Interior lights not coming on!

[Jah.]

Bad battery charging system .

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[gzebrick]

Our 25 Lariat Hybrid with the latest updates and AGM battery has had this happen twice. I think it was not driven for about 5 days. Not a deep sleep, and no alarm or errors... just no dome light when the door was opened.

I don't know if it is based on time between starts or actual battery voltage that triggers this mode. We live where there's no cell coverage, and even though we have the Wi-Fi setup in the truck configured so it connects to our home LAN, I bet the integrated cellular radio is still trying to ping any cell tower 24/7 (and failing to connect). That may be contributing to a lower battery voltage.

We've since added a cheap 12v wall wart trickle charger and a quick connect snaking out from under the hood so now the battery stays top'd off. We drive it a few times a week it seems, so I don't know if it will come back or not even with the trickle charger on it.

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[Arby47]

The dealer said they fixed the door sensor problem, but thought it was temporary, and it was. Yesterday, I pulled the negative terminal off the battery for a while and now everything works as it should. So it looks like that might have to be done occasionally. I guess I could live with that, but it is not right. Bed lights were affected too, but now work fine. The battery- Good idea, I will ask the dealer about the new battery they installed at one point and see if I can get that replaced under the battery warranty with an AGM. It is a BXT-99RT4-A Motorcraft OEM standard flooded 12-volt car battery. I am out of the new truck warranty, let it run out thinking I was going to get a new hybrid AWD, but that deal fell through. It is driven over an hour usually and sometimes a lot longer, but it makes no difference. But a lot of times, it is a short trip to my workshop (6 miles round trip). Then the next day it is 40+ miles on a mix of roads. I have an overall MPG of 45 since new, if that is accurate. Regularly get 50+ MPG around town. Thanks Mike and Guy

 

[Arby47]

Update on the battery reset, only lasted one day. Appointment next week for Ford to figure this thing out. Put a battery charger on the battery, but it only charged for 4 minutes then stopped, saying fully charged. So the battery has to be at 100%, no less than that, for me to have lights and door locks that work properly.

 

[gzebrick]

Near as I can tell, Ford has some kind of timer going based on the last time the car was started, or maybe just the last time a door was opened.

I have my 25 Lariat with the latest updates and the AGM battery on a trickle charger that shows it's topped off, but after a few days in the garage, the lights still don't come on when the door is opened. I've not got the timing exact but I think it's between 3-5 days where we don't touch the truck. Hit the start button and it all pops right up.

There's no alarm, no deep sleep. It's just annoying. Ford needs to fix this.

 

[Arby47]

That is not encouraging.... thanks for the heads up, I will share that with the dealer. You have a newer year and still have the problem, that is crazy. at least you get more time between it not caring if you can see in the dark. If I got 3 days, then it would not happen very often at all for me.

 

[HeyBales]

Lights getting shorter and shorter is part of the Battery Saver features - it's based on voltage.
Starts at 12.1 and worse it is, less time lights are on.

Off immediately - probably around 11.8 or below.
Purpose is so the truck will start without issue - so that's working.
Could also have a bad battery - those do happen.

If you have no ATT signal where the truck is parked - pull fuse 11 - no need even allowing the system to attempt connection if you know it can't.
Yes it should disable on it's own with no signal, but it'll check. But really it's an extra step where a glitch could happen as you mentioned - get stuck in loop checking waaayyyy to much.

Disable in your info center the option for Fordpass if that was setup - obviously won't work with fuse pulled, but no need letting truck think it might.

Was the Battery Sensor reset (as the manual calls it) - done on a fully charged battery?
As manual states - it's purpose is for a new battery installed process.

Your battery charger saying 100% - is likely declaring it's 100% of what the battery could take.
An already problem battery that is sulfated will do exactly that on a smart charger.
100% is no longer 12.7 V.
My warranty replaced battery in July with likely 3 dead cells at that point - was 100% of what it could take.

On a replacement - especially AGM - that 1 hr or better of driving should be pretty good.
But at this point can't help a problem battery.

The ones that seem to have no issues at all, even on the FLA - seem to report closer to 2 hrs of driving at least 5 days a week.

That allows the built-in battery charger to have 50 min of float charge - which is good for a pretty charged battery - not so good if pretty discharged battery.

 

[Arby47]

All good stuff, especially "Was the Battery Sensor reset (as the manual calls it) - done on a fully charged battery? As manual states - it's purpose is for a new battery installed process". I have a lot to share with the dealer, thanks so much! Going to check my voltage before I take it in too.

 

[Arby47]

Before I took the truck in, I tried to top the battery off, which only took 3 mins before the charger shut off. Checked it and was at 12.8V. Parked it in my garage like normal, and the next day I checked, and it was 11.8V. Took it in to Ford. They checked everything, but found nothing wrong (big surprise). But did an A/C firmware update that is was needing, but telling me it would probably not fix my problem. But it was for a battery drain! Confusing. They would not support putting in an AGM battery since it is not "correct", thus I still have the 2 year old battery in the truck. Well, that was 2 weeks ago and the truck has been perfect ever since that update. So will let you all know if this sticks or not. I have not checked my voltage or tried to charge the battery. It is cold here now, running the steering wheel heater, the seat heater and the cabin heater most all of the time. Leaving the truck for a few days at a time, in a semi heated garage, usually around 60F all the time. All these things still have not given me any problems, and still getting 45MPG regularly on my 20 mile trips. fingers crossed....

 

[HeyBales]

Before I took the truck in, I tried to top the battery off, which only took 3 mins before the charger shut off. Checked it and was at 12.8V. Parked it in my garage like normal, and the next day I checked, and it was 11.8V. Took it in to Ford. They checked everything, but found nothing wrong (big surprise). But did an A/C firmware update that is was needing, but telling me it would probably not fix my problem. But it was for a battery drain! Confusing. They would not support putting in an AGM battery since it is not "correct", thus I still have the 2 year old battery in the truck. Well, that was 2 weeks ago and the truck has been perfect ever since that update. So will let you all know if this sticks or not. I have not checked my voltage or tried to charge the battery. It is cold here now, running the steering wheel heater, the seat heater and the cabin heater most all of the time. Leaving the truck for a few days at a time, in a semi heated garage, usually around 60F all the time. All these things still have not given me any problems, and still getting 45MPG regularly on my 20 mile trips. fingers crossed....

Only 2 reasons a battery would drop like that.
Bad and can't hold a charge.
A drain.

Glad you seem to have found the reason. Still up closer to the 12.7/8 V area?

One of the things they do for the SSM on that intermittent drain that results in the ACCM update - disconnect the battery negative for some minutes for a computer modules reset.
I'm wondering how many times that helps.
For awhile.

 

[Arby47]

I had already done the disconnect for reset and it lasted less than a day. I do not know for sure if they did what they said, or did some other things along with it, but for now I am happy. I do know the communication between service office staff and actual techs is abysmal at my dealer. Will try to check the voltage soon. Thanks

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