How I “Fixed” Battery Drain

[okgaz]

I am new to this vehicle...600 miles on the Odometer. 25 Hybrid. I think I saw an AGM battery in my vehicle. ? Is this an attempt by Ford to fix this battery drain problem. I find it Odd that there isn't more outrage about this issue If I have to but the Truck on a trickle when I don't drive it every day. As far as disconnecting Connectivity items I am not sure how to do that easily and I again find it odd there isn't a fix that would allow you to use vehicle as it was built and intended. Inform me with short response that will relieve my stress over this.

Hap

Very easy. All through infotainment / radio interface. Just scroll through settings and turn off anything that communicates with outside world. WiFi, Bluetooth, OTA updates, etc. Takes five minutes. Lots of guides around - just do a search.

That said, some have said you shouldn’t have to do this. I agree. But I also don’t care about them enough / not willing to make a point over keeping my battery alive.

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[okgaz]

I understand you are having issues, and I sympathize, but having to trickle charge and turn off features to keep from having a dead battery is crazy! You should be able to leave your truck for a couple of weeks and not have to worry about keeping it charged. I haven't had any issues with my 2025 hybrid, but if I did, I would get to the bottom of it, or it would be gone. I would think lemon laws would make Ford eat it if they couldn't fix it. I don't have a garage and it rains 50+ inches a year, so constantly changing would never work.

It’s easy to Monday-AM quarterback people. Saying you would “get to the bottom of it” is fine but just assume we all have tried. The decision here given Ford’s lack of response is install an AGM and work around it (I believe turn off connectivity OR trickle charge) or turn the truck in. I like the rest of the truck enough (a lot) to choose the former. Lemon laws do not apply here / are hard to prove with one battery issue and that still results in getting rid of the truck.

And the point of my post is that I do not need to trickle now. I was being overly cautious. I will now slowly turn on connectivity and see if I can isolate the drain. So yeah - I am doing something about it.

 

[okgaz]

All this does is delay the inevitable. There are so many phantom drain issues, from the LTE modem calling home to Ford and the nearest dealership, along with poor charging software, and a small battery. Even with the app and updates disabled after 4 days even with regular driving (1 hour 5 days a week), I still get battery saver by day four after using a battery maintainer.

Some have said pulling the fuse for the LTE modem helps too. There is also a software update for the AC that supposedly doesn’t shut off sometimes that is supposed to help. I just manually turn off the HVAC system before shutting off the truck, seem to have the same effect and helps a little.

Did you install an AGM? The higher capacity seemed to “fix” the issue by being able to take the small drain I may still have left.

As many have argued, the truck should have come with an AGM - or they should have automatically given us an AGM replacement when these issues became prevalent.

 

[Matso]

The lemon law works just fine. Ford bought my '24 Lariat hybrid back after 6 weeks in the service bay. They and multiple FSE 's could not identify the source of the battery saver mode issue. Yes it was an inconvenience but I got everything back after 8,000 miles. Sometimes it's the only solution and certainly the only way Ford is going to get the message.

 

[okgaz]

The lemon law works just fine. Ford bought my '24 Lariat hybrid back after 6 weeks in the service bay. They and multiple FSE 's could not identify the source of the battery saver mode issue. Yes it was an inconvenience but I got everything back after 8,000 miles. Sometimes it's the only solution and certainly the only way Ford is going to get the message.

You got everything back and bought another one?

 

[Matso]

Yeah, my dealer found me a loaded '25 Lariat hybrid AWD w 4K tow. They discounted it $500 for my trouble and then found me a $1500 rebate no one knew existed. Interestingly enough there are certain perks that go with a buyback, that's one of them. The other is they offer a number of Ford ESP's at cost. I decided on a 6/60 for good piece of mind.

 

[Chops]

2024 XL Hybrid here!

I don’t have data that shows the issue I had, but many of you are all too familiar with the following evidence of a problem:

Within the first 10K miles:

• Dozens of battery-saver mode notifications. Almost always overnight / very early AM.
• Quite a few resulted in no noticeable issue or change.
• After two of them, woke up to a dead battery. Lucky my jumper pack got me going again.
• The dealer replaced my infotainment system - said this may be causing drain.
• After one of them / after infotainment replacement, my truck had a dead battery. Jumper did not start it and even after a trickle, I was in “limp mode”. Towed to dealer and the battery was apparently just fine and wouldn’t even replace it with another awful stock battery.
• After the last one, had another dead battery but jumper did start it back up.

FYI - I drive pretty much 50 / 50 town and highway. I know for a fact that before one of the dead batteries, I commuted to and from a destination about 1.5 hours away (3 hour round trip).

I took matters into my own hands at this point.

I have had no issues in the past 20K miles (just crossed 31K total) by doing the following:

• Turned off all connectivity. Updates, FordPass, WiFi, Bluetooth, etc. Anything that I could turn off - went off. I personally don’t miss any of it. All the application was doing for me was giving me battery-saver notifications! I would try this even if you like the features just to isolate the issue.
  
  
  I’ll likely still trickle, as I already have it set up in the garage now and it’s so easy to just plug in. But pretty confident now I don’t need to.

• 
  Soon after buying a new Toyota and letting the dealer connect the “Toyota Care” to my Corolla & IPhone - my IPhone battery would drain much quicker than normal.
  
  Took me only a few days to realize the phone battery was dying due to the incessant monitoring & messaging from Toyota. I turned everything off and my iPhone returned to normal.
  
  Did not let the dealer connect anything with my 25 Maverick. I go to the website or dealer if needed & use my FOB or door “bumps” lock/unlock. It’s a tough life I know - but it is my fate I’m afraid.

 

[boxster03]

I took my battery out after driving it each time and reinstalling it before each drive - sometimes 5-10x a day - never had a dead battery

 

[Chops]

I took my battery out after driving it each time and reinstalling it before each drive - sometimes 5-10x a day - never had a dead battery

At least you don’t need to go to the gym anymore!

 

[Traegorn]

I still have the stock battery in my 2023 Hybrid, and I get occasional deep sleep warnings in the winter -- but I also park outside and it's often in the deep negatives here overnight this time of year. I drive the truck every day though, so that probably helps. I don't think I've ever experienced the issues some of y'all have had though.

I think I turned off the truck wifi for updates, and that's it. Maybe I'm just lucky though.

 

[okgaz]

Yeah, my dealer found me a loaded '25 Lariat hybrid AWD w 4K tow. They discounted it $500 for my trouble and then found me a $1500 rebate no one knew existed. Interestingly enough there are certain perks that go with a buyback, that's one of them. The other is they offer a number of Ford ESP's at cost. I decided on a 6/60 for good piece of mind.

Not afraid it will happen again? I was under the impression it is a model / use issue. Not a truck-by-truck issue.

 

[ZABSMAV]

Not afraid it will happen again? I was under the impression it is a model / use issue. Not a truck-by-truck issue.

Owners of 2025 hybrid models are already starting to report deep sleep problems as well, so no, the problems causing it have not been fixed by Ford. Wish they would explain their reason for their sudden silence on the issue after the middle of last year.

 

[HeyBales]

I still have the stock battery in my 2023 Hybrid, and I get occasional deep sleep warnings in the winter -- but I also park outside and it's often in the deep negatives here overnight this time of year. I drive the truck every day though, so that probably helps. I don't think I've ever experienced the issues some of y'all have had though.

I think I turned off the truck wifi for updates, and that's it. Maybe I'm just lucky though.

Curious how long of a daily drive?
And you get the cabin up to human temp?

I noted a prior post said 3 hrs daily and still a problem - that's pretty sad.
But that may have been an already abused battery with little left to recharge.

 

[Traegorn]

Curious how long of a daily drive?
And you get the cabin up to human temp?

I noted a prior post said 3 hrs daily and still a problem - that's pretty sad.
But that may have been an already abused battery with little left to recharge.

I usually warm up the car with remote start from the keyfob for fifteen minutes (because there's usually ice to scrape off the windshield), and then the total driving is about a half an hour after?

 

[Gullzway]

The lemon law works just fine. Ford bought my '24 Lariat hybrid back after 6 weeks in the service bay. They and multiple FSE 's could not identify the source of the battery saver mode issue. Yes it was an inconvenience but I got everything back after 8,000 miles. Sometimes it's the only solution and certainly the only way Ford is going to get the message.

I hear you. But returning my truck, I'm sure it's well past that point anyway, and then spending 10K plus more than my 2022 $30k Lariat Lux Hybrid for a replacement or equivalent is also not something I'm interested in.

I can handle trickle charging it every few months.

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