MFT Battery Saver message on shutdown

[briteboy]

Hey guys,

All of a sudden I'm getting a message on the dash screen that says "system off to save battery. Turn key off or start ignition".

Never seen it before. So...I disconnected the negative battery cable to reboot the system. Made sure all power was drained from system, let it set for 5 minutes, and hooked it back up.

Still have the same issue. Battery tests fine.

Any thoughts?

Thanx for your help !

 

[peterk9]

Hey guys,

All of a sudden I'm getting a message on the dash screen that says "system off to save battery. Turn key off or start ignition".

Never seen it before. So...I disconnected the negative battery cable to reboot the system. Made sure all power was drained from system, let it set for 5 minutes, and hooked it back up.

Still have the same issue. Battery tests fine.

Any thoughts?

Thanx for your help !

It is an indication that your battery is low. Needs a charge or replacement. I have had this several times. They checked the charging system and replaced the battery last March. I am now getting it again at times, usually after the Explorer hasn't been driven for a few days or just on short trips. I put a trickle charge (2 amp) on it a few days ago and after 11 hours it was fully charged and it has been okay since. I expect this to happen again.

It would help in answering future concerns if you added the model to your profile so that it will show in the left margin. Different models sometimes have different issues and fixes. I'm guessing you have a Limited.

Peter

 

[briteboy]

Thanks Peter, I'll get a trickle charger and try that.

Thing is...it gets driven 15-30 miles a day. I would think that would keep it charged.

BTW, in my profile specs is the model of the car...XLT w/ Nav, MFT, Sync, and convenience package.

Thanx again.

Dennis

 

[FordIVTteam]

If you have an iPod or your phone (or anything else) plugged into your USB ports, Dennis, unplug them and try a new cable. If it still doesn't go away, a dealership visit should be on the horizon; they'll need to find out what's causing this.

Rebecca

 

[peterk9]

If you have an iPod or your phone (or anything else) plugged into your USB ports, Dennis, unplug them and try a new cable. If it still doesn't go away, a dealership visit should be on the horizon; they'll need to find out what's causing this.

Rebecca

FYI, I have nothing plugged in on mine. I showed the picture I took of the warning message to the service advisor when I went in for an oil and tire change last month and they could not find any issues. They even called the Ford tech line or whatever it is called and no one had an answer for the cause. All I know is that after I charge the battery back up, the warning goes away, until the next time.

Peter

 

[FordIVTteam]

Way back in the day, I had a customer that was using a generic iPod cable and it was causing this to happen. I generally start there for troubleshooting purposes. From what I've been told, the message is not generated by MFT it's only displayed there; so, if your battery was replaced and it's still happening, I'd go back to the dealer to have them run a few more tests.

Rebecca

 

[briteboy]

Update

I don't have (nor did I have) any kind of cable plugged into the MFT system. I did have a USB drive with music on it.

Seems that the problem has gone away for now...drove 40 miles yesterday and no error message when I shut 'er down.

So, we'll see.

Appreciate all the input. This board is a great resource.

 

[FordIVTteam]

Keep us posted!

Rebecca

 

[Saffer]

System Off to Save Battery

Something strange started happening the last few days. Normally, when I shut the car off, the radio stays on with the IGN off until I open the door.

I have seen the messages once or twice before but it never bothered me much, it is now however persistent.

Recently the center console started displaying message

System Off to save battery
Please turn ignition off or start

or

System Off to Save Battery

One strange thing I noted in the above image is how the Radio and Channel number shows at the bottom of the screen even though it is supposedly off.

Another strange thing is that normally with the ignition off, you could press the radio power button and it will turn on and play music for approx 10 or so minutes, the radio would then turn off, but I could always hit the power button and it would turn on for another 10 minutes etc.

Anybody ever seen this ? I just disconnected the battery and will charge it overnight, not sure if the condition is caused by a battery that is low or not.

Thanks

 

[shortstackaggie]

We are having the same issue. Sometime beginning of next year, I am going to take it in. If you find anything out, please post. Thanks

 

[LukerDooker]

Do you have any USB chargers or plugs that you leave in their ports all the time?
The chargers/plugs pull power all the time.

 

[plumbago]

I have, on our 2013, been having the very same problem ! Has been going on for several weeks. Yesterday took it in to Dealer and had it checked....long story short, the battery was no good. They replaced the battery under warrantee....I'd suggest you do the same, and perhaps not charge the battery first, so the Dealer can get a true reading on the battery.....I think it had a dead cell or something, and would not fully hold a charge....new battery has only been in a day now but checked it this morning and it's seems fixed, no battery shut down and no red warning box, while sitting there playing the radio with the vehicle not running......I did not have any USB or anything else plugged in while the initial problem was going on....... best regards Plum

 

[peterk9]

Something strange started happening the last few days. Normally, when I shut the car off, the radio stays on with the IGN off until I open the door.

I have seen the messages once or twice before but it never bothered me much, it is now however persistent.


One strange thing I noted in the above image is how the Radio and Channel number shows at the bottom of the screen even though it is supposedly off.

Another strange thing is that normally with the ignition off, you could press the radio power button and it will turn on and play music for approx 10 or so minutes, the radio would then turn off, but I could always hit the power button and it would turn on for another 10 minutes etc.

Anybody ever seen this ? I just disconnected the battery and will charge it overnight, not sure if the condition is caused by a battery that is low or not.

Thanks

As indicated in my PM, I have merged your thread with an existing one on the same issue. Read through the posts for more info.
I received this again today and have just placed my battery charger on the battery in 'trickle' mode. That last time I did this on December 1st it took about 10 hours to read 'Full Charge'. The battery. which is a replacement for the OEM one, tested good at the dealership. The OEM was replaced under warranty after I initially started getting these messages last year.

Peter

 

[shortstackaggie]

I put a charger/battery tester/alternator tester on ours and it said the charging system was faulty. The battery was good. We don't keep anything plugged in. Would like to get this figures out because it is causing the keypad on the door not work.

 

[MACP34]

I had this same message last week. My 2011 original battery was on its last leg. I left the accessory on for 10 minutes in the garage and when i went to start it, it just clicked. I charged the battery full and i got the message again the next day. I replaced the battery and its been perfect since. 3+ year old batteries will start to go; especially the original ones.

 

[Saffer]

As indicated in my PM, I have merged your thread with an existing one on the same issue. Read through the posts for more info.
I received this again today and have just placed my battery charger on the battery in 'trickle' mode. That last time I did this on December 1st it took about 10 hours to read 'Full Charge'. The battery. which is a replacement for the OEM one, tested good at the dealership. The OEM was replaced under warranty after I initially started getting these messages last year.

Peter

Thanks for the topic merge and PM

I charged the battery overnight which resolved the issue, confirms that the battery is the cause. Been on vacation for a few days and just did a few short trips instead of my regular commute. Will probably have to get a new battery soon.

PS For anyone that are having these issues, if you are going to charge the battery and if you have an external GPS like a Garmin, unplug the GPS before you charge, the GPS's dont like charges for some reason, just blew one recently on my wife's car.

 

[legendbb]

(2014 XLT AWD) System Off to Save Battery right after turning off engine

Started to see this today, -22C outside, 2nd hit this winter for low temperature.

I don't know how long does it takes to fully charge the battery. Some threads mentioned something like 10-15min which doesn't make any sense for me.

Just came back from a 300Km round trip, assuming battery fully charged. I might left a CAR DVR running overnight, which has tag DC input 5V/1A. I don't know if it's responsible for the battery drain. 12Hrs is about 6AH for 12V battery, it should not affect a car battery much. I had a slow start, but it started.

A side questions will be, if the front Cigarette charge can be programmed to turn off after some idling time.

It's very weird for me, the front cigarette charge doesn't see to power the 5V car DVR at all, normally when temp is lower than -5C. But it definitely provided power last night, because I can see DVR recordings which were taken when car is under -20C. I felt the cigarette charger has some smart logic behind, or the the 12V output is not that stable (CAR DVR turn on/off based on the input voltage it detects). Very confused!!!

Thanks for any comment, I will drive some distance to charge battery today.

 

[peterk9]

Started to see this today, -22C outside, 2nd hit this winter for low temperature.

I don't know how long does it takes to fully charge the battery. Some threads mentioned something like 10-15min which doesn't make any sense for me.

Just came back from a 300Km round trip, assuming battery fully charged. I might left a CAR DVR running overnight, which has tag DC input 5V/1A. I don't know if it's responsible for the battery drain. 12Hrs is about 6AH for 12V battery, it should not affect a car battery much. I had a slow start, but it started.

A side questions will be, if the front Cigarette charge can be programmed to turn off after some idling time.

It's very weird for me, the front cigarette charge doesn't see to power the 5V car DVR at all, normally when temp is lower than -5C. But it definitely provided power last night, because I can see DVR recordings which were taken when car is under -20C. I felt the cigarette charger has some smart logic behind, or the the 12V output is not that stable (CAR DVR turn on/off based on the input voltage it detects). Very confused!!!

Thanks for any comment, I will drive some distance to charge battery today.

As indicated in my PM, I have merged your thread with this existing one on the same topic.
I have this happen about every 3 - 4 weeks. I put a trickle charger (2A) on it and it takes about 10 hours to fully charge again. I attribute this requirement to not driving the Ex enough. When this first began happening the dealer checked everything out and replaced the battery. That was last March. In the Fall it began happening again but this time a dealer check found no issues. With 13 months left on my 48 month lease I'm going to worry about it. I'll mention it to the dealer again at the end of March when I have the Winter wheels swapped out.

Peter

 

[RGS1957]

I have a 2014 Explorer I picked up in December. I had a scooter hoist installed a couple of weeks ago. The "system off to save battery please turn ignition off or start engine" message first appeared after shutting it down within 5 miles of the shop. The problem continued the rest of the day, another half dozen shut downs. The problem disappeared the following morning after being parked in my garage overnight. The problem has intermittently occurred a few times since. I think the scooter installation maybe a coincidence, it's wired directly to the battery, both positive and ground. I can pull the fuse for the hoist, but with it being intermittent I don't know that would give me an answer.

 

[peterk9]

I have a 2014 Explorer I picked up in December. I had a scooter hoist installed a couple of weeks ago. The "system off to save battery please turn ignition off or start engine" message first appeared after shutting it down within 5 miles of the shop. The problem continued the rest of the day, another half dozen shut downs. The problem disappeared the following morning after being parked in my garage overnight. The problem has intermittently occurred a few times since. I think the scooter installation maybe a coincidence, it's wired directly to the battery, both positive and ground. I can pull the fuse for the hoist, but with it being intermittent I don't know that would give me an answer.

Welcome to the Forum RGS1957.:wavey:
That message pops up when your battery is low. If you drive it some distance it could charge the battery back up and the message will disappear. I have it come up about every 2 weeks and I charge my battery because I don't drive it long enough most of the time. Also this following is taken from your Owner's Guide, page 331;

Electrical accessory installation
To ensure proper operation of the BMS, any electrical devices that are
added to the vehicle should not have their ground connection made
directly at the negative battery post. A connection at the negative
battery post can cause inaccurate measurements of the battery condition
and potential incorrect system operation.

FYI, BMS stands for Battery Management System.

Peter