TSA did it to me again..... Ford Flex (ADDED FRUSTRATION!)

[blume357]

Group I belong to flew an expert down from New York state to help with our annual 'Gathering' near Columbia S.C. this past weekend. I was supposed to take him back to the Greenville airport on Tuesday afternoon but it was going to be close packing up my van and the trailer I was pulling and so my wife and a friend decided to take him in our 2009 Ford Flex .... comfortable easy drive to the airport... as they dropped him off at the terminal the A.C. went off and the heat came on HIGH and now it won't shut off. Some how the 'computer' that controls the dash units, climate control and audio, has gone bad... I made a joke to friends that I suspect the TSA is scanning with some type of system all the vehicles that are driving to the terminal... and their response, logically, was that this would cause lots of instances like this... then I realized the answer... they have tagged me and only scanned my vehicle or others on the 'list'.

Now, if anyone can help with helping me identify the exact part 'control box/computer' that needs to be replaced on a 2009 Ford Flex .... this is the part that controls the two dash units .... climate control and audio system. The view screen still works with the GPS... and the radio and be controlled from the steering wheel....

 

[SAJohn]

I suggest you go to fordflex dot net. The blend actuators are a known problem as is the "auto" mode of the climate control.

 

[Jeepnik]

And folks wonder why I drive a 34 year old Jeep with knobs and cables for stuff like this.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I recently had to have part of the dash with the a/c controls replaced in my Toyota. There is a module built into it that controls the a/c. I found out later I could have bought one on ebay, cheap. :evil:

 

[RSIno1]

Ford has an engine computer and another for all the accessories. The one in our Mustang failed with intermitant turn signal problems and failed reading the AC pressure switch so the compressor wouldn't come on. The one in our Escape has the airbag light on but no fault code, the door ajar section is bad all switches are good, the AC won't come on - I bypassed that problem with another relay, the alarm goes off randomly if you power lock the doors. I traded in the Mustang and at $400+ to fix the Escape with 200,000+ miles won't be getting fixed. I have to pick the wife up at LAX this afternoon. I hope TSA doesn't screw with our new 2016 Flex. Buying a module on ebay won't work for the Ford as they are programmed for each car depending on options.

 

[Dan in MI]

A scan tool should give you a clue as to what went south. I don't deal with the dash controls much so I really can't help beyond that

Ford has an engine computer and another for all the accessories.

If it were only that simple. ALL modern vehicles have dozens of modules. Not one or two. There may be three or four major modules, but there are a bunch more.

 

[Colonialgirl]

I think I'll stick with my '98 Volvo S-70; It has some "quirks" and it cost me $75 for a rebuilt Anti-lock brake control which seems to have a reputation for bad solder joints, I also had to replace the heater "radiator" but found a SHORT cut to remove the need to take the entire dash apart. One of these days, I'll get my '76 Fiat Spyder back on the road and only have to Reset the points every 3000 miles.

 

[Fox Mike]

This creates a problem. I have to take the wife to BWI on Wednesday to send her to Washington state. Perhaps I should drop her off a bit away from the "Departures" section and let her walk in. I am sure she would be pleased to hump two bags that far so I wouldn't have to deal with the TSA auto deactivation devices. :roll: :roll:

 

[exavid]

Nah, it's not the TSA. It's the airport surveillance radar. The GPS on my wife's 2015 Equinox periodically blanked out to black screen for a second about every 30 seconds once in a while. I was about ready to take the car to the dealer but one evening waiting to turn left on street next to the airport I noticed the screen doing its back to black trick wen the airport radar antenna swept in my direction each time it happened. I don't know why the screen blacks out but it's definitely caused by the radar swamping out something in the circuitry in the car. Might not be your problem but there is a lot of RF in the air near airports, especially if they have a long range radar. EMP you know.

 

[blume357]

Maybe the EMP from the Radar as it shoots out horizontal blocks the signal coming down from the GPS satellites....

 

[Pat-inCO]

I guess I'll not have that problem (any of them),
I don't go to airports, for thirty years now.

For those of you that do, try the off-site parking lots.
They usually have a shuttle service there (at least
it is advertised available at DIA [Denver]).

 

[Dan in MI]

The airport radar may mess with the nav system, but the auto companies do a huge amount of EMF/RF testing to make sure your car doesn't quit when you drive through unknown areas.

 

[opos]

Just an aside about radar and electronics..We ran an offshore marlin fishing boat off San Diego for about 20 years...the Navy is always offshore playing around with games and testing...The Vincenz (involved in shooting down the Korean passenger jet years ago) was about 20 miles off San Diego and we were about 3 miles from them when out marine electronics all went bang, boom, gone....the were running some form of flat panel array and we understand they got several boats electronics that were nearby...we were fully legal as far as proximity and there had been no notice to mariners that they would be testing their toys. They (and other high tech ships) have a prohibition to using their highly "toxic" electronics within several miles of shore (not certain the exact distance) because of potential damage to not only electronics on other boats and ships but the Marine Corps Naval Air Station and the airport which is right on the edge of the bay.

 

[Colonialgirl]

Welcome to the modern age of the future; we want you to know that everything was designed by a genius and nothing kan go wong, gawang,------------------------------------ screw up !!

 

[PriseDeFer]

Disconnect the battery and leave it over night.

 

[Dan in MI]

Disconnect the battery and leave it over night.

Very good suggestion. (I should have thought of it :oops: )

 

[Bull Barrel]

FIAT? Fix It Again Tony!

 

[blume357]

Did disconnect the battery for about 20 minutes.. and mechanic did the same thing but neither was over night, you think it will make a difference? I have a friend that had a Chevy truck that a 'thing' would happen and he had to disconnect the battery for something like 3 hours to fix it.

 

[Dan in MI]

Most of the volatile memory gets wiped in shorter time increments, less than 10 minutes, but an overnight disconnect will sometimes trip a hard reset some modules.


When the dealer did it were there any codes?

 

[Colonialgirl]

FIAT? Fix It Again Tony!

Better than :
Found
On
Road
Dead

OR:
OH CHRISTLER

 

[blume357]

Added Frustration: Of course the reply from Ford was to take it to the dealer....

then I went on a Ford Flex forum and asked the question and got all kind of answers but one guy seemed to know what he was talking about.. then I private messaged him with my specific question and I get a question back : "Do You Have Nav.?" I have to try and figure out what he means... and presume he means the built in GPS.... So, I respond and his next question is: " Do you have the large touch screen?" how am I supposed to know if it is the large one or not? but anyway.. he finally directs me to carports dot something with the specific parts he thinks I need... then I try to order them... the first place processes the order and sends me a confirmation then sends me a another email saying they need to charge me an additional $50 for the 'core' charge.... gripes the begerbers out of me since they could have put it on the original order.... so I go and try to order from another place... now they want not only my credit card number and such but a copy of both the back and front of it along with the same for my drivers license.... and everything has to match exact and address to ship has to be the same as on the D.L. etc... what the frick? What planet are these car parts folks from.... I buy stuff off the internet all the time and don't have to jump through all these hoops.... heck it was easier to buy the KP95dc from a fellow member in AZ and process it through my local FFL than to buy a car part.