Does the Ford pass app give false alerts?

[OneAlienBoi]

So I spoke about this a few weeks ago. I was out of town for about a week, and received a battery saver alert on my phone. My truck started right up, but the interior light didn't come on or the gauges when I first got in.

The truck needs an oil change anyways, so I took it to my dealership, and mentioned the battery saver thing. They checked the battery and said it was fine, and that the battery saver notifications were an issue with the app/truck software rather than the battery itself.

Some days, I drove the truck for 5 minutes, and received no alerts. Other times, I'm driving all over and get a battery saver message 20 minutes after coming home. So it seems very inconsistent. Is this an issue with the truck, or is the app just being kinda glitchy saying there's an issue when there isn't?

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[Eggflipper]

Seeing as how everything goes through the computer, I would chalk it up to being glitchy. Just like the flashing red dashboard warning me of collision assist without any one in front of me. Yeah, it scared the crap out of me.

 

[HeyBales]

If you realize the battery saver is used to confirm you'll have enough battery (it's hoped) to start the truck and stop draining it so fast, then you should be able to figure out when it seems legit or not.

Of course understand - it doesn't know how long you'll be gone or not driving the truck to recharge the battery, right?
If gone 6 months it kicking in battery saver after 3-4 days is unlikely to help.

Out of town for a week - seems legit.
Driving around a fair amount and come home - doesn't seem legit. (unless you have a bad battery and it couldn't charge it that whole drive time, causing the voltage to be too low almost immediately).

Receiving the message depends on the truck getting connected to the ATT network to get it out to Ford servers, which then get it to your app for alert.

So you could take a bit to get into ATT network area, old message finally goes up and out to app.

Or Ford servers having hiccup, or your account specifically - and what was sent earlier got delayed.

 

[Ozarkbeard]

So I spoke about this a few weeks ago. I was out of town for about a week, and received a battery saver alert on my phone. My truck started right up, but the interior light didn't come on or the gauges when I first got in.

The truck needs an oil change anyways, so I took it to my dealership, and mentioned the battery saver thing. They checked the battery and said it was fine, and that the battery saver notifications were an issue with the app/truck software rather than the battery itself.

Some days, I drove the truck for 5 minutes, and received no alerts. Other times, I'm driving all over and get a battery saver message 20 minutes after coming home. So it seems very inconsistent. Is this an issue with the truck, or is the app just being kinda glitchy saying there's an issue when there isn't?

Some of the OEM batteries are shit. That, plus all the drains on the battery, and the buggy 12v charging software in these trucks, your battery is not being charged as fully as it should be. This is probably causing the battery to sulfate and die an untimely death.

Allowing a 12v FLA battery to remain at less than ideal charge will shorten its life considerably.

There is a software fix coming for the Hybrid's 12v battery charging issues, 1Q, 2025. In the mean time, I would put the truck on a battery maintainer periodically, especially if you're getting battery saver notices or having non-functioning dome lights or other issues. That, or wait for the battery to die at a very inconvenient time, then have the truck towed to Ford for warranty battery replacement.

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