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

[ltdorn]

I don't think so.. I haven't actually used them yet. But car at shop so can't look at the moment..

ltdorn 2016 Fist

 

[beachbum]

me too

I don't think so.. I haven't actually used them yet. But car at shop so can't look at the moment..

ltdorn 2016 Fist

Please continue, I am having the same problem with my 2016 Fiesta SFE

 

[beachbum]

One other thing that I have similar to your issue. I also have an UltraGauge. I have disconnected it for now. It had been left connected previously. I have only 900 miles on my Fiesta and it is used almost daily. I too want to have a dependable vehicle.

 

[ltdorn]

Update:

22 July brought back to dealer...

22-29 Jul...at dealer. Called dealer friday 29 july for status... dealer admitted.. they hadnt done squat with the car.... freaking annoying, but hey he was honest... plus next closest ford dealer is 1.5 hours away...

30Jul- 5 Aug at dealer..... Called friday 5 aug. they say they were working it... he said they had when out to the car on thurdays and the battery was dead again... they said they were calling ford to get permission to order and start swapping modules because they cant figure it out... I reminded them they have had the car for 3 week and the lemon law kicks in at 30days... he reasured me that they would figure it out.... they at least reported they saw what i had seen... you do the current drain check in the afternoon and there would be no drains and then come out the next morning and the battery would be dead.... like something wakes up and starts draining the battery. He also mentioned the modules can be programed and maybe they have some bad programming.... hense swapping them out...


So no news yet...except the car has probably been in the shop for about 30% of the time i have had it...

Funny i had alway teased my freinds with a ford Diesel truck (i have a dodge 3500 diesel), with the ford jokes.. ford backwards Driver Returned On Foot... Found On Road Dead... ford owners recommend dodge.....WHY ARE THERE SIDEWALKS BESIDE MOST STREETS AND HIWAYS? So Ford owners have a safe place to walk home.

DAM i fell like i should have listened and heeded my jokes!

 

[ltdorn]

One other thing that I have similar to your issue. I also have an UltraGauge. I have disconnected it for now. It had been left connected previously. I have only 900 miles on my Fiesta and it is used almost daily. I too want to have a dependable vehicle.

Did you bring yours in yet? maybe your dealership is smarter than mine.....and you can tell me what the issue is! lol.

 

[beachbum]

It only happened once to me and that was this last Sunday. I charged it and I am going to monitor it with a plug-in voltmeter. If it continues like it did for you I will take it to the dealer and keep you informed. Good luck! I have always said Ford's forever, I hope I will be able to continue saying this?

 

[ltdorn]

WTF.... ULTRAGAGE! http://www.ultra-gauge.com/customer_support/knowledgebase.php?article=16

i stopped by the dealer yesterday after work.... and he said they think its the ultraguage... when not plugged in.... no issues, when plugged in battery goes dead... then i google UG battery dead,.. and bam... found this link...
Well i actually have 2 ultragagues, old one like the link describes, and a the newest version.... Never had an issue with the truck and the old UG, so i just popped into the ST.... Well nope... i think the ST is another one to add to that list the link mentions... the UG is keeping the car from fully going to sleep and draining the battery.
the dealer still has the car and doing the final confirmation this weekend... (hum i would have thought that would be step one... disconnect all owner installed electrical devices. We both the dealer and I have learned something)

I really thought the UG was a totally passive device and would not keep the car from sleeping... crazy....

Anyway when i get it back, i will try some independent testing with the new and old UG and see if i can use the NEW UG... i really like seeing the information it desplays and i dont have to have a $500 Cobb AP sitting out in the open.

BEACHBUM, can you verify the time your battery went dead your UG was plugged in?

HASTE, looks like you were onto something way back when you asked if the UG was faulty! I didnt image that the UG would effect cars system differently! because in the 3500 diesel it worked like a champ!

R/

 

[RichXKU]

I use a Scangauge II, no problems here even when parked for a week. It also fits perfectly in that otherwise useless cubby in front of the shifter!

 

[ltdorn]

Yea I have a scan Guage too. But like the layout and display of the UG.. I am hoping the new version doesn't kill the battery.

ltdorn 2016 Fist

 

[Intuit]

Many diesels have not one, but two batteries for cold-starting. That's in addition to having way more cranking amps and capacity. The UltraGauge may well be putting a drain on that also, but not enough to kill a set of truck batteries without sitting for a really long time.

In my other car, had an old battery that "failed" in a rather weird way... capacity. You couldn't run the flashers for five minutes without deading the battery. Still had plenty of cranking amps when charged though.

 

[Intuit]

Quick question... how much did they charge you for this "repair" and will this still count toward the "lemonization" of the car ?

 

[ltdorn]

Zero dollars. Car is 2 months old.... I have no idea if it counts . I guess you could make the case they didn't disconnect accessories before they commenced trouble shooting. I would think that would be step 1 in any ford electrical troubleshooting manual... but even ford techinal support desk didn't tell the dealer to disconnect it.. I think the mechanic finally thought well we tried everything else let's disco the UG... I wouldn't have thought of that because my understanding also was the UG was a passive device only!
The dealer service rep is a great guy and I don't have any bad feelings.. he said it was a totally new thing for all of them.. lessened learned all around...lol.
Funny because I always tell my kids to go to a known good configuration and the add final configuration items one at a time and see if it makes a difference... but in this case my brain over road everything because I "knew" it couldn't be the UG... and the was the only extra electrical item I added...no idea the UG would prevent the car from sleeping.. and from my understanding there is no fuse to the obd2 port so you can't see the drain.
ltdorn 2016 Fist

 

[me32]

Well sounds like you may have found your issue.

 

[haste]

HASTE, looks like you were onto something way back when you asked if the UG was faulty! I didnt image that the UG would effect cars system differently! because in the 3500 diesel it worked like a champ!

R/

Dang. Glad you got it figured out. I imagine that was pretty frustrating.

 

[Zormecteon]

So, trouble shooting tip #14. Unplug everything that's plugged in.... It could be user error.

 

[Superfly Snook]

Good thing you didn't jump the gun and post a bunch of jokes about Ford reliability/quality before finding out it was your own gadget that was the problem. Oh wait...

 

[ltdorn]

Lol.. yea.. but don't have the issue with my dodge or Genesis so I can still make the jokes...lol

ltdorn 2016 Fist

 

[Intuit]

Good thing you didn't jump the gun and post a bunch of jokes about Ford reliability/quality before finding out it was your own gadget that was the problem. Oh wait...

Hehe.... that's what I was getting at with my "quick question" above. I think it's great that he wasn't charged.

Get this... a customer plugs in a 3rd-party unapproved device with a known history for causing issues with other vehicles (including non-Ford)... then blames the car manufacturer (rather than the 3rd-party device) for the problem.

There are times when you blame an auto manufacturer for a problem... this ain't one of them.

 

[ltdorn]

Hehe.... that's what I was getting at with my "quick question" above. I think it's great that he wasn't charged.

Get this... a customer plugs in a 3rd-party unapproved device with a known history for causing issues with other vehicles (including non-Ford)... then blames the car manufacturer (rather than the 3rd-party device) for the problem.

There are times when you blame an auto manufacturer for a problem... this ain't one of them.

Well my auguement would have been....a good ford technection should have the experience to know... step one, remove/disable all customer installed devices so you have a known good baseline and trouble shoot from there... This would have been solved day one instead of ~24days... It was sitting there plane as day from day one staring them in the face and all they had to do was unplug from the OBDII port.... easy as pie...

As for "a customer plugs in a 3rd-party unapproved device with a known history for causing issues with other vehicles" makes me laugh...

1. Take a look at the ultra guage website... you have to dig hard to find the battery discharge issue and it only applicable to the first gerneration of the UG. When they talk about battery drain they discribe who UG only pulls Milli amps when in standby and operating.
2. Unapproved device... makes me laugh........ Can you point us to the approved products list that you are refering too.... Because i want to make sure i can plug in my Valentine One or phone charger without busting my warranty? See how rediculous that comment is?

Yea i am really annoyed i even had this issue... But again i am not the "ford expert certified technition" that has been to classes for trouble shooting and dianosing issues."

Oh well lesson learned. And hopefuly any other ST owner if they have this issue and an UG.

 

[Intuit]

I don't think anyone would disagree that the problem should've been found sooner; standard procedure/methodology wasn't followed.

Did you see this?
http://ultra-gauge.com/UltraGauge_Forum/index.php?topic=513.0
To address the battery drain problem, they have a scheme in the updated versions that turns it off based on whether the input voltage is above 12.6v (probably +/- 10%). May want to try that, if available in your version. Seems to be a sensible solution to their problem; surprised that wasn't engineered into their products from the beginning *and* set as the default trigger.

All laughing aside: Not a modder so don't follow it closely. But memory serving, an example of an "unapproved" engine add-on (really a modification) would be any other device that is not a specific Mountune, and dealer installed. Even though others do the same thing, they are essentially "unapproved." So Ford, from what I read, would potentially deny warranty when other 3rd-party add-ons or modifications are discovered.