Battery Issue or Hidden Setting?

[MaverickInMass]

Hi all. Picked up my Lariat Tremor about 10 days ago! So far it’s a great ride. I have been away for a week, so it’s been seven days since I started it. (Has 100 total miles in the three days I drove it before parking). Just noticed today when I open the doors, the dome light is no longer coming on, and the driving lights nor bed lights are illuminating when I hit the unlock button or open the door as they had been my first few days with the truck. I haven’t tried starting it yet, as it’s been a little rainy today so don’t plan to go for a drive until tomorrow. Just curious if there is some kind of hidden feature I don’t know about that would make this happen after sitting for a week? Being a Tremor, it’s obviously an Ecoboost and not a hybrid. The FordPass app is not showing any Alerts or Notifications. Hoping this is common and not an issue, but curious if anyone has had a similar thing happen? Thanks!

Sponsored

 

[jsus]

There's a 3-way switch up by the map lights. Push one way and the interior lights won't come on when the doors open, the ignition is switched off, etc. In the middle, they'll come on automatically. Push the other way, they'll stay on. That's the first thing to check, especially if you're not getting any Deep Sleep alerts from FordPass.

 

[Dad]

At least two or three threads here addressing this very issue. Briefly, there is no 'setting'. This is the result of the battery management system trying to protect your 12v battery. so that you have enough power to start up. You'll probably notice that while the lights may be off when first entering the vehicle, they do come on when you turn off the vehicle. Ford is aware of the issue and we are awaiting some kind of fix, because, yeah, it is annoying.

 

[MaverickInMass]

There's a 3-way switch up by the map lights. Push it to the left and the interior lights won't come on when the doors open, the ignition is switched off, etc. In the middle, they'll come on automatically. To the right, they'll stay on. That's the first thing to check, especially if you're not getting any Deep Sleep alerts from FordPass.

Was hoping this was the culprit this morning, but everything was switched properly. All lights came on as expected manually, but no reaction to opening the door or clicking the fob. Frustrating.

 

[bgn]

I'd continue monitoring as you keep driving. Could be a bad battery like a number of us have seen.

 

[MaverickInMass]

At least two or three threads here addressing this very issue. Briefly, there is no 'setting'. This is the result of the battery management system trying to protect your 12v battery. so that you have enough power to start up. You'll probably notice that while the lights may be off when first entering the vehicle, they do come on when you turn off the vehicle. Ford is aware of the issue and we are awaiting some kind of fix, because, yeah, it is annoying.

Thanks for the reply. Very annoying. I would expect a one week old vehicle not to start shutting down features after only sitting for seven days. My ‘05 F-150 can sit for weeks on end and never an issue, never a power saving. Hopefully a fix will be forthcoming because this is definitely pretty lame.

 

[DannyP]

I had similar issues with mine. After about a week of this I disconnected the positive battery terminal, waited 5 minutes, reconnected it and have had no problems since.

 

[MaverickInMass]

I had similar issues with mine. After about a week of this I disconnected the positive battery terminal, waited 5 minutes, reconnected it and have had no problems since.

Interesting. If driving it around the next few days doesn’t bring everything back to normal I’ll definitely give that a try. Last thing I want to do is head back to the dealership for a battery runaround. 🫣

 

[Gullzway]

There's a 3-way switch up by the map lights. Push it to the left and the interior lights won't come on when the doors open, the ignition is switched off, etc. In the middle, they'll come on automatically. To the right, they'll stay on. That's the first thing to check, especially if you're not getting any Deep Sleep alerts from FordPass.

That's backwards, at least in mine. I leave it to the right so they stay off.

 

[jsus]

That's backwards, at least in mine. I leave it to the right so they stay off.

It probably is. Was too cold to run out and double check.

Either way, follow the icons on the switch, of course.

 

[Dad]

Thanks for the reply. Very annoying. I would expect a one week old vehicle not to start shutting down features after only sitting for seven days. My ‘05 F-150 can sit for weeks on end and never an issue, never a power saving. Hopefully a fix will be forthcoming because this is definitely pretty lame.

Yep. You're pretty much echoing the thoughts of most Maverick owners regarding the battery situation. Mine will go into "Deep Sleep" mode even after several hours, so there's that. You can hook her up to a battery maintainer when you expect some down time.

 

[colinl]

There really are two very different issues between a hybrid having a weak 12V battery and an ecoboost with the issue. Autostop is intrinsic to the hybrid operation so you can't do much other than manually charge the battery - taking care to use a smart charger that will not overcharge the battery, like the aforementioned battery tender. Or, of course, have your Ford dealer correct whatever issue is causing a drain or charging deficiency.

I'm not definitely not saying hybrid owners get out of this thread - all discussion is important - but what hybrid owners have experienced is not necessarily relevant to the OP since he doesn't have a hybrid.

In the ecoboost, driving sufficiently should do it. If you do a lot of short stop-and-go trips the autostop system is supposed to keep the engine running if the battery monitoring systems thinks the battery voltage is too low and the engine should keep running to charge it. To ensure this happens, you can just push the button and disable autostop for that trip or several trips if they're all really short.

There are several ways to reset the battery monitoring system but this reply is getting long enough. If none of that works, it's definitely time for a visit to your Ford dealer. Or start there if you are not sure about any of this and you think they'll spend the time to properly diagnose it. (Nothing worse than taking a vehicle in and getting the dreaded 'no problem found'.)

 

[PanchoBarrancas]

I'd continue monitoring as you keep driving. Could be a bad battery like a number of us have seen.

Is this a link? My less than 2 year old ecoboost mav refuses to turn on and I was trying to see the thread you mention in case it is a broken link lol.

 

[bgn]

Is this a link? My less than 2 year old ecoboost mav refuses to turn on and I was trying to see the thread you mention in case it is a broken link lol.

It's not. Not sure why it turned out that way.

 

[Darnon]

Autostop is intrinsic to the hybrid operation so you can't do much other than manually charge the battery - taking care to use a smart charger that will not overcharge the battery, like the aforementioned battery tender.

The hybrid doesn't have an alternator, it's done by stepping down HV DC to 12V. It doesn't need to have the engine running to charge the 12v battery.

Sponsored