2011 Focus Wrench Light
 

While driving down a local road yesterday the car went into what I've been told is "limp home mode" and the wrench light came on. There was barely any power and the car was idling really rough when at a stop. I pulled over and shut down the car. When I started it back up again the car was running fine and the light was off.

I brought the car into Advance Auto and Meineke this morning and neither shop could pull a code from the computer. Advance Auto said they can only get codes when the light is on. Meineke said they might have better luck when the light is on.

Does an error code get stored in memory? Would a Ford Dealership be able to get it out? I've called two different dealerships. One said they might be able to get the code, but it would cost 100 dollars if it wasn't covered by the powertrain warranty. The other dealer said they could only get a code if the light was on.

My understanding that even sporadic codes get stored into memory, even if the light is off, until manually cleared. The code/fault might be something outside the OBDII standard, and thus not show up on a generic scanner, but I suspect something bad enough to trigger a limp home mode would not be some minor, esoteric fault but some more major system fault.

Moving to 'Ford Discussions' section . . .

Hi Steven,

I highly recommend going to the dealership for this concern. Your service manager is in the best position to assist.

I can also lend a hand by forwarding the information up to your regional customer service manager. For me to do this, please send a PM with your full name, best daytime phone number, approximate mileage, dealer name/state, and VIN.

Keep me in the loop and let me know what you decide to do.
Andrea