"System Off to Save Battery" message

[fordtruckman2003]

Anything special with replacing these batteries? Now that it's getting cold everytime I shut it off I get the power saving message. Auto start doesn't work, start/stop doesn't work, zone lighting and interior lighting doesn't work. Wonderful job Ford 33k miles in '21 and need a new battery.

I'd rather just fix it myself then deal with incompetent dealer that will tell me it's normal.

Forgot to mention get an AGM battery.

I thought they ask were now, but aftermarket battery someone put in my truck has sticker on it "not for AGM or Auto Start/Stop applications."

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[rjg2k]

Thanks for the advice here. I just had the factory battery warranty replaced. I performed the BMS reset and the battery is still draining to 60% after sitting overnight. Charged it to 100% again today and did the BMS reset again, will see how it is in the morning. May be time to upgrade to a higher capacity battery but I would love to figure out what is causing this drain.

 

[Snakebitten]

If it's draining that fast I don't think a bigger battery has a chance either.

I'd love to see an overnight voltage log on your truck.

 

[rjg2k]

If it's draining that fast I don't think a bigger battery has a chance either.

I'd love to see an overnight voltage log on your truck.

Yea I wish i had a way to pull this data to see what could be possibly draining 40% of the charge every night. I have a dashcam hooked up via usb to the rearview but I highly doubt that could be the issue. My only other thought is to try and force a software update or just unplug the BCM module from the battery itself. Otherwise Monday its sadly back to the dealership.

 

[fordtruckman2003]

Hooked to rearview mirror it should power off with the truck off. Can't hurt to try disconnecting that though.
Have you wired up anything else on the truck?

 

[rjg2k]

Hooked to rearview mirror it should power off with the truck off. Can't hurt to try disconnecting that though.
Have you wired up anything else on the truck?

Yea I will try and unplug the camera today. Got it back on the charger today and will mess around with a few other things once fully charged. Just cant wrap my head around what could possibly be draining 40% of a brand new battery overnight. No lights are on, screen is off. Maybe a bad BCM module?

 

[fordtruckman2003]

Something on that shouldn't be on.
Do you have inverter truck? Anything plugged in?
Flip the door open on dash outlet and look at it 20 minutes after truck was shut off, LED light should not be on.

Keep all fobs stored away from truck so it doesn't keep waking up.

 

[rjg2k]

Something on that shouldn't be on.
Do you have inverter truck? Anything plugged in?
Flip the door open on dash outlet and look at it 20 minutes after truck was shut off, LED light should not be on.

Keep all fobs stored away from truck so it doesn't keep waking up.

What's interesting is the battery will recharge from 60%-100% in less than 1 hour so maybe the % drop at night is normal? Doesn't seem like that should be the case though but I don't know much about these AGM batteries.

Yep I do have the inverter but nothing plugged in and FOBs are far away from where the truck is parked. Will test all the outlets and the generator today to rule that out.

 

[rjg2k]

What's interesting is the battery will recharge from 60%-100% in less than 1 hour so maybe the % drop at night is normal? Doesn't seem like that should be the case though but I don't know much about these AGM batteries.

Yep I do have the inverter but nothing plugged in and FOBs are far away from where the truck is parked. Will test all the outlets and the generator today to rule that out.

UPDATE: Just ran the truck for 15 minutes after the battery was fully charged. Tested the pro power and all the outlets. Everything tested good.

Just for fun I put the battery back on the charger and it was back to 60%. Maybe this is normal operation but it seems very strange if that is the case. I am now more confused than ever.

 

[fordtruckman2003]

If you are reading a charge value off the charger it could just be guessing. Based on how quickly it recovers I would say that is the case. I'm no battery expert though. I judge how low my bike battery is based on how quickly it switches over to maintenance mode. No percentage display on my battery tender.

 

[rjg2k]

If you are reading a charge value off the charger it could just be guessing. Based on how quickly it recovers I would say that is the case. I'm no battery expert though. I judge how low my bike battery is based on how quickly it switches over to maintenance mode. No percentage display on my battery tender.

I was hoping that was the issue, but the telltale sign is when the welcome lights no longer work then I know the battery has been sufficiently drained (this happens if I don't charge for 2+ days). Guess I'm going to conclude something is wrong with the vehicle charging system (alternator or BCM) and take it back to the dealer next week.

 

[fordtruckman2003]

I was hoping that was the issue, but the telltale sign is when the welcome lights no longer work then I know the battery has been sufficiently drained (this happens if I don't charge for 2+ days). Guess I'm going to conclude something is wrong with the vehicle charging system (alternator or BCM) and take it back to the dealer next week.

Pull battery out, charge, and have it bench tested at an auto parts store.

Even a new battery can be bad with dead cells or other issues.

 

[HANCOCK]

Back in the day On older vehicles....I'm not sure on the new vehicles but you could disconnect the positive on the battery and put a meter between the battery and the cable and start pulling fuses. When you pull the faulty circuit the meter will go to zero. But you have to make sure you pull the interior lights fuse first before you start . but Like I said I'm not sure it would work with newer vehicles with a PCM.
hope you fine it

 

[Snakebitten]

Yea I wish i had a way to pull this data to see what could be possibly draining 40% of the charge every night. I have a dashcam hooked up via usb to the rearview but I highly doubt that could be the issue. My only other thought is to try and force a software update or just unplug the BCM module from the battery itself. Otherwise Monday its sadly back to the dealership.

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Installs in 5 minutes.

You can now KNOW the voltage of the 12V battery 24/7/365

It will log the voltage and it automatically downloads to your app the next time you open it.

When you launch the app (within 30-40' from the vehicle, you will get the voltage real time.

Then it downloads the log and you can see the voltage in 24 hour blocks. As you slide your finger across the graph it will show you the timestamp and voltage at that timestamp.

Here is what an undisturbed truck SHOULD look like if the battery isn't draining (significantly) for the full 24 hours.

Based on what you describe it would look very different.

 

[spud_41]

I replaced the oem battery with a Duralast Platinum H8 AGM last Wednesday. Just pulled the stock shield over the battery, it's tight and tore a little but it works. Didn't want to deal with the dealer song and dance followed with a best case scenario of another battery too small to handle all the electronics in these trucks. I was sitting on a 2.something update, now it's on the current update. Just drove it for the first time since putting the new battery in and everything was fine, no "system off" message. Thanks to the guys recommending putting an H8 in.

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