Dead Battery

KegsBdry · Apr 23, 2020

My ST would not start yesterday, just headlights flickered when hitting the remote start button. Headlights flickered and all kinds of electronic noises when trying to start the car from inside the vehicle. But no sound of the engine attempting to turning over. Eventually I locked the car and the ST logo projection failed to turn off after 20 mins straight. The battery finally died.

I put a trickle charger on the battery but found that didn't work today. Disconnected the NEG side and reconnected the trickle charger. I assume something is eating up all the power or the battery is bad (after 8200 miles).

What could be left on that could eat the battery overnight?

Adrenalinejunky · Apr 23, 2020

Happened to ours. Left car in garage over a long weekend and it was completely dead. Battery charger would not charge it...was red lighting. Had to use a boost pack to get it started. Dealer tested batt and charge system no faults found. The run down protection failed, and something was drawing all the way down to zero. Been a couple weeks now hasn't happened again. 1k miles. All the new gadgets can be problematic.

KegsBdry · Apr 23, 2020

Booster pack is a better idea than a trickle charger. Thanks for the good advice.

ExplorerST · Apr 23, 2020

Could also be a faulty battery from the factory as well. Our Odyssey's battery died after two weeks of ownership and the dealer replaced it for free.

KegsBdry · Apr 23, 2020

ExplorerST said:

The hard part is going to be getting this 4,853 lbs dead vehicle over to the service department! Would this be covered under warranty if I bought this vehicle used with 8,100 miles on it?

STFan · Apr 23, 2020

KegsBdry said:

Yes it should be covered under 3 year warranty. Ford Roadside Assistance will also tow your vehicle to the closest dealer while its under warranty.

1-800-241-3673
https://owner.ford.com/service/roadside-assistance.html

KegsBdry · Apr 24, 2020

STFan said:

Thanks for the number. I'll need that if it doesn't start when I'm not at home.

Update, got the battery charged up using the trickle charger over night. Took it to the dealership, needed the 2 recalls looked at anyways. Got battery replaced. Locking the FordPass app warns you a about a day ahead that it's going into low power mode. That's my warning to get over to the dealership before requiring another charge to the battery. Also, I found out my driver side heated seat doesn't work. They'll fix on next visit.

KegsBdry · May 3, 2020

Update: Even though a new battery was placed in a little over a week ago, I got a Battery System Fault pop up on my dashboard when driving back from a 300 mile drive. Luckily I came on too close to home, took it straight back to the dealers. Is anyone else having battery issues? My only guess is that it is a bad alternator.

LAX_24/7 · May 3, 2020

A bad alternator would essentially make your truck die as soon as the battery drained which would probably take less than 15min driving. So I highly doubt it's that.

My guess is something else is draining the battery when off. Def taking it to the dealership is #1. Hope they can fix your issue soon and such issue will be a on the back burner for you in no time... I hate to have that feeling everything I went out "Oh, is it going to start this time....?"

Cheers,

KegsBdry · May 4, 2020

LAX_24/7 said:

Thanks. That's good feedback. When the car was parked for a couple days, my FordPass gave me a notice the car was going into sleep mode. Something is definitely draining the battery.
I bought a Noco portable battery charger for the trunk cargo area. Since this has happened twice, I'd rather be prepared.

KegsBdry · May 4, 2020

Anyone run into a "Charge system service now" alert on the dashboard before?

KegsBdry · May 5, 2020

Dealership Service Department claims it the BCM that needed updating. It is something they read in their 'internal forum' for Explorers. They reset it and will get it back to me. Not a fan of them putting heavy mileage on my vehicle while it was in the shop. Their claim is they were trying to get the error message to show back up.

updated: BCM

hbalek · May 5, 2020

KegsBdry said:

Dealership Service Department claims it the DCM that needed updating. It is something they read in their 'internal forum' for Explorers. They reset it and will get it back to me. Not a fan of them putting heavy mileage on my vehicle while it was in the shop. Their claim is they were trying to get the error message to show back up.

Which dealership is it? I'm in your area!

KegsBdry · May 5, 2020

Dealership is in Waldorf, MD. JUUUST got back from picking up the ST from the dealership. They reset the BCM (fixing the battery drain issue - i hope), ordered parts for the driver side heated seats (in next week), and reset my driver side pin code (which I didn't know) = FOR FREE.

I'll let you know if this solves the issue(s).

SleeperST · May 5, 2020

KegsBdry said:

How you liking there service department? There parts department is on point.

KegsBdry · May 5, 2020

They did respond a lot better than the Ourisman Alexandria Virginia. At least they replied when I called or picked up the phone.

Mechanics seemed a little more knowledgeable in Waldorf MD. The mechanic in Alexandria, didn't even test the heated seat. He said he only calibrated it but didn't test it yet.

But called me to come pick the car up? Doesn't make sense. Their service manager called me a couple days later, I informed them that is not a way to do good business.

Waldorf Maryland Ford did a good job of not only taking my calls, but also when I sent them a bulletin that I found in an explorer forum about my issue, he immediately printed it out and gave it to his mechanic. When I called a couple hours later, he said his mechanic follow the instructions & fixing the issue. So at least they are not too proud to listen to outside advice.

I'll let you know in a few weeks if the battery still having issues.

I'm waiting on parts for the heated seat, but I can't expect them to have a 2020 part in stock.

I am looking for an ST wheel cap (red font with black background). For whatever reason, my car came with one Ford wheel cap and 3 ST wheel caps. Looking for a part number...

SleeperST · May 5, 2020

Something like this. The stock one for with the ford one emblem is 6M2Z-1003-C

66gt350ps · May 5, 2020

KegsBdry said:

Yes, it came up last week. Shut down the ST and tried a restart. Came up again and disappeared. I made it home (half hour drive) without problem. Shut down ST for hour. No more issues on restart.. I may have been using the auto shut off too much and not letting ST charge up enough while in traffic.

KegsBdry · May 6, 2020

66gt350ps said:

After sending this to mechanic @ Ford (Ford said the TSB isn't the right # but it is a known fix to that warning message), they said this should fix that issue:

TSB #48268 - 2020 Explorer/Police Interceptor Utility - Discharged Battery/No Crank - Built on or before 30-Aug-2019. The Bulletin states, "Some 2020 Explorer/Police Interceptor Utility vehicles equipped with SYNC built on or before 30-Aug-2019 may exhibit a discharge battery/no crank condition. This may be caused by the software in the accessory protocol interface module (APIM), body control module (BCM) and/or the telematics control unit (TCU) module. To correct the condition, reprogram the APIM, BCM, and the TCU using the latest software level of the appropriate Ford diagnostics scan tool. If the BCM software update is not available in the FDRS Toolbox, a software fix is being developed. As a temporary fix, uninstall and reinstall FDRS selecting 'remove all data'. If the battery drain concern is still present, follow normal diagnostics in Workshop Manual (WSM), Section 414-01 > General Procedures. Effective Date: 17-October-2019."

The mechanic said 2 of the 3 device softwares were already up-to-date. They updated the 3rd (BCM) needed updating. Haven't seen the error since but need to test this on a long trip again to be certain.

KegsBdry · May 6, 2020

SleeperST said:

That is EXACTLY what I'm looking to buy! Much appreciated!!!

I'm having trouble finding that part # in the picture. What is that # 6M2?-1003-AAal

Can't find that part on Ford's website.

UPDATE: Called local Ford dealership, he is tracking down that part # now.

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