The dreaded turtle icon!

[KennyCaphill]

Got the dreaded trio of icons tonight in the office parking garage. Called roadside assistance and they pretty much couldn't get a tow truck to me as I'm 5 stories underground in a parking garage with tight turns so I said "F this!" and drove the car home, 15 miles away.

Called my dealer and they'll try to arrange something but does anyone know how long I can keep driving it this way because I might have to wait until my dealer has a loaner.

Also, would disconnecting the 12 volt battery and reconnecting help?

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[bshaw]

How fast were you able to go with the Turtle icon on the display?

 

[KennyCaphill]

I had it up to freeway speeds with no problem, though I did put it in whisper mode out of some attempt to make things easier on the car.

 

[Mopey]

...
Called my dealer and they'll try to arrange something but does anyone know how long I can keep driving it this way because I might have to wait until my dealer has a loaner.
....

I had to wait months for an appointment, but was able to clear my turtle alert and restore full power when I accidently cleared the DTC code while using Forscan. The alert came back after a month or so. The second time I just left the alert and drove the car when needed (not often since there are others in the garage).

A couple of things to consider though:
1. If the alert doesn't return, your dealer may say they can't order the part because they can't confirm the problem.
2. While I had no problems, there are no guarantees you won't get stuck somewhere.

 

[ChasingCoral]

I had it up to freeway speeds with no problem, though I did put it in whisper mode out of some attempt to make things easier on the car.

That doesn't sound like Turtle mode to me!

See if there are issues after it sleeps for the night.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

That doesn't sound like Turtle mode to me!

See if there are issues after it sleeps for the night.

He has a yellow turtle. Red turtle is bad. Yellow is half bad. Slow acceleration, not slow speed. Speaking from only experiencing yellow due to cold weather.

 

[HuntingPudel]

Stop Safely Now and still driveable would indicate something other than the HVBJB. Can you pull codes? As @ChasingCoral said, let the car sleep and see if it doesn’t reset on its own. It may just be memory garbage. If it does not go away, you definitely need to get the codes pulled so that whatever it is can be diagnosed and fixed.

 

[Ev Blau]

OMG, an actual turtle icon! And yellow or red! This is probably a really stupid question but where are the explanations for all these icons? I haven’t memorized the owners manual..

 

[GreaseMonkey]

OMG, an actual turtle icon! And yellow or red! This is probably a really stupid question but where are the explanations for all these icons? I haven’t memorized the owners manual..

Come on, Ev! It’s only 2,000 pages long

 

[Mach-Lee]

OMG, an actual turtle icon! And yellow or red! This is probably a really stupid question but where are the explanations for all these icons? I haven’t memorized the owners manual..

Yellow turtle = moderate power limit (~30%)
Red turtle = severe power limit (~15%)

If you get red turtle you won’t be able to maintain freeway speed or go up hills without slowing down.

I agree this sounds like a battery issue rather than the HVBJB.

 

[rhfritz]

Come on, Ev! It’s only 2,000 pages long

That's the whole point. The clever thing for Ford to have done would've been to automatically generate and display an index page on the center display allowing you to navigate to an explanation of each indicator. Searching the Manual is of limited use if you don't exactly know the keywords to use, although in this case, I expect "Turtle" would've worked.

 

[KennyCaphill]

Stop Safely Now and still driveable would indicate something other than the HVBJB. Can you pull codes? As @ChasingCoral said, let the car sleep and see if it doesn’t reset on its own. It may just be memory garbage. If it does not go away, you definitely need to get the codes pulled so that whatever it is can be diagnosed and fixed.

well I plugged it in overnight, it had a charge fault about two hours into charging but unplugging and plugging it back in solved that. Charged to 90% and this morning, not an issue at all.

Not exactly inspiring confidence but it drove.

 

[HuntingPudel]

well I plugged it in overnight, it had a charge fault about two hours into charging but unplugging and plugging it back in solved that. Charged to 90% and this morning, not an issue at all.

Not exactly inspiring confidence but it drove.

I would suggest getting an OBD-II code reader so that you can pull codes yourself, should you have another issue. Many here can help you decipher the codes.

 

[TuxToaster]

OMG, an actual turtle icon! And yellow or red! This is probably a really stupid question but where are the explanations for all these icons? I haven’t memorized the owners manual..

What makes this a bit more confusing than a typical car is the fact that, even if you do memorize the owners manual, updates can bring new icons and messages that aren't mentioned in the manual.

So, even if you have a 2021 or 2022 model, it's not a bad idea to look at a 2023 or 2024 manual online to see what the indicators are, as some of them (such as the turtle icon) were introduced in a software update and don't appear in the older manuals at all.

There are two places such symbols are referenced. The first is the Symbols glossary, which is around page 19 or 20 in all of the manuals. This gives a really quick reference of all of the warning icons that you might see anywhere on the car or in the manual... though unfortunately none of the manuals (including the 2024) include the turtle icon there.

The second, and more helpful place, is the Instrument Cluster section, and ranges from pages 105-108 in the 2021 manual to pages 129-132 in the 2024 version. This section includes either a description of what the indicator is trying to tell you, or at least a page reference that provides more detail. As for the turtle icon, apparently the official meaning is:

Limited Performance
Iluminates if your vehicle has limited performance due to a cold or hot battery. Drive with caution. Keep your vehicle connected to a charging system when not in use to maintain battery temperature.

I've included the pages from the 2024 manual below since that's likely to be the most recent and helpful for anyone who stumbles on this thread later. Other than the mention of fog lamps, I think everything else is relevant to all models.

 

[Mach-Lee]

What makes this a bit more confusing than a typical car is the fact that, even if you do memorize the owners manual, updates can bring new icons and messages that aren't mentioned in the manual.

So, even if you have a 2021 or 2022 model, it's not a bad idea to look at a 2023 or 2024 manual online to see what the indicators are, as some of them (such as the turtle icon) were introduced in a software update and don't appear in the older manuals at all.

There are two places such symbols are referenced. The first is the Symbols glossary, which is around page 19 or 20 in all of the manuals. This gives a really quick reference of all of the warning icons that you might see anywhere on the car or in the manual... though unfortunately none of the manuals (including the 2024) include the turtle icon there.

The second, and more helpful place, is the Instrument Cluster section, and ranges from pages 105-108 in the 2021 manual to pages 129-132 in the 2024 version. This section includes either a description of what the indicator is trying to tell you, or at least a page reference that provides more detail. As for the turtle icon, apparently the official meaning is:

Limited Performance
Iluminates if your vehicle has limited performance due to a cold or hot battery. Drive with caution. Keep your vehicle connected to a charging system when not in use to maintain battery temperature.

I've included the pages from the 2024 manual below since that's likely to be the most recent and helpful for anyone who stumbles on this thread later. Other than the mention of fog lamps, I think everything else is relevant to all models.

Huh. You folks might want to leave some feedback the turtle icons aren't in the manual.

The turtle icon is actually standardized and used across all EVs. Here's it on a Lucid:

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