Troubleshooting "Electrical System Drain Service Required" Message

[rreddy3]

Yes it’s on pause because of the lockout issues. You can disconnect the battery yourself though.

The plot thickens…?. Ted Britt Fairfax service has contacted “Ford Engineering”re: the 12v issue of my car and another MME in their shop with what is described to me as the same issue. Perhaps those two cars, and others similarly situated, will yield data helpful in further defining and resolving the 12v drain issues. Not sure of the details at this point. Fortunately I also love driving our AWD Mazda 3 sedan so I’m not under duress over the Mach e situation although I am very curious about what’s being seen, or not seen as the case may be, and about the discussion taking place. Stay tuned, “film at 11”. ?

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[Ned]

While driving in stop and go traffic in 110 degree weather I got a message about a low battery. It appeared with the battery indicator showing only one bar, and it was red. I was about 20 miles from any help and pulled over at a rest stop and shut down. Hoping that the main battery would recharge the 12v one.

To make a long story short I finally realized that while using Waze on my iphone for navigation the messages were telling me that my Iphone battery was low.

Lesson number 999.
Ned Dolan

 

[Chrisbriding]

I got the dreaded message after the car, 2023, sat for 2 weeks about a month ago. Have seen it a couple of times since then so just dropped the car off. I forwarded the fabulous checklist to the service advisor whom I'm sure just loved getting that from an old lady.

 

[BayPoodle]

I got this message as I was leaving a swim meet 40 minutes from home last night. My phone had sent me the alert an hour previously so I was pretty nervous about my car starting. It started fine though, so with no way anymore to see the SOC on the 12v (@Ford , who thought that was a good idea??), I have to hope it was just one of those quirky MME things. I did reset the 12v when I got home though, which resolved the issue last May. No further error messages so far. ??!

 

[Chrisbriding]

I got the dreaded message after the car, 2023, sat for 2 weeks about a month ago. Have seen it a couple of times since then so just dropped the car off. I forwarded the fabulous checklist to the service advisor whom I'm sure just loved getting that from an old lady.

So I got the car back today. In fairness, there was a paint flaw on one of my doors that they fixed so most of last week was spent at the body shop.

Anywhoo; the corrective action taken was as follows:

Performed EEC test and recived (sic) code B1616 performed PPT A A1-NO, performed battery load test and found battery failed replace battery and reset BMS and cleareed (sic) all codes and retested afte (sic) repairs vehhicle (sic) is OK at this time.​

DTC Coder 2C2DDQV40LQB​

AES Code H698U​

So, I have a new 12V battery. The service advisor said that there was a bad cell in my original one, but who knows.

 

[PsYfY]

I have been having the same issue repeatedly with my 2023 MME premium. It has been in the dealership twice and has been in the shop and off the road for a total of 21 days. I am requesting a buyback as the car has less than 9K miles and is less than a year old. Love the car, very disappointed in Ford.

 

[stangbat]

Kind of an unfortunate first post. My one month old ER AWD Select is in the shop for this error. I tried everything in this thread and the error kept popping up.

They confirmed that there is a parasitic drain and they need to run tests to find out what is the culprit. I guess it is a progressive process with the first test taking 1.5-2 hours. If that doesn't do it there's a longer test, and finally one that takes 24 hours.

So I left the car and they are going to try and figure out what's going on. I'm glad that they confirmed something was wrong. I just hope they are able to quickly pinpoint the issue and get it fixed for good.

 

[stangbat]

An update on my "Electrical System Drain" issue. I picked up the car on Dec. 20th. They did not find a definitive answer and I rescheduled a follow up appointment for Dec. 30th.

After picking up the car on Dec. 20th I did not have the error occur again. I also noticed one issue that disappeared, which was the car would change drive mode from Unbridled to Engaged every few days. But after the Dec. 20 service appointment it stayed in Unbridled.

On Dec. 30th they spent all day with the car. Their best guess is there was a "huge" OTA software update that would not complete. They said that they got the update to complete, made sure everything was updated, and there were no error codes. They load tested the 12v battery and it passed. There is a note about performing a "drew" test and it was 55 mA and in spec. I'm guessing this was a test of the draw on the 12v system when the car is asleep.

So we'll see if it is fixed and if the error occurs again. I'm somewhat optimistic as I think something changed for the better considering that it no longer does phantom changes to the drive mode and that I haven't seen the error since Dec. 20th.

 

[HuntingPudel]

I did a few FDRS updates on my 2024 a little over a week ago. That evening I got an electrical drain warning in FordPass. The next morning the car started just fine and I have not gotten the warning since. I have pretty much forgotten about the error since it seems like it was erroneous. ?‍?

 

[Marty02]

I report my experince if could be usefull. ( It my first post and i hope to didn't write any mistake)

I bought my used MME last novembre ( it's a 2021 AWD Extended range First Edition) and i had the "Electrical drain message" every time that i Power On my MME and a lost of Energy about the 2-3% of the main battery every 10 hours. I had alson the problemi of the audio disabled everytime. On 23 dicembre i went to the service and they said me that was and incomplete update of the Sync4 and the stystem never turnoff. After the service the problemi drain problemi was solve and the car can stay several day in the garage without energy losses.

But now i have 2 new problems:
1) the frunk alarm on ( i reed that is a common software problem after sw update)
2) a problemi on the presence of passenger on rear right place: if there are a person in rear right or in the rear central position the car display the presence in both position (rear right and rear center). I don't know if is a common problem.


Now i'm waiting a new appointment to do the saefty recall 23S56 to change the "High Voltage Battery Junction Box" and to analize the 2 new problems.

 

[Steph]

So I got the car back today. In fairness, there was a paint flaw on one of my doors that they fixed so most of last week was spent at the body shop.

Anywhoo; the corrective action taken was as follows:

Performed EEC test and recived (sic) code B1616 performed PPT A A1-NO, performed battery load test and found battery failed replace battery and reset BMS and cleareed (sic) all codes and retested afte (sic) repairs vehhicle (sic) is OK at this time.​

DTC Coder 2C2DDQV40LQB​

AES Code H698U​

So, I have a new 12V battery. The service advisor said that there was a bad cell in my original one, but who knows.

Got the Electrical System Drain Service Required & Plug in to Maintain 12V Battery messages over night on my '23 (no non-factory accessories installed). It's 6-20 degrees for a week, so pretty nervous about getting stranded until the dealer could get me in for service. I'll keep looking to see how many report being stranded with the drain as I also don't want to have to deal with towing. Curious, @Chrisbriding was the 12V replacement under warranty?

 

[JimmyMachE]

They load tested the 12v battery and it passed. There is a note about performing a "drew" test and it was 55 mA and in spec. I'm guessing this was a test of the draw on the 12v system when the car is asleep.

Such "parasitic draw" test is continuosly run by the vehicle, whenever car is asleep. Value from the last period (probably last 24 hours) is instantly readable with a phone and obd2 bluetooth adapter:
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/how-to-deactivate-deep-sleep-mode.12865/page-3#post-694451

Even the phone (PAAK) may cause higher drain:
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/paak-and-12v-degradation.35106/#post-782793

 

[Chrisbriding]

Got the Electrical System Drain Service Required & Plug in to Maintain 12V Battery messages over night on my '23 (no non-factory accessories installed). It's 6-20 degrees for a week, so pretty nervous about getting stranded until the dealer could get me in for service. I'll keep looking to see how many report being stranded with the drain as I also don't want to have to deal with towing. Curious, @Chrisbriding was the 12V replacement under warranty?

Yes, it was replaced under warranty. Good luck!

 

[Deezul]

Seems that PAAK is the main draw on my 12V. While PAAK was broken due to the Android update on my Samsung phone last month, I stopped getting the Electrical System Drain Service Required alert. I updated my phone yesterday, and PAAK works again. This morning, I got "Electrical System Drain Service Required" alert. My house is small enough that my phone is always showing connected.
I am in a pilot program with my power company so that they can control my ChargePoint charger, and only run it overnight. I already had charging set up to charge overnight, but since they are in control of the charger, it's not "on" during the day. Once the pilot is over, I'll be removing myself from it completely. I can still get my battery tested to see if it's holding a charge. It was replaced a few months before I bought my Mach-E because it sat on the lot for about a year before I bought it.

 

[SLO B]

Got the Electrical System Drain Service Required & Plug in to Maintain 12V Battery messages over night on my '23 (no non-factory accessories installed). It's 6-20 degrees for a week, so pretty nervous about getting stranded until the dealer could get me in for service. I'll keep looking to see how many report being stranded with the drain as I also don't want to have to deal with towing. Curious, @Chrisbriding was the 12V replacement under warranty?

So...FWIW, I had the same "Electrical System Drain" alert on my '23. I lived with it for a week or so and read all the threads about attaching a trickle charger. Drove the car 100+ miles and no change. PAAK also not working.
Picked it up from dealer, just took them a few hours to check it out. Came back with the (abridged) following:
12v battery-Pass
BCM self tests B1616 present
C1 no accessories
C2 no draw
C3 yes
C4 yes
C5 connections at BCM good
Found 7 hotline pass reports indicating Completing module programing for all modules and retesting.
Correction: Reprogram all Modules and retest. Pass.

So bottom line after all that, is the 12v battery is OK. According to dealer these updates are not OTA and have to be dealer installed. When I asked why I didn't get any kind of notification re: these updates he said its not unusual.

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