It's been a while since I posted here, wanted to let the group know about an "experience" we recently had in our '05 FEH.

Wife was driving down the street when ICE cut out "Stop Safely Now" came up. She coaxed it into a parking lot and called me. I borrowed a co-worker's scan tool and got four ignition coil failure messages. All the material I could find online suggested either a power failure or a PCM failure. Not good news on an out of warranty vehicle (though the PCM likely would have been covered under the emissions warranty). Long story short, had to have the vehicle towed to the dealer who after $230 worth of services (including a $30 upcharge on the tow compared to what they paid the driver) replaced a $14 relay. Could not get complete info on them as to which relay it was, the description they gave doesn't match anything I can find in the service manual.

The good news is the problem has not reappeared since (knock knock) so it appears the relay was in fact the fix.

Steve
'05 FEH 4x4
37K miles

 

Hi Steve, it has been awhile!

Your lucky, this happen to me also with 3 relays one after the other. The Injector Relay, the Power Sustain Relay and the PCM Relay. There are 2 other relays, the Heater Pump relay and the M/E coolant pump relay that haven't gone bad yet, but there all the same relay. I now carry a spare and it's much better than the expense of towing and having Ford fix them. There in the Battery Junction Box (under the hood) and very easy to pull and replace to find out which one is the problem to get you going again. I said you were lucky because the total cost to find out the problems cost me over $1,200 and included 3 tow jobs. You can see some pics in my photo gallery on CleanMPG.com.
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/showp.../500/ppuser/36
I'm pointing to the location of all 5 relays. Get a spare, you'll be glad you did!

GaryG

 

Guys, I have had a number of unexpected shutdowns, usually when running the vehicle at freeway speeds for an hour or more. See my thread at Frequent unexpected ICE shutdowns on freeway.

Do you think this relay issue could be causing my problem?

 

I suppose it's possible, our shutdown happened on a hot day, and I believe GaryG lives in Florida, so heat is pretty much a given!

The part number on my repair invoice was FOAZ-14N089-A and the price listed was $12.41

Interesting because I also had a similar issue with our Prius, but in that case it was possible to re-start the car and get it running again. I wonder if standard grade automotive relays are not up to the constant cycling that happens with ICE startup and shutdown that we see in hybrids?

Considering the price of a relay, it's likely the lowest-cost thing to try in terms of experiments to solve your problem.

 

Okay, I read your thread to get more information. The injector relay just went bad right after a cold start. I did get the "Stop Safely Now" warning and it would restart and run real bad and die again. It took a week for the Tech working with the Ford Hot line to finally get it started after replacing the relay. A week later there was a no start in the morning and I pushed it out on the street for the tow truck to pick it up again. I was not home when the tow truck arrived, but my '05 did start for him and he drove it up on the flatbed and took it to my dealer. It started again at the dealer and they found nothing wrong. The third time a week later, there was no starting in the morning so I replaced the 12V battery and still no luck. It was towed back to the dealer. They had told me the first time that those relays never go bad and that was the reason it took so many man hour to fix it. This last time they had to replace the PCM relay and the Power Sustain relay to get it started.

As you can see, my problem had nothing to do with heat. However, you could have a problem with the M/E Pump Relay causing it to cut off and on and over heating the motors or converters. For $12 bucks I'd buy a spare and replace it to see if it solves your problem. You'll still have a spare for any future problems like Steve and I if the problem continues. You might want to replace the Power Sustain Relay after that. I did get a few "Stop Safely Now" warnings and limp home mode before replacing the relays, but it always restarted and the warning went out after by cycling the ignition switch.

Those biggest relays are all in order and are square in shape. The Power Relay is 001 closest to the firewall. The PCM Relay 002 is next, the injector relay 003 is next, the Heater Pump relay 004 is next and the M/E Relay is the closest to the front of the car. There is a smaller fog lamp relay 006 next to the M/E relay and two smaller A/C Diodes 01 & 02 starting that row. Just pop the lid with the engine off and pull straight up on the relays to remove. They can only be plugged back in one way, so it's very easy and only takes a minute to change. If your problem is solved, be sure and throw the bad one away and get another spare.

Good Luck!

GaryG

 

Do the relays look like this one? Seems like a great idea to carry a spare when they are this cheap.

http://www.lightningforceperformance...ch-p-1071.html

 

part number matches up to Stevewa's posted part number
Model: FOAZ14N089A
So i'd assume that is indeed the relay.

 

The ones replaced and my spare do not have that metal tab on the top, but they look the same other than that.

GaryG

 

Thanks, everyone. I'll give this a try. Gary, what does the M and E stand for in the "M/E Relay"?

 

That would be Motor Electronics (M/E) Coolant Pump.

GaryG