System off to save battery

[Joshua Stanley]

Hello. I just bought a 2011 ford explorer limited about 4 months ago. I started noticing my touchscreen will say system off to save battery. The airbag light will then come on. And the heat will turn on and there is no way to turn it off. I just put in a new battery due to the positive post turning inside the old battery. It worked fine for about a week then messege again. I removed negative cable and let sit and nothing. Tried a battery from my job brand new and nothing. Checked fuses and all are good. Anybody know what may be causing problem??

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum Joshua.
If you have the Owner's Manual. check out page 379 Battery Management System. Not saying this is the problem. Check out this thread and in particular post #5; Battery Replacement / Upgrade - Battery Re-Learn

Peter

 

[Amy St John]

Hello. I just bought a 2011 ford explorer limited about 4 months ago. I started noticing my touchscreen will say system off to save battery. The airbag light will then come on. And the heat will turn on and there is no way to turn it off. I just put in a new battery due to the positive post turning inside the old battery. It worked fine for about a week then messege again. I removed negative cable and let sit and nothing. Tried a battery from my job brand new and nothing. Checked fuses and all are good. Anybody know what may be causing problem??

Same issue with my 2011 Limited Explorer. Mine first started with the battery saver coming on June 9th. Coincidentally, this was the same day MFT forced the newest sync update through. After several weeks of it working on and off again, we took it to the dealership who replaced the apim and front controller modules. They had it 2.5 weeks. I had it back 5 days before the same issue appeared. Screen went out again for 3.5 days. Took it back to the dealership, but unfortunately it was working at the time so they said they couldn't find anything wrong with it. Drove it since Wednesday evening with it working and it went out again this afternoon. So frustrating that we probably spent $1700 on parts and labor we didn't need since the issue still isn't resolved.

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum Amy.
I'm not sure what you mean when you say "MFT forced the newest sync update through." Any update to MFT is done by the owner by way of using a USB drive with the downloaded program on it. It isn't automatic. As for the battery saver program coming on, that by itself is no reason to replace anything with the exception of the battery. It is an indication that the battery is low. I gad that message come on when I had my 2011 Limited and 2014 MKT. All I did was trickle charge the battery and it would be fine again for a while. In my case it was probably due to not driving enough. If your MFT screen goes blank, that is in most cases the sign of a bad APIM and in my opinion is not related to the first issue. Did your battery message come on after turning the vehicle off? Did you get other symptoms like in the first post? There is a thread on the APIM issue.
MFT Black / Blank Screen

Peter

 

[Amy St John]

I was looking for the updates to download on a USB and update the sync. I logged onto MFT website and the sync update was automatically done on June 9th per the website.

The message comes on while driving, as soon as you start it (sometimes) and whenever the heck it feels like it. We've had the battery tested various places and everyone tells us the battery is fine (replaced from the original battery about 2.5 years ago).

Every time the battery saver message comes on, even after they apim module was replaced, the air bag light comes on.

 

[peterk9]

Thanks Amy. This IS a different issue than the one I had. Do you know if the battery management system was reset when the battery was replaced? If it wasn't, the system could be thinking that your battery is much older than it is. See the note on Battery Replacement in this post; Battery Replacement / Upgrade - Battery Re-Learn

Peter

 

[Amy St John]

Thanks Amy. This IS a different issue than the one I had. Do you know if the battery management system was reset when the battery was replaced? If it wasn't, the system could be thinking that your battery is much older than it is. See the note on Battery Replacement in this post; Battery Replacement / Upgrade - Battery Re-Learn

Peter

We swapped out the battery ourselves and knew nothing about resetting the battery management system. My system is still not working and I'm heading to the dealership soon so hopefully they can troubleshoot it and fix the issue.

 

[Amy D]

I have a 2012 Explorer XLT. The other day it wouldn’t start or take a jump start. I found online suggestions to disconnect negative terminal and then reconnect and it should start and it did. Fast forward to this week, same problem again. But after this time, when I shut the car off I’m getting the system shut down to save battery message. So I took it to the dealer (my battery is only about 2 years old). They load tested the battery and it failed so they replaced it. When I got home and shut the car off, I am getting the system shut down to save battery message again! Anyone else have this problem after getting a new battery??? I have to call the dealer in the morning but wanted to get some input .. thanks!

 

[vuhothang]

I think maybe dealer forget reset BMS, My2017 was replace new battery in last month (after 24months), i was reset BSM by forscan via ELS27 cable.

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum Amy.
Your thread was merged with this existing one.
Also, see the last paragraph in this post. Battery Replacement / Upgrade - Battery Re-Learn

Peter

 

[Lahs]

Hello. I just bought a 2011 ford explorer limited about 4 months ago. I started noticing my touchscreen will say system off to save battery. The airbag light will then come on. And the heat will turn on and there is no way to turn it off. I just put in a new battery due to the positive post turning inside the old battery. It worked fine for about a week then messege again. I removed negative cable and let sit and nothing. Tried a battery from my job brand new and nothing. Checked fuses and all are good. Anybody know what may be causing problem??

Did this problem ever get fixed? My explorer is doing this exact thing!

 

[peterk9]

Did this problem ever get fixed? My explorer is doing this exact thing!

Welcome to the Forum.
FYI, the member you quoted was last seen here on July 22, 2018.
I know you said you were getting the exact thing but just wanted to make sure. Are you just getting the message or all the other items that the member posted as well? If it's just the message it could be that the battery is bad or has a low charge.

Peter

 

[Lahs]

Welcome to the Forum.
FYI, the member you quoted was last seen here on July 22, 2018.
I know you said you were getting the exact thing but just wanted to make sure. Are you just getting the message or all the other items that the member posted as well? If it's just the message it could be that the battery is bad or has a low charge.

Peter

It’s all the things they posted. Starts out with the air bag light coming on, then the heat kicks on full blast and the screen shuts down (the message pops up) the screen will come back on but nothing works. None of the climate control buttons work which leaves me with no way to turn the heat off either.

I seen the date but was really hoping I could get some kind of reply. I was thinking I may need a new battery as well but I honestly have no clue.

 

[ProjectSHO89]

I've had two different episodes of that message appearing on our '15 XLT, once about two years ago and again last fall. Both were harbingers of a failing battery that, in each case, resulted in a "no start" condition (dead battery) followed by a battery replacement to resolve the issue.

YMMV.

 

[peterk9]

It’s all the things they posted. Starts out with the air bag light coming on, then the heat kicks on full blast and the screen shuts down (the message pops up) the screen will come back on but nothing works. None of the climate control buttons work which leaves me with no way to turn the heat off either.

I seen the date but was really hoping I could get some kind of reply. I was thinking I may need a new battery as well but I honestly have no clue.

Does the airbag light stay ON? If so, it could be the connector under the seat and not related to the other issue. The rest could be an issue with the APIM (Accessory Protocol Interface Module) going bad. The APIM is the 'brains' of MFT. Have you had the battery checked lately?

Peter

 

[Lahs]

Does the airbag light stay ON? If so, it could be the connector under the seat and not related to the other issue. The rest could be an issue with the APIM (Accessory Protocol Interface Module) going bad. The APIM is the 'brains' of MFT. Have you had the battery checked lately?

Peter

No it doesn’t stay on it will go on and off.

 

[Lahs]

No it doesn’t stay on it will go on and off.

Sorry I forgot to mention, I did have the battery checked and they said it was on its last quarter of life

Does the airbag light stay ON? If so, it could be the connector under the seat and not related to the other issue. The rest could be an issue with the APIM (Accessory Protocol Interface Module) going bad. The APIM is the 'brains' of MFT. Have you had the battery checked lately?

Peter

 

[peterk9]

No it doesn’t stay on it will go on and off.

Check out this thread. Chances are it is the connector under the driver's seat that needs to be cleaned or secured.

How many people have had the airbag warning light activate

So, there seems to be more than a couple people who have had this problem. When it is lit, the airbags are reported to not be operable. Have you had this problem? Let's see how widespread it might be.

www.explorerforum.com

Peter

 

[Bookworm370]

Sorry I forgot to mention, I did have the battery checked and they said it was on its last quarter of life

Definitely time to replace it. Costco for $99 and a little of your own elbow grease. Or Ford for $180! Same battery.

The battery in my wife's '18 XLT just up and died with no warning. Starting the car perfectly one day and dead as a door nail (7v) the next. If it's on the last 1/2 that means it's CCA is really down and it can just one day decide not to start. Or at least, keep a bit battery reserve portable jump starter or jumper cable in the back.

 

[Lahs]

Definitely time to replace it. Costco for $99 and a little of your own elbow grease. Or Ford for $180! Same battery.

The battery in my wife's '18 XLT just up and died with no warning. Starting the car perfectly one day and dead as a door nail (7v) the next. If it's on the last 1/2 that means it's CCA is really down and it can just one day decide not to start. Or at least, keep a bit battery reserve portable jump starter or jumper cable in the back.

So will the battery be causing all the issues with the heat coming on and no way to turn it off? My screen has been going haywire too.