2010 adrenalin battery problem

[stolen 5.0]

my adrenalin has 12k miles on it. Sometimes it sits in the garage for a few days as I have a company truck I drive. The battery goes dead within 3-5 days. The dealership tested the truck and says the battery is good. I have no current draw as I tested it with my fluke meter.

The dealership says it'll go dead after a few days because of all the electronics.

Anyone have any ideas? I may have to install my own permanent jump box or something.

 

[BrianDye]

The dealers lying, a battery shouldnt go dead after a couple of days...unless the battery is bad, or you have some decent current draw.

Ive parked my Explorer(s) for weeks on end, and they fired right up.

 

[corkey]

a battery tender setup is cheap, and it would always be raring to go.
it only needs a topup charge to keep up to the drain from the computer and such onboard ,

http://batterytender.com/automotive/battery-tender-plus-12v-at-1-25a.html

 

[stolen 5.0]

they said since it's a 2010 with the ford sync radio and nav and all the other 12v gadgets it has random devices that take power for split seconds.

Even though it draws less than 1ma on my meter.

I got a battery tender, but I bought a brand new ford vehicle, should I really have to put a tender on when I'm done driving it everyday? I need to talk to someone higher up at Ford.

 

[BradR]

Yeah, I find that quite ridiculous.

You could just start it everyday for another solution, but the fact of the matter is that you shouldn't have to do anything.

 

[BrianDye]

I would take your battery into AutoZone and have them check it also (Just to be safe)

And like Corkey said, a battery tender would be your best bet; ive seen them cheaper than that though, I had one I got at Meijers I think it was, to use for my MoPed years ago, and paid I think 20 bucks for it? (On sale from like 30$ though)

 

[stolen 5.0]

If Ford won't do anything, i'll probally buy an optima battery. If that doesn't do any better i'll get a kinetic battery to mount under the rear seat and run a linestarter with 12v relay and toggle switch as an on board jumper pack i guess.

Sad you have to do that.

 

[BrianDye]

Sad you have to do that.

Most definitely.

 

[eppd00]

My 08 STA has all the electronics also,factory gps etc. It will sit in the garage for months without a starting problem,plus the factory battery is 3 years old now. I would contact a Ford rep. to handle the situation if the dealer won't.. Either it's a bad battery, or there is an open circuit causing the drain. If you have already tested the system with your meter, it sound like the battery is failing.
Question, has it always done this or did it just develop?

 

[stolen 5.0]

now I have a 150ma pull as i go out and test again. pulled every radio and light type fuse with no change. There is three 50 amp fuses in the engine bay that feed battery to the interior fuse box. When I pull battery feed number 1 the current draw goes away.

I'll investigate more tommorrow when I get a wiring diagram.

 

[waskly]

they said since it's a 2010 with the ford sync radio and nav and all the other 12v gadgets it has random devices that take power for split seconds.

Even though it draws less than 1ma on my meter.

I got a battery tender, but I bought a brand new ford vehicle, should I really have to put a tender on when I'm done driving it everyday? I need to talk to someone higher up at Ford.

you have a draw.....

.08 of an amp or less is acceptable. anything higher something is wrong.

 

[waskly]

now I have a 150ma pull as i go out and test again. pulled every radio and light type fuse with no change. There is three 50 amp fuses in the engine bay that feed battery to the interior fuse box. When I pull battery feed number 1 the current draw goes away.

I'll investigate more tommorrow when I get a wiring diagram.

you are also doing it wrong.

let the car goto sleep.

 

[stolen 5.0]

you are also doing it wrong.

let the car goto sleep.

What do you mean? do you mean .008 amp current draw is exceptable.

anyway, pull the 5amp micro controller power fuse and the draw goes away.

 

[waskly]

What do you mean? do you mean .008 amp current draw is exceptable.

anyway, pull the 5amp micro controller power fuse and the draw goes away.

0.08 if an amp. or lower.

you should see .02-.08 of an amp

also you can very easy get a false positive, while yes techs are right, stuff is on, it shuts down when the car goes to sleep which takes about an hr

then you never put any fuse back and you dont pull relays till all fuses are out.

you also cant interrupt power at any time else the vehicle wakes up

 

[swetrid]

Ford has tsb for some info on this concern.
Printable View (67 KB)
TSB
07-5-13 DISCHARGED BATTERIES - VEHICLES IN STORAGE/LIMITED USAGE

Publication Date: March 5, 2007

FORD: 2005-2008 Mustang
2005 Explorer Sport Trac
2005-2008 Expedition, Explorer
2007-2008 Explorer Sport Trac
LINCOLN: 2005-2008 Navigator
MERCURY: 2005-2008 Mountaineer


ISSUE:
Some 2005-2008 Mustang , Explorer 4dr, Mountaineer, Expedition, Navigator, 2005 Explorer Sport Trac and 2007-2008 Explorer Sport Trac vehicles may experience a no start and have a discharged battery. They are usually stored for prolonged periods of time or are driven infrequently for short distances. Batteries will discharge while the vehicle is in storage due to normal current draw loads. Over a period of time, 30 days or more, vehicles in storage will have shallow to deeply discharged batteries as a result of lack of use or normal current draw.

ACTION:
Follow the Service Tips steps to correct the condition.

SERVICE TIPS

Charging system diagnostics and battery draw test are located in Workshop Manual, Section 414-00.
Discharged batteries need to be properly recharged following the procedures in TSB 07-5-8.
All modern automobiles have several micro processors in their electrical system that will draw small amounts of electrical current when the vehicle key is off. Normal current draw is between 20-30 milliamps (workshop manual specification is up to 50 milliamps 0.050 amps).
The more discharged a battery becomes, the more susceptible it is to permanent damage. This is more likely in low temperatures (below 32 °F (0 °C).
Batteries will discharge while the vehicle is in storage due to normal current draw loads. Over a period of time (30 days or more), vehicles in storage will have shallow to deeply discharged batteries as a result of lack of use or normal current draw.

NOTE: ELECTRICAL OR ELECTRONIC ACCESSORIES OR COMPONENTS ADDED TO THE VEHICLE BY THE DEALER OR BY THE OWNER WILL INCREASE THE CURRENT DRAW LOADS AND ADVERSELY AFFECT BATTERY PERFORMANCE AND DURABILITY.



The vehicle's charging system is designed to supply the vehicle's electrical power needs and maintain the battery to near full charge during normal vehicle use. The charging system is not capable of bringing a deeply discharged battery back to near full charge in a short amount of time such as allowing the vehicle to idle for 15 minutes to "recharge the battery" or from short drive cycles.
Short drive cycles will only provide a small surface charge to the battery. To fully recharge a battery that is fully discharged requires operating the vehicle for approximately two (2) hours with engine speed above 1500 RPM.
Vehicles that are stored for extended periods or are driven infrequently for short distances may need to use an auxiliary battery maintainer/charger that is expressly designed to maintain the battery state of charge during storage. These maintainers/chargers are available in the automotive aftermarket and should be used according to their manufacturer's direction.

OTHER APPLICABLE ARTICLES:
07-05-8

WARRANTY STATUS:
Information Only - Not Warrantable


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTE: The information in Technical Service Bulletins is intended for use by trained, professional technicians with the knowledge, tools, and equipment to do the job properly and safely. It informs these technicians of conditions that may occur on some vehicles, or provides information that could assist in proper vehicle service. The procedures should not be performed by "do-it-yourselfers". Do not assume that a condition described affects your car or truck. Contact a Ford, Lincoln, or Mercury dealership to determine whether the Bulletin applies to your vehicle. Warranty Policy and Extended Service Plan documentation determine Warranty and/or Extended Service Plan coverage unless stated otherwise in the TSB article. The information in this Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) was current at the time of printing. Ford Motor Company reserves the right to supercede this information with updates. The most recent information is available through Ford Motor Company's on-line technical resources.

Copyright © 2007 Ford Motor Company

 

[stolen 5.0]

0.08 if an amp. or lower.

you should see .02-.08 of an amp

also you can very easy get a false positive, while yes techs are right, stuff is on, it shuts down when the car goes to sleep which takes about an hr

then you never put any fuse back and you dont pull relays till all fuses are out.

you also cant interrupt power at any time else the vehicle wakes up

I never new anything about cars/electronics falling asleep. I would need info about that.

But, .08 of an Amp or 80mA will def kill a battery in a few days.

It goes to the dealership tommorrow as they can fix it. And the vehicle was idle for over 4 hours when I tested the current draw so I assume everything was asleep.

Thanks for your help.

 

[waskly]

I never new anything about cars/electronics falling asleep. I would need info about that.

But, .08 of an Amp or 80mA will def kill a battery in a few days.

It goes to the dealership tommorrow as they can fix it. And the vehicle was idle for over 4 hours when I tested the current draw so I assume everything was asleep.

Thanks for your help.

it has to be under .08 or .08 as the highest, so if your vehicle pulls .08 if i looked at it, its fine, to me high but acceptable, its the highest draw it can have and still be considered working as intended. normal function car with out any aftermarkets addons will only draw about .02 but due to age, fatigue, after market addons the threshold is at .08 of an amp.

 

[MichiTracR]

A couple comments with regards to the vehicle going to sleep:

You should be able accelerate the car going to sleep using your key fob - put your current meter in line with the car awake and possbly some accessories on. Then turn the key to OFF - the current will probably drop at this point, but not to its lowest. Next, lock the doors with the key fob and maybe wait a minute or two. You should notice a pronounced drop in current. If this doesn't occur something may be keeping a module or modules awake.

This could be a wiring problem, or possibly CAN/software issues from any modifications that may have been made to the vehicle (such as enabling neutral tow..etc), or possibly just a bad module. The dealership should be also be able to monitor the CAN bus and see if anything is staying awake that shouldn't be.
Good luck.