Car has no power - Any Ideas

[kiwiffe]

Hi everyone, I just took delivery of my 2015 FFE last month and all in all everything has been going pretty good until today. I went to check out the battery % as I need to run a few errands tomorrow and as thinking of maybe adding some charge.

I've run into a situation where there is no juice left in the car for the electronics, charge ring, etc. My guess is the 12V battery is dead based on what I have been reading. I tried to jump it with my ICE car but wasn't sure how long I needed it hooked up (was connected for about 2 mins) and still no juice. I stopped as I need a car tomorrow and don't want to have 2 dead batteries.

I had about 50% HV battery remaining on the car and it was not plugged it. I last drove the vehicle on Friday which means it sat for a couple of days without moving or charging. I typically only charge at the office since it is free there and only need about 20% battery to get to the office.

Any ideas on what to do? I can borrow a 12V trickle charger from my friend tomorrow morning and try that overnight. Should I just charge it up with the L1 charger and see what that does? Just call ford roadside service and see what they will do?

Luckily I have another vehicle to use but since I have work in the morning, I won't be able to troubleshoot much/call place until the afternoon.

 

[triangles]

You should be able to use another car to "jump start" your FFE if your battery is dead. IE hook up the jumper cables and then press the the start button in your FFE Once your FFE is on, unhook the jumper cables and do not turn off the FFE for at least a half hour. Plug it into your charge station before you turn the FFE off.

A volt meter and 12v battery charger would be useful for you to have. Since you could simply hook up your 12 charger to charge it up.

Also I don't know if having the ICE vehicle running and turning on the FFE is bad or not. I wouldn't have the ICE vehicle running to avoid any problems with the FFE's DC-DC converter conflicting with the alternator output of the ICE. Maybe someone more knowledgeable can chime in on this.

 

[michael]

I have seen this problem twice, and I am unclear as to what I do to cause it.

The problem occurred when the care was left overnight but NOT plugged in. I am guessing I left the car in some sort of an "on" state so that the 12 V battery was being drawn down. Both times in the middle of the night the car sent out an SOS message saying the 12 V battery was low.

Putting the car on a 12 V charger instantly woke it up. Jumping from another car should have been fine, too. It's not like jump starting an ICE car where there is a heavy load and running the motor helps, it's just the light load from the electronics. Plug in the car and I think it continues to charge normally once awake.

 

[hybridbear]

I would suggest having your dealer load test the 12V battery & replace it under warranty if needed. Allowing a 12V battery to go fully dead is very damaging to it.

 

[kiwiffe]

Update: Tried to jump the car again since it is parked next to my ICE car and still no go. Had it connected for 5 mins, but no electronics turned on. I'm not sure of the "jump procedure" but the batteries were hooked up with my ICE car running and start button press does nothing.
The only thing I noticed is that I did have a USB thumb drive plugged in and it is now unplugged but that shouldn't drain the 12V battery right?

I plugged the 110 HV charger in but only get a connected to vehicle indication and no charging indication. I don't have a volt meter so I can't check the battery but will probably just contact ford roadside later this afternoon when I am finished with all my work meetings. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[triangles]

With the jumpers hooked up to the FFE 12v battery, the dome lights and dash should light up when you open the door. The 12V battery powers the circuitry for the charger so if it's dead, plugging in the FFE will do nothing as you observed.

The car cuts power to the USB a minute or two after you turn off the car and close the door. So no, leaving a thumb drive plugged in will not cause a problem. It really should have sprung to life when you hooked up the jumpers :?: Did the jumpers spark at all when you hooked them up?

 

[kiwiffe]

When I hook it up to the other car nothing happens. No lights, no dash, no anything. I entered the car using the manual key.
I tried to look for a non painted metal piece on the ford for a ground as I am leery of hooking it to the negative terminal but only found painted surfaces. I can try with a different spot but will be picking up a volt meter and a 12V charger from my buddy this afternoon so I will have better troubleshooting ability.

Sounds like a call to Ford is in the near future.

 

[NightHawk]

Could some fuse(s) be blown?
Even with the 12v battery nearly dead you should get something with an external battery connected.

 

[WattsUp]

I tried to jump it with my ICE car but wasn't sure how long I needed it hooked up (was connected for about 2 mins) and still no juice.

Did you try to start the FFE while it was jumped? This is what "jumping the FFE" would mean, just like a regular car. The jumping procedure is outlined in the user manual.

Just connecting the battery for 2 minutes will do almost nothing.

 

[jmueller065]

I tried to look for a non painted metal piece on the ford for a ground as I am leery of hooking it to the negative terminal but only found painted surfaces.

There is a ground terminal against the firewall to the right of the battery specifically for jumping the car.

 

[michael]

I tried to jump it with my ICE car but wasn't sure how long I needed it hooked up (was connected for about 2 mins) and still no juice.

Did you try to start the FFE while it was jumped? This is what "jumping the FFE" would mean, just like a regular car. The jumping procedure is outlined in the user manual.

Just connecting the battery for 2 minutes will do almost nothing.

when I had a dead battery, connecting a small charger woke up the car instantly.


Kiwiffie....Do you have a voltmeter? Measure the battery, see if it's really discharged as we are supposing. The problem might be something entirely else (Fuse, etc)

 

[kiwiffe]

So I ended up borrowing a 12V trickle charger/starter from my buddy and purchased a voltmeter.
The voltage of the battery was 2.1V when measured before troubleshooting.

I tried to jump the car with the 50A jump from the machine. No good, still dead.
I then set up the trickle charger to see what it would do. Battery voltage jumper from 2.1V to 7V when hooked up. Left it for 30 minutes and charger said completed. Voltage back down to 2.1V.

I then tried the 10A boost feature of the charger/starter and lights etc began to flicker on and off, slowly for 1-2 minutes. I was then able to start the car. I then let it charge for another 5 minutes on the boost mode while the car was also running. The center NAV screen did not turn on but everything else seemed to work fine. Turned the car off then back on and the screen then booted up.

Measured the battery after disconnection at 12.2V. Decided to drive the car over to a free station 3 miles from my house and see how it goes. Hooked it up and car read 12.6V before a 30 minute charge and 14V after a quick charge. It is now sitting in the garage hopefully still retaining a charge. I will find out later as I have a work trip and wouldn't have been able to deal with tow truck, dealer etc.

I also set up the myfordmobile to notify me of 12V issues. I hadn't done this previously as it looked like the app had crappy reviews in the store and seemed to affect value charging etc. Hoepfully this will notify me of any future 12V issues.

Hopefully that was enough to charge up the 12V. Thanks for all who chimed in with their assistance.

 

[NightHawk]

If the 12v battery was that low, you would really need an overnight trickle charge from an external 12v battery charger to get it fully charged.
But if it got nearly dead, its obviously very weakened and may not hold a charge for days if needed.

I think a lot of FFEs may sit on a dealer's lot for months and not get proper 12v battery maintenance during that time, making it marginal upon delivery.
I'd take it to a Ford dealer and have them replace the 12v battery under warranty ASAP. They can do a full load test and confirm its not up to snuff.

I had a weakened 12v battery issue a week after my FFE was delivered last year too.
I bought a cheap 12v accessory meter that plugs in the cigarette lighter socket inside so I can monitor the voltage daily and catch it well before it gets way too low like 11V or less. I also got a small lithium ion battery unit that can jump start the 12v car battery in an emergency. The 12v battery is the weak link in the FFE design, so better to be especially prepared.

 

[GladeStorm]

Don't rely too much on the myfordmobile alerts. The two times that my battery drained (like Michael's, no discernable reason), the car didn't send out an SOS until I woke it up by opening the door.

 

[Rwbill]

Thanks for posting this issue.
I work in wireless communications with some tower sites supported by battery backup. Similar to automotive batteries, if the battery voltage got as low as 2.1 VDC (!) for any length of time, chances are that battery has been severely damaged and cannot be trusted to perform for a normal life, and could go dead again on you at another inopportune time ( there are no "opportune" times for a dead battery I guess ).

I think you said your car is quite new, so I would take the car to the dealer and tell them the battery had gone dead on a couple of occasions and ask them to test or replace it.

In deep cycle applications we have a sensor to shut off the radio equipment load if the battery voltage dips to 11.2 VDC because going lower than that and still trying to run a load will harm the battery and substantially reduce its expected life.

Thanks for sharing, this is something we will all likely face at one time or another.