2011 Explorer completely dead electronics

[ScottsFord]

First post here. I have a 11 Explorer that in the past year has been completely dead on at least 4-5 occasions. If you have the Sync system, you are likely familiar with opening the driver door and the Sync system lights up along with the speedometer. When I have the problem, this does not happen. When inserting the key, nothing happens at all as if the battery is disconnected. Not even dim interior lights. To get it going, I've had to jump it off. But as soon as I do, you can start and stop the car as normal. So, it doesn't seem like a battery issue. But to be sure, I replaced the battery. About two months later, the same problem occurred again. Anybody else have this problem? Thanks!

 

[dco43054]

Sounds like the inoperable electronics are an effect, and not the cause.

Yes, there have been people who have had batteries go dead after 3 or less years from new. Mine died within about 3 years. But yours sounds like some other charging system issue.

There have been other reports over the years about parasitic loads killing batteries, but not a lot recently. The vehicle has timers built in that shut off some loads after a while if it is not running, like the interior lights.

Lots of potential causes. If you are comfortable under the hood, start with a loose battery cable, and continue on from there to things like added accessories that may be drawing power, slipping serpentine belt on the alternator, etc.

If you're not comfortable doing this work, time for a trip to the dealer.

And the first thing to do is to look back through old threads here and see what the cause was for others with similar problems.

 

[ScottsFord]

Yes. I agree. Haven't found a similar cause on the forums yet. Mine is so random. We'll keep on trying.

 

[p38fln]

You don't have *anything* plugged into the cigarette lighter? Not even a cell phone charger? A small load can easily use up the entire battery charge in 24-36 hours, the batteries really aren't that big.

 

[Odrapnew]

You mentioned that after you jump, you can easily stop/start it immediately afterward. Does everything light up when the jumpers are connected? If so, what happens if you connect the jumpers(just to get everything to power up), remove jumpers and try to start?

 

[goochman]

My guess is something connected to your battery is loose. When you go to jump the car, whatever was loose makes a connection again.

Not sure if this is feasible or not, but next time it happens it would be worthwhile finding out what charge is left in the battery before trying to jump start it.

 

[BrianT]

First post here. I have a 11 Explorer that in the past year has been completely dead on at least 4-5 occasions. If you have the Sync system, you are likely familiar with opening the driver door and the Sync system lights up along with the speedometer. When I have the problem, this does not happen. When inserting the key, nothing happens at all as if the battery is disconnected.

Sorry this is no help to you, but I had a new GMC Trailblazer kept it for 18 months
same thing, completely dead. It was towed to the dealer from my house, at least 7 times. They could not find the problem.
I think mine was a little more disturbing, as would also happen when I was driving it. The truck would lose all power and I would have to coast to the side of the road.
The last time it happened to me, I was outside a Ford dealer, he towed it in. I drove out with a 2010 Ex, been driving them since picked up my 3rd one (2016) 3 weeks ago

Hope you get it solved, Brian

 

[ScottsFord]

Thanks everyone for the replies and suggestions!

I do have a cell charger that stays plugged in. And certainly that can be a cause. But I've had that since I purchased the car in 2011.

On the loose connection, that is a possibility too, though I've checked it, I've not taken the connections apart and made sure there is no corrosion, though it looks clean. But I'll try that.

On the other questions, it is strange in that, when I connect the jumpers nothing lights up. I noticed this particular time that I was try to ensure a good connection and after connecting/disconnecting (with a few minor sparks) I heard a click and then the dash did light up. It seems like either a bad connection or possibly to me, a relay that disables everything until the voltage is at a certain level.
I say this too, because I first tried a 400 amp portable jump starter with no effect. Since I had no other vehicles at the house at the time, I paralleled another smaller jump starter. After a bit, the system powered up and started like the battery was at full charge.
I may take loose all the connections that are on that special + terminal connection plate and see if that helps. But strangely enough. I've stopped and started the car probably 40 or 50 times since last week's episode and it works just fine.

 

[p38fln]

So its a 4 or 5 year old battery at this point, which means its probably getting weaker.

I used to leave an inverter and cell phone amplifier plugged in at all times and found they were drawing about 700 milliwatts (or 0.7 watts). I ran this number through a some calculations and found that the battery could only put power out at 0.7 watts for about 20 hours.

 

[roamingphantom]

I have a 2013 Limited and never have the drain issue. I usually leave my ipod and cell phone charger plugged in. On top of all that i only drive on weekends so all week it sits parked.

What i've seen is that it goes into sleep/powersave mode 2-3 days of not driving it. The reason i know this is that i have the cellphone remote start module and i get a message everytime it goes into sleep mode. When it goes into sleep mode you cannot start it with the phone you always have to use the FOB. I am sure others have the same experience.

Perhaps your sleep/powersave mode is glitchy or non functional?

 

[randym19ca]

I have a 2015 Sport and this morning my wife got in and nothing in the car worked, display didn't light up, garage door opener wouldn't work, the only thing that did work was the power seat. I popped the hood and checked the battery voltage. It was 12.5 volts. The next thing I tried was removing the negative terminal, figured maybe it needed a reset. I pulled the negative and touched it to the battery terminal a couple times, no spark at all as if there was no connection on the positive side. I left the negative off for a couple minutes while I checked some other stuff then went to put it back on. Now it sparked. Tightened it back down and the car started normally.... The only thing I did different this weekend is I left it in the garage with the hood open for an afternoon. There isn't any underhood light so I don't know why that would matter unless that triggered some kind of anti-theft system....? We'll see if it will do it again, hopefully this was a one-time glitch.

 

[FordService]

I have a 2015 Sport and this morning my wife got in and nothing in the car worked, display didn't light up, garage door opener wouldn't work, the only thing that did work was the power seat. I popped the hood and checked the battery voltage. It was 12.5 volts. The next thing I tried was removing the negative terminal, figured maybe it needed a reset. I pulled the negative and touched it to the battery terminal a couple times, no spark at all as if there was no connection on the positive side. I left the negative off for a couple minutes while I checked some other stuff then went to put it back on. Now it sparked. Tightened it back down and the car started normally.... The only thing I did different this weekend is I left it in the garage with the hood open for an afternoon. There isn't any underhood light so I don't know why that would matter unless that triggered some kind of anti-theft system....? We'll see if it will do it again, hopefully this was a one-time glitch.

I'm happy to hear you were able to get this resolved, randym19ca. Please let me know if it happens again.

Meagan