1 hour ago, unofix said:

Seems likely the car never fully entered sleep mode, possibly a door not fully closed or the infotainment system not completely switching off.

Just a thought, and don't know if this would apply to the later MHEV Fiesta, but I have found it is possible to get out of the car and lock the door with the ignition still on.

I did this in the first few days with my present car - parked up in a hurry while busy nattering with the Mrs, locked the door and walked off. Came back some hours later to find the car still "live".

What had happened was the stop/start had shut down the engine** as soon as I stopped and I hadn't switched off by pressing the button as I was distracted. I must also have ignored the warning chime - probably assuming it was just "door open" as I was new to the car.

If I'd left the car in that state overnight no doubt the battery would have been pretty flat.

Lesson learned, though I normally disable start/stop automatically when I get in anyway. 

 

** A rare instance of it actually working!😀

4 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

What had happened was the stop/start had shut down the engine** as soon as I stopped and I hadn't switched off by pressing the button as I was distracted. I must also have ignored the warning chime - probably assuming it was just "door open" as I was new to the car.

If I'd left the car in that state overnight no doubt the battery would have been pretty flat.

Lesson learned, though I normally disable start/stop automatically when I get in anyway. 

Well that is an interesting situation and one that in theory should be impossible, but I did say in theory. What is supposed to happen if the engine is shut down by the Stop/Start system and is not running at the time you come to leave the car is: Undoing the drivers seat belt causes the engine to restart. Failing that, the next one is opening the drivers door will cause the engine to restart. Seems like both those 'wake up' actions have failed to bring your car out of 'suspended animation'. Potentially a serious situation if while the car was empty the engine then decided to start.

30 minutes ago, unofix said:

Well that is an interesting situation and one that in theory should be impossible, but I did say in theory.

Yes indeed - seemed very weird to me at the time. Must have been a strange combination of factors and the sequence in which they occurred - I may have undone my belt and cracked the door open, fractionally before the engine stopped, I guess. The only thing that looked odd from outside on returning to the car was that the mirrors were not folded (I normally have autofold activated) and the puddle lights were on. 

I've never tried to replicate the event (I'd almost forgotten about it until looking at this thread) but, my curiosity having now been aroused, I may have a go next time I do a decent run (so start/stop will operate if it's switched on) and report my findings.

 

On 7/1/2022 at 6:08 PM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

I've never tried to replicate the event (I'd almost forgotten about it until looking at this thread) but, my curiosity having now been aroused, I may have a go next time I do a decent run (so start/stop will operate if it's switched on) and report my findings.

@unofix- out of curiosity I carried out a controlled experiment this morning, with start/stop enabled and after a 70 mile run to ensure it would operate. Parked with engine running and slipped car into neutral, lifted clutch, start/stop kicked in immediately. Unbuckled seat belt, nothing happened. Opened the drivers door and got out, plenty of visual and audible warnings, locked door. 

As before, sync screen and instrument display stayed live, aircon blower was operating and mirrors didn't fold and puddle lights stayed on. Daren't leave it for too long as I'm up the Dales at our caravan without my trusty battery charger at present.😀

Goodness knows how/why I ignored the warnings previously, probably because I was new to that particular car and it's many irritating foibles, like the warning that your seatbelt is fastened. 

According to the handbook though, the warnings are all you get if you open the door after start/stop has operated:

 

Auto-Start-Stop Warning

Sounds when you open the driver door and the system has stopped the engine.

3 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Goodness knows how/why I ignored the warnings previously, probably because I was new to that particular car and it's many irritating foibles, like the warning that your seatbelt is fastened. 

I still get flashbacks hearing that 'dodaloo, dodaloo, dodaloo' when anyone gets out of a modern Ford on a TV program.   Wish they'd make a new sound effect for them.   

34 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

modern Ford

It did occur to me that if they'd stuck with a key with a blade, the circumstances I describe couldn't happen anyway. You had to turn the key back to the fully off position to remove it. 

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

As before, sync screen and instrument display stayed live, aircon blower was operating and mirrors didn't fold and puddle lights stayed on. Daren't leave it for too long as I'm up the Dales at our caravan without my trusty battery charger at present

Well now that is an interesting bit of information. I will have to this a try myself and see what my car makes of it. The problem with mine maybe it being automatic it won't allow me to leave the drivers seat without the car putting itself in Park.

With the DSG I could leave that in Drive with autohold active, stop start active (engine off) and release brake pedal.  Clutches were fully disengaged and it wouldn't restart until throttle was pressed.  No idea what would happen if you tried to open the door like that though!  (I'm not suggesting that's safe either lol!!)

My Car was locked with ignition off and the wing mirrors folded which if i had left the ignition on mirrors wont fold when locking doors. Have been monitoring the car this week all working fine.

On 6/30/2022 at 7:31 PM, unofix said:

Sounds like you have a parasitic current draw. They can be a nightmare to track down and then when you do find the cause they can sometimes be costly to fix.

Unless you fancy tackling this yourself, you need to find a good Auto Electrician, or an Electrical Technician to find the fault.

If it takes two or three days before the battery is run down to the point it won't start then the drain is not massive. You need to first establish what the quiescent current is when the car is locked up and been standing for at least 30 minutes.

Update on battery drainage, I've taken it to a garage, bluetooth got a mention which would make sense as I've never been able to connect my phone, apparently that's a common cause of drainage, but who knows, I'll hopefully find out on monday, just hope it's not too expensive.  I am looking forward to having a car that is able to start after a few days of being idle.

I don't have a charger so can any one tell me how  long a drive  u need to fully charge a battery.? I've never had any trouble with my car up to now , but im going away for a 3week holiday soon and don't want come back and find  the battery dead.

5 minutes ago, aot871 said:

I don't have a charger so can any one tell me how  long a drive  u need to fully charge a battery.? I've never had any trouble with my car up to now , but im going away for a 3week holiday soon and don't want come back and find  the battery dead.

With a modern Ford you can NEVER fully charge the battery by just going on a drive. The best you will get is a State Of Charge (SOC) of 80% because that is what the charging system is set to on the car in order for it to get past the emissions type approval.

If you want to be sure of the battery not going flat in 3 weeks then the only answer is disconnect the negative lead from the battery and use the manual metal key blade to lock the drivers door.

9 hours ago, unofix said:

With a modern Ford you can NEVER fully charge the battery by just going on a drive. The best you will get is a State Of Charge (SOC) of 80% because that is what the charging system is set to on the car in order for it to get past the emissions type approval.

If you want to be sure of the battery not going flat in 3 weeks then the only answer is disconnect the negative lead from the battery and use the manual metal key blade to lock the drivers door.

Can any one recommend  a jump start power pack,  just in case it's ever needed ?The one I have looked at is a halfords  6 in 1

Edited July 23, 20223 yr by aot871
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4 minutes ago, aot871 said:

Can any one recommend  a jump start power pack,  just in case it's ever needed ?

I've got a NOCO GB40 which I've jumped a 2.0 TDI and 1.6 TDCI with no trouble at all.  You may be able to get away with a less powerful version for the 1.0 EcoBoost.

Personally, I wouldn't disconnect the battery - that will leave the alarm disabled and if the car got vandalised or broken into, the insurance may not pay out.  Best you can do is go for a long drive immediately before leaving.  Once home, lock the car once and don't touch it again.  (Don't keep locking/unlocking and opening doors etc.)

5 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Personally, I wouldn't disconnect the battery - that will leave the alarm disabled

That is very true, but also a little difficult to start without the battery. Also not forgetting once the battery is flat the alarm system won't work anyhow. The immobiliser which is the main security defense will protect the car with or without the battery being connected.

3 minutes ago, unofix said:

That is very true, but also a little difficult to start without the battery. Also not forgetting once the battery is flat the alarm system won't work anyhow. The immobiliser which is the main security defense will protect the car with or without the battery being connected.

I never mentioned starting.   A lot of damage can be done without the car ever being moved. 

There are many, many Ford owners with exactly the same problem that you are experiencing. I drive an eco boost Fiesta which was doing exactly the same as yours. The solution is very simple: turn off the interior light and keep it off.
See the Honest John website and his experience with battery drain.

If you charge your battery, you then MUST reset the battery charge monitoring sensor. Go to website, Dan’s Diagnostics, for an excellent video on how to do this. HOPE THIS HELPS 😎

Ford Fiesta Active, problem with battery drain.  AA checked all electrics, then noticed Infotainment screen was not switching off but on standby this was probably cause of battery drain.  Solution is to check it soon off, edge of screen is slightly illuminated when on standby, press starter button then turn it off again.

Having the exact same issue! 

Wife is terrified to drive it - we broke down in the middle of the motorway the other night.

I did notice after the first time that the radio seemed to still be going even when I turned the ignition off? I put it into standby myself.

 

I have a similar problem with my 2017 Fiesta Titanium 1.0 EcoBoost. The first time that I noticed this was when I got a message on my screen when I first got into my car.saying something like. "To save battery, switch off ignition or start the engine." My local Ford garage said that my battery was likely to be on it`s way out. So I fitted a new battery. no more messages. Then one time I parked the car round the back off the house and after about 5 days of no use, I started getting the same message again. Went on holiday and left the  car at the airport for 10 days without a problem. Beggining of Sept I again parked the car at the back of the house and did not use it for 10 days, battery was totally flat, 4.8v. Took it to Fords, battery checks all ok, no passive drain. Took it to a local garage and again battery checks out ok. Drain on battery 0.02 amps. Fully charged my battery on Wednesday. thurs 12.7, Fri 12.5. today 12.4.

I have the local Police Station just behind the house with a ***** great mast, could this be the cause of my problem as it is keeping the car "awake"

You have a 2017 car, it's totally normal for the battery to run down if it's not used regular. You need to charge the battery every few months with a smart charger.

Unofix. I can`t believe that to lose 30% of my batteries charge in three days can be classed as normal. Today it was 12.3.

5 hours ago, Eddieshotton said:

Unofix. I can`t believe that to lose 30% of my batteries charge in three days can be classed as normal. Today it was 12.3.

Believe it or not, it's true.

Firstly your car's charging system is programmed by Ford only to charge the battery to a maximum of 80% which is 12.42V

If you use a battery charger and fully charge the battery to 100% (12.60+V) then the vehicle will make zero attempt to put any charge in to the battery until the state of charge falls below 80%

Just search this forum for "State Of Charge" there are hundreds of people with the same concern.

 

It depends on the battery type, age, temperature and a hole hose of other parameters as to when ford start to charge the battery mine is fully charged at  around 12.8v and is actively charging at 12.6v. This is why it is imperative that the battery is correctly programmed to the car and battery stats are reset at every battery change. It will continuously charge at below 80% charge then between 80-100% it will only charge whenever the car is moving in gear with the foot off the throttle. the system works well and increases mpg and reduces emissions.

Lol, a few years ago, I would have doubted it but after almost 7 years experience with a Mk 8 and a Mk 8.5, Fiesta now: