FordPass message: "Drive your vehicle to reconnect FordPass and exit battery saver mode"

[Lake Surfer Girl]

I am getting "Drive your vehicle to reconnect FordPass and exit battery saver mode", in my FordPass every couple of days. My son has it at college and we got this message on Tuesday, he checked out the car it started without a problem, and the electronics worked. But he took it for a ride yesterday, the message went away...as soon as he parked it and was back at his dorm, the message popped up again. Anyone else having this problem and what could be causing it??

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[commadorebob]

Is he driving it enough and has it been cold?

 

[TarpDogg]

@Lake Surfer Girl Just means that the 12V battery is getting low. This happens to me a lot when the truck sits for a few days or if it's especially cold outside and I've only done short drives. It's a protection system that turns off items that aren't "essential" like FordPass features. The goal is to save enough charge to start the engine when you get in to drive it next. If he's at college, it's likely sitting more than it's being driven.

 

[Ozarkbeard]

Put the truck on a trickle charger overnight and see if the message eventually goes away..

 

[Lake Surfer Girl]

It has been cold, we are in Michigan. He drives it every 2-3 days, but last night he took it to run errands, and when he parked it and got back to the dorm the same message popped up. I read a post from a MachE owner that said it might have to do with a signal to update the FordPass app...any ideas?

 

[TarpDogg]

It has been cold, we are in Michigan. He drives it every 2-3 days, but last night he took it to run errands, and when he parked it and got back to the dorm the same message popped up. I read a post from a MachE owner that said it might have to do with a signal to update the FordPass app...any ideas?

I drive 5 miles to work and back each day and I get the message often, especially when it's colder. If the engine isn't running much then the 12V isn't charging much. Short trips = less time charging up the 12v. I agree with the trickle charger if he has access to an outlet, just to see if that helps. He could also just take a longer drive, i.e. 30 minutes on the highway where the engine is on more than than EV mode (assuming it's a hybrid). The FordPass features are constantly using 12V power to send and receive information and read the status of your vehicle like tire pressure and 12v charge. It's not a ton, but when it's cold out and you aren't driving much, it can sap a lot of charge out of the tiny 12V battery they put in the hybrids.

 

[Matso]

Yep, many threads on this. I'm on my third battery for instance. I'm told these are manufactured by Johnson Controls and their quality (or lack thereof) is questionable. It's not just from the factory, the local dealership regularly pulls bad batteries right off the shelf.
So here we are today with my 22 XLT Hybrid, I once again have the same message regarding battery saving mode and remote functions are unavailable. The voltage read at the battery is 11.77 V. That's a bad read for a 12 v battery. It should be in the neighborhood of 12.6. While it's enough to start the vehicle, there is a threshold at which point certain features will be disabled to preserve what's left.
So I start the vehicle and wait for the ICE to kick on and let it run for about 5 minutes. After I shut it down the voltage is at 12.35 v. Now the message is gone and Fordpass features are available. So I would have to say somewhere in that voltage range of 11.7 and 12.35 that threshold is reached and certain features are disabled. That's just basic deduction based on the empirical evidence but it's probably more complicated than that. So is the battery actually BAD? Or is it going BAD? Is something else drawing it down? I cannot really determine that so I'm going to have to get it tested at the dealership as I'm still under warranty. You are probably going to have to do the same thing because this issue is not just going to disappear.

 

[rknrbt]

I am getting "Drive your vehicle to reconnect FordPass and exit battery saver mode", in my FordPass every couple of days. My son has it at college and we got this message on Tuesday, he checked out the car it started without a problem, and the electronics worked. But he took it for a ride yesterday, the message went away...as soon as he parked it and was back at his dorm, the message popped up again. Anyone else having this problem and what could be causing it??

Welcome to club!

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