Truck goes into "Battery Saver" mode nightly since 25C69: Fix #17

[rbott]

My truck (2024 Lariat, Extended Range) has been going into the dreaded "Battery Saver" mode ever since getting the 25C69 recall update applied.

I do have PAAK enabled for one device, but I do keep the Ford app on my iPhone closed most of the time to avoid constantly waking the vehicle up as I move in and out of its range.

I have opened a service request with my dealership, so I'll post an update once they've had a chance to check it out.

Of course, it could be a coincidence and my 12V battery might be dying (I've had the truck for ~18 months), but I thought it was worth asking the group if anyone has seen this as well.

Thanks.

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[jamelski]

take it to dealer they will replace it under warranty. Mine starting going bad at about 18 months and 35k going strong now and I keep on Noco 1 when I get home. Stupid BMS on lvb sad

 

[RickLightning]

My truck (2024 Lariat, Extended Range) has been going into the dreaded "Battery Saver" mode ever since getting the 25C69 recall update applied.

I do have PAAK enabled for one device, but I do keep the Ford app on my iPhone closed most of the time to avoid constantly waking the vehicle up as I move in and out of its range.

I have opened a service request with my dealership, so I'll post an update once they've had a chance to check it out.

Of course, it could be a coincidence and my 12V battery might be dying (I've had the truck for ~18 months), but I thought it was worth asking the group if anyone has seen this as well.

Thanks.

1) Did the tech who came out hook it up to a power supply?
2) Have you driven it more than 30 minutes in a row since the update was applied?
3) How long is your regular drive? Longer than 30 minutes, or a short 10 minute drive to work / stores?

 

[Adventureboy]

Agree with @RickLightning. Take it for a good drive so the 12v gets topped up and see if the problem goes away. Updates can leave the 12v low and a good drive may just fix it.

 

[srspring551]

You don't actually need to drive it for 30 min, do you? Just having the truck "on" for 30 min (or longer if you turn off auto-shutdown) does the same thing, to charge the lvb, correct?

 

[Adventureboy]

You don't actually need to drive it for 30 min, do you? Just having the truck "on" for 30 min (or longer if you turn off auto-shutdown) does the same thing, to charge the lvb, correct?

The truck has some goofy algorithms for this. If you are sitting in the truck with the truck ON, the voltage jumps to 15v to charge the LVB. If you get out of the truck, it drops to 13.2v or thereabouts and doesn't charge the 12v (at least not very fast) but rather maintains it. I don't know all of the dynamics of how it decides, but just leaving it ON might not do the job.

 

[srspring551]

Hmmmm.... well, there are plenty of reasons to just go sit in the truck, at my house

 

[rbott]

The car was driven for about 1.5 hours after the update. I did also let it sit in my garage, powered on with the heat set to 70 degrees for about 4 hours. I then charged it from about 85% to 90% on my L2 home charger. Still had the issue, though.

I did drop the truck off at Ford last night. I didn't see what the service advisor was looking at on her computer screen, but she mentioned that the truck is throwing up some errors relating to the passenger side headlight. It sounded like the truck thinks it's on but the headlight is off at the garage.

This all makes me think it might not a bad battery and instead some kind of software glitch that is making the truck think the 12V battery is low or going low, despite the truck reporting that the 12V battery is at 95% charge. I'll report back once I get the diagnostic from the service technician.

 

[Adventureboy]

she mentioned that the truck is throwing up some errors relating to the passenger side headlight. It sounded like the truck thinks it's on but the headlight is off at the garage.

This would do it because it probably would leave one or two control modules on. If you can't get it into the dealer in a timely manner, try a full 12v reset. Sometimes the updates leaves things in a goofy state and a full reset may clear the brains across the board.

 

[billschell]

This would do it because it probably would leave one or two control modules on. If you can't get it into the dealer in a timely manner, try a full 12v reset. Sometimes the updates leaves things in a goofy state and a full reset may clear the brains across the board.

It could be your original diagnosis. When the 12v gets low it sends crazy codes. They kept mine for a week talking to Ford engineers and then replaced the 12v as I asked them to do originally. Everything has been fine for three weeks.

 

[mr.Magoo]

The truck has some goofy algorithms for this.

Very interesting! I suppose you DO still learn something new every day - even when you're as old as I am....
I was soooo tempted to just call BS on this and say "No Way !" but I figured, let's do a test, and sure as sh-t - it does what you said it does !?

First 2hrs is the truck sitting "ON", in park, doors locked, 30min power down timer disabled 13.4V and 1A current to the battery. The "spike" in voltage to 15V is me going back out, shifting it into neutral and leaving the door closed, but unlocked.

I do not recall seeing this behaviour before. I frequently leave it running when I get home and let it time out on the 30min timer. Wonder if that has anything to do with it and/or that it's different if you "drive it" and then leave it running vs. just starting it and leaving it there.

The other interesting thing is that the truck remained in neutral way past the neutral timer expired.
There was a popup on the dash saying it's expired, but the gear shifter was still in neutral and there was still that "below 20-25mph" hum, maybe someone else could check this as well (especially if you still have the stock shifter (in case this is a "bug" / drawback of doing a rotary swap).

 

[rbott]

Quick update: I dropped the vehicle off last night, as I mentioned. Dealership is about a 15 minute drive from the house. They were unable to get to it today (that's a story for another post!), but I just checked the truck in the Ford iOS app. Strangely, it's still avaiable and hasn't gone into battery saver mode yet. It's been sitting there for over 24 hours, which has been enough time as of late. My software updates are scheduled to check at 2 am, so we'll see what happens tomorrow morning.

The truck is usually parked in the garage overnight. I don't leave the keyfob in the truck, and I do keep the Ford app closed on my iPhone. However, the keyfobs are inside the house, in the room adjacent to the garage. It's less than 30' away, with a single wall in between.

I'm wondering if this is somehow causing this? I did turn off welcome lighting a while ago to avoid this issue (based on feedback from other posts).

 

[Jesse-Infotainment]

The easy fix is to disconnect the BMS plug at the battery.. disconnect it let it sit for 10 seconds and reconnect.

Happens when they connect the power s upply at the battery versus the jump terminals or in front fo the BMS>

 

[Adventureboy]

I do not recall seeing this behaviour before.

Have to agree, this is recent I think. I've tracked it for 2 years and never noticed it before. I noticed it when I was testing the H4 transplant a few weeks ago so I suspect it was an update sometime in the last couple of months.

 

[davehu]

The truck has some goofy algorithms for this. If you are sitting in the truck with the truck ON, the voltage jumps to 15v to charge the LVB. If you get out of the truck, it drops to 13.2v or thereabouts and doesn't charge the 12v (at least not very fast) but rather maintains it. I don't know all of the dynamics of how it decides, but just leaving it ON might not do the job.

I was wondering the same thing but your answer means maybe not... however if the truck is sitting in your driveway just leave the fob inside. Even AI can't tell the difference beteen you and a FOB

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