2022 BS BADLANDS ongoing electrical issues

[Vangie]

Help, please: My 2022 BS Badlands is continuing to have electrical problems that prevent me from being able to dispersed camp with it. Vehicle is currently in 2nd dealership for 6th attempt to ID problem and fix.
Primary problem —When camping, with engine off, interior lights ,exterior lights and radio off, NO use of any electrical outlets or spotlights, and fob in a faraday bag ( to stop fob’s Bluetooth signal to vehicle):
the opening/ closing of doors starts a cascade of electrical events: bilateral headlight fans come on for 15-45 minutes at a time ( fans come back on repeatedly if a door is reopened to take out gear); dash panel and/ or navigation panel and or panel lights under nav screen will come on the n a variety of configurations. The max i’ve been able to camp is 36 hours before receiving “emergency sleep mode/ drive the car” message . Most recent event also reset my door’s entry code to factory setting and knocked out radio settings.

Problems that intermittently happen with intown driving : bilaterally fans come on for excessive time; with engine off, while exiting car, radio spontaneously came on; periodic “ put hans on wheel message” while both hands are solidly in place; periodic message of “emergency deep sleep” after call has been in driveway overnight.

Ford factory technicians initially said i was to blame. and should take the battery out of the fob to ID if the fob is the problem. (i use a faraday bag as a safer alternative—with the repeated opening/ closing of doors still setting off the events that negate overlanding use).

Suggestions on how to procede? REALLY like this vehicle and don’t want to invoke CA’s lemon law ( supply chains are still a mess —and finding a replacement vehicle is my last course of action)…

As as a woman in my 60’s , without car repair expertise, any advice would be appreciated.

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[Petroph]

The fans issue is a normal thing. The led headlights & runninglights automatically engage the fans and I would assume are on a timer after the lights are turned off as I can still hear the fans blaring in my garage for 5-10 minutes after exiting the car. So any entry into the vehicle turns on those fans, and fully engages most of the vehicle electronics. Pretty normal for more modern day cars. This could lead to excessive battery usage if the voltage gets too low, when constantly getting into the car, and it hasn't been driven in awhile. Deep sleep indicating low battery voltage. Are you in a colder climate? Batteries tend to lose voltage when in very cold weather. Though if you are camping, I would assume you are not camping in freezing conditions.

As for the hands on steering wheel. This might be indicative of faulty or positioning of hands on the steering wheel when you have full driver assist on with lane centering, that is if your model has the Copilot 360+ Assist.

 

[Vangie]

The fans issue is a normal thing. The led headlights & runninglights automatically engage the fans and I would assume are on a timer after the lights are turned off as I can still hear the fans blaring in my garage for 5-10 minutes after exiting the car. So any entry into the vehicle turns on those fans, and fully engages most of the vehicle electronics. Pretty normal for more modern day cars. This could lead to excessive battery usage if the voltage gets too low, when constantly getting into the car, and it hasn't been driven in awhile. Deep sleep indicating low battery voltage. Are you in a colder climate? Batteries tend to lose voltage when in very cold weather. Though if you are camping, I would assume you are not camping in freezing conditions.

As for the hands on steering wheel. This might be indicative of faulty or positioning of hands on the steering wheel when you have full driver assist on with lane centering, that is if your model has the Copilot 360+ Assist.

Thanks for the response, Petroph!
10 minutes of fans is pretty acceptable— but i’m pretty sure 45 minutes of fans coming on repeatedly when car is dormant and fob is in faraday bag is contributory to the battery drain.

Will check the 360 settings — but the pop-up seems more indicative of electrical malfunctioning that causes multi-system electrical activation and battery drain . I live in San Diego, so ambient temperatures don’t seem to be precipitants to the episodes…

 

[RSH]

Ford factory technicians initially said i was to blame. and should take the battery out of the fob to ID if the fob is the problem. (i use a faraday bag as a safer alternative—with the repeated opening/ closing of doors still setting off the events that negate overlanding use).

As as a woman in my 60’s , without car repair expertise, any advice would be appreciated.

Have you tried using the spare FOB to see if the same issues present themselves?

Was the dealer able to replicate the operational issues that you observed?

What steered you into using a Faraday bag, is this to prevent theft?

 

[Vangie]

RSH, i have tried both fobs— same issues…

My use of a faraday bag was an alternate to what Ohio Ford plant techs suggested to stop the electrical glitching: they said for me to take the battery out of the fob ( to keep it from activating systems in the car): that suggestion was an unacceptable safety risk for me ( remote camping)— so i use the faraday bag to achieve the same ends…

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[RiotfunK]

The headlights do that and will do that each time the vehicle is opened or detects the key. And anytime you open it up everything turns on, screens, lights, fans, etc.
As far as the battery after three days saying to drive. Is also kinda normal. These newer vehicles, constantly pull power. Even when off. Remote start, etc. The batteries are a low CCA and aren’t an AGM battery from the factory. So that’s another issue on the badlands.
I have same vehicle, but with a slew of other issues.

 

[69cuda340s]

Camping for days getting in and out of vehicle yeah the head light fans center screen coming on ect these things do that. If mine sits and I open the door to get something out bronco animation center screen head light fans lights come on ect ect ect. So not good candidate to use as a multi day camper where you open doors frequently.

 

[Vangie]

The headlights do that and will do that each time the vehicle is opened or detects the key. And anytime you open it up everything turns on, screens, lights, fans, etc.
As far as the battery after three days saying to drive. Is also kinda normal. These newer vehicles, constantly pull power. Even when off. Remote start, etc. The batteries are a low CCA and aren’t an AGM battery from the factory. So that’s another issue on the badlands.
I have same vehicle, but with a slew of other issues.

The headlights do that and will do that each time the vehicle is opened or detects the key. And anytime you open it up everything turns on, screens, lights, fans, etc.
As far as the battery after three days saying to drive. Is also kinda normal. These newer vehicles, constantly pull power. Even when off. Remote start, etc. The batteries are a low CCA and aren’t an AGM battery from the factory. So that’s another issue on the badlands.
I have same vehicle, but with a slew of other issues.

thanks for the info…. an AGM battery sounds like a good investment.

Ohio plant Ford tech said that taking the battery out of the fob would prevent the fob from activating all the functions you noted. Putting my fob in a faraday bag normally stops most of the features from activating…. But, while camping, even with the fob in the faradag bag, a cascade of electrical functions start up ( and shouldn’t start without the Bluetooth signal. Why would opening a back door set off 45 minutes of run time for headlight fans?

A battery disconnected switch may be another work around…

how are other folks managing electrical/ batter issues while camping?

 

[Vangie]

Camping for days getting in and out of vehicle yeah the head light fans center screen coming on ect these things do that. If mine sits and I open the door to get something out bronco animation center screen head light fans lights come on ect ect ect. So not good candidate to use as a multi day camper where you open doors frequently.

Thanks for feedback. Wish i could “ camp for days”: with no input from fob( that would start the screens lighting up, etc), no use of interior lights, spotlights , outlets— i can only stay in one place for 24-36 hours before battery goes into emergency mode….

what would cause headlight fans to activate/reactivate for 45 mins at a time after opening a back door (while fob is disabled)?

can anyone out there camp in their BSBL for > 24-36 hours without battery failure?

is anyone using a battery disconnect switch—-and , if so, does it impact initial and extended warranty?
Thanks again for the feedback!
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[Feint]

@Vangie, maybe I'm missing the exact issue you are describing, but from what you've written here, it sounds like you're trying to get the car to do something it wasn't designed to do. The LED headlight coolers will activate whenever you open the car because of the entry lighting that activates when you get into the car. This is as designed to protect the headlights and not a bug. The extensive fan running you're describing could be a problem with a heat sensor in the headlights which should be an easy test by your dealership. I would tell the dealer that, have them test the headlights and if they still don't find the problem, take a video of the headlights running for 45+ minutes, show them, and see if they can replace the headlights under warranty.

Because most modern cars are running convenience features that drain the batteries within a few days, you can't just let a modern car sit for days anymore without the safety features kicking in to help protect the battery. This is true of all modern cars and isn't a bug or "battery failure" as you describe. Old Land Cruisers can sit for a few days without running them because they don't have WIFI, radar, NFC, BLE, startup animations on electronic dashboards, automatic tests of all systems, etc. that all run as you approach or get in the car. Modern cars enable battery protection if you don't run them after a few days. I just went on vacation for three weeks overseas and my BSBL entered battery protection mode after a few days and disabled remote start and other features. As soon as I got back in town, the car started right up. This is normal operation.

If you want to extend the life of your battery, you should look into a second battery along with a power management tool such as devices offered by REDARC. REDARC also sells solar panels which would be a great solution for your power needs while overlanding. If you use a power solution by REDARC, you can run accessories off of a second battery and reserve the stock battery for vehicle operation.

Here's a good article on how to get started: https://www.xoverland.com/overlanding-blog/vehiclebatterymanagement/

I hope this helps.

 

[Fossil]

I would try disabling FordPass and or wifi hot spot

 

[GA greek]

@Vangie, maybe I'm missing the exact issue you are describing, but from what you've written here, it sounds like you're trying to get the car to do something it wasn't designed to do. The LED headlight coolers will activate whenever you open the car because of the entry lighting that activates when you get into the car. This is as designed to protect the headlights and not a bug. The extensive fan running you're describing could be a problem with a heat sensor in the headlights which should be an easy test by your dealership. I would tell the dealer that, have them test the headlights and if they still don't find the problem, take a video of the headlights running for 45+ minutes, show them, and see if they can replace the headlights under warranty.

Because most modern cars are running convenience features that drain the batteries within a few days, you can't just let a modern car sit for days anymore without the safety features kicking in to help protect the battery. This is true of all modern cars and isn't a bug or "battery failure" as you describe. Old Land Cruisers can sit for a few days without running them because they don't have WIFI, radar, NFC, BLE, startup animations on electronic dashboards, automatic tests of all systems, etc. that all run as you approach or get in the car. Modern cars enable battery protection if you don't run them after a few days. I just went on vacation for three weeks overseas and my BSBL entered battery protection mode after a few days and disabled remote start and other features. As soon as I got back in town, the car started right up. This is normal operation.

If you want to extend the life of your battery, you should look into a second battery along with a power management tool such as devices offered by REDARC. REDARC also sells solar panels which would be a great solution for your power needs while overlanding. If you use a power solution by REDARC, you can run accessories off of a second battery and reserve the stock battery for vehicle operation.

Here's a good article on how to get started: https://www.xoverland.com/overlanding-blog/vehiclebatterymanagement/

I hope this helps.

Jon, i am beyond grateful for the tutorial and resources you provided... i am definitely on a learning curve with the complexities of this vehicle. What you shared may be a subsequent step that i take with my BSBL...

If i could request some additional feedback? i don't think i articulated well my overlanding set up and the baseline issue with the vehicle: In attempting to overland, i am a minimalist with what i use while trying to camp. i use NO additional equipment in the vehicle --beyond an iphone that i use while driving (iphone is then powered by a small Jackery). To minimize the electrical draw on the vehicle's battery , i leave my interior lights off, 24-7/ 365 days of the year, turn headlight's control to "off", turn off the radio, never use the hatchback spotlights and have never used any outlet in the car for power (other than iphone while driving). Ford's Ohio plant tech's suggested that i block the communication between my key fob and the vehicle (which activates the features you described above) to see if the issue was overactivation of the vehicle (due to fob's proximity to the car). Instead of removing the battery from the fob ( as he suggested), i constantly put the fob in a faraday bag (blocking the signal yet maintaining the ability to quickly turn on the car in an emergency). Daily use of the faraday bag normally results in the systems remaining off while i open/ close doors. Something different happens when i try to set up camp: In opening/ closing doors with more frequency(particularly the rear doors), the headlight fans come on. The headlights don't come on with the fans--- just the fans --and the fans will run for up to 45 minutes. Fans will eventually stop ---but will reactivate and run for another 20-45 minutes with subsequent door opening. After the initial event of the fans coming on, other systems start to fire up --(fob still in faraday bag)--e.g. just the navigation screen, just the control panel, just the control button below the nav screen). The result is that i i receive the "emergency sleep mode" popup. i have never been able to camp in my vehicle for greater than 24 hours.

i'm on my second battery : after having the vehicle x3 months and having problems with auto stop-start/"engine not charging" messages, i asked ford the check the battery before i went overlanding. They gave the battery a "beyond good" thumbs up. Within 12 hours of getting to the campsite, "emergency sleep mode" came on. The next day, Ford identified that the battery was bad and that a new battery would end the problems. (40% dead cells.).... Problems continue, even with the faraday bag in place.

My BSBL is currently at the Ford service dept and will be addressed tomorrow by the lead tech. i'm still looking at the potential of grounding/ chip/ fuse as an underlying issue. i am in way over my head to know how to resolve this or even what to ask. Any thoughts on what to ask them assess? i am grateful for the time you've already put into helping me... and sure would appreciate any additional suggestions.

with gratitude. ?

 

[GA greek]

I would try disabling FordPass and or wifi hot spot

I would try disabling FordPass and or wifi hot spot

Thank you, Ernie... i am looking for strategies to turn off electrical use in the vehicle any way that i can... Will add your suggestions to the list.

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[Mark S.]

If you want to continue overlanding until Ford comes up with a permanent fix you can simply disconnect your battery once at base camp. You can still lock/unlock the car using the passive key in the fob.

 

[Vangie]

If you want to continue overlanding until Ford comes up with a permanent fix you can simply disconnect your battery once at base camp. You can still lock/unlock the car using the passive key in the fob.

Thank you , Mark! Am considering a battery kill switch— but didn’t know how that would dovetail with being able to lick the car at night for safety…
A key would sure keep things basic.??
thanks again! ??

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