Okay, so we have had a pretty weird little issue with our truck. Thus far, we have driven the truck for 1500 miles without any problems; however, driving home from work a few weeks ago we were suddenly being pulled left over and over again – maybe 30 times in 15 miles. The next morning I decided to give it a quick test drive so I can give a better, cleaner description of what was going on when I spoke to the Ford tech. Of course, there was no issue. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Being slightly car paranoid, I talked with Ford anyways and they suggested that I keep driving until the issue occurred again, because (obviously) they can’t diagnose a problem that they can’t see. Sounds reasonable to me, so drive it, we did.
Fast forward 1000 miles and suddenly the problem is back. Driving down the road in a straight line, not touching the brakes, the truck will occasionally swerve a little left, accompanied by a noise that sounds like ABS system activation. Just plain odd. For a more detailed discussion of the issue with people who know a lot more about this then I do, check out the Powerstroke.org forum here.
As we speak, I am sitting in the Ford dealership waiting for the verdict on potential issues that could be causing the problem. After a full explanation of the problem, I asked my service advisor what he thought might be the issue- his response, “it might be possessed.” Based on that, I’m guessing that this isn’t a common issue.
I’m going to throw it out there that I’m pretty sure my 2016 truck is not possessed, so anyone out there who may have a suggestion, please let me know your thoughts. Or if you’re an expert at car exorcisms, feel free to hit me up too.
UPDATE 6.16.16: Picked up the truck this morning after an IVD reboot (dealing with traction control) and the problem persists – apparently the truck might be possessed after all! I’m sure that is not actually the case – and the folks over at Western Slope Ford made heroic efforts to try to fix what they thought was wrong. Unfortunately the diagnosis was not dead on. Headed back in next week to get this sorted!
UPDATE 6.21.16: So we took the truck back in yesterday morning after an “eventful weekend”. We decided that the issue was small enough that we would be safe pulling Stan over the Million Dollar Highway to Durango (you know only three narrow, high mountain passes with steep drop offs to certain death). Fortunately it was not a big deal and despite the occasional traction control intervention from the not solved problem, the trip was awesome and the truck pulled like a champ. While unhitched and whilst motoring around Durango, we did have a killer revisit of the problem on a scale we haven’t yet seen – jerking the truck left, rather hard, brake pedal popping me in the foot, the whole bit. So when we got up the next morning I was a little worried, headed into town before hitching up, it was like the problem never happened in the first place. Towed home, over the passes, with not a single twitch. The possession diagnosis sounded pretty good at this point.
Last night we got a call back from our service advisor, who had sent the issue to the Ford Engineering Department, and heard back that they need to check the RCM (Restraint Control Module) for damage, and replace it either way. Now the fact that they responded so quickly means to me (and our service advisor) that this may be a known issue and that this is indeed the fix. How the RCM and the traction control are linked on the other hand, is a bit beyond me at this point. Hopefully the work will be done today and we can pick up the truck tonight!