message system off to save battery

[Albi1]

Recently I travelled 365 miles and taking 8 hours to Cornwall my stop/start still did not work still get the message Please turn ignition off or start engine it was the same on the way back the car is just 12 months old I always press the stop button before opening the door and lock the car when I leave it. The car always starts ok. Any ideas please.

[unofix]

Have you used a multimeter and measured the voltage on the battery terminals? 

[Andyr55]

I had similar on my new Focus, system off to save battery, my ford app informed me the car was in deep sleep mode, no stop start. 
even after charging battery it was the same. 
eventually went into dealer and caused a fuss! At first they blamed the dashcam for draining battery, even though it turns off after 5 mins. 
they reluctantly agreed to replace battery even though the tests said it was fine. 
just returned from a week away, no issues and stop start working fine. 

[Albi1]

Hi Uno fix I will test across battery tomorrow and will past reply.

Andrew thanks my ford app also tells me the car is in deep sleep besides in message centre also saying remote features disabled to preserve battery my last focus did the same and then shortly after failed to even start fitted new battery on this car no further problem I do have the car booked in at a Ford garage.

[unofix]

Use a smart charger and charge the battery for a FULL 24 hours.

Connect charger negative lead to the chassis body main earth point (not the battery) and connect the charger positive to the battery positive.

 

[Albi1]

Hi Uno fix I will test across battery tomorrow and will past reply.

Andrew thanks my ford app also tells me the car is in deep sleep besides in message centre also saying remote features disabled to preserve battery my last focus did the same and then shortly after failed to even start fitted new battery on this car no further problem I do have the car booked in at a Ford garage.

I have tested battery this morning it is showing 12.05 volts on my fluke multimeter and on the secret menu 11.5 volts 

[unofix]

1 hour ago, Albi1 said:

I have tested battery this morning it is showing 12.05 volts

Hi Albert, 12.05V is low but not that bad. The hidden built in voltmeter is not that good, but it's showing what voltage the car thinks it is.

Put the battery on charge for about 8 hours, leave it connected to the car. Connect the positive lead of the charger direct to the battery positive terminal. Then connect the negative of the charger to the chassis/body main earth point near the battery. Do NOT connect the negative lead direct to the battery terminal.

After a good 8 hour charge you need to reset the BMS (see video) and the car should be ok.

 

[DaveG1975]

Where is the secret menu showing the battery voltage????

[Albi1]

Dave on mine I press the start button press the ok button keeping this pressed untill it comes up with a message about test then using the ok button use this to scroll through values until you come to battery voltage.

[Wino]

16 hours ago, Albi1 said:

Dave on mine I press the start button press the ok button keeping this pressed untill it comes up with a message about test then using the ok button use this to scroll through values until you come to battery voltage.

Tried this earlier and so it does 👍 hopefully others that have the HUD won't be as dim and be looking at the HUD instead of staring at the info screen 🙄

Ironically it also said the Voltage was 12v I also had the gizmo plugged in at the time which I now know gives a low reading and that was reading 12.2v.

[DaveG1975]

I can’t get secret menu to work I take it the ok button is the on on the steering wheel 

[Wino]

1 minute ago, DaveG1975 said:

I can’t get secret menu to work I take it the ok button is the on on the steering wheel 

Yes.

[DaveG1975]

Do you press the ok button first or the start button first 

[Wino]

1 hour ago, DaveG1975 said:

Do you press the ok button first or the start button first 

Start button first then press the ok button and keep your finger on the button. 

I can't tell you how long it took because I was looking at the info screen in the dash area instead of the HUD screen 🙄

Then spotted the info in the HUD screen and scrolled through the menu etc.

[Albi1]

I have now had the car into main dealer who have updated the software the car's stop/start started working and messages stopped for a few days now 3days later back to stop start not working battery tested at dealer and Halford both said it was good I keep seeing were the car only charges to 80% but this is not a fully charged battery in fact while I was working on fork truck batteries I was an electrician until retiring we would have classed this as a low charged battery.

[unofix]

You need to learn to live with it like everyone else.

The Stop/Start system has many issues and it suffers from the Goldilocks syndrome. There is a list of over 20 main items that have to be "just right" before the system works.

Your cars 'Smart' charging system is programmed to keep the battery charged only to 80% of its capacity all in the name of emissions. If you really want your Stop/Start system to work every day (and I personally can't think why anyone would) you have only 2 options.

Option 1. At least once per week (every week) you need to connect your car to a smart battery charger and leave it on charge for at least 12 hours. Be sure to charge the battery on the vehicle and connect the positive charger lead to the battery positive, BUT, connect the negative charger lead to the vehicle main chassis/body earth point next to the battery. Do not connect it to the battery negative terminal or you will be by-passing the SOC monitor and the car will not know the battery has been charged.

Option2. You can use software called FORScan and go in to the vehicle settings and adjust the state of charge from the default of 80%. On my car I have adjusted the SOC to 95% (not so that S/S works) and on the whole my car is much happier. The keyless entry now always works on all 4 doors and also the auto-hold function is always available both of which are effected by the battery level being low.

 

[DaveG1975]

Where would you say good earth is on the car I have a 2019 focus any pictures would be appreciated as you can tell I’m not any good with electrical things 

[unofix]

No pictures required, just go to the battery and follow the big thick negative cable to where it is bolted to the body (about 250mm away from the battery).

[SB active X estate]

On 11/17/2021 at 2:21 PM, unofix said:

You need to learn to live with it like everyone else.

The Stop/Start system has many issues and it suffers from the Goldilocks syndrome. There is a list of over 20 main items that have to be "just right" before the system works.

Your cars 'Smart' charging system is programmed to keep the battery charged only to 80% of its capacity all in the name of emissions. If you really want your Stop/Start system to work every day (and I personally can't think why anyone would) you have only 2 options.

Option 1. At least once per week (every week) you need to connect your car to a smart battery charger and leave it on charge for at least 12 hours. Be sure to charge the battery on the vehicle and connect the positive charger lead to the battery positive, BUT, connect the negative charger lead to the vehicle main chassis/body earth point next to the battery. Do not connect it to the battery negative terminal or you will be by-passing the SOC monitor and the car will not know the battery has been charged.

Option2. You can use software called FORScan and go in to the vehicle settings and adjust the state of charge from the default of 80%. On my car I have adjusted the SOC to 95% (not so that S/S works) and on the whole my car is much happier. The keyless entry now always works on all 4 doors and also the auto-hold function is always available both of which are effected by the battery level being low.

 

Hi there,

is there a way to add battery state of charge to sync so you can view it without having to connect up to forscan? Can you see SOC in the ETM in engineering mode?

many thanks,

Simon 

[unofix]

41 minutes ago, SB active X estate said:

is there a way to add battery state of charge to sync so you can view it without having to connect up to forscan? Can you see SOC in the ETM in engineering mode?

The quick short answer is 'No'

Then the question would be why would you want too ? The SOC is something that is set, and the manufacturer normally sets this to 80% for UK models. It is important realise the difference between battery terminal voltage, alternator charging voltage and the batteries state of charge which is a measurement of the batteries charge capacity.

 

[SB active X estate]

5 hours ago, unofix said:

The quick short answer is 'No'

Then the question would be why would you want too ? The SOC is something that is set, and the manufacturer normally sets this to 80% for UK models. It is important realise the difference between battery terminal voltage, alternator charging voltage and the batteries state of charge which is a measurement of the batteries charge capacity.

 

Hi,

thanks for the reply. Sorry probably using the wrong term. I meant the current % state of charge. In forscan you can see this and it changes depending on how charged up your battery is. 
 

My % state of charge regularly dips down below 20% and I’m trying to figure out whether this is just down to length of journeys or whether my dashcam is draining the battery when the engine is off. 
 

would be handy to view this without having to hook up the laptop every time.

many thanks 

 

[unofix]

Hello Simon, so quick answer first. Your dashcam takes so little current it would have to be on for along time to make any real difference to the battey.

What you are wanting to see/measure is the level that your battery has been charged up to when you switch off. The answer should of course be 80% of whatever your battery capacity is. However due to lots of short journeys and at this time of year use of heated screens, heated seats and headlights for almost every hour of the day your battery will be very unlikely to reach a state of charge of 80%. Over a period of a few weeks it will become less and less charged. The car will begin saving power by what ever means it can, so first to not work is always 'Start/Stop' followed closely by 'Auto Hold' or 'Hill Assist', then next keyless entry will only work on the drivers door, and of course the heated front screen won't work. Shortly afterwards the rear screen will also stop working. By this time your battery is reaching the critical point of not being able to start your car.

So back to my answers right at the begining

On 11/17/2021 at 2:21 PM, unofix said:

Option 1. At least once per week (every week) you need to connect your car to a smart battery charger and leave it on charge for at least 12 hours. Be sure to charge the battery on the vehicle and connect the positive charger lead to the battery positive, BUT, connect the negative charger lead to the vehicle main chassis/body earth point next to the battery. Do not connect it to the battery negative terminal or you will be by-passing the SOC monitor and the car will not know the battery has been charged.

Option2. You can use software called FORScan and go in to the vehicle settings and adjust the state of charge from the default of 80%. On my car I have adjusted the SOC to 95% (not so that S/S works) and on the whole my car is much happier. The keyless entry now always works on all 4 doors and also the auto-hold function is always available both of which are effected by the battery level being low.

 

and in the words of Barry Norman "And There You Have It !"        ( I know you will be to young to know him)

[Tizer]

1 hour ago, SB active X estate said:

Hi,

thanks for the reply. Sorry probably using the wrong term. I meant the current % state of charge. In forscan you can see this and it changes depending on how charged up your battery is. 
 

My % state of charge regularly dips down below 20% and I’m trying to figure out whether this is just down to length of journeys or whether my DashCam is draining the battery when the engine is off. 
 

would be handy to view this without having to hook up the laptop every time.

many thanks 

 

An easier option than your Laptop would be to get the phone version of FORScan and a decent wireless adaptor, easy option if you have an Android phone, iPhones are a bit more fussy about wireless adaptors. It is possible to use some wired adaptors with FORScan Lite if you have an OTG cable and change the settings in the App.

If your SOC is getting as low as 20% then something is draining your battery or the battery is faulty unless the car is left for weeks without being used.  

[SB active X estate]

5 minutes ago, Tizer said:

An easier option than your Laptop would be to get the phone version of FORScan and a decent wireless adaptor, easy option if you have an Android phone, iPhones are a bit more fussy about wireless adaptors. It is possible to use some wired adaptors with FORScan Lite if you have an OTG cable and change the settings in the App.

If your SOC is getting as low as 20% then something is draining your battery or the battery is faulty unless the car is left for weeks without being used.  

👍😊brilliant I’ll do that! What wifi adaptor would you recommend?

cheers!

[unofix]

https://tunnelrat-electronics.fwscart.com/WiFi_Modified_with_switch_ELM327/p4541936_17045473.aspx