[reycharlesconrad]

Hi All. I am new to the group and I am hoping you could advise or help me out on my ongoing issue with my Escape which has happened right after replacing suspension parts. Long post ahead and so sorry about it but I hope you could take time to throw in your suggestions and thoughts.

** BEFORE THE ISSUE:

Car is running fine. No MILs illuminated but since some rattling sounds, I decided to have my tie rod, rack end and stabilizer link replaced with replacement parts.

** AFTER THE REPAIR:

After the changes in the suspension and after running a few kilometers, the ABS, Airbag, Brake System(!), Traction Control and Hill Assist Unavailable came up. I also lost the power steering. Car is running fine. No other vibrations or performance issue aside from the disabled power steering but of course, i try not to run it above 100 km/h due to ABS and Airbags being disabled.

** MY SUSPECTED ISSUE and FOUND SUGGESTIONS ONLINE:

• Possible Wheel Speed Sensors broken
• Steering Angle Sensor calibration needed
• Axle nut loose (?)
• Alternator failing
• Damaged Rack and Pinion EPS
• ABS Module
• Tone Ring damaged

** TROUBLESHOOTING DONE BY MECHANICS SO FAR:

• Cleaned wheel speed sensors and checked for broken wires - no findings.
• Scanned via OBDII and tried erasing errors - but some errors still persistently remains. ( to be shown below)
• checked harness in ABS module and cleaned
• cleaned battery contacts, grounds etc

The mechanic also tried running a NETWORK SCAN (?) and he mentioned that ABS module is always failing and the only one not responding. - he tried reprogramming the module but failed. He said he was able to pull data from all modules except ABS module. He is using an IDS scanner from connected to a laptop.

** U ERROR CODES THAT APPEARS AFTER THE INITIAL SCAN:

U0401 - DATA RECEIVED FROM ECM/PCM IS INVALID
U0140 - MISSING COMMUNICATION WITH BCM
U0422 - RECEIVED INVALID DATA FROM BCM
U0100 - MISSING COMM WITH ECM/PCM
U0121 - LOST COMM WITH ABS CONTROL MODULE A
U0001 - HIGH SPEED CAN COMM BUS
U0126 - LOST COMM WITH STEERING ANGLE SENSOR MODULE

** ERROR CODES THAT PERSISTS EVEN AFTER RESET AND ERASING OF CODES:

U0121 - LOST COMM WITH ABS CONTROL MODULE A

** CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION OF MECHANIC:

Mechanic said that it is most probable that the ABS Module is corrupted and needs replacement since it is not responding on his network scan.

Also, other errors that appeared pertaining to BCM and PSCM (Power Steering Control Module) are just the effect of the ABS module failing and does not necessarily mean that PSCM module failed too.

Alternator failure is also ruled out since any loss or inadequacy of power should appear in the scan(?)

It is also not the wheel speed sensors as the scan should point which of the sides has issues if ever.

He also mentioned that there are no open circuit and or wires as he should be also able to see it via the scan and when he did the visual check

**ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Another mechanic who saw the scan report mentioned it could be the Power Steering Control Module or Rack and Pinion EPS that failed since he saw the PSCM errors together with the ABS errors in the paper but he did not do any other testing aside from reading the report.

** MY QUESTIONS:

Did we still miss anything to check and perform before finally concluding that it is the ABS module since said part is expensive?

Checking the Tone Ring and if there's loose Axle Nut was not done - but is it still worth going to the shop to have these checked again after all the scans and diagnosing done as I have mentioned above?

Or should I settle already with the ABS module replacement, considering his conclusion that its only the ABS Module not 'responding' during network scan that he did?

Sorry for the long post but I thank you for any thoughts and recos you can still give.

- Charles

 

[02fordsvt]

This might sound crazy, but these vehicles have a tendency to do all sorts of strange things when the battery is on the way out. Before dumping money into other parts, have the battery and charge system checked.

 

[jpohlman]

2nd that, if nothing else pull the battery cable for 35 minutes.
A lot of this looks like a bad BMS sensor or a ground on the data bus.

 

[murcod]

Also, do you know if they disconnected anything electrical when doing the original work? Perhaps they disconnected something and haven't reconnected it properly.

As mentioned nothing will behave correctly if the battery voltage is low.

 

[reycharlesconrad]

I was looking the whole time while doing the original work so i know that they did not disconnect anything electrical. Also, all connections are visually inspected to eliminate this possibility. BMS was also reset.

The battery i had tested in a battery shop and they said that it's still good and alternator is charging as it is. Although it's just a battery shop with a volts meter. Would that testing device suffice? I do not notice any power loss on lights, sounds or engine when I turn on accessories too.

ALTHOUGH I NOTICED LATELY that dome lights light up briefly / intermittently while I'm running and the HUD i installed which shows speed, engine temp etc. Which is connected via the OBDII port is losing power / restarting too from time to time but whenever it does that, no other changes noticed on the aircon or engine performance..

I'm really running out of options and things to check..

 

[reycharlesconrad]

2nd that, if nothing else pull the battery cable for 35 minutes.
A lot of this looks like a bad BMS sensor or a ground on the data bus.

Thanks for this. They also tried resetting the BMS already. Battery was also checked in a battery shop with a voltmeter and its still good. It's less than a year old too.

Where should we look when you say 'a ground on the data bus'?

Thank you

 

[jpohlman]

The BMS sensor pigtail provides power to the LIN data bus.
If the pigtail is bad you can get insufficient voltage on the bus for modules to communicate correctly, a ground on the data bus means that the wiring for either the MSCAN or HSCAN is shorted to ground (wire chaffed against metal as an example) which also causes a module communication failure.

 

[reycharlesconrad]

The BMS sensor pigtail provides power to the LIN data bus.
If the pigtail is bad you can get insufficient voltage on the bus for modules to communicate correctly, a ground on the data bus means that the wiring for either the MSCAN or HSCAN is shorted to ground (wire chaffed against metal as an example) which also causes a module communication failure.

I have to admit that this is getting too technical for me but I'm willing to learn and read and research online. So from what I understand, BMS sensors is located in the battery terminals? If they are failing, aren't they going to show up in the scans? Or what tests can be done that i can ask a mechanic to do to determine if BMS sensors is already bad? Thank you for continuing to help!

 

[reycharlesconrad]

2nd that, if nothing else pull the battery cable for 35 minutes.
A lot of this looks like a bad BMS sensor or a ground on the data bus.

Also, if i pull the battery cable, should it be the positive or negative? Will i not be needing any computer reset after I do this and I can just plug it back in without issues? Because I don't have one here at home. Thank you

 

[murcod]

So from what I understand, BMS sensors is located in the battery terminals?

It's on the battery's negative terminal (terminal closest to the firewall) and the sensor itself has two small wires going to it. It's common for the terminal/ sensor and those wires to suffer badly from corrosion.

Also, if i pull the battery cable, should it be the positive or negative?

The battery negative terminal is connected via a heavy gauge cable to the front suspension tower via a 13mm bolt. Undo the bolt and wrap the cable terminal in insulation tape (or something similar) to make sure it doesn't make contact with anything metal.

 

[reycharlesconrad]

It's on the battery's negative terminal (terminal closest to the firewall) and the sensor itself has two small wires going to it. It's common for the terminal/ sensor and those wires to suffer badly from corrosion.



The battery negative terminal is connected via a heavy gauge cable to the front suspension tower via a 13mm bolt. Undo the bolt and wrap the cable terminal in insulation tape (or something similar) to make sure it doesn't make contact with anything metal.

Thank you. I will check this both and take pictures. Will also see if any corrosion or cut in the wires and give feedback again here.

Btw, another mechanic chimed in after he did a scan that my issue could be the STEERING ANGLE SENSOR going bad. He came to this conclusion as i loose the power steering function as soon as the lights comes up. Yesterday, i was able to drive for around 10 minutes without the issue (car coming from a complete rest the whole night) then after lights came up, power steering is lost and no speedometer again.

 

[reycharlesconrad]

It's on the battery's negative terminal (terminal closest to the firewall) and the sensor itself has two small wires going to it. It's common for the terminal/ sensor and those wires to suffer badly from corrosion.



The battery negative terminal is connected via a heavy gauge cable to the front suspension tower via a 13mm bolt. Undo the bolt and wrap the cable terminal in insulation tape (or something similar) to make sure it doesn't make contact with anything metal.

Update:

I have checked the battery terminals and they are clean. Some of the body grounds were also sanded to make sure no loss in contact.

However, I thought of going to a battery center again to have my charging system checked as most of the replies here are connected to a possible battery issue and this is what they showed me:

1st electrician said my charging system indicates its on the LOW side. The 2nd one said its in the acceptable level.

I have then connected a HUD display from my other car and it connects via OBDII and this is the voltage that shows while car engine is running, aircon on:

So in the case of the 3 pictures, does this indicate that I have a bad battery (9 months old) already? or a charging system that is not sufficient causing all my issues and lights and ABS module failing (or failed) causing the the traction control, ABS, Airbag and Brake system(!) lights to lit up and to lose power steering?

Will it help that i change the battery and see if the problem goes away after?

Thank you for your further advise, thoughts and recommendations.

 

[murcod]

Your vehicle has a smart charging system and the alternator voltage varies to save fuel. Anything between 12.2V to 15V is considered normal. You basically can't fault find the charging system using a simple voltage measurement. Auto electricians should be aware of that.