Hello,

My 2019 Firsta has started to show "Remote features disabled to preserve battery" each time I get into car of late, and now telling me via the Ford Pass App.

Not a great user of the car at moment, just making local trips to the shops.

No new devices fitted, everything else working as normal.

 

Is this message normal, or maybe battery on the way out, or I need to use the car more?

 

Yes, you probably need to get out more!😀 Seriously, the same issue has come up many, many times and there are several lengthy threads such as this which you may want to have a good read through:

https://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/115331-car-battery-mk8/#comments

Many of us have invested in "smart" battery chargers - brands such as C-tek, Noco and Maypole - to keep our batteries topped up.

 

Thankyou Eric, I will read through the linked info. You're right I do need to get out more, I need to get a 2nd mortgage to fill my car up 🙂

I am thinking of following your advice and investing in a smart charger, any recommendations?

 I have seen start stop mentioned a few times regarding charging, does anyone know how I can tell if my battery is start stop please?

 

Mark

7 minutes ago, Mark120160 said:

Thankyou Eric, I will read through the linked info. You're right I do need to get out more, I need to get a 2nd mortgage to fill my car up 🙂

I am thinking of following your advice and investing in a smart charger, any recommendations?

 I have seen start stop mentioned a few times regarding charging, does anyone know how I can tell if my battery is start stop please?

In short as Roger has said you need to regularly charge your battery, advice is available for free from our expert @StephenFord on the subject of Maypole chargers (he might even post you a picture).

Your car will have Stop/Start but don't get hung up on the idea that it will work reliable for any length of time.

Just search through the forums looking at the topics about "State Of Charge" (SOC)

20 minutes ago, unofix said:

In short as Roger has said you need to regularly charge your battery, advice is available for free from our expert @StephenFord on the subject of Maypole chargers (he might even post you a picture).

Your car will have Stop/Start but don't get hung up on the idea that it will work reliable for any length of time.

Just search through the forums looking at the topics about "State Of Charge" (SOC)

Thankyou, I am thinking of the Noco 5 which seems to suit most battery types including AGM

My car is in 3 year warranty till July, hope I can get new battery under warranty

It does not need a new battery, this is just the way cars are now. By all means change the battery but the same problem will keep coming back.

Very important that when you charge the battery that the positive charger lead is connected direct to the battery terminal and that the negative lead is connected to the chassis main earth point, DO NOT connect it to the battery negative terminal.

1 hour ago, Mark120160 said:

I am thinking of following your advice and investing in a smart charger, any recommendations?

I have both a C-tek MXS5 and a Noco Genius 5 which work well on both our cars. However, the Maypole does pretty much the same job at a lower price as @StephenFord will no doubt be coming along to tell you shortly.😀

40 minutes ago, unofix said:

It does not need a new battery, this is just the way cars are now. By all means change the battery but the same problem will keep coming back.

Very important that when you charge the battery that the positive charger lead is connected direct to the battery terminal and that the negative lead is connected to the chassis main earth point, DO NOT connect it to the battery negative terminal.

Thankyou for the advice, I know nothing at all about car maintenance so good advice

6 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

I have both a C-tek MXS5 and a Noco Genius 5 which work well on both our cars. However, the Maypole does pretty much the same job at a lower price as @StephenFord will no doubt be coming along to tell you shortly.😀

Thankyou Sir

Went for the Noco Genius 5, apparently from all accounts the Maypole one cant charge Flat batteries 🙂 🙂 🙂

1 hour ago, Mark120160 said:

apparently from all accounts the Maypole one cant charge Flat batteries

Really ? 🤔

Have you got some evidence of that ? 😧

14 hours ago, unofix said:

Really ? 🤔

Have you got some evidence of that ? 😧

Read numerous reports on Amazon, usually I would ignore the odd one, but several were saying the same

Depends what you mean by flat...  The Maypole won't charge 12v battery that's dropped below 7.5v...but if your battery has dropped that low it's passed the point of no return and needs replacing anyway.

On 5/7/2022 at 7:42 PM, unofix said:

 

Its ok, phoned my dealer to ask, all sorted

On 5/7/2022 at 7:42 PM, unofix said:

It does not need a new battery, this is just the way cars are now. By all means change the battery but the same problem will keep coming back.

Very important that when you charge the battery that the positive charger lead is connected direct to the battery terminal and that the negative lead is connected to the chassis main earth point, DO NOT connect it to the battery negative terminal.

Put the diesel battery on, it does make a difference, that's what I did with the wife's car

22 minutes ago, DaveT70 said:

Put the diesel battery on, it does make a difference, that's what I did with the wife's car

Thanks Dave, yes I have heard that too

1 hour ago, Mark120160 said:

Read numerous reports on Amazon, usually I would ignore the odd one, but several were saying the same

As with most products, there are also many negative reports on Amazon concerning the C-tek and Noco chargers. 

 

2 hours ago, Mark120160 said:

Its ok, phoned my dealer to ask, all sorted

Lol, just about to reply to your post and it disappeared. Hope the dealer gave you the right answers!

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

Depends what you mean by flat...  The Maypole won't charge 12v battery that's dropped below 7.5v...but if your battery has dropped that low it's passed the point of no return and needs replacing anyway.

Yes, all the discussions we've had on here lately served to remind me that batteries don't need to be particularly low (in voltage terms) before they are effectively "flat".

32 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Lol, just about to reply to your post and it disappeared. Hope the dealer gave you the right answes!

No worries Sir, was in hurry so thought would phone dealer, seen as he will be one that kicks my @$$ if I get it wrong 🙂

59 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

As with most products, there are also many negative reports on Amazon concerning the C-tek and Noco chargers. 

 

Thankyou sir, also didn't like idea of dancing round a maypole to generate the electrical charge

Does anyone know if the battery repair mode is necessary or even recommended on the fiesta agm start stop battery? (3 year old)

Does it damage anything?

Can it be done whilst battery still connected to car?

 

Cheers

1 hour ago, Mark120160 said:

fiesta agm start stop battery? (3 year old)

Are you sure you have an agm? Mine is EFB - see pic below:

12 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Are you sure you have an agm? Mine is EFB - see pic below:

Woops, thanks for posting, I checked and mine is also EFB and not AGM, I had previously researched and saw that if it was start stop then it was AGM, wrong!!

Will I have damaged anything whilst I charged it up yesterday in AGM mode?

UPDATE: According to Noco it won't have damaged anything.

But will use standard 12v setting in future.

Cheers