"4WD Shift in Progress" While Driving

[Gu3Bronco]

2022 Outer Banks with 53k miles. Dealership says, "it's not throwing any error codes"

While driving down the freeway, a pop up will appear on the gauge cluster screen that says "To Exit 4L Slow to a Stop." I never touched the GOAT dial, never did a thing. Just drive down the road. If I DO slow to a stop, it tells me to shift to neutral, then will sometimes say "shift delayed." Never feel any sort of gear shift or change. No hard lurches. If I just keep driving, it just goes away and the screen changes to a red "2H" and then moves on as if nothing has happened.

Anyone else run into this issue?

Sponsored

 

[adam1991]

your battery is probably getting low. Low batteries do all kinds of weird things like this.

And yes, 3 or so years on a factory battery on a Bronco is about par.

 

[Gu3Bronco]

your battery is probably getting low. Low batteries do all kinds of weird things like this.

And yes, 3 or so years on a factory battery on a Bronco is about par.

Even with no low battery warning light ever popping up?

 

[adam1991]

yes.

 

[Brian_B]

I think this may be your warning.

Just try a trickle charger overnight and see if it helps any. It seems to help a astonishingly
high number of seemingly random problems go away, and a AGM-rated trickle charger costs all of $25 or so

 

[Big Boss]

I agree with the battery possibly being on its way out. Every Ford I have ever owned started having weird little electrical gremlins right before the battery was toast.

 

[BroncoChallenger]

Even with no low battery warning light ever popping up?

Occasionally yes. For some people it's the notification in the Ford Pass app that 'remote features not available, vehicle entering deep sleep to preserve battery life' message. Others, usually those who don't use the Ford Pass app, start to see weird little gremlins popping up, often with the auto start-stop but occasionally other things as well.

I'm on board with the others, sounds like your battery is on its way out. It used to be a factory battery would last 5+ years, but that was before all the different systems were added. On today's vehicles with all the various 'health reporting' and Keep-Alive Memory draws, it's amazing we can get 3 years out of a battery in a vehicle.

 

[lamokadave]

Occasionally yes. For some people it's the notification in the Ford Pass app that 'remote features not available, vehicle entering deep sleep to preserve battery life' message. Others, usually those who don't use the Ford Pass app, start to see weird little gremlins popping up, often with the auto start-stop but occasionally other things as well.

I'm on board with the others, sounds like your battery is on its way out. It used to be a factory battery would last 5+ years, but that was before all the different systems were added. On today's vehicles with all the various 'health reporting' and Keep-Alive Memory draws, it's amazing we can get 3 years out of a battery in a vehicle.

If this is happening when the OP is driving, doesn't the alternator overcome any weak battery voltage?

 

[Bill K]

I think this may be your warning.

Just try a trickle charger overnight and see if it helps any. It seems to help a astonishingly
high number of seemingly random problems go away, and a AGM-rated trickle charger costs all of $25 or so

Concur with the trickle charger. I can now see ASS work despite it not doing so with some comparatively frequent and long drives for me on my 2-1/2 year old battery...

 

[Brian_B]

If this is happening when the OP is driving, doesn't the alternator overcome any weak battery voltage?

What you say makes perfect sense, but doesn’t seem to track with a lot of these issues

At worst, it’s an easy low cost attempt at a solution and it doesn’t work, it doesn’t harm anything or cost any significant time or effort. It does not always work - but for weird or otherwise difficult to explain issues it’s astonishing how often it does just work, despite common sense pointing away from it

 

[Brian_B]

I should also say, I would not be surprised to see a loose or damaged connector on the GOAT dial, or possible rodent wiring damage up under the dash.

But I think it’s better to eliminate the easy and low cost possibilities before escalating to the ones that take more effort or cost

 

[BroncoChallenger]

If this is happening when the OP is driving, doesn't the alternator overcome any weak battery voltage?

Not always. I have seen the voltage output on our Bronco (because I scroll through the info screens as I drive, the MyView has every one that I can selected) dip as low as 13.4VDC while running. That's not really doing any charging, but also not REALLY enough to run all systems off the alternator.

I really think we as a society need to put a bit more focus on 'life long learning.' Automotive technology has changed - it's not the same as it was even as recently as the '00s. Back then, your alternator pretty much put out 13.8-14.4 volts consistently, regardless of battery state (unless it was REALLY bad, when it could get up to 14.8). With today's computer-controlled systems, it actually monitors the level of charge in the batteries and determines just how much output the alternator actually needs to put out. This actually saves a bit of wear on the alternator if it can be turned down, but also accelerates the wear on the battery a bit. With the battery management system in place to prevent damage to critical electrical systems (a good thing) and control the auto stop/start (everyone has their opinion on this), there's a threshold that is set for battery health...and it's usually reached after 3-4 years of service, not the 5-7 that everyone is used to. Sure, the batteries will 'check good' based on old testing...but that lowered output will wreck havoc on modern electrical systems.

If we had had a battery management system on the old 6.0 trucks, it would have saved SO MANY FICMs.

 

[dgorsett]

I really think we as a society need to put a bit more focus on 'life long learning.'

Probably true, but i had a lot fewer issues with my old lead acid I'd throw a little tap water in once in a while....

And everybody may be on to something with the battery thing. I replaced my 40 month old battery because things started to act a little weird. But, the OP may be having another problem as all warnings seem to be a Low Range shift type warning. Maybe stray voltage getting to the AWD module or AWD module fault of some kind. Outside of the battery, it sounds like a job for the Dealer.

 

[userdude]

Everyone is wrong, this is the new update to add Chat4x4 AI and it's yearning to go off road.

 

[BroncoChallenger]

Probably true, but i had a lot fewer issues with my old lead acid I'd throw a little tap water in once in a while....

That's because lead acid batteries were simple. AGMs aren't as simple and can't be refilled. It's the reality of change.

Sponsored