Electrical Battery problems blank screen

[Mark S.]

These cars are vampires, sucking battery power for all the live sensors, Wi-Fi and such.

Or, you simply have a bad battery.

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[sajohnson]

Checking to see if you received my information? Thanks!

Did you ever hear back from Ford?

 

[sajohnson]

And now, this has happened to me..."System Off to Save Battery."
Only 300 miles on my new car. Usually, I keep it on a battery maintainer. Last week, being lazy, I didn't connect it.
It's been 5 days since I last drove it. Before that, it had a full charge, or as full as the battery maintainer provided.
These cars are vampires, sucking battery power for all the live sensors, Wi-Fi and such.
Last week I noticed something strange. After the center screen finished its bootup, the screen went black before coming back on to my home screen.
Whenever I get out of my car, I am in the habit of turning off the radio, HVAC set to manual or off. Now I'm going to disable Android Auto. I have no need for it presently. That's one less power draw via USB.
I haven't made an appt. at my local dealer yet. I'll give it one more chance.
In the meantime, I think I'll keep my portable jumper battery in my car, and be more rigorous (not so lazy), on connecting the battery maintainer.

Thanks for the reminder RushMan.

I had disconnected the Battery Tender (BT) a few days ago, after the battery was charged, so I could check the discharge rate. Then of course I forgot.

The voltage is 12.57V -- that's not too low, but it's a big drop (from 12.72V) in just 4 days.

Needless to say, I reconnected the BT.

Perhaps Ford should install an aux battery for the electronics and spare the starting battery. Or, power most of that stuff down when the engine is turned off.

Something to consider is that -- in addition to it being absolutely ridiculous to have to use a BT on a new car -- many people cannot do so. If they live in an apartment, condo, etc., they're out of luck. Even if they live in a single family home, there may be concerns about extension cords being a tripping hazard for older drivers.

It really should not be necessary.

 

[RushMan]

Thanks for the reminder RushMan.

I had disconnected the Battery Tender (BT) a few days ago, after the battery was charged, so I could check the discharge rate. Then of course I forgot.

The voltage is 12.57V -- that's not too low, but it's a big drop (from 12.72V) in just 4 days.

Needless to say, I reconnected the BT.

Perhaps Ford should install an aux battery for the electronics and spare the starting battery. Or, power most of that stuff down when the engine is turned off.

Something to consider is that -- in addition to it being absolutely ridiculous to have to use a BT on a new car -- many people cannot do so. If they live in an apartment, condo, etc., they're out of luck. Even if they live in a single family home, there may be concerns about extension cords being a tripping hazard for older drivers.

It really should not be necessary.

The battery tender showed full charge, solid green LED after only an hour.
I'm wondering if , beside voltage level, SOC, the BMS puts the car into Sleep mode after not being started for a few days.
Edit: Another thought. I don't think the battery was low since Auto Stop-Start was working.

 

[Texasjlh]

Checking to see if you received my

It appears that others are having the same issue. I did hear back from Ford & they said I can set up another appointment at same dealership to follow up on this issue. I don’t really feel comfortable living my car at the same shop - after the way it was handled before. My Bronco is running & have not had blank screen again. The automatic start stop has not worked since leaving the shop. Hope that you find a fix soon. Seeing several post about placing on battery charger ?- Not something that I want to do & I drive my bronco daily.

 

[Dude]

I'm wondering if , beside voltage level, SOC, the BMS puts the car into Sleep mode after not being started for a few days.

Here are two articles, #1 states 9.5 volts, #2 states charge of 40% or below may enter Deep Sleep mode.

Vehicle inactivity for 14 consecutive days is mentioned…

These articles provide some clues to the BMS behavior.

1. Why does my Ford vehicle enter Deep Sleep mode?
https://www.ford.com/support/how-tos/fordpass/troubleshooting/why-does-my-ford-vehicle-enter-deep-sleep-mode/

Deep Sleep mode is designed to conserve battery power on your vehicle. This setting is activated when your vehicle falls under the following conditions:

Vehicle inactivity for 14 consecutive days
The battery voltage drops below 9.5 volts
Extremely cold/hot weather conditions

2. Why does my Ford vehicle enter Deep Sleep mode? (Note that this article is Ford Australia)
https://www.ford.com.au/support/how-tos/fordpass/troubleshooting/why-does-my-ford-vehicle-enter-deep-sleep-mode

More info on this topic is Post #19 at https://www.broncosportforum.com/forum/threads/2021-ford-bronco-sport-issue-spurs-nhtsa-investigation-battery-failures.10562/page-2

 

[sajohnson]

It appears that others are having the same issue. I did hear back from Ford & they said I can set up another appointment at same dealership to follow up on this issue. I don’t really feel comfortable living my car at the same shop - after the way it was handled before. My Bronco is running & have not had blank screen again. The automatic start stop has not worked since leaving the shop. Hope that you find a fix soon. Seeing several post about placing on battery charger ?- Not something that I want to do & I drive my bronco daily.

If you drive more than a few miles daily, you should not need a BT -- esp with auto start/stop off.

 

[sajohnson]

Here are two articles, #1 states 9.5 volts, #2 states charge of 40% or below may enter Deep Sleep mode.

Vehicle inactivity for 14 consecutive days is mentioned…

These articles provide some clues to the BMS behavior.

1. Why does my Ford vehicle enter Deep Sleep mode?
https://www.ford.com/support/how-tos/fordpass/troubleshooting/why-does-my-ford-vehicle-enter-deep-sleep-mode/

Deep Sleep mode is designed to conserve battery power on your vehicle. This setting is activated when your vehicle falls under the following conditions:

Vehicle inactivity for 14 consecutive days
The battery voltage drops below 9.5 volts
Extremely cold/hot weather conditions

2. Why does my Ford vehicle enter Deep Sleep mode? (Note that this article is Ford Australia)
https://www.ford.com.au/support/how-tos/fordpass/troubleshooting/why-does-my-ford-vehicle-enter-deep-sleep-mode

More info on this topic is Post #19 at https://www.broncosportforum.com/forum/threads/2021-ford-bronco-sport-issue-spurs-nhtsa-investigation-battery-failures.10562/page-2

One thing's for sure -- if the battery voltage is below 9.5V it is completely dead, and likely damaged. Here's a chart. They vary some. Others have 12.7V as 100% SOC:

The battery in a car that has been recently driven a reasonable distance (or the battery otherwise charged) should remain above ~12.6V for several days. The 7 year old battery in my 2002 WRX does.

 

[sajohnson]

Here are two articles, #1 states 9.5 volts, #2 states charge of 40% or below may enter Deep Sleep mode.

Vehicle inactivity for 14 consecutive days is mentioned…

These articles provide some clues to the BMS behavior.

1. Why does my Ford vehicle enter Deep Sleep mode?
https://www.ford.com/support/how-tos/fordpass/troubleshooting/why-does-my-ford-vehicle-enter-deep-sleep-mode/

Deep Sleep mode is designed to conserve battery power on your vehicle. This setting is activated when your vehicle falls under the following conditions:

Vehicle inactivity for 14 consecutive days
The battery voltage drops below 9.5 volts
Extremely cold/hot weather conditions

2. Why does my Ford vehicle enter Deep Sleep mode? (Note that this article is Ford Australia)
https://www.ford.com.au/support/how-tos/fordpass/troubleshooting/why-does-my-ford-vehicle-enter-deep-sleep-mode

More info on this topic is Post #19 at https://www.broncosportforum.com/forum/threads/2021-ford-bronco-sport-issue-spurs-nhtsa-investigation-battery-failures.10562/page-2

From #2: (Australia):

"Opening your vehicle doors resets the 14-day counter, but does not remove your vehicle from Deep Sleep mode.
A vehicle battery with a charge of 40% or below may cause a vehicle to enter Deep Sleep mode.
Starting your connected vehicle manually with the key, is the only way to exit Deep Sleep mode."

40% SOC is low, but a LOT better than 9.5 volts!

 

[sajohnson]

The battery tender showed full charge, solud green LED after only an hour.
I'm wondering if , beside voltage level, SOC, the BMS puts the car into Sleep mode after not being started for a few days.

Typically, unless a battery is significantly discharged, the BT will indicate it's fully charged (solid green LED) pretty quickly -- often within a few minutes.

That can be a bad thing -- sulfated batteries will often get to full charge quickly, but have diminished capacity.

I'm not sure about when "Sleep Mode" is activated. If "Deep Sleep" is 14 days, maybe Sleep Mode is just a few days?

I just searched the manual for "Sleep Mode" and found nothing. The only thing close is:

"

.

 

[Dude]

One thing's for sure -- if the battery voltage is below 9.5V it is completely dead, and likely damaged. Here's a chart. They vary some. Others have 12.7V as 100% SOC:

The battery in a car that has been recently driven a reasonable distance (or the battery otherwise charged) should remain above ~12.6V for several days. The 7 year old battery in my 2002 WRX does.

I agree the 9.5V in Ford’s article seems unrealistic

As far as remaining above ~12.6V, one of these days I’ll do the calculation using the battery Reserve Capacity Spec. The Bronco Sport AGM and EFB are both rated at a Reserve Capacity of 120 minutes. That is a separate spec from Cold Cranking Amps.

Reserve Capacity definition: “a time measurement in minutes for long a fully-charged battery can deliver 25 amps of current in an 80°F environment, before the battery is discharged down to 10.5 volts.”

Using the “average” parasitic current draw for Bronco Sports I can do a calculation. I do not know the average so I’ll need to measure mine in a steady state condition after things settle down but I suspect is between 50 to 100 milliamperes (0.05 to 0.10 Amps per hour) but might be much higher given the number of Bronco Sports we’ve all seen posts on that seem to drain pretty quickly but then probably aren’t kept anywhere close to a fully charged state (and probably not at 80°F in the winter). Maybe they are on average in 60% charge state or less and the 120 minutes of Reserve Capacity is going to drain down fairly quickly but should still be well over 7 days before reaching 10.5 volts.

The Bronco Sport does wake up many times in a 24 hour period for various “housekeeping” tasks which adds to current drain. There is a video where someone instrumented their vehicle to demonstrate that.

Let’s assume the 40% SOC is accurate to enter deep sleep mode (AGM: 11.95V, EFB: 11.90V), it’s not going to be too many days from say a 60% charged battery but I’ll do the calculation once I know a good number for parasitic current draw.

And I’ll bet you $1 your 2002 WRX has a lower parasitic current draw than your Bronco Sport. Both vehicles might have the same 120 minute Reserve Capacity Spec but you can look up the spec for your 2002 WRX battery.

 

[RushMan]

Typically, unless a battery is significantly discharged, the BT will indicate it's fully charged (solid green LED) pretty quickly -- often within a few minutes.

That can be a bad thing -- sulfated batteries will often get to full charge quickly, but have diminished capacity.

I'm not sure about when "Sleep Mode" is activated. If "Deep Sleep" is 14 days, maybe Sleep Mode is just a few days?

I just searched the manual for "Sleep Mode" and found nothing. The only thing close is:

"

.

If it reoccurs, I'll get a screen shot and pull out my Digital VOM to see where the voltage sits. Maybe I should start locking the car while it's in the garage also.

 

[sajohnson]

I agree the 9.5V in Ford’s article seems unrealistic

As far as remaining above ~12.6V, one of these days I’ll do the calculation using the battery Reserve Capacity Spec. The Bronco Sport AGM and EFB are both rated at a Reserve Capacity of 120 minutes. That is a separate spec from Cold Cranking Amps.

Reserve Capacity definition: “a time measurement in minutes for long a fully-charged battery can deliver 25 amps of current in an 80°F environment, before the battery is discharged down to 10.5 volts.”

Using the “average” parasitic current draw for Bronco Sports I can do a calculation. I do not know the average so I’ll need to measure mine in a steady state condition after things settle down but I suspect is between 50 to 100 milliamperes (0.05 to 0.10 Amps per hour) but might be much higher given the number of Bronco Sports we’ve all seen posts on that seem to drain pretty quickly but then probably aren’t kept anywhere close to a fully charged state (and probably not at 80°F in the winter). Maybe they are on average in 60% charge state or less and the 120 minutes of Reserve Capacity is going to drain down fairly quickly but should still be well over 7 days before reaching 10.5 volts.

The Bronco Sport does wake up many times in a 24 hour period for various “housekeeping” tasks which adds to current drain. There is a video where someone instrumented their vehicle to demonstrate that.

Let’s assume the 40% SOC is accurate to enter deep sleep mode (AGM: 11.95V, EFB: 11.90V), it’s not going to be too many days from say a 60% charged battery but I’ll do the calculation once I know a good number for parasitic current draw.

And I’ll bet you $1 your 2002 WRX has a lower parasitic current draw than your Bronco Sport. Both vehicles might have the same 120 minute Reserve Capacity Spec but you can look up the spec for your 2002 WRX battery).

No doubt the battery in the WRX has a lower parasitic load. I was just pointing out that the parasitic current draw in the BS seems excessive.. There may be a good reason for it but offhand it seems like a poor design.

For now, you might consider just measuring the resting battery voltage. It would be interesting to know the current draw, but the main consideration is the battery voltage/SOC. It sounds like the current can vary, so depending upon what's going on when you measure it, it could be above or below average.

You said, "Maybe they are on average in 60% charge state or less and the 120 minutes of Reserve Capacity is going to drain down fairly quickly but should still be well over 7 days before reaching 10.5 volts."

Just to be clear, a battery should never get anywhere near 10.5V/0% SOC. That is very harmful. Lead-acid batteries like to be kept at 100% SOC.

 

[sajohnson]

If it reoccurs, I'll get a screen shot and pull out my Digital VOM to see where the voltage sits. Maybe I should start locking the car while it's in the garage also.

I unlatch the hood, so that after the BS BL sits, I can check battery voltage without opening the driver's door to unlatch it (which would wake up a bunch of stuff).

How would locking it make a difference?

 

[Dude]

If it reoccurs, I'll get a screen shot and pull out my Digital VOM to see where the voltage sits. Maybe I should start locking the car while it's in the garage also.

I keep one of these plugged in (below the 8” Display. It’s going to have a small voltage drop because it’s not measuring at the battery so is more of a “quick and dirty” test. When I know the battery is low I will video the device as I start the vehicle to see how low the voltage goes while starting.

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