Long time no see fellow FOCers! (I'll get me coat). I've been trying to figure out a parasitic battery drain on a Ford Kuga (diesel). Initially the key fob battery seemed like it had gone flat, but it was actually the main vehicle battery, out of the blue.

Old Ford branded battery, likely the original, so was replaced. This new battery then went flat within a day. The car was taken to an auto-electrician for diagnosis, the "radio" was deemed at fault, and returned as-is. No keyless entry, just keyless start. We have since reset the radio back to factory settings.

The doors all appear to shut properly, and this is reflected on Forscan, including the bonnet latch (although a lot of dried grease round it, so it may have been sticking previously?). Removing the radio fuse (F79) which says it also runs the screen? stops the radio working, but the screen still functions with door opening and ignition, and car still appears to have a 300mA draw. The only codes on Forscan were "U" communication codes, presumably related to the low battery. Cleared those and none immediately came back except for the radio (whos fuse is out).

One thing I noticed was that the speedo / tach needles flicked a couple of times from 0mph, to under, back to 0mph, then sat at 0mph with ignition off, and car locked. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to see if they flicked back to below 0. Presumably 0mph is not the resting point for the needles with the car off?

Does anyone know about any well known issues with the 2016~ Kugas? I know there were issues with the bluetooth module on the older Fords, circa 2010, and also issues possibly related to the parking system, are these still an issue?

Try updating the software in the radio (ACM) Sync module or screen (APIM or HDLF) and the BCM

If that doesn't cure it and you're still draining, source a replacement ACM (radio) of EXACTLY the same part number (last letter can be higher, not lower)

Thanks Dave, can this update be done via Forscan? I don't have access to IDS. I forgot to mention that the BMS had not been reset by the RAC, showing 2500~ days of battery lifespan, so I reset this in Forscan. A bit of further research shows that there may be a revised software version for the IC to solve an intermittent high current draw (with IC going to sleep, waking, then sleeping, then waking), which doesn't seem to match the current readings here.

I haven't heard that the battery has gone flat in the past couple of days, and the car has been used. If it continues to be solved, I'll get the alarm isolated, doors open and latched, bonnet switch bypassed, and run another draw test and let the car go to sleep for about an hour with the radio fuse in, and hopefully it's fixed!, not that I don't like knowing what caused the fault in the first place.

 

Edit: Update as of 3/5/24: Resetting the radio (and the bluetooth settings) fixed it. No issues since. Whether the BMS not being reset had anything to do with it, I don't know.