Ford Focus ST '22 Battery Drain!

[Wino]

It wont affect your insurance. Ours didnt have any effect when the previous Focus was damaged whilst parked on our driveway due to some numpty forgetting to apply their handbrake in the carpark across the busy main road a few yrs ago. How it managed to roll backwards through the carpark entrance and across two lanes of a busy main road during rush hour and knock our heavy cast iron gates clean out ov the ground and continue over the gates and into the car was unreal.

[LukeJQuinn]

1 hour ago, Wino said:

It wont affect your insurance. Ours didnt have any effect when the previous Focus was damaged whilst parked on our driveway due to some numpty forgetting to apply their handbrake in the carpark across the busy main road a few yrs ago. How it managed to roll backwards through the carpark entrance and across two lanes of a busy main road during rush hour and knock our heavy cast iron gates clean out ov the ground and continue over the gates and into the car was unreal.

Yeah fair point - I've rang Ford Insure they logged it down as a Non-Fault, No Action. No affect to 14 years No Claims etc and he was pretty certain it won't affect the renewal price. He also pointed out they would have found out anyway as it goes on some national database. So best to tell them first so they know you are more likely to be honest etc.

Thanks again for the advice, appreciate it. 

[Cookey09]

@LukeJQuinnbeen following thia thread a while. Shame to hear about the accident mate! 

My battery on my car has run flat a few times. Had RAC out to boost the car, had to have my Dad come with Jump leads etc... once had it in at Ford for them to just recharge it over night and do a "software" update.

Do you know if there was a batch number/specific battery that was fitted and what battery do you have now? Tia. 

[LukeJQuinn]

On 1/30/2023 at 10:29 PM, Cookey09 said:

@LukeJQuinnbeen following thia thread a while. Shame to hear about the accident mate! 

My battery on my car has run flat a few times. Had RAC out to boost the car, had to have my Dad come with Jump leads etc... once had it in at Ford for them to just recharge it over night and do a "software" update.

Do you know if there was a batch number/specific battery that was fitted and what battery do you have now? Tia. 

Hi, the replacement battery was also faulty so no amount of recharging was ever going to solve the issue. However, with the brand new battery fitted by T.C Harrison, the car is still working fine and as expected. I don't know the model number but could try later to find out. 

[LukeJQuinn]

Car still working fine (thank the lord) no issues just doing what it does best. 

Enterprise finally authorised the work to be carried out for the repair. So wheels are in motion to getting that fixed, the garage are just getting the parts together, then Enterprise are chucking me in a hire car. 

Only thing I have changed regarding the battery issue - is I've turned off the Ford Secure Subscription (someone mentioned it above). I've found this being off ensures the car has much more power available to it for Stop/Start even when its not been used in days. Could be nothing but that things reporting back to Ford 24/7 can't help the power - I'm sure over time they will refine it with updates.

A upgrade to Sync 4 appeared the other day, and it added Alexa to the car - nice addition but turned that S*** off straight away 🙂 

[DaveG1975]

2 hours ago, LukeJQuinn said:

Car still working fine (thank the lord) no issues just doing what it does best. 

Enterprise finally authorised the work to be carried out for the repair. So wheels are in motion to getting that fixed, the garage are just getting the parts together, then Enterprise are chucking me in a hire car. 

Only thing I have changed regarding the battery issue - is I've turned off the Ford Secure Subscription (someone mentioned it above). I've found this being off ensures the car has much more power available to it for Stop/Start even when its not been used in days. Could be nothing but that things reporting back to Ford 24/7 can't help the power - I'm sure over time they will refine it with updates.

A upgrade to Sync 4 appeared the other day, and it added Alexa to the car - nice addition but turned that S*** off straight away 🙂 

What is Ford Secure?

[alexp999]

1 minute ago, DaveG1975 said:

What is Ford Secure?

Pretty much the same as Securialert but you have to pay for it

[LukeJQuinn]

3 minutes ago, DaveG1975 said:

What is Ford Secure?

Open your Ford Pass App, head to Account then Subscriptions > You may or may not see Ford Secure as an option. 

What is Ford Secure?

It's good but I think it needs time to mature with updates, as it does drain the battery a little too much for my liking. You do get it FREE for the first 2 years - no pricing has been announced yet. 

 

[DaveG1975]

6 hours ago, LukeJQuinn said:

Car still working fine (thank the lord) no issues just doing what it does best. 

Enterprise finally authorised the work to be carried out for the repair. So wheels are in motion to getting that fixed, the garage are just getting the parts together, then Enterprise are chucking me in a hire car. 

Only thing I have changed regarding the battery issue - is I've turned off the Ford Secure Subscription (someone mentioned it above). I've found this being off ensures the car has much more power available to it for Stop/Start even when its not been used in days. Could be nothing but that things reporting back to Ford 24/7 can't help the power - I'm sure over time they will refine it with updates.

A upgrade to Sync 4 appeared the other day, and it added Alexa to the car - nice addition but turned that S*** off straight away 🙂 

That must be for newer Fords as it’s not in my subscription mine is a  2019 Focus 

[alexp999]

1 minute ago, DaveG1975 said:

That must be for newer Fords as it’s not in my subscription mine is a  2019 Focus 

If you have securialert, it's much the same but free.

I wouldn't worry about missing features on the facelift that used to be free 😉

[ipIV]

From my observation, it's not a battery issue. You could give the worst of the worst and there should be no problems after such a short time. A very good battery only slightly masks the problem.
The battery diagnostic system looks at the peak current during cranking and thus checks its condition. A weak battery will have a lower starting current, and a better one, although equally discharged - will have a higher one.

FordSecure on - car parked for 3-5 days and battery discharged to ~20%. (The charger charged 50Ah).

FordSecure turned off - recently due to bad weather, a lot of salt on the roads, the car was in the garage for 3 weeks and .... the charger charged only 6Ah. The electronics of the car woke up once every few days (blinking of the position lights.).... and not every hour as with the FordSecure on.

This is what it looks like in the garage. With FordSecure turned on, this happens every hour, accurate to the second.

I wrote an e-mail to Ford with the problem and its solution, asking them to fix the software or disable the power-hungry features of FordSecure, in response I got something like "We have forwarded the matter to the technical department, can we consider the matter closed?".... 😉

My correspondence with Ford Poland (Google translate):

Quote

 

Sir,
thank you for contacting the Ford Polska Customer Service Department.

Referring to the correspondence, I would like to kindly inform you that your tips and suggestions have been forwarded by the Technician responsible for supporting the FordPass application to the appropriate department.

Any new software updates or fixes should be released with future versions of the FordPass application.

In the light of the above information, do you consider the application to be resolved and can the case be closed from the level of the Customer Service Office?

I hope that this question will be understood.
Kind regards,

----------------

Good morning,

Please don't worry about me as FordSecure is turned off, the problem with the battery discharging is gone ... but others probably have.

As for the other features I suggested, it would be nice if they appeared.

The car is very nice, it's a pity that soon there will be no such thing.

Best wishes

-------------------------

Sir,
thank you for contacting the Ford Polska Customer Service Department.

Referring to the correspondence, I would like to inform you that the matter will first be consulted with the Technician responsible for supporting the FordPass application and then discussed with the relevant departments, if necessary.

Your suggestions will also be forwarded to the appropriate department.

We hope that the above information will be understood.

Kind regards,

-----------------------

Good morning,

WF0PXX***************

WARNING: This message originated outside of Ford Motor Company. Use caution when opening attachments, clicking links, or responding.

-----------------------

Good morning,

In October I picked up my Focus ST mk4FL. I am very pleased with the car, but I would like to report a fault that I have diagnosed, and it is very difficult to diagnose.

The problem is quite common, in particular on foreign discussion forums, and concerns newer Ford models and services cannot deal with it ... they replace batteries, various electronic elements, etc. unnecessarily - a large unnecessary cost, with no effect.

I am an electrical engineer, electronics technician and mechanic, so I am quite a conscious car user.

After receiving the vehicle, bearing in mind the fact that the technological process from assembling the car to handing it over to the dealer took almost 2 months, I charged the battery so that it did not get sulfated at the very beginning and served for a long time.

For the first month there were no problems, one day I had a little more time and additionally I launched the hot-spot, registered the sim card and activated the trial period of the FordSecure subscription.

I have a camera in the garage with motion detection and notifications sent to my phone. The camera started to inform me about motion detection every hour, what did it turn out to be?
Every hour, around the clock, the car's electronics wake up, the car flashes its headlights, the backlight of the screens turns on, relays click.
The car was left for 3-4 days and the FordPass app notified me that "Remote features are disabled to save battery."

A strange situation, the battery is charged, the car has been standing for a few days and there is a problem. I connected the charger and charged it to the 50Ah battery (battery capacity 60Ah) ..... the battery was almost discharged ... there was enough energy left in it to start the car several times ... and charging the alternator with high current efficiency of such a deeply discharged battery with liquid electrolyte such as EFB is for him a quick death sentence ... half a year - a year - that is, 2-3 batteries replaced under warranty + other costs = several thousand PLN loss for Ford on a copy.

The problem started when I activated the Internet in the car and activated FordSecure…. So I started to turn off, turn on these functions, reset to factory settings, etc. to eliminate all possible configuration changes and .... The problem turned out to be FordSecure. After unsubscribing, the electronics of the car calmed down, it does not wake up every hour and even after a week's parking, the charger is able to recharge the battery with only 2-3Ah .... So it's ok.

The fault is very difficult to diagnose - temporary high current consumption from the battery every hour, 24h/d with the armed alarm.

It would be good for you to improve the software so as to reduce the energy consumption of FordSecure, because I would like to use it (optimization or resignation from energy-intensive functionalities.)

In addition, it would be nice as part of the car software update to add:
- information about the battery voltage and its charge level (software issue)
- add the ability to configure in the menu how long the voltage in the cigarette lighter socket should be maintained (currently, according to my observations, there is a voltage and time criterion). I would like the voltage to disappear immediately after the ignition is turned off (the configuration of this is also a matter of software).
- added ability to enable RevMatch in normal mode. In all other modes it is, in normal it is not…. And I paid for this functionality.

Best wishes

 

 

Regards Michael

[LukeJQuinn]

I spoke too soon. battery issue is back. However I’ve found plenty of posts online about people who recently had Ghost devices fitted. 
 

Of course I never mentioned this as it’s not something to advertise but owners of Ford and oddly Toyotas are seeing batteries drain and removing the Ghost fixes it. 
 

Before I return the car to Ford and get something else, I’m going to do some tests and probably end up getting the Ghost removed if it proves to be the culprit. 
 

more updates later in the week but in the meantime, if anyone has any advice or knowledge of the Ghost Device and it causing battery drain please let me know. 
 

@ipIV thanks for this! Mine was doing this a while back - as in the LEDs coming on briefly then going off. I also caught it on my camera doing it. Ford didn’t believe me of course and I’ve since turned the feature off in the App settings. If you know any other place it needs turning off let me know. 

[LukeJQuinn]

Another update - I recently turned off Ford Secure due to it turning the DRL's & touch screen on at random times when the car is parked and switched off. 

Asked the Installer for advice about putting the car in service Mode, however after looking back through loads of emails - I logged the battery drain issue around 2/3 weeks before the Ghost was installed, so very reluctant to believe its the Ghost device. 

All the lights remain on and are working as normal, its just the stop/start totally refusing to work now. Its only started to not work within the last few days. Drove over 55 miles yesterday throughout the day, and still not kicking in. 

I've re-opened the case with Ford. 

[alexp999]

Don’t worry about stop start. It’s not indicative of battery drain on its own. Mine hasn’t worked for months but the car happily sat for 4 weeks and started again first time. 
 

You’ll never get it working all the time unless you constantly recharge the battery and replace the battery every year or two. Then you’ll be spending more on electric and batteries than any fuel saving. It’s primarily there to lower the emissions during homologation. 

[Wino]

1 hour ago, LukeJQuinn said:

Drove over 55 miles yesterday throughout the day, and still not kicking in. 

I've re-opened the case with Ford. 

As Alex says don't fret about stop start. We did 145 miles yesterday and it was the same. You will also find that key cycles are paramount for it to start working again, more than likely the following day.

[alexp999]

The car is also designed to only charge the battery up to a certain point, not more than it needs to. Ironically, to save fuel by not constantly running the alternator at max load.

[LukeJQuinn]

Spoke with T.C.H

They said most cars tend to retrain the power and not re-charge it. So a trip of 60 miles more than likely won't make the car charge the battery up. They pretty much confirmed what @alexp999& @Wino said. The way to force it back is to charge the battery up and then reset the battery monitor (she gave me the reset sequence).

They just want to ensure that the car is still working fine and there is no drain. So will do this and see what happens after a week. The car recently installed a new Sync 4 update and added Alexa (no thanks), which she said would have used considerable power to download and install a big update package which I have to agree with. From the cars point of view, as long as it has power to start, and make the lights come on when unlocking, its happy and stop/start isn't something the car is really bothered about. It was only ever added to cars to please the EU in an attempt to cut emissions - waste of time I reckon haha. 

Will do the re-charge and see what happens. After speaking to you guys and Ford T.C.H feel more relaxed about the situation now. Tempted to turn it off entirely as I hate seeing that grey A with a line through it all the time ha 

Thanks again both. Will update next week.

P.S car being collected next Monday to have the repair work done on it. Enterprise have paid the entire £3,440 to get it repaired! A ludicrous amount but glad I ain't paying for it.  

[alexp999]

Usually the first sign of a genuine low battery charge on my car is the passenger door keyless entry stopping working. That's a sign to me I need to take it out for a longer drive! Still starts fine though which is the whole point, the car is trying to turn off convenience features to keep enough for starting the engine.

[LukeJQuinn]

4 minutes ago, alexp999 said:

Usually the first sign of a genuine low battery charge on my car is the passenger door keyless entry stopping working. That's a sign to me I need to take it out for a longer drive! Still starts fine though which is the whole point, the car is trying to turn off convenience features to keep enough for starting the engine.

Yeah that is how I noticed something wasn't right with mine, back in October. 

First it was the passenger door, then the driver, then all the lights inside and out. (and an alert in the Ford app every single time you got out of it about low power) But no matter how much I drove it, it never got any better. Even after a charge, an hour later it would be dead again. That was the dodgy/new battery though. 

The car isn't doing any of those things touch wood - its performing as expected, just no stop/start. Long as its not faulty then I'm sound. 

[ipIV]

Don't worry about start&stop not working. It has different engine shutdown criteria. battery SOC is just one of them. When diagnosing the problem, I looked at the SOC of the battery - I took measurements with an electronic battery tester, resistance battery tester and voltage tester. It would be best to measure the density of the electrolyte, but in this battery it is not possible (no access to the electrolyte).
In addition, a good indicator is how much the battery charger was able to recharge the battery.
FordSecure on -> 3-4 days missing 50Ah,
FordSecure disabled -> 2-3 weeks (!) 5-6Ah.

For me, the problem with a discharged battery was solved after turning off FordSecure. I have start&stop turned off all the time, because it only accelerates the wear of the turbocharger, battery and starter.

I did a factory reset to find the cause of the problem.

The factory Focus has a preset battery SOC of 80%, I changed it to 95% (Forscan)
In Fords, you can estimate the SOC of the battery based on the voltage in the electrical system, e.g. a USB charger with a voltmeter - I have it: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393046930148

15.2 - 16V -> battery to be replaced or deeply discharged
14.7-15V -> battery charged below the set SOC (80% by default) or low temperature outside.
14-14.4V -> battery charged around the set SOC
12-12.6V -> battery charged above the set SOC (voltage increases to 14-14.5V when releasing the gas pedal and engine braking)

Regards, Michal

[alexp999]

It seems odd that Ford managed to make Ford secure such high drain when securealert which is basically the same thing on the pre facelift works fine. Hopefully it’s just a software kink they can fix. 

[Wino]

42 minutes ago, ipIV said:

Don't worry about start&stop not working. It has different engine shutdown criteria. Battery SOC is just one of them. When diagnosing the problem, I looked at the SOC of the battery - I took measurements with an electronic battery tester, resistance battery tester and voltage tester. It would be best to measure the density of the electrolyte, but in this battery it is not possible (no access to the electrolyte).
In addition, a good indicator is how much the battery charger was able to recharge the battery.
FordSecure on -> 3-4 days missing 50Ah,
FordSecure disabled -> 2-3 weeks (!) 5-6Ah.

For me, the problem with a discharged battery was solved after turning off FordSecure. I have start&stop turned off all the time, because it only accelerates the wear of the turbocharger, battery and starter.

I did a factory reset to find the cause of the problem.

The factory Focus has a preset battery SOC of 80%, I changed it to 95% (Forscan)
In Fords, you can estimate the SOC of the battery based on the voltage in the electrical system, e.g. a USB charger with a voltmeter - I have it: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393046930148

15.2 - 16V -> battery to be replaced or deeply discharged
14.7-15V -> battery charged below the set SOC (80% by default) or low temperature outside.
14-14.4V -> battery charged around the set SOC
12-12.6V -> battery charged above the set SOC (voltage increases to 14-14.5V when releasing the gas pedal and engine braking)

Regards, Michal

Keep in mind that the reading you get from the voltmeter that is connected internally is around 0.4v below what it would show if you was taking a reading from the battery itself.

[LukeJQuinn]

Yeah Ford Secure is a total drain 100%, been so much better since turning it off. I managed to get Ford Customer Care to admit, that it can cause excess battery drain and it can cause the LEDs to flicker sometimes when the car is off. Not in an email unfortunately. I'll leave it off for now, until I see some software updates addressing the issue. 

Car still working fine after I gave it a quick boost with the charger. So I'm finally happy to put that issue to bed. Still cannot believe it took over 4 months to finally get the car resolved. This is solely down to M53 Ford in my opinion. I've since logged an official complaint with Ford regarding M53 Ford, and been given back £1,200 in finance payments (back-dated to October 2022) (not to mention the payments for the fuel which amounted to around £200)

I'll 100% avoid M53 Ford from now on and have moved the service plan to a Ford garage in Chester. Bit of a drive for me, but I'd rather drive to a garage that know their stuff. 

Finally, car went into the bodyshop yesterday and should have it back tomorrow/Thursday. The hire car Enterprise gave me is utter utter garbage (Grandland X). I now know what Clarkson has been banging on about all these years about Vauxhalls. Honestly awful. (and that isn't me being a snob getting out of the Focus into that, my mums 2018 Fiesta Vignale drives a million times better and it has double the milage of that waste of metal) 

Thanks everyone for sharing your vast knowledge of Fords, I've learnt loads which I'm sure will come in handy in the future. Told me more accurate info than M53 for sure. 

[ipIV]

On 2/21/2023 at 8:44 PM, Wino said:

Keep in mind that the reading you get from the voltmeter that is connected internally is around 0.4v below what it would show if you was taking a reading from the battery itself.

0.4 - yes, but with a greater load on the cigar lighter socket circuit.
Normally it is around 0.1-0.2V



Regards Michal.

[LukeJQuinn]

So this occurred a week today...What are the chances of another ST 4.5 doing this? 

Everyone is telling me to get rid because its become unlucky. But she is going no where. Guy admitted full fault and admitted to me he forgot to apply his handbrake. Had the car back 3 days (after the van hitting it) and then this occurs. Two new doors, new hinges, then a structural inspection to ensure the damage is only limited to the doors. 

I will get to enjoy this car at some point, even if it kills me.