*Update* Dead truck Part 3-Battery/Drain/Charging Epic fail

[TedTX]

Well for a drain this fast, stuff going to get very warm. Not that touching for hotspots is in any repair manual that I have used. Sneezed once in a broken VCR and it kept running, strange things happens, Gremlins are real!!! Drove one.

Sponsored

 

[Nw_adventure]

First time hearing this on an Ecoboost.

Parasitic drains are an absolute nightmare to track down on a vehicle. In a lot of cases it is impossible from a practical point. I have seen manufacturers (Ford included) buy back newer vehicles with a parasitic drain that couldn't be resolved.

About the only way you can find these issues are by...........

• Checking every ground point on all the wiring harnesses and sub harnesses.
• Check all the individual connections at every point of every harness.
• Check continuity and resistance on every pin.
• Visually inspect every inch of the wiring harnesses, looking for pinches, punctures, and kinks.
• Disabling and enable systems/circuits on the vehicle while running and monitoring it to look for anything that is out of specification.

Even the slightest short, anywhere, can cause these issues.

As I said, in practice the above is impossible as the cost to have a technician do this (warranty or not) is just incredible. You have to basically disassemble the entire vehicle in order to do the above.

Your issue could be as "simple" as a compromised wire because of a pinch under a seat, or floor. A slightly loose ground or connection can be the cause of it.

There have been a number of charging issues on the Eco/Boost as well- I am hoping that this is such a catastrophic voltage drain that it's easy to location/fix - Already had a smart junction box and engine fuse panel replaced for a separate issue- Had my battery replaced in November since I was getting charging faults- That turned out to be a loose battery lug from the factory that we didn't notice until the then brand new battery started to fail as well - Hey at least my new jumper charge brick actually works

 

[MetalsGeek]

A large parasitic drain pulls a significant amount of current, and you may have more than one. IMHO, the easiest way to identify the source is to measure the voltage drop across each of your fuses with a DVM. Blade-type fuses have a tiny hole in each end of the exposed face that lets you probe this. Your average 15 or 20-amp fuse will drop about 0.070 Volts at its max rated current. Smaller fuses a bit more, larger ones a bit less. This is enough for a DVM to measure. With the vehicle off, I would think you should find no measurable drop across ANY of the fuses except for brief periods when a self-test is underway.
I suspect the main problem with this approach in the Maverick may be accessing the fuses with the system hot. At first glance, the underhood fuse box in my hybrid appears to be installed with the harness on top and the fuses hidden...

 

[Nw_adventure]

*UPDATE* After sitting at the dealer for 4 days- They were able to have the quick lane oil change guys change the battery- Still couldn't fit me into the 3 weeks backed up service schedule- Hearing that all my local dealers are booked up a month in advance currently mostly due to recall work/etc.

- Anyone experiencing this ?

So the oil change guys say the charging system looks ok - lol. No idea on why any other random service tech could not put the diagnostic laptop on my truck (takes all of 5 minutes) in 4 days is beyond me -

So I am now on my 3rd battery in one year- I can either pick up the truck today or let it sit and linger while they try (probably not very hard) to get a master tech to give it a true voltage test shakedown...

Probably just going to go get the thing and see what happens.

 

[Eagle11]

I thought this was a Hybrid only issue

That is what I was thinking.

 

[flashfearless]

If you're up for a drive to Chicago, check out fordbossme on Youtube. He can find that stuff. Kind of his speciality.

 

[Nw_adventure]

That is what I was thinking.

Hybrids have the TSB identified main charge/grounding cable issue- Some other models like mine have random unexplained electronic anomalies'/batteries randomly going dead etc- Plenty of Ford gremlins to go around- lol

 

[Nw_adventure]

If you're up for a drive to Chicago, check out fordbossme on Youtube. He can find that stuff. Kind of his speciality.

Be right there- lol- Our handyman is pretty good at electronics, going to put him on it-

 

[rivermaverick]

Yowsa- Going from bad to worse here- Left the dead truck all day on the battery charger, came home and started no problem. Let it sit for just 30 minutes and it's now completely dead ! How can a fully charged battery go dead in 30 minutes ? Nothing is attached- Just wow

Check that it was fully charged, if you have a volt meter check the voltage after you disconnect the charger then turn on a load like the headlamps and check again you may just have a 'surface charge'.

 

[JefCo]

Sounds like maybe one of the modules isn’t turning off. I had this happen when I was playing with FORSCAN on my Escape. I got a code mixed up and the stereo wasn’t turning off, but looked like it was off.

 

[Red Ryder]

Yowsa- Going from bad to worse here- Left the dead truck all day on the battery charger, came home and started no problem. Let it sit for just 30 minutes and it's now completely dead ! How can a fully charged battery go dead in 30 minutes ? Nothing is attached- Just wow

Phantom power draw from a previously removed device? That's what I was told in my case anyhow, six months after it was removed.

Hopefully, you will get this resolved and continue enjoying the truck.

 

[NJBob]

Not sure why a loose ground can cause this. I have had this type of issue on other cars but it took more than a week to happen. Very tough to find.

 

[TedTX]

They make remote controlled battery disconnect modules on Amazon, maybe try that. Have been eyeballing those, for my hybrid.

 

[Nw_adventure]

**UPDATE** Went and got the truck after they replaced the battery- Advisor told me Ford is having issue's with the AGM batteries they have been using and lots are failing- Hopefully mine is good to go from here but if not the charge pack is ready to go as per usual -

 

[TedTX]

Yes on my second AGM, glad they are finally admitting funky badish batteries.
Had everything else done, so battery was the only thing left. Mine likes to start resting at 12.1 and drops into low 11 high 10 volts between uses now. That's an improvement

Sponsored