"Electrical System Drain. Service Required." DIY Fixes?

[lister coggs]

I believe the issue was on his end. He said he ”was disconnecting the battery entirely” to charge it - instead of just connecting the charger to the jump points. So very likely has not been reconnecting it tightly.

This is correct. I didn't ratchet-tighten the terminal clamps because I kept removing and reseating them to charge it manually during troubleshooting. They were tight and making contact, just not extremely secure (they could wiggle off with some force).

Either way, last night the message (Electrical System Drain. Service Required) reappeared as expected, so this was unfortunately not the issue.

I wonder if there's a better way of finding a dealership that knows more about these vehicles? It seems like they're more used to either ICE vehicles or unfamiliar with modern systems and common errors. Looking on this forum, it seems like this is a re-occurring problem with both Lightnings and Mach-E's. Maybe I should go to a dealership in the closest major city instead? (Toronto)

The fact that they were driving the vehicle around after tightening the battery terminals, trying to replicate a parasitic drain issue, seems like they might not fully understand the problem.

Sponsored

 

[RLXXI]

Yes many ways to bring the battery back up to 100%, but I think letting it drop to 16% could be problematic over time.

The ups and downs of a deep discharge (like down to 16%) then charge with a current to bring it back to 100% in 1 hour of close to 30A (from 5.6Ah to 35Ah = 29.4Ah; 29Ah/1h=29.4A) can't be great for the battery in the long run.

A trickle charger goes much slower (lower current) which is better for battery longevity so they tell me.

Because some have reported parasitic draws of a significant level when off/idle, and my truck sits idle for a day or more sometimes depending, a trickle charger works better for my situation (nice to be mostly retired in my case).

I'd like my 12v battery to last a lot longer than the 3yr B-to-B warranty.

Now that the weather here in the N. Hemisphere is getting colder, keeping the batteries (LV and HV) on chargers when off seems prudent.

But to each their own.

Bought the truck in June and have the same commute the entire time, I don't think it's as problematic as you seem to believe. That's 5 months of those short trips and it hasn't killed the battery yet, and only 1 hour to bring it back up. This is SOC we're talking about, not voltage. There is a difference.

 

[K6CCC]

Watching this thread. 24 Flash that I bought in February 25 with a little over 14K miles. Thursday evening drove about 18 miles round trip to dinner and plugged in the truck to my FCSP overnight. It was only down to 69%, but it was convenient to charge. Location charge set to 90%. Middle of the night I checked my phone to confirm it was completed and got an error message about no comm to the truck and it needed to be driven (sorry, don't remember the exact wording). Got up later and my phone showed the truck had completed the charge at 0247 (as expected) and all was fine. Friday I did two trips totaling 11 miles without incident. This morning, phone shows a message of "Electrical System Drain Service Required". A few hours later I needed to move the truck out of the driveway and the dash showed the same thing.
The only thing plugged in is a GPS that is plugged into a 12V outlet that the truck turns off 30 minutes after shutting off the truck. I also do have an OBD2 reader plugged in that I will use shortly to check for error messages and various electrical status.

Sponsored