[RayoVac]

Tonight I came home from a business trip where I had left my MKC on Sunday morning at the local airport. Got back to 24 degrees and a completely dead MKC in long term parking. I had a feeling something was up as I tried to start it numerous times with my iPhone app just getting a communications error.

So after monkeying around, freezing outside the vehicle, trying to get that **** emergency key out of the key fob.. I finally got into the car to stow my luggage. Airport security sucks and was no help, but the ticket booth folks had a jump box. I got the MKC started and let it run a while to warm up.

Now the fun stuff... the list of what works is shorter then what doesn't. Some computer something must have taken a crap as now the following is non-working/non-responsive:

Non of the steering wheel buttons work.
No rear wiper.
No front washer, no ability to push down the wiper stalk for a quick wipe or auto wipe or delayed wipe.
No Cruise Control.
No Lane Keeping.
No AWD (Big Error on the left display about it and that it needs services).
No Brights.
No Turn signals (this is a big deal).
Tilt and Telescope button does not work.
Temp and Time non-existent on MFT.
DRLs don't work.

Now... paddle shifters do work.. but I am not sure the suspension is actually switching modes when going to sport. It's usually very noticeable when I go from Comfort to Sport.

So its going to the dealer tomorrow with all the above problems. Along with my existing complaint about the clock loosing time, the instrument light level not being retained and the Satellite radio cutting out in big city areas.

At least they will give me another Lincoln to drive while they figure out what took a crap on mine.

What a night....

Rayo

 

[sg021]

That is really a shame, at least (I assume) it wasn't raining/snowing. Now that it's the day after, is all this failing equipment still happening on subsequent starts?

In general I hope losing battery charge for an extended time is not so disastrous.

 

[laurel]

Boy that would have been shocking and disappointing. Sorry to hear about the problem. Keep us up to date on what happens next please. Any chance that you left any ipod or such plugged in? That shouldn't impact, but heaven knows over on theFord C-Max Hybrid forum dead batteries have been a huge issue with reason remaining unknown.

 

[RayoVac]

That is really a shame, at least (I assume) it wasn't raining/snowing. Now that it's the day after, is all this failing equipment still happening on subsequent starts?

In general I hope losing battery charge for an extended time is not so disastrous.

Yes... same thing this morning. Multiple on/offs and left it sit overnight.

Took it to the dealer first thing this morning. They are saying the battery is smoked/defective whatever. Of course its some "new style" battery and they don't have a replacement in stock for. They gave me a MKT to drive while they figure it out.

I am not feeling all that confident about the whole deal quite just yet. I hate when the service desk guy tells you stuff just to appease you or stop from having to look further into a problem. Could it have had a bad battery from the factory... ummm sure maybe. But more then likely something was pulling a constant draw, bad computer etc.

This all might explain why my clock would not keep time, why my dash lights don't keep their setting, why my speedo and cruise set number reports an avg 2mph FASTER then what I am actually doing as checked by GPS and data from the OBDII port. Meaning I can set my cruise at 60... the OBDII port will be spitting out 58 and I will verify on GPS to also be 58. The service desk guy told me "that's within tolerance" REALLY 2MPH is within tolerance. Should it at LEAST match what the OBDII is spitting out. C'mon... I did not fight a battle on that one... I figured I would let the fix the battery and I will drive it a while to see what still seems jacked vs. working.

Also they acknowledged the issue with satellite radio dropout... but claimed there is no published fix yet.

Do we have any Ford Service guys hanging out on these forums? I am wondering if there is any option in programming to adjust the speedo readout etc.? Its almost like maybe I have the wrong tire size in the system or something. LIke maybe the car is programmed for the 20s although I have the 19s. That would account for near 1MPH... would be a bit closer.

 

[RayoVac]

Boy that would have been shocking and disappointing. Sorry to hear about the problem. Keep us up to date on what happens next please. Any chance that you left any ipod or such plugged in? That shouldn't impact, but heaven knows over on theFord C-Max Hybrid forum dead batteries have been a huge issue with reason remaining unknown.

No nothing at all in the vehicle. And now that I am reflecting a bit, I was in Chicago last Friday where I had the MKC in a garage downtown from about 9a until 3:30p. This was one of these 20 degree kind of days. When I got back to the car, it was slow to turnover. Did not think much of it... but now I am.

 

[GblancRetiree]

My MKC went completely dead after a week of non-use. It would not jump start. I ended up putting a slow charger on the battery. After 15 hours of charging, it worked fine.

I found out the welcome lighting system caused the drain down. Our key fob storage for the car is about 12 feet from the vehicle. The on-going communication between the fob and car caused the problem. Lincoln has a special service message on this. The cure is to turn off the welcome approach lighting on the dash panel or relocate the key fob farther away from the car. I turned it off. The welcome lighting now only works when I hit the unlock button on the fob or put my hand on the external door handle.

Had I been using the MKC more often than once per week, there would have been no excessive drain down.

 

[RayoVac]

My MKC went completely dead after a week of non-use. It would not jump start. I ended up putting a slow charger on the battery. After 15 hours of charging, it worked fine.

I found out the welcome lighting system caused the drain down. Our key fob storage for the car is about 12 feet from the vehicle. The on-going communication between the fob and car caused the problem. Lincoln has a special service message on this. The cure is to turn off the welcome approach lighting on the dash panel or relocate the key fob farther away from the car. I turned it off. The welcome lighting now only works when I hit the unlock button on the fob or put my hand on the external door handle.

Had I been using the MKC more often than once per week, there would have been no excessive drain down.

I wish this had been my problem, key fob was in Portland OR, car was in South Bend, IN.

 

[RayoVac]

Well the dealer said the battery was dead/defective. So they had to get a new one, of course they did not have one in stock so it was later in the day before they got it.

Supposedly after putting in the new battery most of the stuff started working. Yet the car is still throwing 6 codes that they could not clear. So it will stay over the weekend and they will resume on Monday. Meanwhile I have what I consider to be a fairly crappy 2012 MKT to drive. Not impressed, its no wonder why this thing has not sold on the dealers lot. Near 10K miles on it, sticker still in the window. I would not give $30K for the thing, the sticker says $53K.

I am not loving the others complaints popping up about similar things. Now granted I get that there are way more folks not having problems and that we typically will only read the complaints.. but still its disheartening.

Rayo

 

[TxTom]

Rayo,

I have a 19in wheel MKC and my speedo reads exactly like yours...shows 62 and actual is 60, per my GPS-based radar detector. So I think not related to all your other issues.

Hope they get the other problems taken care of for you.

 

[RayoVac]

Rayo,

I have a 19in wheel MKC and my speedo reads exactly like yours...shows 62 and actual is 60, per my GPS-based radar detector. So I think not related to all your other issues.

Hope they get the other problems taken care of for you.

Thanks Tom... good to know. So I am wondering if I asked them to change my wheel size settings to get the speedo closer if there would be any negative affects elsewhere? I have not actually tracked mileage to see if that is off or if its just the speedo reading.

I am guessing a change to the wheel size would affect the mileage calculated? As a guy that likes to live right on the edge of what you might get a ticket for vs. what can pass as o.k. I really need that "set" number on the cruise to equal what the car is actually traveling.

Still researching.....

 

[LINC]

RayoVac: Only if you install after market wheels and (or) tires without first calculating tire sizes to remain manufacturer speedometer correct.


A larger wheel from the manufacturer on the same vehicle has a lower profile so as to keep the distance traveled per revolution very very close. You can compare on a tire calculator site. The 19" wheel has a 245 45 19 Tire.


http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTireMath.do


Have you checked tire pressure lately? I would believe the difference could be a slight lost of tire pressure, just normal loss, or due to colder temps, causing vehicle speedometer to show higher than an actual radar speed. I learned way back and still as so today that this will happen when I chose to drop the rear tire pressure in my Mustang 5-6 pounds and I come up on one of those "Your Speed" machines. Shows me at 2-7 less than my speedometer. Also a loss of MPG, but that's a non-issue at the time. I like using that live on the edge at times also.

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoAirPressure.do


Two and half months 2,400 miles none of the issues members bring up.

 

[RayoVac]

Thanks LInc.. that is good info. My problem is this... if I hook up my OBDII reader and monitor as I go down the road.... set the cruise at say 65 as read by the numeric setting (not the speedo) the OBDII will tyipcally be reading 63 to 63.5. Too me... the OBDII report of speed should darn well match what is set numerically with the cruise system.

And just for a side note... the OBDII readout does indeed match up with a GPS taken confirmation. Not just GPS on a phone, but also GPS to a garmin GPS watch.

I get the whole acceptable variance crap the dealer is giving me... especially as related to Speedo needle readout. But why the heck wouldn't the OBDII read speed match the cruise set speed?

I may go over to some of the blue oval forums and pose this question to see if there are any Ford Mechanics out there that could explain this variance and more importantly maybe know if there is some type of calibration factor in programing or something the could be adjusted. I can't believe we should just accept this as normal... especially in the digital/computer age we are in.

Rayo

RayoVac: Only if you install after market wheels and (or) tires without first calculating tire sizes to remain manufacturer speedometer correct.


A larger wheel from the manufacturer on the same vehicle has a lower profile so as to keep the distance traveled per revolution very very close. You can compare on a tire calculator site. The 19" wheel has a 245 45 19 Tire.


http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTireMath.do


Have you checked tire pressure lately? I would believe the difference could be a slight lost of tire pressure, just normal loss, or due to colder temps, causing vehicle speedometer to show higher than an actual radar speed. I learned way back and still as so today that this will happen when I chose to drop the rear tire pressure in my Mustang 5-6 pounds and I come up on one of those "Your Speed" machines. Shows me at 2-7 less than my speedometer. Also a loss of MPG, but that's a non-issue at the time. I like using that live on the edge at times also.

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoAirPressure.do


Two and half months 2,400 miles none of the issues members bring up.

 

[rbreeze]

Rayo - For what it's worth many of the cars I have driven have had inherent speedo errors of 3-4%, where the speed being displayed (both the digital as well as analog readout) is higher than the actual speed. I recently spent a couple of years in Australia and while there drove a Holden Commodore (GM car). With that vehicle I found that when I set the cruise to 100 km/h - with the digital and analog speedos indicating 100 km/h - my actual speed was 96-97 km/h as indicated on my GPS nav unit. This speed indication error was always there (it was a constant). As I always wanted to drive at the absolute speed limit (and not 1 km/h less than that) I decided to always set my cruise to a number that was 3-4% higher than the posted speed limit. So, for example, with a posted speed limit of 100 km/h, I would set my cruise to 103 or 104 km/h.
As an aside, driving speed is a big subject in Australia due to the relatively low posted speed limits (as compared to North America and Europe) AND the astonishing number of speed cameras everywhere, where a speeding ticket is automatically generated if you're going as little as 5 km/h (3 mph) over the limit. As a result of these two factors people there tend to drive right at the limit - but generally never more than 2-3 km/h over that! Having a very good understanding of one's actual speed in Oz is essential!

Finally.. here's an interesting copy/paste from Wikipedia:

Most speedometers have tolerances of some ±10%, mainly due to variations in tire diameter. Sources of error due to tire diameter variations are wear, temperature, pressure, vehicle load, and nominal tire size.
Vehicle manufacturers usually calibrate speedometers to read high by an amount equal to the average error, to ensure that their speedometers never indicate a lower speed than the actual speed of the vehicle, to ensure they are not liable for drivers violating speed limits.
Speedometer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

/Richard

 

[LINC]

The only thought I can add is the lack of the MKC having a dedicated tire pressure monitor showing each tires pressure. My Jeep's display, I can view each tires pressure whenever I want. Also gives warning message and high lights the low tire. My factory GPS Navigation is Garmin 430N, it displays my speed next to the posted speed limit and my speed turns red when over the limit, even offers altitude. My Garmin speed and speedometer always seem to match. And of course my tires are very close to the manufactures recommend pressure.

 

[RayoVac]

I did post over at the Blue Oval Forums and had a tech reply that this is normal across all Ford brands and done on purpose.

Why is it so in-consistent then? My 2012 Edge cruise set speed always mirrored GPS as does our 2013 Escape. And you may ask why would I know that? Well I run a iPhone app for my Valentine One radar detector that shows GPS speed on the display. Thus why this jumps out at me as an irritation.

 

[AU MKC]

Did they give you any insight on the other issues with the MKC?

 

[RayoVac]

Did they give you any insight on the other issues with the MKC?

No, it was the end of the day when they called me to tell me that they finally got the battery in. Stated most things cleared... but not details as to what, when, where. But... again... I am not totally convinced they even did anything as when I pull a mobile status from the MyLincoln app, it is still reporting "Check Battery". Maybe its because there are problems that actually do still remain.

I will know more tomorrow and will post status asap.

Rayo

 

[RayoVac]

I heard from the service department yesterday. They claim to have isolated the problem down to some module within the steering wheel enclosure. The great part is its NOT available to order yet. Won't be available until Jan 28th, and that does not mean they will actually be able to expedite and order for it.

I asked them if they had an idea what would cause that module to "Short Out", was it related to the battery. Of course logic has no place in questioning service folks... as the answer was no the battery was defective... the module blowing up was coincidental. No answer for what would have been causing my clock to loose time, and other complaints I had.

So for now... no MKC for at least another full week. I am guessing I won't see it until February. Upside is I guess I will be over 10 days into the "out of service due to repairs for at least 30 business days and the problem still exists" requirements of the Indiana Lemon Law.

I seriously doubt when I get it back that the clock losing time is fixed, that my instrumentation not keeping its dimming setting will be fixed or as we all know the Satellite radio dropping out being fixed. So once those problems resurface, it will go back again. The clock will continue to run on the Lemon Law "days without service" and minimum 4 visits to allow the dealer to get it fixed.

Kind of really bummed... and the 2012 MKT I am driving in the mean time really blows.

Rayo

 

[RayoVac]

Got a surprise call today. The MKC was ready for pickup. Apparently the part that was NOT available showed up today after the dealer put in an ER (emergency request?) for it.

So far that car seems to be ok. But the MyLincoln mobile app is now showing a note to check the battery. I showed this to the dealer when I picked it up, they did not have any ideas. It of course was not doing this before the whole battery dieing thing. I am going to wait to see if my clock is still losing time and if my dim setting on the instrument panel holds... to see if its worth going back to make them figure out why the Mobile App is reporting what it is.

Happier, but still a bit frustrated over the whole deal, and still feel that something probably caused the battery to drain. My fear is if I leave it sit for a few days out in the cold... it will probably happen again. My garage is heated, so it never sees the outside for real long periods of time, except for when I travel and leave a car at the airport etc.

Rayo

 

[TxTom]

Rayo,

I had this "check battery" indicator on my app while my car was at the dealer earlier this week. I called them and was to that the battery positive terminal was disconnected while they were doing diagnostic work. I just happened to access the app during this time.

Maybe your connection is loose? But then no indicators on the dash? Ensure your app is shut down and then access it again to clear the indicator.

Hope this clears, or you get it resolved.