Can someone recommend a shop in Orange County, California to do this service? I am being quoted ~$1000 for this.

 

Hey Steve, it's been a while and I have been working on several things to address this issue. First of all in full disclosure, I had an issue with my ignition switch about 2 months ago to the point I was jiggling the key to get the car to start. Rather than opt for the $1,100 Ford option of pulling the steering wheel and airbag I found the video where you could basically bypass the ignition start position by touching two wires together off of the connector on the other side. I have been doing this for 2 months when this problem with the car not starting began. It has started for 2 months like this and I drove the car in the morning and 2-3 hrs later, nothing, no response. Thats when I found the 12V battery under the hood was at 10.2V and wouldn't hold a charge. I replaced the battery and still nothing. I purchased the OBD cord and downloaded the software. When I attach the connector I get the green led on the connector but when I try to turn the key on I get the following error..."Unable to connect to vehicle, please make sure the ignition key is ON and try again." Do you have any guidance at this point? I have purchased the Ford OEM assembly 9L8Z-3511-A in hopes that will have an affect on the OBD cables connectivity? As a side note, when I do try to start the car like I always have for the past 2 months, the odometer display screen shuts off when making the "engine run" connection.

Thanks,

Craig

 

Hey Steve, it's been a while and I have been working on several things to address this issue. First of all in full disclosure, I had an issue with my ignition switch about 2 months ago to the point I was jiggling the key to get the car to start. Rather than opt for the $1,100 Ford option of pulling the steering wheel and airbag I found the video where you could basically bypass the ignition start position by touching two wires together off of the connector on the other side. I have been doing this for 2 months when this problem with the car not starting began. It has started for 2 months like this and I drove the car in the morning and 2-3 hrs later, nothing, no response. Thats when I found the 12V battery under the hood was at 10.2V and wouldn't hold a charge. I replaced the battery and still nothing. I purchased the OBD cord and downloaded the software. When I attach the connector I get the green led on the connector but when I try to turn the key on I get the following error..."Unable to connect to vehicle, please make sure the ignition key is ON and try again." Do you have any guidance at this point? I have purchased the Ford OEM assembly 9L8Z-3511-A in hopes that will have an affect on the OBD cables connectivity? As a side note, when I do try to start the car like I always have for the past 2 months, the odometer display screen shuts off when making the "engine run" connection.

Thanks,

Craig

 

Pretty common problem with Fords. It's well documented. While jiggling often works, deliberately driving the key farther into the lock works very well.

FordTechMakuloco has at least one video on it.

 

So do you think changing out the 3511 Ignition module will allow me to use the OBD scanner cable and software to investigate the codes? I still do not know what the code situation is that is not allowing the HV battery to start the engine. Have you seen that code displayed when plugging in the cable?

 

OK...so I found where I could remove the ignition switch connected to the wiring harness and crank the car to the on position with a screwdriver. After putting the switch in the "ON" position through the switch I still received the same message of "Unable to connect to car, make sure key is in the ON position and try again". What is the HS/MS Can and the ELM327 switch? Should I be able to use my OBD adapter cable right out of the box or do I have to add some type of switch to connect to the vehicle...Once again I have a 2010 Escape Hybrid. I have also check fuses in the ignition circuit and so far I haven't found anything.

Thanks!

Craig

 

What product did you buy?

What are you running Forscan on?

It's possible that your ignition switch malfunction is cause the CAN bus to be inoperative.

 

I listed above, that I bought the OEM Ford 9L8Z-3511-A Ignition Switch off of Amazon and I downloaded Forscan on my IBM Thinkpad Laptop with OBD Cable also from Amazon. That's what I thought and that's why I bought a new switch assembly to begin with but I have now bypassed the switch and manually operated the ignition switch by the connector with a screwdriver and it is still showing the same code. I'm concerned that replacing the switch assembly won't really do anything since I'm getting the same error code on Forscan with and without going through the key cylinder?

Thanks for you continued help, I really appreciate it.

Craig

 

Why don't you just install the new switch??

 

Above you report you have been unable to check codes

So far, I only see that you have properly identified two problems. A bad ignition switch and a bad 12V. One has been corrected. The other has not. The uncorrected error may be preventing codes from being displayed due to a disabled CAN bus from a malfunctioning switch.

I was asking which product did you buy in reference to the OBD Cable.

Is there a reason you haven't replaced the ignition switch? You KNOW it's bad.

Have you properly configured Forscan to the "OBD Cable"? If so, please include a snapshot of that screen.