“Electrical system drain” message in FordPass app

MattG

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I awoke this morning to an app notification of an “electrical system drain”:
Ford Mustang Mach-E “Electrical system drain” message in FordPass app 9AAFDE34-52CD-4BF8-BEB8-724A995A0529


I’ve had the car less than two days; before picking it up the dealer found some issues pointing to a possible LVB problem and did some software updates. So it seems that maybe the car is now operating as intended, keeping the LVB charged up, but there’s maybe still a phantom power drain that Ford hasn’t identified? The car starts fine though I haven’t tried driving it yet.

The car is in a heated garage on an L1 charger currently, reaching 100% charge at 10:19PM prior to this message.

I’m curious if others have seen this message too?
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Phantom drain seems related to the PaaK bluetooth issues reported elsewhere in this Forum. Possible the car keeps "waking up" if phone is sensed.
 
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MattG

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Phantom drain seems related to the PaaK bluetooth issues reported elsewhere in this Forum. Possible the car keeps "waking up" if phone is sensed.
Thanks, I’ll look into that. I‘ve already had some issues with mine losing its BT connection with the car.
 

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I awoke this morning to an app notification of an “electrical system drain”:
Ford Mustang Mach-E “Electrical system drain” message in FordPass app 9AAFDE34-52CD-4BF8-BEB8-724A995A0529


I’ve had the car less than two days; before picking it up the dealer found some issues pointing to a possible LVB problem and did some software updates. So it seems that maybe the car is now operating as intended, keeping the LVB charged up, but there’s maybe still a phantom power drain that Ford hasn’t identified? The car starts fine though I haven’t tried driving it yet.

The car is in a heated garage on an L1 charger currently, reaching 100% charge at 10:19PM prior to this message.

I’m curious if others have seen this message too?
Interesting, did you get enough detail to know whether the update was the same as this one? (I assume it's the same) https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/dead-low-voltage-battery-lvb.3490
 

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Thanks, I’ll look into that. I‘ve already had some issues with mine losing its BT connection with the car.
Is there a way your phone was that close to the Mach E at 3:33 am?
 


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MattG

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Is there a way your phone was that close to the Mach E at 3:33 am?
The opposite, it was far away....maybe 75’ or so with several walls between it and the two phones it was connecting to. So maintaining that connection would require higher power levels (if BT allows variable output power?)...possible that could be related I suppose. It’s pretty far for the BT standard. But BT is such a low power that I’d be surprised for this to drain the battery a noticeable amount.

I did confirm my phone can establish a BT connection from that location (according to FordPass), and had spent time yesterday fixing BT....my phone was showing as disconnected. So that was probably the first night truly testing both phones being far away.
 

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Is there a way your phone was that close to the Mach E at 3:33 am?
How far away does PaaK typically work from? My bedroom is over my garage. I don't care about the car being unlocked, but I do care about battery drain (both from my phone and car) if they're constantly trying to communicate back and forth all night.
 

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How far away does PaaK typically work from? My bedroom is over my garage. I don't care about the car being unlocked, but I do care about battery drain (both from my phone and car) if they're constantly trying to communicate back and forth all night.
No word from Ford on the Mach E but here's what they say about PAAK for the Lincoln:
Remote commands 130'
"Embrace" 10' (includes passenger keyless entry)
Passenger entry 3'
Commands beyond 130' require WiFi or cellular
 

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The opposite, it was far away....maybe 75’ or so with several walls between it and the two phones it was connecting to. So maintaining that connection would require higher power levels (if BT allows variable output power?)...possible that could be related I suppose. It’s pretty far for the BT standard. But BT is such a low power that I’d be surprised for this to drain the battery a noticeable amount.

I did confirm my phone can establish a BT connection from that location (according to FordPass), and had spent time yesterday fixing BT....my phone was showing as disconnected. So that was probably the first night truly testing both phones being far away.
Typical BT connections don't wake up vehicles unless the vehicle is ON and then it looks to establish BT connection so not an issue but with PAAK if it seems the vehicle is using some level of power to keep sensing if the phone is close or not. Perhaps better to not turn on PAAK until they sort these issues out?
 

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No word from Ford on the Mach E but here's what they say about PAAK for the Lincoln:
Remote commands 130'
"Embrace" 10' (includes passenger keyless entry)
Passenger entry 3'
Commands beyond 130' require WiFi or cellular
Even 10 ft could be an issue if you share common walls between garage and main quarters in the house where you end up being present with the phone most of the time - say like a kitchen/living area or even a study and if you are there most of the time while WFH.
 

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Typical BT connections don't wake up vehicles unless the vehicle is ON and then it looks to establish BT connection so not an issue but with PAAK if it seems the vehicle is using some level of power to keep sensing if the phone is close or not. Perhaps better to not turn on PAAK until they sort these issues out?
Does disabling PAAK also disable the functionality of the FordPass app's ability to lock/unlock the car, or "start" the vehicle for preconditioning? Or, are those features still available when using the iphone app?
 

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Does disabling PAAK also disable the functionality of the FordPass app's ability to lock/unlock the car, or "start" the vehicle for preconditioning? Or, are those features still available when using the iphone app?
I believe those functions are available but I cant say for sure - I dont have my car yet :). Some one who has a car can confirm
 

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Even 10 ft could be an issue if you share common walls between garage and main quarters in the house where you end up being present with the phone most of the time - say like a kitchen/living area or even a study and if you are there most of the time while WFH.
Yes but most walls attenuate RF signals sufficiently that you're unlikely to connect through a wall.
 

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Does disabling PAAK also disable the functionality of the FordPass app's ability to lock/unlock the car, or "start" the vehicle for preconditioning? Or, are those features still available when using the iphone app?
No - those remote functions are available regardless of PaaK. The only functions linked to PaaK are windows up/down, horn/lights, and trunk opening/closing.
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