- First Name
- Annaliese
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2022
- Threads
- 2
- Messages
- 25
- Reaction score
- 66
- Location
- Lebanon, OR
- Vehicle(s)
- 2022 2Dr Wildtrak HOSS 3.0, 2020 Honda CR-V
- Your Bronco Model
- Wildtrak
- Thread starter
- #1
Well, it looks like the honeymoon is over. I have a 2022 Wildtrak (2.7 HOSS 3.0). While I was driving to a medical appointment in the next town over, it started bucking while I was driving it. It took me a bit to figure out that the engine was actually dying and restarting quickly while driving. I got it pulled over to a safe spot in the road and turned it off. When I tried to restart the car, it’d turn the starter, and fire, but run very roughly for about ten seconds before dying again. When I opened the hood, I didn’t see anything immediately wrong, but I could hear a relay buzzing, which didn’t seem normal to me.
I used the FordPass app to summon roadside assistance. When they assigned a tow company it was one that was two towns over and 20 miles from where I was on the side of the road (in the Mid-Willamette Valley in Oregon). It took them over an hour to get to me. Meanwhile I was inside the city limits of a town 5x the side of where the towing company was, and I know has many towing alternatives. If this wasn’t bad enough, the status updates were horrendous. The maps sent to me via text message were worthless as they never showed the tow truck moving at all. The map on the FordPass app never even showed a tow truck on it ever. Their automated system would tell me that the tow truck was 40 minutes away every 10 minutes. Meanwhile the temperature is dropping and I’m stuck in a car with no heat. I was on the verge of calling my State Farm roadside assistance instead when the tow truck finally showed up. Honestly, I’d rather have *no* service than *bad* service from Ford for this.
I got it towed to the local Ford dealer. Unfortunately not the one I purchased it from. They are saying that the “battery junction box” is bad and that they’ve ordered a new one for replacement. I’m assuming this is the fuse box in the engine bay in the Bronco. I’m kinda confused at how this can even go bad. I recently installed a ham radia in the car (Yaesu FTM-400XDR) and hooked wiring to the provided terminals on the battery. The power was fused on both sides 4” from the battery connections, so any shorts in it should have blown those pretty quickly. I’m pretty afraid that the dealer/Ford will try to pass off the bad fuse box as a consequence of my radio installation. I’ve been a ham for like 35 years now, and I know how to do a safe radio installation.
I’m pretty disappointed at this point. I’ve had this car for less than a month and it has all of 1200 miles on it. I am much more tolerant of a trim piece that’s not quite right or a software bug in the infotainment system than I am an engine that cuts out on the road while driving. I haven’t been left by the side of the road by a car since I was in my 20’s and driving 20 year old cars with hundreds of thousands of miles on them. I’ve bought four cars new, three Hondas and an Audi, and have never been stranded by any of them. I understand infant mortality and such, but it still makes me question my decision and makes me nervous about even attempting any of the snow wheeling that I was intending to try out this winter.
The dealership is saying that the new part will take five days to arrive, and then they’ll see when they can put it on. I guess I’m spoiled by Amazon these days and expect it’d take a lot shorter time than that to get a part in. So, as of next when when I potentially get it, my car will have been out of service for 20% of the time I have owned it.
I’ll try to post a follow-up with some resolution when I hear back next week. As far as learning experiences, if you have AAA or another roadside assistance service available to you, I’d suggest calling them before Ford’s. Thanks for letting me vent about things.
I used the FordPass app to summon roadside assistance. When they assigned a tow company it was one that was two towns over and 20 miles from where I was on the side of the road (in the Mid-Willamette Valley in Oregon). It took them over an hour to get to me. Meanwhile I was inside the city limits of a town 5x the side of where the towing company was, and I know has many towing alternatives. If this wasn’t bad enough, the status updates were horrendous. The maps sent to me via text message were worthless as they never showed the tow truck moving at all. The map on the FordPass app never even showed a tow truck on it ever. Their automated system would tell me that the tow truck was 40 minutes away every 10 minutes. Meanwhile the temperature is dropping and I’m stuck in a car with no heat. I was on the verge of calling my State Farm roadside assistance instead when the tow truck finally showed up. Honestly, I’d rather have *no* service than *bad* service from Ford for this.
I got it towed to the local Ford dealer. Unfortunately not the one I purchased it from. They are saying that the “battery junction box” is bad and that they’ve ordered a new one for replacement. I’m assuming this is the fuse box in the engine bay in the Bronco. I’m kinda confused at how this can even go bad. I recently installed a ham radia in the car (Yaesu FTM-400XDR) and hooked wiring to the provided terminals on the battery. The power was fused on both sides 4” from the battery connections, so any shorts in it should have blown those pretty quickly. I’m pretty afraid that the dealer/Ford will try to pass off the bad fuse box as a consequence of my radio installation. I’ve been a ham for like 35 years now, and I know how to do a safe radio installation.
I’m pretty disappointed at this point. I’ve had this car for less than a month and it has all of 1200 miles on it. I am much more tolerant of a trim piece that’s not quite right or a software bug in the infotainment system than I am an engine that cuts out on the road while driving. I haven’t been left by the side of the road by a car since I was in my 20’s and driving 20 year old cars with hundreds of thousands of miles on them. I’ve bought four cars new, three Hondas and an Audi, and have never been stranded by any of them. I understand infant mortality and such, but it still makes me question my decision and makes me nervous about even attempting any of the snow wheeling that I was intending to try out this winter.
The dealership is saying that the new part will take five days to arrive, and then they’ll see when they can put it on. I guess I’m spoiled by Amazon these days and expect it’d take a lot shorter time than that to get a part in. So, as of next when when I potentially get it, my car will have been out of service for 20% of the time I have owned it.
I’ll try to post a follow-up with some resolution when I hear back next week. As far as learning experiences, if you have AAA or another roadside assistance service available to you, I’d suggest calling them before Ford’s. Thanks for letting me vent about things.
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