Starting problems

[c_struck53]

hey everyone! So I’m a first time Ford owner and have recently relocated to Spain for work purposes so my help with local mechanics is very limited. We think our vehicle had an attempted break in last night, we went to start the vehicle and the battery was completely dead and when we jumped it with our other vehicle the gas gage read 0 miles so someone syphoned our gas which then in turn we think engaged the anti-theft that drained the battery. We own a 2014 Explorer XLT. I’m still having issues with it starting without being jumped. Has this happened to anyone else??

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum.
To answer you question, I don't believe anyone has ever posted that issue with the gas. I don't think that syphoning the gas would trigger the anti-theft alarm. If it did that should have set off the horn which is pretty hard to ignore. Also, once jumped and running, the battery should have come back to life. Have you had the battery checked?
Have you ever tried to open that small flap in the gas tube? Not easy. Did you notice any scratches on it? Perhaps they might have had the emergency nozzle and used it to put a tube through. Strange!

Peter

 

[thefranchise713]

Your battery is probably shot, nothing more.

There is no alarm on the gas tank for a siphon warning and I believe modern gas tank nozzles have a screen to prevent this anyway. Even if the alarm triggered it would shut off after a few minutes of honking; if a door was left ajar the BCM would have killed the lamps after about 10 minutes.

Your DTE = 0 probably because the cluster lost the average fuel economy data when it lost voltage to sustain itself.

 

[c_struck53]

Interesting, a friend of ours said that when someone attempts to syphon gas this happens on newer models of Fords. How common is it for Batteries to go bad? On my GMC Canyon I had the original battery for almost 10 years before I had to change it

 

[Danny A.]

Batteries can go bad at any time. Don't depend on your alternator to charge it, they weren't designed to charge the battery, just maintain the state of charge. Have your battery charged and tested. The other possibility is there might be an electrical short

 

[c_struck53]

Batteries can go bad at any time. Don't depend on your alternator to charge it, they weren't designed to charge the battery, just maintain the state of charge. Have your battery charged and tested. The other possibility is there might be an electrical short

So we got up this morning and the car started and then a few hours later went to go run errands and it had to be jumped again. Went to a parts store and purchased a new battery. Hopefully this works, I had the guy test it after I removed it and as he was doing the test the battery went from low end of green to all the way to dead. It didn’t seem as if it was holding a charge

 

[Danny A.]

Hope thats all it is brotha!

 

[peterk9]

Interesting, a friend of ours said that when someone attempts to syphon gas this happens on newer models of Fords. How common is it for Batteries to go bad? On my GMC Canyon I had the original battery for almost 10 years before I had to change it

As Danny A. mentioned., batteries can go at any time. There are many posts in this forum on the subject. Some members have had to replace their battery a few weeks after getting their new Explorer. A battery is the first thing that should be eliminated as the cause of several issues with the Explorer. Good luck.

Peter