2016 ST Dead Battery 4 times now......

[ltdorn]

Anyone have any idea.... 2 month old car.

4 times now i have come out in the morning and the car is dead. Have to use manual key to get in the car, and pop hood. I checked voltage at its was sitting at ~10V. No lights left on, no accessories in the cig lighter. Figure it was a fluke. But now its a trend.

The last one was today. Drove home from work. Left the sunroof tilted up. Then right before bed, wife went out and closed it and locked the car. This morning car dead. (Note the car was fully charged with the G7200 charger 2 nights before because that is the day it arrived from amazon...lol)

Only mods... COBB acccessport ECM SW installed. Accessport Not connected in car.

I have verified battery is good with a Solar Digital battery tested. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IZFNJ6Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Have the battery charger on battery now with NOCO Genius G7200 charger.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004LWTHP2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


So i guess i will start trouble shooting when i get home. I want to find the issue myself, because i have a feeling if i go into the dealer, i will get the standard "we cant find anything" comment after they sit on the car a couple days. I want to see if i can find what component/system is not shutting off.

Anyone have any ideas?

Question is there a way to reset the Ford battery saver cutoff? so you could still start the car in an emergency?



SOLUTION SO YOU DONT HAVE TO READ THROUGH THE WHOLE THREAD:

Ultra Guage Gen1 SW verion 1.0. (which i didnt list in this orginal post) Makes the car computer to come on and off randomly and will drain battery in a one to a few days. And its hard to see because UG is powered from OBD2 port and you cant see that draw from the fuse boxes. you can only see when the ECU turns on other car modules. I installed my Gen 2 UG SW version 1.2 and no issues. Put the SW 1.0 UG back in my Dodge truck were this issues does not exist.
Link to info on UG SW1.0 if interested: http://www.ultra-gauge.com/customer_support/knowledgebase.php?article=16

 

[Racer83L]

my 2016 seems to have an issue when it thinks one of the doors are left open. and it can be any of them. yesterday, my right rear door was open (it wasn't but I had to open and re-close it to get the interior lights to turn off). (nobody has opened the door in a week) Maybe yours is doing the same thing. I'm not even sure if that would kill the battery tho.

also, more than once, the same thing happened with the hatch although its possible I butt pushed that button.

 

[me32]

Have you had the alt check? Have you taken the car to ford to have it looked at? What mods have you installed? Are you leaving any thing on in the car or plugged in?

 

[ltdorn]

Info was In original post. No I haven't brought in to ford per original post...

I have a ultra gauge that I can see that the battery voltage
It does rise up to ~14.5 volts when running so I think its good.

The battery goes dead randomly.. it can go a week and be fine.. then come out the next day and it's dead... that what sucks it random... Russian rullet. Luckily every time it was dead it was at home in the driveway!

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[Superfly Snook]

Even if your driving was a lot of short trips 2 months seems quick for a battery to stop holding a charge. I would guess something else is up. 10V sounds like it should be enough to start up - so that seems weird to me that you couldn't start it. I agree with me32 that having the alternator checked would be a good idea. I would have taken the car in the first time being so new, but I understand your desire to troubleshoot on your own.

 

[ltdorn]

I also think 10v would start the car. However, I think the car has a battery saver that disconnects the battery. When active the car will not do anything.. start button nor the lights, sync or anything else comes on when the door is opened or start button is pushed... from Google searches it's a battery management system that protects the battery from over discharge.

No short trips.. it's a 16 mile round trip to work.

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[Sekred]

Take it back to the dealer and get it checked. The battery has 6 cells, fully charged they produce 2.1 volts each so maybe you have a faulty cell. Generally once voltage drops below 10.5 you won't be able to crank the engine. Cell failure is not uncommon, I have seen brand new batteries fail load tests.
The dealer should also be able to do a current draw test with the ignition off and see if it is excessive.

 

[ltdorn]

Pretty sure it's not the battery as it sits at 13.6 volts after a charge and that was pulling the connectors from the battery and letting it sit. Voltage remained the same. Also the capacity checker also indicate a perfectly fine battery.. I really wish it was the battery because thats an easy ass fix. But as a electrical engineer With trouble shooting experience, I have a feeling this is going to sucks ass...because random indications are a bitch to troubleshoot.. I will probably bring it in just to have it on record that it's screwing up... other thought is maybe the car has some sort of black box that records everything's on/off and they can see what didn't turn off.

Guess I was hoping some else already had this issue and that would help as a starting point. I am in AZ and hot as heck.. I hope it's not a electronic heat failure issue.

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[haste]

Info was In original post. No I haven't brought in to ford per original post...

I have a ultra gauge that I can see that the battery voltage
It does rise up to ~14.5 volts when running so I think its good.

The battery goes dead randomly.. it can go a week and be fine.. then come out the next day and it's dead... that what sucks it random... Russian rullet. Luckily every time it was dead it was at home in the driveway!

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

Have you verified the ultragauge isn't faulty? 14.5v from an alternator is a little on the high side. i prefer to see 13.8-14.1v when the vehicle is running. have u verified alt output with a DMM? the wires on that solar battery tester look puny. how do you know that thing is even load testing that battery properly? remove the surface charge from the battery before testing it. no starting battery should be at 13.6v when disconnected from
the vehicle and testing under load.

 

[ltdorn]

actually the running voltage is about 14 or so volts... i threw that out off the top of my head. I havent specifically checked the Alt output with DMM. because i can see the batt voltage via ultra gauge when running. I have unplugged the UG just in case, but i didnt have any issue with it on my truck,

As for the Solar battery tester, it doesnt actually pull a bunch of current like old school testers... this one is cool.. it electronically verifies the heath of the battery. It determines battery state of charge, State of health, and internal resistance of the battery. It uses voltage, current and impedance and conductance checks of the battery to determine battery well being. its new technology and from what i have been reading and watching youtube videos, its a much more accurate way to actually determine the heath of the battery. it can be used on all differnt battery types (SLI, AGM spiral and flat plate, etc.) I got the following reading from my battery. Battery is rated at 500 CCA at a full charge voltage. Meter gave CCA 757 , SOC 100%, SOH 100%, and internal resistance 4.15Mohms. all good values for a new battery. (note there was also stamp on the battery that had a manufacture date of Nov 2016 and tested CCA 760. inline with meters reading.

I wonder if it was operator error. as i am not exactly sure how the start button controls car power... Like a hard key has the following... off, accessory, run and start.... what is the equiv for the push button on the ST?
I push the button one once without clutch and i get a "to start push in clutch warning"..(radio comes on and A/C starts blowing)..IF i push button twice the A/C and radio turns off , but i can push the power button on the sync3 radio and it comes on. i cant find anything in the manual if i want to just sit there listening the radio without the A/C on. Just seems ass backward... in my 2015 Genesis 5.0, on push of start button (without brake pushed) the radio comes on but no AC.. another push and everything turns off. a push with the brake and the car starts.. completely different that the ST.

I wonder if the car has a auto shut down if its not started, but the button was pushed and you walk away with the key. if Not, that could be my issue. (pushing the start button twice without starting the car and walking away from the car?)

Wife said she did the following and the car was dead the next morning..... unlocked car with keyfob, open door, push start button (clutch out), closed moonroof, pushed start button again (clutch out), got out, shut door, and pushed lock on keyfob, and came inside.

I guess i can try and replicate and see if it goes dead again..

 

[Sekred]

If you are sure the battery is ok then the next test would be to measure current draw with the ignition off. You will need a Good quality Clamp meter, if you have not used one before then I am sure you could find a YouTube clip. You are looking for around 0.25 amps or less, higher like around 1.0 amps is definitely a problem. You can start removing fuses one at a time till you find the circuit.
As for the battery, well I am old school and would not rule it out unless I used a carbon pile load tester.

 

[me32]

Have you been able to see a draw when the car is off? Batterys dont just get low on voltage unless they are bad or there is a draw from somewhere

 

[ltdorn]

I did a load test yesterday and after about 30 mins or so the current draw was down to 30ma or so.... But that's the issue... Its totally dam random! Gone dead 4 random time over the last 2 months. Like I said... Last time battery was fully charged with new charger per post#1 on Wednesday, drove to work Thursday (16 miles round trip) , wife closed moon roof Thursday night at ~ 1900, closed and locked door with key fob, and dead Friday morning.


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[haste]

I can turn the radio/nav all that jazz on without using the start button at all. It turns itself off after about 15 minutes. I have a '15 model so the head unit is a little different, I believe.

 

[Intuit]

When you turn the car off and sit in it, there are certain sounds it makes that are delayed. After it's been sitting overnight and I open the driver door, I also hear a brief sound from what sounds like the driver rear wheel area.

In a dead-silent place, take a minute or two to routinely listen for sounds, and recognize the unusual.

For the 2016 at least, I think there are normal dash sounds for the automated ventilation system, certain relays, and occasionally I'll hear a buzzing noise from the driver door area; possibly the voltage regulation for the illuminated door switches.

Bad alternators can be intermittent. I don't know how the charge system operates on this vehicle, but with my other, battery would have to get below ~10.5v before the alternator light came on; exception being is if the alternator is just totally dead with 0 output. If setup similarly, the only way to catch it when it's under-charging is with a voltmeter that plugs into the 12v socket.

 

[OCS12]

As another EE, I'd want to be sure it's not a defective battery before chasing the more difficult demons. If it's possible to park the car for a few days, I'd pull the battery, charge it to full, and look for a voltage drop in a day or two. At least that would eliminate the car from the equation.

 

[ltdorn]

yea.. thats a good idea...maybe i will pull the battery and let it sit.

 

[ltdorn]

Dammit.. drove to movies sat. Didn't drive it sunday... and Franken dead again this morning... Guess I will pull the battery this morning charge it and let it sit and see if it self discharges be itself..

ltdorn 2016 Fist

 

[ltdorn]

Actually I just said F it and just brought to the dealer... now the long wait for that call..

ltdorn 2016 Fist

 

[ltdorn]

OK got it back this evening.....

drum roll.....
Battery and charging system all good.

Dealer said it was a ground in/on the ambient lighting switch (color changer) that was causing the battery to drain. They replaced the switch. well thats what teh service guy said, i didnt get to actually talk to the mechanic that worked it...Seems odd as i would think the ecu should kill all the accessories when the car is off or the timeout is done.

They still have the ticket open and I have to give them a call monday if everything is ok or not.
we will see.....