Ford Pass 'Deep Sleep Mode' on Hybrid

[Dad]

I keep getting the message from Ford Pass that some remote features are being disabled due to a low battery. Odd thing is it happens about 10 minutes after driving the truck. I have a dash cam with parking mode set to turn off after an hour, but I'm a bit suspicious that might be the problem. I hard wired the accessory wire to the moon roof fuse and did the always on wire to the door lock fuse.

Any thoughts or similar experiences?

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[Dad]

I keep getting the message from Ford Pass that some remote features are being disabled due to a low battery. Odd thing is it happens about 10 minutes after driving the truck. I have a dash cam with parking mode set to turn off after an hour, but I'm a bit suspicious that might be the problem. I hard wired the accessory wire to the moon roof fuse and did the always on wire to the door lock fuse.

Any thoughts or similar experiences?

Update: Seems this is a common problem with other Ford vehicles according to the F-150 & Tremor forums. Yet to find a solution other than the obvious battery draining door open or light on.

 

[Dad]

Here's a clusterf*** of a story about the deep sleep mode I found on the F-150 Truck Club Forum. Hopefully, this doesn't happen to anyone else.

Purchased a new 2021 Ford F-150 about a month and half ago. Left town for a week with truck locked and parked in garage. When I returned, I could not unlock the truck with the key fob or the Ford Pass app. The app displayed the message, "Your Vehicle is in Deep Sleep mode and connectivity is temporarily unavailable. Manually turn on your vehicle to deactivate this mode." To make matters worse, the physical key in the fob will not unlock the door. I guess the salesman should have tested it before he let me drive off the lot. Ford owner's manual (online) has no reference to "Deep Sleep mode". This forum thread has been very helpful. Roadside assistance showed up and tried to unlock the truck with a soft slim jim (pump and rod) with no luck. She tried to engage the door lock (doh!), but I told her the battery is likely dead. Only option now, according to the dealership, is to have it towed to the dealership and have them figure it out. Should I ask them to do the update and replace the battery? I'm open to any other suggestions. This is so frustrating to have this happen to a brand new vehicle.

UPDATE 03/22/2021 - No one at the dealership had any clue what Deep Sleep mode was and suggested that I call Roadside Assistance to have them come and unlock the truck and jump start it. Well, I did exactly that. The first attempt was a fail. The gal could not open the door. The dealership then suggested calling Roadside Assistance again to have the bring out a flatbed and tow it to the dealership. So that's what I did. When the drive showed up, he popped open the door in about 5 minutes and then tried to jump start the truck. It was a fail. The battery was completely drained and his jump box was not working. The only alternative was to drag it out of my garage on skids (since we couldn't get it out of park), load it up and two it to the dealer.

When I arrived at the dealership, again they said they hadn't heard of Deep Sleep mode before. Since the keys didn't work, the dealer had to request the key code from Ford, which required a copy of my drivers license and registration to verify my identity. After getting the key codes, the dealer had two new keys made, neither of which worked. I forgot that the dealer also gave us two standard keys (that don't go in the key fobs) which ended up working. So they thought they could cut new keys from these; however, upon further inspection, these were identical to all the other keys, including the new keys they had cut. The mystery continues.

Finally, the tech decided to tear down the lock and file down/smooth out the tublers which ultimately worked. Now I have a total of 6 keys - 4 key fob keys and 2 standard keys (BTW-Although the dealer told me all keys are working, one of the original key fob keys still does not fit completely in the door lock or unlock the door - FAIL!!). In the end, they replaced my battery and reprogrammed the computer to prevent future battery drains (we'll see about that). What a nightmare.

Although the service tech told me he had never heard of Deep Sleep mode when the truck arrived on a flatbed, he later said, "I've never heard of this happening and yours is the third 2021 F-150 has gone into deep sleep mode this year." So has he never heard of it at all, or did he just remember that 2 other F-150's had the same problem and he just remembered. They were quick to replace the battery and reprogram the computer as soon as I brought it in and showed them the article from the Detroit Free Press referenced in this thread. BTW-Thanks for posting the link to the article, it was a lifesaver. Any way, here's to hoping this won't ever happen again as long as I own this truck. Good luck to everyone else.

 

[Firedon]

I had this happen Twice. I had left the bed light on and it sent me that error on fordpass and turned the light off automatically. The second time was when I accidentally left my headlight on for a few hours. Got the same message but did not automatically turn it off. Hasn't happened since.

 

[Snax]

I received this message in ForPass once, but nothing seemed to come of it. The truck started and ran just fine. I don't recall having left the lights on or anything, but I also can't be certain that I didn't.

 

[Veer]

I got this message, exactly when I tried locking the truck with remote. The truck was sitting in the driveway for few hours before it was last moved. I just wanted to be sure it was locked before I left home in different car. Exactly after pressing the lock, I got the message on the app. I went to the truck to start it, being hybrid, it said ready. The engine didn't kick on, there was no message on the dash about low battery or anything. 1st time got this message at 1700 mi. I wonder if the battery is not holding voltage, nothing was left ON, all doors were fully closed. I don't have anything else connected in the bed or in the car, i.e. bed light or camera..

 

[clavicus]

My truck is regularly in deep sleep mode because I have a 3-hour parking mode set up with my front+rear hardwired dashcam. Never have had an issue with battery actually draining, though.

These hardwire dashcam kits usually come with a step-down converter (12v DC to 5v DC) that contains some circuitry to shut off if it detects a voltage below a specific value, or it has a toggle switch with a few minimal voltage options. Mine has options for 12.4, 12.2, 12.0, 11.8 Volts I think, and I believe I have mine set on 12.0 volts, because my parking mode recording was only making it through about 30 minutes before the low voltage detection turned off the cameras when set for 12.2 or 12.4v.

I believe the regular voltage on my Maverick Hybrid when turned off with no extraneous devices is ~12.4v.

What's weird is that some days, it doesn't go into deep sleep mode. I'm convinced the Maverick has both a relatively conservative point at which is goes into deep sleep mode, and an inexplicable randomness to how it decides to "top off" the 12v battery or not when you have the vehicle running. But I can't pretend to actually understand a lot about these systems in detail, I just looked at some YouTube videos and plugged some stuff together.

 

[Dad]

I got this message, exactly when I tried locking the truck with remote. The truck was sitting in the driveway for few hours before it was last moved. I just wanted to be sure it was locked before I left home in different car. Exactly after pressing the lock, I got the message on the app. I went to the truck to start it, being hybrid, it said ready. The engine didn't kick on, there was no message on the dash about low battery or anything. 1st time got this message at 1700 mi. I wonder if the battery is not holding voltage, nothing was left ON, all doors were fully closed. I don't have anything else connected in the bed or in the car, i.e. bed light or camera..

My thinking is there's something wrong with the app. I get the disabled message all the time and since every aspect of the vehicle operates fine, I just ignore it.

 

[Nighowl2000]

Had that issue in the winter till I connected a solar charger:

Solar Battery Maintainer, 9W 12V Solar Trickle Charger for Car Battery, Portable and Waterproof Solar Battery Charger Car, High Efficiency Solar Panel Car Battery Charger for RV Motorcycle Boat Marine Trailer Tractor Snowmobile www.amazon.ca/dp/B09P4QBQDN/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_55NRPPCB5SDNFYQP9BDP?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Note:. You have to wire it directly to your battery.

 

[Hdang1980]

This happened to me once after I tapped LED strip lights into the existing bedlight. I chalked it up to me constantly going out and admiring my work by opening the door or manually turning on the light switch. I haven't done it as often ever since.

 

[Random]

This is happening to me constantly now and I have a fully charged battery.

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