Hey all...

I have been getting the message below saying "System Off to Save Battery" on my nav screen almost immediately after I turn my truck off. Usually the ratio and screen would stay on until I open the door, but the truck is shutting everything off.

I have had the battery tested and it came back good. The truck is not showing ANY signs of a low battery and everything works fine when the engine is on. I just cannot listen to the radio when the engine is not on anymore and I'm also worried that I could have a bigger problem here.

Any ideas??? Thanks!

 

Hi GeorgiaF150,

Does this happen every time you turn it off? If so, then you should be able to replicate this issue pretty easily for your dealership; I'd recommend getting them involved. How many miles are on the truck?

Crystal

 

Hey Crystal,

It does happen every time; I need to get it into the shop but was hoping to provide a little direction when I do.

The truck has 58,000 on it. Still under CPO warranty.

 

Thanks for the quick response, GeorgiaF150! I'm not a technician, so I'm not the best resource for mechanical advice, but I know you'll be in great hands at the dealership. Come back and tell me how your appointment goes; I'll be able to step in and assist once they've taken a look.

Crystal

 

More than likely the clueless techs at the dealership won't be able to fix it. They will just throw parts at it hoping it will fix it. The problem is a design flaw in the MFT system, the one in my truck does it, the one in my wifes escape does it, and the one in the focus I had did it too. Granted they were all random and more likely to happen in cooler/colder weather. What you are seeing is there to protect the MFT system during low voltage situations, but it's not needed, the truck has it's own low voltage protection. Having one in the MFT is redundant and some times conflicts with the truck protection.

But.... since yours is doing this everytime, something is wrong. hopefully they can find the root cause and get it resolved.

 

OP, I think what you're seeing is normal. I don't have the Nav system but my 2010 does shut everything off after a short time. Even if I turn the head lights to manual On, it still shuts them off. It also turns off the interior lights even if the doors are left open. I've never timed it but I'd guess about 5 or 10 minutes.

OTOH if Red FX-4 is right and you want to try and fix, I would recommend replacing the battery before taking it to Ford. A battery would be cheaper than Ford's diagnostic fee and is the most likely cause. If your read around on this forum, you'll find PLENTY of stories from people with strange electrical problems that went away when they replaced the battery. Even though they tested good!

 

Get the battery tested. These trucks take alot of battery to run everything. I also have had that message alot over the last few years. Put in a brand new battery and i haven't see it again. Also its best to get a battery at the dealership so they can reset the BCM. Otherwise the system will run down your new battery to the state the old battery was in.


Edit just saw where you said you got it tested, that doesn't always mean everything is good. My battery tested "ok" also but it was to the point where the truck was trying to save the battery power even though it tested out alright.

 

There is over a 300 page section on this problem. 05redfx is correct, its an internal issue and ford can't seem to figure it out/dont give a ****.

Crystal, you know this and have been active on that page.

 

There was a tsb for a body control module for this. My truck did the same thing and would go into battery save mode in the accessory position.

 

My 2014 started doing that. I took it to dealer and they did an software update on the chassis control module. Problem solved.

 

Damn! I just dropped mine off for other things on this today. Also blown IWE valves.

I'll ask them about this tomorrow.

 

Update...

I took the truck to the dealer last week and they said the battery had a bad cell. So, I replaced a 2 year old battery for $153 and the problem is gone. I tried to get the dealer to help with the cost since the factory battery was 2 years old and the new dealer battery has a 3-year replacement / 7-year pro-rated warranty...no luck.

Anyhow, problem seems to be resolved for now.

 

So wait battery doesn't have a warranty or isn't covered under warranty.

 

It sounds like it's covered under the regular 3-year/36,000 mile warranty and I have too many miles.

 

Ah gotcha. Crummy.