Neutral tow mode - HELP!

[bobhardy3]

Thank you for the help!

Sponsored

 

[realshelby]

Definitely not alone. I PM’d the Ford Account that asked you to PM them. They are opening up a case surrounding this issue. You should PM them. All you have to do is go to the main page and start a new post and then you select the “to” and you can change it to select someone on the board. Just search for that Ford user and give him the VIN, name, phone number, etc. Tell him that you are having the same problem as I am. I’ll give you my name and contact info and we can start this process at the same time to see what resolution we each get.

To "PM" the Ford account ( or any other person ) simply hover your pointer over the avatar of the person you want to pm. That brings up a pop up screen. Then click on the "start conversation" button.

 

[bobhardy3]

Update: Bit in the A$$ again. Truck came out of neutral tow mode with dash indicator showing "N" and selector in Park. The truck drives but will not go into "neutral tow" as it thinks itvis already in neutral tow. The last fix lasted two tow legs on my trip. I luckily found a dealer an hour away who took pitty on me. I just need the IPC configured. I'll start calling ahead to dealers every other stop I have planned.

I now warn everyone that wants this truck for flat towing to seriously reconsider their selection. We still have 2,000 miles left on our trip. Oof!

 

[bobhardy3]

Sounds like they're saying the instrument cluster glitched - it didn't realize you'd already turned off neutral tow mode, so of course it wouldn't give you the option to turn it back on.

Did they just reset the IPC or did they update the firmware on the IPC to see if that helps?

They reset the IPC. I'm at another dealer in New Hampshire with the same issue again.

 

[bobhardy3]

OP, perhaps the 'computer confusion' is a low +12V battery. When you open the doors do the interior overhead lights come on?

Doesn't flat tow mode require starting the truck periodically to recharge the battery? Did you do that?

Perhaps put it on a charger tonight or attach a jump box to the pins under the hood in the AM and see if that helps.

good luck!

Edit, I hate to see someone stuck when traveling. Here's a link to the (2022) Owner's Manual, Flat towing begins on page 287 in the event you missed something. It appears to be the same info from the 2023 manual, just different page numbers.

https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/f...n-us_07_2021-pdf.2847/?force-system-browser=1

I hope it helps

.

 

[bobhardy3]

Update: Bit in the A$$ again. Truck came out of neutral tow mode with dash indicator showing "N" and selector in Park. The truck drives but will not go into "neutral tow" as it thinks itvis already in neutral tow. The last fix lasted two tow legs on my trip. I luckily found a dealer an hour away who took pitty on me. I just need the IPC configured. I'll start calling ahead to dealers every other stop I have planned.

I now warn everyone that wants this truck for flat towing to seriously reconsider their selection. We still have 2,000 miles left on our trip. Oof!

I followed the procedure exactly. The battery has been working well after the third replacement. I'm now at a dealer for round 2 of this issue.

 

[bobhardy3]

@bobhardy3 - I just got back from a trip from Virginia to Texas and back to Virginia. We were planning on flat towing our 2023 Maverick XLT and were able to tow many miles successfully, but ended up spending time at several Ford dealerships along the way. I had the same issue as you and followed the directions to a tee.

I could invoke “Neutral Tow” mode and tow successfully all day. However, when it came time to take the Maverick out of “Neutral Tow” mode, it was always a crap shoot. We never knew if we would be towing the Maverick the next day or looking for a Ford dealership to try to get them to “reset” it!

Two dealerships had mercy on us and were able to resolve the issue by resetting a module like they did for you. Several other dealerships either refused to give us service because they were too busy or the technician did not understand how to resolve the issue and told us that they had “cleared the error codes” but did not resolve the issue and we had to drive instead of tow the Maverick. Many wasted hours sitting in dealerships and waiting for resolution so we could continue on our journey.

Mixed results. Disappointing! Now we are home and I have an appointment with my primary dealership to have them look at it. I bought the truck to be able to tow it and if they can’t fix it so this does not happen again - I will have to move on to a more reliable tow vehicle (maybe a Jeep?).

The trouble is that I love the Maverick and don’t want to move on to a different vehicle. But if push comes to shove - I will move on.

Well, as fate has it, I am at my 2nd dealer on my trip with the same issue. They took pitty on me.

 

[Johnkn]

I would suggest checking the +12v voltage on the pins under the hood yourself with a quality meter. Otherwise you just don't know what the voltage or battery state actually is.

This is a reason I replaced the battery in my 2022 Maverick with a Diehard myself..... To take Motorcraft batteries out of the failure equation.

good luck...

.

 

[kylec]

@bobhardy3 - I was given a Trouble Ticket from Ford and am scheduled for my home dealership to work on this issue tomorrow. I will be insisting that the underlying issue get resolved instead of just resetting the computer. I’ve found that the issue doesn’t keep us from driving the Maverick, however, you won’t be able to tow the Maverick once it occurs because the computer won’t allow it.

@Johnkn - I do not believe that the battery is the problem as I get no other indication of what is wrong other then being unable to successfully remove the Maverick from Neutral Tow Mode in the computer while the rest of the system performs flawlessly.

 

[bobhardy3]

I would suggest checking the +12v voltage on the pins under the hood yourself with a quality meter. Otherwise you just don't know what the voltage or battery state actually is.

This is a reason I replaced the battery in my 2022 Maverick with a Diehard myself..... To take Motorcraft batteries out of the failure equation.

good luck...

.

I'll check. Dealer just reset IPC and updated the computer.

I would suggest checking the +12v voltage on the pins under the hood yourself with a quality meter. Otherwise you just don't know what the voltage or battery state actually is.

This is a reason I replaced the battery in my 2022 Maverick with a Diehard myself..... To take Motorcraft batteries out of the failure equation.

good luck...

.

I contacted Ford CS and started a ticket on my issue. Thankfully Irwin Ford worked me in. The service manager owns a Maverick.

 

[Johnkn]

@bobhardy3 - I was given a Trouble Ticket from Ford and am scheduled for my home dealership to work on this issue tomorrow. I will be insisting that the underlying issue get resolved instead of just resetting the computer. I’ve found that the issue doesn’t keep us from driving the Maverick, however, you won’t be able to tow the Maverick once it occurs because the computer won’t allow it.

@Johnkn - I do not believe that the battery is the problem as I get no other indication of what is wrong other then being unable to successfully remove the Maverick from Neutral Tow Mode in the computer while the rest of the system performs flawlessly.

My comment was directed to the OP.... The actual 12V battery voltage is an unknown until it's checked. The OP stated his truck was on battery #3, so something is wrong..... It may or maynot be the OP's issue, but I installed a Diehard battery to 1) get Motorcraft batteries out of my Deep Sleep equation, and b) know that the dealer didn't install some old battery, or one that came out of another failed Maverick, or one with the same date code..

good luck



..

 

[bobhardy3]

Round 3 and I am up near Bangor Maine. I found a smaller dealer to work me in next Tuesday. Since I am here for 5 days, I decided to try disconnect my battery for 10-15 minutes. That reset my IPC back to normal operations! Thank you for the tip from another poster!

 

[DogsLoveTrucks]

Round 3 and I am up near Bangor Maine. I found a smaller dealer to work me in next Tuesday. Since I am here for 5 days, I decided to try disconnect my battery for 10-15 minutes. That reset my IPC back to normal operations! Thank you for the tip from another poster!

Welp this has just happened to me on my third time out flat towing the Maverick. Found this thread and am somewhat relieved as my wife can drive the Maverick as I drive the MH. Not ideal though.

So you just disconnected the positive and negative terminals for 15 minutes, reconnected them, turned on the truck and you neutral tow was disabled?

 

[kylec]

So mine is in the shop with my local dealer. I told them I did not want the truck back until they can find a permanent fix for this problem. I love my Maverick but I too bought it for flat towing behind my RV. They have brought in a Ford Corporate Engineer and haven’t found the root cause yet. I’ll keep you guys posted.

 

[bobhardy3]

Welp this has just happened to me on my third time out flat towing the Maverick. Found this thread and am somewhat relieved as my wife can drive the Maverick as I drive the MH. Not ideal though.

So you just disconnected the positive and negative terminals for 15 minutes, reconnected them, turned on the truck and you neutral tow was disabled?

I disconnected the positive connection for 10-15 minutes. Reattached and viola - fixed! It really is nuts! I had tried this earlier with the nrgative terminal for a minute and it didn't work. The positive removal for 10-15 minutes worked!

As I am half through our 2 month trip, I wasn't looking forward to finding a dealer at every other stop. I get one full tow day and the second tow - it fails coming out of tow mode. Best of luck

Sponsored