Neutral Tow / Transmission Problem

[Tilzbow]

The flaw in the Ford "tow" system is that there is always a parasitic draw on the battery as the neutral tow feature is an electronic feature and will draw on the battery. Yes, the problem is solved by a charge line, but the system shouldn't be allowed to drop voltage to where the neutral tow feature disengages and drops the vehicle into Park. That is a fatal flaw for the transmission.

I get that. I was responding to another contributor who incorrectly stated supplementary brake systems require power from the Bronco

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[Blue Bulldog]

I get that. I was responding to another contributor who incorrectly stated supplementary brake systems require power from the Bronco

I stated that the supplemental brake system requires power from the vehicle. In fact all the instructions call for them to be powered from the towed vehicle.

 

[Macclone]

Supplemental brake systems shouldn’t be getting power from your Bronco, this should come from the RV, but if it does get power from the Bronco you need to install a charge line from your RV to the Bronco.

My RVI brake is plugged into an always on 12 v aux port for power. are you saying I will have issues ? I have know idea how to install that.

 

[63GBPackerfan]

My RVI brake is plugged into an always on 12 v aux port for power. are you saying I will have issues ? I have know idea how to install that.

Be very careful if you don’t have a charge line. If you drive multiple days without charging the battery, you’re susceptible to the battery voltage dropping to where the electronics will shift the bronco into Park from Neutral and you’ll destroy the transmission.

 

[Macclone]

Be very careful if you don’t have a charge line. If you drive multiple days without charging the battery, you’re susceptible to the battery voltage dropping to where the electronics will shift the bronco into Park from Neutral and you’ll destroy the transmission.

So if I drive around 200 miles per day, disconnect the bronco and drive it to sightsee I should be fine?

 

[63GBPackerfan]

Yes

 

[Macclone]

Found out RVI has a tow vehicle charger that integrates with their tablet. I am going to get that installed to avoid any issues.

 

[dgorsett]

Be very careful if you don’t have a charge line. If you drive multiple days without charging the battery, you’re susceptible to the battery voltage dropping to where the electronics will shift the bronco into Park from Neutral and you’ll destroy the transmission.

Your experience has been enlightening and a bit frightening. All vehicle batteries fail at some point, if that happens four years down the road and I happen to be towing I'm kinda screwed..

 

[63GBPackerfan]

Your experience has been enlightening and a bit frightening. All vehicle batteries fail at some point, if that happens four years down the road and I happen to be towing I'm kinda screwed..

if you have a charge line coming from your Motorhome it should be fine until you replace the battery.

 

[Macclone]

Got my RVI charge line installed today.I can now monitor the change of my RV battery and toad battery for my RVI tablet $185.00.

 

[JJohnsonx21s]

Good afternoon, all,

As I sit here and read through this I have a sick feeling in my stomach. We are currently sitting at ford with an overheated bronco, 50 warning codes, no reverse and no ride home. No loaners to give and to top it off we are full timers and this is our only vehicle outside of the Rv. If you started a claim, can you provide me with that information. Ford is currently trying to prove to me that I set up the flat tow wrong. All information would be helpful. Thank you!

 

[GddyupGG]

Unfortunately, Ford is going to fight you if they determine that you were towing the vehicle. According to one of the posters on this thread who spoke to my husband, Ford is aware there is an issue but they are not warrantying it and blaming it on consumer. We will never flat tow this vehicle again. It appears these flat tow systems are very delicate. I have attached the memo that Ford and the dealership will throw at you. Demand a Ford engineer come out and look at vehicle. We tried to do this and got no where. Maybe you will have better luck. Shame on Ford for not standing behind their vehicles. I am so sorry this is happening to you.

 

[63GBPackerfan]

Good afternoon, all,

As I sit here and read through this I have a sick feeling in my stomach. We are currently sitting at ford with an overheated bronco, 50 warning codes, no reverse and no ride home. No loaners to give and to top it off we are full timers and this is our only vehicle outside of the Rv. If you started a claim, can you provide me with that information. Ford is currently trying to prove to me that I set up the flat tow wrong. All information would be helpful. Thank you!

They can check through the on board computer whether the vehicle was put into flat tow correctly. That was one of the first things they told me. That I did it correctly. If you left the accessory “on” after completing the sequence, it WILL draw your battery voltage down to initiate automatically putting the Bronco into Park.

Our situation was a little different as we flat towed for 5 days straight without checking on or driving the Bronco as we were on a tight time schedule to get to an appointment. The parasitic draw in that 5 day period caused the Bronco to revert to Park.

Ours was covered under warranty, but they had it for 3 weeks. We were lucky as they stated they were almost three months out on having any transmission work completed. They have a major issue with the 10-speed automatic transmissions.

They initially tried to blame our supplemental braking system on the catastrophic transmission failure, but after explaining to the tech how the AF1 works, they backed off that claim.

Good luck and hopefully Ford takes good care of you, because this is a major flaw on their behalf.

 

[flip]

Good afternoon, all,

As I sit here and read through this I have a sick feeling in my stomach. We are currently sitting at ford with an overheated bronco, 50 warning codes, no reverse and no ride home. No loaners to give and to top it off we are full timers and this is our only vehicle outside of the Rv. If you started a claim, can you provide me with that information. Ford is currently trying to prove to me that I set up the flat tow wrong. All information would be helpful. Thank you!

You need to call customer assistance and get a case opened, 800-392-3673. Ultimately, the dealer will have the final say on if it's a warrantable defect, if they don't have enough evidence to make the call, they can reach out to their FSE to assist.

From what has been posted on the boards, it seems more have been denied than covered. Of course, this is just a small sample on one forum. We had one that would not come out of neutral, did some testing and got with hotline who suggested a cluster. Waited months for the cluster to come off back order and it didn't fix the problem. Ended up taking a chassis control module. The bad part is there aren't specific guided routines in FDRS or the workshop manual for neutral tow diagnostics. Dealers may be more prone to deny coverage due to a lack of tests or proof to support it being a factory defect which is why user error is cited.

I don't know this for sure but there may be a record somewhere in the software history log that shows neutral tow was enabled. I'm not familiar enough with FDRS to know where or which mode to look at but that might be a possibility to plead a case.

 

[flip]

@Ducati1098 Any idea if neutral tow activation will show up? I'm familiar with mode 6 but haven't played around with FDRS to see what, if or how anything else is logged.

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