Battery Keeps Being Killed Overnight, Ford Mechs are Stumped??

[KingofMandalore]

Hey y'all,

I have a 2021 Bronco sport Badlands. Recently within the last month it's began giving me an issue where I'll park the car at night and when I come out to start it the next day it's deader than hell. The first time this happened, I jumped it with my girlfriends Kia and then drove it around for about an hour to charge the batteries. I then parked it, left it sit for 2 days, came back out and again it was dead, same as the first time. And when I say dead I mean like dead dead: the lights wouldn't come on, power locks didn't work, nothing. The Ford Pass app was saying it's in Deep Sleep mode, which is when it gets below 9.5 volts according to Ford's site. This second time I tried to jump it with her car again, but this time it just began setting off the security system. It wouldn't recognize my key for the life of me, the main key nor the spare one. I unplugged the horn cause it was annoying and I then attempted to do the emergency start by placing the key in the center console. That didn't work either. Still gave me the "No Key Detected" message. So I called the Ford Assistance line and they said it'd have to be towed into the dealer.

The electrical techs looked it over there, it's been there for 2 weeks so far. They said the key issue was because the transceiver apparently went bad, even though I haven't had any issues with the key up to this point and the car only has 12,900 miles on it. They also said that because I have a Progressive Snapshot plugin in the OBDII port, they suspect that's what's been killing it - only problem with that logic is I've had that thing in there since early March and have never had issues with it, the battery issues appeared in late April.

The dealer then said they charged the battery to a full charge and unplugged the snapshot device. It hasn't been having any issues when they'd go to start it or what not, so seemed like everything was good, they were just waiting for the transceiver to come in. Well yesterday I got a notification from the Ford Pass app saying the car went into Deep Sleep Mode again because the battery level was critically low. So as I suspected it didn't have anything to do with the snapshot being plugged in.

Is there anyone that has experienced this or might have any idea what might be causing this? The folks at Ford are clueless and I don't know enough about these new cars to know where the root of the issue could be besides basic things like the lights being left on or something like that.

**It's worth noting right before this started happening, I went in and updated the SYNC system. It was weird because I idled the car like it suggested, and at first the download was going SUPER SLOW. But then after probably 20-25 minutes the status went from about 1/5 of the way downloading the update to update completed all at once. I don't know if this is related, but for the purpose of being thorough I will mention it because maybe something's going on with that update, i.e. 1) it didn't download/install properly/at all or 2)it's buggy and not allowing things to shut off properly or 3)It didn't actually complete the update and the vehicle is still trying to download it while the car is turned off. I mentioned this to them but they said they doubt that's the issue.

Thank you for your help, sorry for writing out a book but just wanted to cover all the bases!

-Dan

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[Tall Timbers]

I recently had a similar problem with my 2017 Esape. Different year and model, but same problem from same manufacturer and probably has similar electronics.

When the car first wouldn't start, I towed it to the dealer. Quicklane said the negative battery terminal was loose. It worked for two days after that but then wouldn't start. I made an appointment to take it in and went out and bought a jump starter...

Though I had charged the battery overnight I had to jump start it to get it to the dealer. Their service department could not find a problem. The Tech apparently followed a checklist for trouble shooting electrical problems by loosening and then tightening everything between the battery and starter and examining any/all related fuses. While they didn't find anything it is working fine now. The Tech may have fixed the problem without realizing it. I've been driving it for about two weeks with no issues so I guess I got lucky. They had my vehicle for about three weeks before I got it back.

I'm thinking Ford and probably others need better ways to troubleshoot and find electrical issues. When a $40K vehicle can be waylaid by a loose connection or maybe a cracked fuse (that works intermittently) that they can't locate... that's pretty bad.

If you have more than one dealer in the area, I'd try taking it to another dealer for a go at it. Some Techs are better than others at diagnosing electrical issues.

 

[fastlax16]

Dumb question but have you/Ford actually replaced the car's battery? Don't see that mentioned anywhere. They do sometimes go bad prematurely. VW had a recall on batteries a few years back for this problem.

Not going to be helpful but my dad had a similar issue on an Audi TT about 20 years ago. Battery kept dying overnight. They replaced a bunch of electrical systems and none fixed the issue. Then he mentioned that it only seemed to die when he didn't manually turn the radio off (it shutoff with the ignition). Sure enough, replaced the head unit and problem was solved. Point being, anything that draws power can fail and cause this sort of issue. Long shot but try unplugging USB cords, turning things off before you turn the car off, etc and see if any make a difference.

 

[13MikeH]

my son has a dodge avenger which does the same thing. We replaced the battery, we checked fuses etc. The one thing which seemed to help long term (so far) was cleaning and tightening the ground cable attached to the frame. I'd say Tall Timbers is spot on...just have to start at the battery/alternator and work through every connection. At some point, something isn't completing a viable flow.

 

[KingofMandalore]

Dumb question but have you/Ford actually replaced the car's battery? Don't see that mentioned anywhere. They do sometimes go bad prematurely. VW had a recall on batteries a few years back for this problem.

Not going to be helpful but my dad had a similar issue on an Audi TT about 20 years ago. Battery kept dying overnight. They replaced a bunch of electrical systems and none fixed the issue. Then he mentioned that it only seemed to die when he didn't manually turn the radio off (it shutoff with the ignition). Sure enough, replaced the head unit and problem was solved. Point being, anything that draws power can fail and cause this sort of issue. Long shot but try unplugging USB cords, turning things off before you turn the car off, etc and see if any make a difference.

I gotcha dude, that's something I'll look into doing when I get it back. I unplugged all the cords in the cigarette and usb outlets but I can give shutting the radio screen off a shot. I don't know if the unit itself turns all the way off or not, honestly never tried.

And no the battery hasn't been replaced, it's only a little over a year old but I guess anything's possible. Terminals on it were snug and they weren't corroded cause I put that red anti corrosion stuff on there about every 3 months. I don't know if they tested it or not when they charged it, I'll have to ask them. Thanks for your reply

 

[KingofMandalore]

my son has a dodge avenger which does the same thing. We replaced the battery, we checked fuses etc. The one thing which seemed to help long term (so far) was cleaning and tightening the ground cable attached to the frame. I'd say Tall Timbers is spot on...just have to start at the battery/alternator and work through every connection. At some point, something isn't completing a viable flow.

So what you're thinking is the current isn't getting all the way back to the battery? I guess it's possible, but wouldn't that be pretty evident even a few hours after driving it if so? Like if it doesn't have enough juice to start, it's gonna not start the very next 1 or 2 times you go to start it? It wouldn't take days for it to turn into a no start situation would it? They mentioned it started fine a few hours after and the battery didn't deplete itself til Sunday which was 2 days after it had been running. I'm gonna have to put a meter on it and see what the voltage is an hour or 2 after I shut it off and if it's consistently being drawn down over time or not.

 

[fastlax16]

I gotcha dude, that's something I'll look into doing when I get it back. I unplugged all the cords in the cigarette and usb outlets but I can give shutting the radio screen off a shot. I don't know if the unit itself turns all the way off or not, honestly never tried.

And no the battery hasn't been replaced, it's only a little over a year old but I guess anything's possible. Terminals on it were snug and they weren't corroded cause I put that red anti corrosion stuff on there about every 3 months. I don't know if they tested it or not when they charged it, I'll have to ask them. Thanks for your reply

I'm surprised the dealer hasn't put a new battery in just to rule it out, especially if they're at a point where they're stumped. Like I said, it's not common but also not unheard of for them to die prematurely. Doesn't get much easier than swapping in a different battery and seeing if the car still dies.

Do you park the car outside overnight or is it garage kept?

 

[13MikeH]

So what you're thinking is the current isn't getting all the way back to the battery? I guess it's possible, but wouldn't that be pretty evident even a few hours after driving it if so? Like if it doesn't have enough juice to start, it's gonna not start the very next 1 or 2 times you go to start it? It wouldn't take days for it to turn into a no start situation would it? They mentioned it started fine a few hours after and the battery didn't deplete itself til Sunday which was 2 days after it had been running. I'm gonna have to put a meter on it and see what the voltage is an hour or 2 after I shut it off and if it's consistently being drawn down over time or not.

Using my son's situation, it would sometimes take weeks for it to deplete. If the ground was making contact the circuit was compete. Best we could guess if he hit a bump, the contact was broken. Hit another bump and it may reconnect. We actually started there, disconnected the ground from the firewall. I used a post cleaner on the bolt, scoured the o-ring connection, tightened it back up and sprayed some moisture sealer. Did the trick and haven't had issues since.
His car...could be totally different scenarios. That's one view, as mentioned earlier doesn't hurt to replace the battery like fastlax mentioned. Then start working back through the systems it's clearly electrical...

 

[Deleted member 6599]

I upgraded to an AGM battery and wrapped a heat shield around it. Fixed the issues I was having.

 

[KingofMandalore]

I'm surprised the dealer hasn't put a new battery in just to rule it out, especially if they're at a point where they're stumped. Like I said, it's not common but also not unheard of for them to die prematurely. Doesn't get much easier than swapping in a different battery and seeing if the car still dies.

Do you park the car outside overnight or is it garage kept?

It's parked outside every night, and yeah, I just stopped over there today cause I was picking up a loaner from them in the mean time. They said they wanted to get the transceiver in first and then it sounded like they were gonna go step by step through the electrical next to see what else they can rule out after that. I think it's definitely logical that it could just be a bad battery. We'll see what happens, I'm interested to find out for sure.

 

[KingofMandalore]

Using my son's situation, it would sometimes take weeks for it to deplete. If the ground was making contact the circuit was compete. Best we could guess if he hit a bump, the contact was broken. Hit another bump and it may reconnect. We actually started there, disconnected the ground from the firewall. I used a post cleaner on the bolt, scoured the o-ring connection, tightened it back up and sprayed some moisture sealer. Did the trick and haven't had issues since.
His car...could be totally different scenarios. That's one view, as mentioned earlier doesn't hurt to replace the battery like fastlax mentioned. Then start working back through the systems it's clearly electrical...

Oh okay I gotcha brother, I appreciate your help, I'll be sure to mention that as a possibility to them next time I get an update on the car. Sorry, electrical stuff is far from my area of expertise lol, so I try to ask questions to get a better understanding of it all. I have a 2007 international semi truck too and it can be a pain tracing all those wires to make sure you've got good electrical continuity. That being said, I'm sure this is more of a pain cause there's very little room in these engine bays and underneath to see all that lol, and to make matters worse, I just broke 5 vertebrae in my back April 1st, so getting underneath it ain't an option for me right now. Talk about crap rolling downhill lol. But I'm optimistic to get to the bottom of this one.

 

[KingofMandalore]

I upgraded to an AGM battery and wrapped a heat shield around it. Fixed the issues I was having.

This might be something worth doing, can I ask what type of issues you were having with yours?

 

[Leeford]

does the auto stop start work after getting a boost and running it around to get a charge?

 

[KingofMandalore]

does the auto stop start work after getting a boost and running it around to get a charge?

I'm not too sure. I normally drive without that function on cause I don't care for it.

 

[Petroph]

Another question is the type of climate you are in. If its cold all the time, I notice my F150, which sits outside also goes into a sleep mode because of low voltage. Granted, I do have a dashcam also wired into the battery which ahs a voltage cutoff. But, never goes into a sleep mode in Summer time.

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