2020 Battery Drain (NOT PHEV)

[Ian48]

Hi

Update on my issues.   Last visit to garage included 30 hours on charge and battery check/reset which resulted in stop/start working for a few weeks.  Is now occasional, but I'm not too bothered as it is a distraction anyway - may switch it off as I do very little urban driving.  Good news is that electrical issues seem to be resolved.  Keyless locking from door handles works.  A parking sensor was replaced and this now works.  They dismantled the washer bottle to check the level sensor and said nothing wrong with it and it was working fine.  he suggested I was not filling it properly - I discontinued the discussion as I have been capable of filling washer bottles for 40 years and I did not trust myself to continue that debate!!!.  Surprisingly enough it has been fine since so either not done properly the first time or the "take it apart and put it back together fix" worked".   At present very happy with car.

Why does Ford set the BMS (battery management system) have a maximum SOC (state of charge) at 75/80% if this is marginal voltage/charge for the electrical systems to work.  Does it improve the life of the battery? Also is the battery manufactured with 80% charge or is this a setting installed by Ford so only once it drops from 100% to 80% the recharging via the alternator kicks in?.  

[Edge of Reason]

You’ve obviously been pouring your water / screen wash down the outside of the reservoir. What you need to do is remove the filler cap and pour stuff INSIDE. What a Wally !!  😉 

[unofix]

10 hours ago, Ian48 said:

Why does Ford set the BMS (battery management system) have a maximum SOC (state of charge) at 75/80% if this is marginal voltage/charge for the electrical systems to work.  Does it improve the life of the battery? Also is the battery manufactured with 80% charge or is this a setting installed by Ford so only once it drops from 100% to 80% the recharging via the alternator kicks in?.  

It's a very long story which I've answered many times here on the forum, just search SOC 👍 You can use FORScan and set the battery SOC to 95% and live happy ever after as many here have done so.

[Ali2747]

Hello, I have the exact same issue as OP. Same model of car (2021) and this has been driving me mad.

I've had a flat battery on 3 occasions and have been connecting a battery maintainer/charger. It seems to make a difference for 3-4 days and then the keyless entry only works on driver's door and tailgate.

Ive never done the BMS reset, so will try that today. Makes sense.

I too have all of the very weird noises coming from the engine bay when the engine is not running.

When I unlock the car, and open a door I get the centre display showing a message with a progress bar "system off to save battery, please turn ignition off or start the engine"

Have any of you experience this one?

I'm reluctant to take it to a dealer as they tend to be useless. Arnold Clarke Ford certainly were when it went in for its first service.

I carry a lot of equipment in my car daily as an engineer, so taking a courtesy car is a major hassle.

 

 

[Edge of Reason]

It seems to be just low charge. I do quite a lot of short journeys locally and as a result the full battery charge is rarely maintained. As charge drops, the electronics shut down non-essential items. The one I’ve noticed first is the door locking from anything but the drivers door. The remote always works, just not the touch pads on the door handles. Rears first, then front passenger, then driver. If washing your car with a power hose with your passive key in your pocket, you will notice the doors locking and unlocking repeatedly as water is sprayed across the sensors on the door handles. I now leave my key in the garage until I’ve finished washing my car, to save needless use of the battery.  You probably just need to trickle charge the battery overnight. Remember to attach the earth lead to the chassis earth not the battery and after charging, do the reset previously mentioned so the battery realises it’s been charged. If you don’t do the reset, the issue won’t go away.