Dead Low Voltage Battery - Suggestion for handling

[columbiaskier]

This morning I got a battery drain warning right before my 290 km drive home. Made it home with no issues/further warnings but the screen was blank. It seemed to be in some sort of battery saver mode for the low voltage battery.

Plugged it in inside the garage and a few hours later noticed the hazard light blinking pattern. Electronic locks won’t work and charging indicator isn’t lit up. I’m guessing there is a short on the low voltage battery. I don’t want to get it towed tonight as the dealer isn’t open and I want the tow truck driver to have proper communication with the dealer as to how to get it into neutral and not damage it.

So my question is any recommendations for over night? Leave it plugged in or unplug? I have a trickle charger I could throw on the LVB. It’s my first breakdown with an EV so just don’t want to mess anything up.

Sponsored

 

[ctuan13]

This morning I got a battery drain warning right before my 290 km drive home. Made it home with no issues/further warnings but the screen was blank. It seemed to be in some sort of battery saver mode for the low voltage battery.

Plugged it in inside the garage and a few hours later noticed the hazard light blinking pattern. Electronic locks won’t work and charging indicator isn’t lit up. I’m guessing there is a short on the low voltage battery. I don’t want to get it towed tonight as the dealer isn’t open and I want the tow truck driver to have proper communication with the dealer as to how to get it into neutral and not damage it.

So my question is any recommendations for over night? Leave it plugged in or unplug? I have a trickle charger I could throw on the LVB. It’s my first breakdown with an EV so just don’t want to mess anything up.

I would pull the negative battery cable off the battery and throw the trickle charger on the battery, let charge overnight and reconnect in the morning. The 12V battery is probably too low and the low voltage is causing other issues.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Park the truck in a position for the flat bed to easily access the truck.
Chock the wheels, set it in tow mode, wait for tow service to load her up.

 

[RickLightning]

You should charge the 12v battery and then drive it to the dealership. If towed, make sure the driver has the Ford towing manual.

https://www.fordservicecontent.com/...rcraft/2022-Wrecker-Towing-Guide-MCS-6040.pdf

 

[Heliian]

Charge the battery and check all of the connections.

Could be the battery terminal connections themselves or further down in a bus bar connection.

Check with a volt meter to see what's it at standing, in accessorie mode and also with the truck on.

There have been a few reports of loose connections from factory.

 

[columbiaskier]

Thanks all. Boosted and got to the dealer. Got an improper wake up warning on FordPass when I boosted then later a high voltage battery warning came through the messages. I’m hoping that was just due to the LVB drain followed by the system starting up again.

 

[columbiaskier]

Charge the battery and check all of the connections.

Could be the battery terminal connections themselves or further down in a bus bar connection.

Check with a volt meter to see what's it at standing, in accessorie mode and also with the truck on.

There have been a few reports of loose connections from factory.

Thanks. I checked the battery terminals and they looks fine, albeit a bit dusty in there. The vehicle has about 15,000 miles on it so not likely a factor defect.

The issue happened after I was using the bed power outlets while it was snowing. It looked like one of my kids had left an interior light on but that turned off automatically.

Will see what the dealer finds….

 

[columbiaskier]

So the dealer says it is “fixed” but their explanation for the problem makes no sense to me:

“the problem was the battery depleted from using the generator for too long while the battery was low, he has a full explanation in your paperwork.”

I assume by generator they are referring to me using the onboard power the bed. I was using the onboard power when my HVB was at 80%. The lighting also has a setting that will shut off the power when the batttery gets to a certain setting. I plugged the vehicle into the FCSP that evening and charged to 100% for my 3 hour drive. That morning I saw the “battery drain warning”. I drove the 300kms no problem. Then plugged the car in to charge overnight. Except it never charged I’m assuming due to the low LVB charge state. So when I boosted and drove into the dealer the HVB was at 15% SOC.

im guessing the tech just looked at that and said “well that’s the issue, using onboard power at a low HVB state”.

 

[columbiaskier]

And an update. Talked to the foreman and the real answer is they have no idea what happened. They had me turn on the dealer sharing setting in the app so they can take a look. Seems like something went awry using the bed power but will hopefully know more soon.

Also apparently there are absolutely no low voltage batteries available right now at least in my jurisdiction so fingers crossed this isn’t a chronic issue.

Sponsored