Neutral Tow / Transmission Problem

[63GBPackerfan]

Hi Everybody,

An update on mine. Dealer said they ran it up the flag pole at Ford. Got a No at every turn. Yet Ford says it's up to the dealer to determine if it's warranty. Ford won't even talk to me now. I was without my Bronco for almost 2 months. No loaner car, nothing.
Ended up paying for the repair, $7200.
I have started legal action against Ford.
What they are doing to customers is a joke.
At the very least the Bronco should communicate to the app. App should say you are in/out of tow mode.
How do you ever tow it again???

If your attorney is game, I’m sure a class action lawsuit could be initiated.

Sponsored

 

[GddyupGG]

There needs to be a class action lawsuit. This continues to happen and Ford continues to put their heads in the sand. Its disappointing.

 

[Bill K]

Is it necessary to leave Accessory ON when flat towing to allow steering wheel to not be locked ?

No. Note that I have the 2.3L, not sure about the 2.7L. My instructions say to turn off Accessory Mode before flat towing. The wheels followed perfectly in flat tow mode with accessory mode off. As a matter of fact, I mistakenly left it on one time, and I got the double honk when I closed the door. Strangely, I'm probably the only one to like this feature as a result...

 

[Bill K]

No! Do not leave it in. It will deplete the battery and go out of neutral tow and you’ll destroy your transmission.

I have a line in to my Bronco from my RV to charge the battery. I put a self resetting breaker in line with this. I never arrived with a dead battery despite the 2A draw of my brake system run off of an unswitched outlet I installed in the Bronco.

 

[63GBPackerfan]

You should consider yourself lucky if Ford is going to cover under warranty. Can you tell me what codes they pulled on your transmission?

Quick update. I got my Bronco back today. It was repaired under warranty. I questioned the tech who worked on it and asked him if there is a draw on the battery while the vehicle is in neutral tow mode. He had no idea. He also was concerned about the AFO applying brakes and those brake codes in the DCM that were flagged.

They obviously don’t know anything about supplemental braking systems because after he told me that the brakes were applied during the towing session. I explained to him how the AFO operates and then he stated that was probably why the codes came up.

Thats not a real vote of confidence for the tech. I told him about the issues some of the F150 owners were having with battery depletion and the neutral tow disengaged when the battery voltage got low and he quasi confirmed that does happen.

They also told me they are still having nothing but issues with the 10-speed automatic transmission. That another negative vote for Ford Motor Company.

They want me to rent a trailer and take my Bronco back to Cali on the trailer. Hell, if I wanted to do that, I’d trailer my BMW X5.

Thats the reason I leased the Bronco, because you can flat tow it. The Service Writer hinted that if I didn’t trailer it home and the same situation happened, Ford WOULD NOT cover it.

She is getting flat towed back to Cali and I intend on stopping frequently, checking on the battery voltage and making sure that everything seems to be in working order.

 

[NC_Pinz]

This last post begs the question for those that have had transmission failures after flat towing. Are any of you running a line to the Bronco battery to charge while being towed? Is it possible a low battery level / low voltage cause the neutral tow mode to disengage?

I'm going to be setting mine up for towing in the next month or so, and I was already planning on having a line running to the battery for charging despite using surge brakes.

 

[63GBPackerfan]

This last post begs the question for those that have had transmission failures after flat towing. Are any of you running a line to the Bronco battery to charge while being towed? Is it possible a low battery level / low voltage cause the neutral tow mode to disengage?

I'm going to be setting mine up for towing in the next month or so, and I was already planning on having a line running to the battery for charging despite using surge brakes.

I’m actually running a little test tonight. I checked my battery voltage (12.75v). I engaged my neutral tow, turned off the accessory switch and locked the vehicle. I chocked the rear tire, so it wouldn’t roll into the street.

I will let it set overnight and check it in the morning to see how much voltage the battery lost. It will be a 12 hour experiment.

I will post the results tomorrow.

 

[aknavy]

So, what we're saying here is that low battery voltage = neutral tow disengage? What a crock. I wish I had found these threads before buying. Or someone had chimed in on my post about neutral towing.

 

[63GBPackerfan]

So, what we're saying here is that low battery voltage = neutral tow disengage? What a crock. I wish I had found these threads before buying. Or someone had chimed in on my post about neutral towing.

I’ve only had my Bronco a month and two weeks of that, the dealer had it to replace the transmission.

 

[aknavy]

I’ve only had my Bronco a month and two weeks of that, the dealer had it to replace the transmission.

What magic words did you say to get the warranty coverage? Mine won't switch out of neutral tow, and I'm prepping for bad news.

 

[63GBPackerfan]

No magic words. They did try to blame it on my AFO supplemental braking system until I told them it applies the brakes when I apply the brakes in the Motorhome. They confirmed that I did my sequence exactly as specified and mine is a lease.

I have heard on the F150 forums, that when the battery gets low on voltage, the neutral tow will disengage. My tech wouldn’t confirm that, but also wouldn’t deny it.

 

[dgorsett]

No! Do not leave it in. It will deplete the battery and go out of neutral tow and you’ll destroy your transmission.

THIS
Leaving the transmission on neutral prevents steering wheel lock. Good and bad as this prevents knowing if neutral tow has disabled.

 

[Blue Bulldog]

So, what we're saying here is that low battery voltage = neutral tow disengage? What a crock. I wish I had found these threads before buying. Or someone had chimed in on my post about neutral towing.

 

[Blue Bulldog]

It's an interesting take. I towed mine from Vancouver Island to Moab over several days. Sometimes I would unhook and use it Sometimes not. I did have the battery deplete once as I had to put a jump box on to start it.
The day I lost the transmission the Bronco had a full charge and I went from Moab to Hurricane. About 5 hrs driving time. Bronco started no problem after but the transmission was destroyed.

 

[63GBPackerfan]

I’m actually running a little test tonight. I checked my battery voltage (12.75v). I engaged my neutral tow, turned off the accessory switch and locked the vehicle. I chocked the rear tire, so it wouldn’t roll into the street.

I will let it set overnight and check it in the morning to see how much voltage the battery lost. It will be a 12 hour experiment.

I will post the results tomorrow.

After 12+ hours of leaving my Bronco in neutral tow mode, there was only a minimal drop in voltage on the battery. It dropped from 12.75v to 12.33v. I’m happy with the results. The Bronco also came out of neutral tow mode with no issue, but I never saw the dash indicator that neutral tow was disengaged.

Sponsored