Deep Sleep Mode - 12v battery drained dead [update: Mach-E jump started]

[TheVirtualTim]

Fingers crossed the software fix alone is all you need. If so, that's quick and easy now that they've diagnosed the issue.

Yeah - my car is fixed. It's been about 5 days since they applied the software updates and so far so good. I continue to monitor the state of the 12v battery and it's been happy every since the update was applied.

Also ... I watch the charge graph in my ChargePoint app and it does show the car touches up the charge level about once every 6 hours (that's a guess looking at the graph) ... which is what it is meant to do.

It's a happy car!

Sponsored

 

[ChasingCoral]

Yeah - my car is fixed. It's been about 5 days since they applied the software updates and so far so good. I continue to monitor the state of the 12v battery and it's been happy every since the update was applied.

Also ... I watch the charge graph in my ChargePoint app and it does show the car touches up the charge level about once every 6 hours (that's a guess looking at the graph) ... which is what it is meant to do.

It's a happy car!

Yes, apparently the software update solved my original dead LVB problem as well. The parking brake issue is the one that is taking them a long time.

 

[JellyBelly]

UPDATE: My dealership just called and said that Ford will be sending an engineer on Thursday into Friday to take a look at my Mach E. It has been summoned to appear!

Pretty much the same thing that has happened to @ChasingCoral and @machefan. Ford is taking this quite seriously and I am reassured that we purchased great vehicles that just need a little tinkering to get the bugs out as any new electronic needs from an excellent company.

Good to see Ford do this. Hope they spread the solution quickly once they have it.

 

[machefan]

UPDATE: My dealership just called and said that Ford will be sending an engineer on Thursday into Friday to take a look at my Mach E. It has been summoned to appear!

Pretty much the same thing that has happened to @ChasingCoral and @machefan. Ford is taking this quite seriously and I am reassured that we purchased great vehicles that just need a little tinkering to get the bugs out as any new electronic needs from an excellent company.

Yup, my errors appear to center around DCFC, I am being patient while Ford engineering is working on it. Another day of snow here in NJ, not like I would be going touring. Weather folks said zero accumulation today, not sure I agree.

Demo MME is sitting in the cold after going to my work place and coming home in the snow.... However this MME has been flawless, did get one SYNC4 issue today, while driving the Nav hung when I tried to bring it up. Left the car and came to go home, it came up normally.

 

[CarboFE]

UPDATE: My dealership just called and said that Ford will be sending an engineer on Thursday into Friday to take a look at my Mach E. It has been summoned to appear!

Pretty much the same thing that has happened to @ChasingCoral and @machefan. Ford is taking this quite seriously and I am reassured that we purchased great vehicles that just need a little tinkering to get the bugs out as any new electronic needs from an excellent company.

Glad to see you are getting their attention.

My MME has a 12/24 build date, so I called the dealer to see if this applies to me as well. He said they checked the OASIS system and my VIN doesn't show up.

So far, so good.

Sorry to hear you having these difficulties. Mine is a blast to drive and am definitely an EV convert.

 

[DBC]

UPDATE: My dealership just called and said that Ford will be sending an engineer on Thursday into Friday to take a look at my Mach E. It has been summoned to appear!

Best wishes for getting the issue diagnosed and fixed!

 

[machefan]

Best wishes for getting the issue diagnosed and fixed!

Exactly!

Hopefully after this week Ford FE's will have a good idea of any existing items and close them out.

 

[GoosePond08]

Yup, my errors appear to center around DCFC, I am being patient while Ford engineering is working on it. Another day of snow here in NJ, not like I would be going touring. Weather folks said zero accumulation today, not sure I agree.

Demo MME is sitting in the cold after going to my work place and coming home in the snow.... However this MME has been flawless, did get one SYNC4 issue today, while driving the Nav hung when I tried to bring it up. Left the car and came to go home, it came up normally.

And...how does it do in a snow covered parking lot? Video proof is needed.

 

[AEtherScythe]

We had this problem. Check with your dealer to see if they have access to the required software fix. Ours is fixed now, 100% confirmed. But it may take some doing for your dealer to get the software fix, in lieu of an over-the-air update.

BTW, the reason I know ours is 100% fixed is because I am able to snoop on what the FordPass app is doing and there is an API that shows the 12 volt battery status. It used to show:

"battery": {
      "batteryHealth": {
        "value": "STATUS_LOW",
        "timestamp": "02-23-2021 22:39:58"
      },
      "batteryStatusActual": {
        "value": 12,
        "status": "CURRENT",
        "timestamp": "02-24-2021 19:01:19"
      }
}

But now I can see that when the Mach-E is doing a "conditioning" cycle, every six hours, it is actually topping off the battery:

"battery": {
      "batteryHealth": {
        "value": "STATUS_GOOD",
        "timestamp": "02-25-2021 16:39:58"
      },
      "batteryStatusActual": {
        "value": 15,
        "status": "CURRENT",
        "timestamp": "02-25-2021 13:01:19"
      }
}

15V Is also what the 12V accessory socket shows when the Mach-E is running and the LVB is being topped off constantly by the HVB. This behavior proves to me that the LVB is getting topped every 6 hours.

 

[TheVirtualTim]

This behavior proves to me that the LVB is getting topped every 6 hours.

It isn't necessarily every 6 hours ... I noticed sometimes it is less frequent. But it does take power as needed.

 

[dbsb3233]

We had this problem. Check with your dealer to see if they have access to the required software fix. Ours is fixed now, 100% confirmed. But it may take some doing for your dealer to get the software fix, in lieu of an over-the-air update.

BTW, the reason I know ours is 100% fixed is because I am able to snoop on what the FordPass app is doing and there is an API that shows the 12 volt battery status. It used to show:

"battery": {
      "batteryHealth": {
        "value": "STATUS_LOW",
        "timestamp": "02-23-2021 22:39:58"
      },
      "batteryStatusActual": {
        "value": 12,
        "status": "CURRENT",
        "timestamp": "02-24-2021 19:01:19"
      }
}

But now I can see that when the Mach-E is doing a "conditioning" cycle, every six hours, it is actually topping off the battery:

"battery": {
      "batteryHealth": {
        "value": "STATUS_GOOD",
        "timestamp": "02-25-2021 16:39:58"
      },
      "batteryStatusActual": {
        "value": 15,
        "status": "CURRENT",
        "timestamp": "02-25-2021 13:01:19"
      }
}

15V Is also what the 12V accessory socket shows when the Mach-E is running and the LVB is being topped off constantly by the HVB. This behavior proves to me that the LVB is getting topped every 6 hours.

The common pattern I've been finding on mine is that it's usually at one of 3 voltage points: ~15V, ~13.5V, ~12.3V.

~15V appears to be when the battery is receiving a full charge from the HVB. It typically reads that when the car is first started up.

~13.5 appears to be a maintenance trickle charge that continues while the car is on, and has been on for a while.

~12.3V appears to be the raw battery reading with no charging. Like after the car has been turned off. It also appears for about 1 second when the car is turned on, before the charging kicks in.

Those are the assumptions, anyway. I just leave my cig lighter voltmeter plugged into the center console to check it periodically and monitor the patterns.

 

[AEtherScythe]

I should add that the reason we had this problem in the first place is right after taking delivery of the car we sent it straight to a detailer to have it ceramic coated. The ceramic coating needs at least two weeks to "cure" and longer than that in the frigid Michigan temperatures. Also, the ceramic coating would be ruined if allowed to get wet before it was fully cured.
We had snow and ice for weeks, so the car sat, not being driven all those days.

Most people have been driving their Mach-E's every day or at least every so often, and when driving, the HVB tops off the LVB. While waiting for the ceramic coating to cure, I had gone out and sat in the car with the seat heater on to keep warm in the 12ºF temps, while setting up my profile and checking out all the controls and the audio system. During that time every warning indicator started going off all at once and it eventually got to the point where the displays reset a couple of times and shut down. Even the door locks would not operate, so we had stuff towels in the doors to keep them from being accidentally closed until we could get help to figure out what was wrong.

It did not immediately occur to me that the LVB was dead, I mean how could it be, since the HVB had plenty of power and on top of that the car was plugged into the wall-charger? But after all the LVB was down to 5V and so nothing would function.

The software fix is for the case where the car is not ever being driven and is just left plugged into power. Though the HVB could have charged the LVB (as it does when being driven), there is logic to say don't do that because the car is plugged in.
The LVB was supposed to be charged from the wall charger, but that wasn't happening.
The software update fixes that.

 

[Shayne]

Mine sat for two days and killed the 12V

Have not tested the 12V dying after charging since it 6 day stay at my dealers as the vehicle will still not take my charging schedule. This was my original seen problem until I had another one that toke over. It says the schedule is set and ready but does not work and starts charging immediately and goes to 100%. The car has my location across the street at a neighbors house and fordpass (when it finds it) thinks it is at my neighbors on myside but the other side down the road. The two are 250 m apart. The sync coordinates are closer to where it actually is. Both sync and fordpass just insert an address that can not be modified, are different and it may not just use the coordinates (to schedule?). After charging it turns off and tells you the vehicle is unplugged after that it tells you vehicle location unknown just goes to sleep and dies. Don't think this car has been maintaining anything since the beginning. Sat for 2 days and killed the 12V, does not charge on a schedule and when finished charging to 100% shuts down and maintains nothing. Hope freezing the 100 KWh pack does not hurt it in the long run as it has been freezing it ever since I got it. I have had good response from my dealer and have been informed Ford is working on it; not much they can do with this new vehicle that just does not work. Couple of bumps so far for sure.

 

[AEtherScythe]

Mine sat for two days and killed the 12V

Have not tested the 12V dying after charging since it 6 day stay at my dealers as the vehicle will still not take my charging schedule. This was my original seen problem until I had another one that toke over. It says the schedule is set and ready but does not work and starts charging immediately and goes to 100%. The car has my location across the street at a neighbors house and fordpass (when it finds it) thinks it is at my neighbors on myside but the other side down the road. The two are 250 m apart. The sync coordinates are closer to where it actually is. Both sync and fordpass just insert an address that can not be modified, are different and it may not just use the coordinates (to schedule?). After charging it turns off and tells you the vehicle is unplugged after that it tells you vehicle location unknown just goes to sleep and dies. Don't think this car has been maintaining anything since the beginning. Sat for 2 days and killed the 12V, does not charge on a schedule and when finished charging to 100% shuts down and maintains nothing. Hope freezing the 100 KWh pack does not hurt it in the long run as it has been freezing it ever since I got it. I have had good response from my dealer and have been informed Ford is working on it; not much they can do with this new vehicle that just does not work. Couple of bumps so far for sure.

Your charging schedule issue sounds like a different software "feature." I had trouble with my schedule not saving until I was persistent and did it several times, which also included unplugging the car, plugging it back in, starting the car to make sure it was "online" when I was saving the schedule, killing the FordPass app and restarting it plus refreshing the status in the app to make sure the settings "stuck." Even so, the car will report that it is unplugged except when it wakes up to do "conditioning" / charge the LVB.

Another thing that comes to mind is that GPS accuracy could be a factor. You can't edit saved locations to correct the address, you can only add new charging locations if you plug in at a new location. In my garage the car doesn't get good GPS reception and so several times it's marked the location as down the block across the street, using different addresses. Even now the FordPass app has my actual home address, but if I go to the car and try to edit it, it shows as a different address on a nearby street.

My point being, if the car's notion of the charging location is not the exact same address every time and if that location doesn't match what you've set in the FordPass app, I would expect the car to behave as though it's a new charging location. And new charging locations seem to default to 100% charge, "any time."

Since my FordPass app and the car's view of the "Home" location are currently different, I think I may change the car setting for "Home" and call it "Home2" and then see if I can get it to add a new location with my correct address that matches what I have in the FordPass App.

Thinking more on this, I would much prefer that if the car is able to join my home WiFi then it should use my home address as the location, no matter what the GPS tells it. That would probably solve a multitude of issues here. At the very least I should be able to "move the pin" that determines the vehicle location, *AND* edit the address.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Mine sat for two days and killed the 12V

Have not tested the 12V dying after charging since it 6 day stay at my dealers as the vehicle will still not take my charging schedule. This was my original seen problem until I had another one that toke over. It says the schedule is set and ready but does not work and starts charging immediately and goes to 100%. The car has my location across the street at a neighbors house and fordpass (when it finds it) thinks it is at my neighbors on myside but the other side down the road. The two are 250 m apart. The sync coordinates are closer to where it actually is. Both sync and fordpass just insert an address that can not be modified, are different and it may not just use the coordinates (to schedule?). After charging it turns off and tells you the vehicle is unplugged after that it tells you vehicle location unknown just goes to sleep and dies. Don't think this car has been maintaining anything since the beginning. Sat for 2 days and killed the 12V, does not charge on a schedule and when finished charging to 100% shuts down and maintains nothing. Hope freezing the 100 KWh pack does not hurt it in the long run as it has been freezing it ever since I got it. I have had good response from my dealer and have been informed Ford is working on it; not much they can do with this new vehicle that just does not work. Couple of bumps so far for sure.

Mine died in 24 hours, temperature in the upper 20s.

Sponsored