staying at 12.6v-12.5v for 3 days now. But yeah, if they pulled it from a batch that has been sitting, I'll end up with the same thing.

 

[Gros Ventre]

You know, when I replaced my OEM battery I was on the road for Thanksgiving family dinners... I didn't have time to let the dealer troubleshoot it. I did call them and speak with the Service Advisor I typically use and he was receptive... but I was hundreds of miles away and getting farther away... So I called my nearest NAPA Dealer (I've used NAPA for decades) and they had a drop in replacement battery... So I got it and put it in. Like I said, not a peep out of the electrical system since... A couple weeks later I had the dealer test the OEM battery (I didn't trade it in to NAPA) and it tested just fine. I wasn't surprised. That was Thanksgiving 18 months ago...

 

[JDaleo]

You know, when I replaced my OEM battery I was on the road for Thanksgiving family dinners... I didn't have time to let the dealer troubleshoot it. I did call them and speak with the Service Advisor I typically use and he was receptive... but I was hundreds of miles away and getting farther away... So I called my nearest NAPA Dealer (I've used NAPA for decades) and they had a drop in replacement battery... So I got it and put it in. Like I said, not a peep out of the electrical system since... A couple weeks later I had the dealer test the OEM battery (I didn't trade it in to NAPA) and it tested just fine. I wasn't surprised. That was Thanksgiving 18 months ago...

Out of curiosity, what type of battery did you throw in that worked better than factory? Was it an AGM or flooded?

 

[Gros Ventre]

AGM, the type called for in the NAPA books.

 

[JDaleo]

Today's update... just got a call from the dealer.. it's saying it needs a new APIM. So now they're checking other things, as this would be the 4th APIM since it's been there.

 

[JDaleo]

Got a call from the dealer.. Ford Corp contacted the dealer and acknowledged there is a known issue, possibly software related, that is causing the APIMs to report as bad and not connect to certain modules... Hoping for another update within the next day or two.

 

[rugedraw]

Got a call from the dealer.. Ford Corp contacted the dealer and acknowledged there is a known issue, possibly software related, that is causing the APIMs to report as bad and not connect to certain modules... Hoping for another update within the next day or two.

Post or PM me your VIN. I'm curious to see what they're doing and what they're seeing.

 

[rugedraw]

Got a call from the dealer.. Ford Corp contacted the dealer and acknowledged there is a known issue, possibly software related, that is causing the APIMs to report as bad and not connect to certain modules... Hoping for another update within the next day or two.

Your truck is showing it is on Sync 23031 which is the latest version and you received that update OTA in April. I can see they have installed three APIM's and ran PMI procedures on them. The first time your truck recorded low battery voltage DTC's in the past 60 days was 4/18 before you dropped it off to them. The weird thing is, I do not see a single DTC code for the ACM recorded in the past 60 days which is as far back as I can see.

There is only one thing I see where maybe they messed up. On 5/3, FDRS history shows that they performed an APIM reset and configuration procedure. They then updated your TCU. Shortly after that, they performed an APIM PMI and when FDRS asked if the APIM was the original APIM, they answered yes. From my understanding, they should have put no, unless they were trying to PMI the original APIM before replacing it.

The next APIM PMI procedure was done a week later on 5/10, which is probably when the APIM they ordered came in. The next APIM PMI was done on 5/24, which is probably when the other APIM came in.

So if on 5/3, they indeed were installing a new APIM and they hit yes instead of no, that may have caused some configuration issues, but once they put a new APIM and ran the PMI (which is seems like they have done), you would think it would correct the issue. This is way beyond my scope of knowledge. With your permission, I'd like to share you VIN with @Jesse-Infotainment to see if he can see anything there that can be of help to your cause.

 

[Snakebitten]

Poor APIMs
They are the dealership scapegoat for all Gen14 F150 woes.

 

[JDaleo]

Your truck is showing it is on Sync 23031 which is the latest version and you received that update OTA in April. I can see they have installed three APIM's and ran PMI procedures on them. The first time your truck recorded low battery voltage DTC's in the past 60 days was 4/18 before you dropped it off to them. The weird thing is, I do not see a single DTC code for the ACM recorded in the past 60 days which is as far back as I can see.

There is only one thing I see where maybe they messed up. On 5/3, FDRS history shows that they performed an APIM reset and configuration procedure. They then updated your TCU. Shortly after that, they performed an APIM PMI and when FDRS asked if the APIM was the original APIM, they answered yes. From my understanding, they should have put no, unless they were trying to PMI the original APIM before replacing it.

The next APIM PMI procedure was done a week later on 5/10, which is probably when the APIM they ordered came in. The next APIM PMI was done on 5/24, which is probably when the other APIM came in.

So if on 5/3, they indeed were installing a new APIM and they hit yes instead of no, that may have caused some configuration issues, but once they put a new APIM and ran the PMI (which is seems like they have done), you would think it would correct the issue. This is way beyond my scope of knowledge. With your permission, I'd like to share you VIN with @Jesse-Infotainment to see if he can see anything there that can be of help to your cause.

Very interesting.
I would say the APIM reset on 5/3 should have been the original. They let me know at the end of the day that it reported bad AFTER a reset, and they had to order the APIM. Odd thing is, it worked better when I brought it in, the screen would just do a quick reset from time to time (only happened 2-3 times) and I wanted them to check it out.

They stated they did all of the resets and PMIs, no codes or anything, took it for a drive, and the GPS was dead ("GPS with red line through it, map showed in Michigan).. They stated it failed a connectivity test, with no faults or codes, so they had to order a new APIM.

One time the screen went dead, it lasted about 30 minutes or so while I was driving on 4/14 on vacation, symptoms started with audio cutting out through Android Auto, which was never a problem. Tried rebooting phone, no change.. tried rebooting Sync, saw the Ford logo a few seconds, and it went black after that. I continued my drive without the screen until I got to a rest stop. About 3 minutes after I parked the vehicle I got a message on my phone that the vehicle completed an update.. so it was actually updating and causing everything to go crazy while I was driving it and finished after I shut it off.

And yeah, you can pass along the VIN to see if they can see anything on their end, can't imagine it would interfere with Ford looking at it on their end. Have a vacation coming up and need to pull my trailer, and it's been 30 days since I dropped it off.. I want my truck back. lol

 

[rugedraw]

Jesse says there are no configuration issues with your truck. He says you may need to drive it a bit so that it can lock in the GPS signal and stop showing you it is in Michigan. Once you get your Fordpass back, you should be able to reconnect to Android Auto.

Sponsored