Troubleshooting "Electrical System Drain Service Required" Message

[Steph]

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.

Thanks for the info. In January they didn’t find any issues, so no changes were made I know of.
April PAAK stopped working, and with 36,XXX miles they sent me home until they hear whether Ford thinks about 5 hours of updates, now not under warranty, and were waiting to hear from Ford whether it will fix it. I continue to get battery drain messages every other day for the last week and a half.
It’s making me question the ownership of a $67k list price car (arguably more computer). Extended warranty wouldn’t cover it unless there is a service bulletin, so not sure throwing a few grand at that brings any peace of mind.
I also have no options under the Connectivity- “Connected Vehicle Features” menu.
I know it’s not the same, but can’t imagine having to take my phone to the store, leaving it all day, and paying for updates. My ‘13 Altima is still just standing ready whenever I need it no questions asked ?

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[SLO B]

I know, its so frustrating and one reason we only lease our BEV's.
We started in 2013 with one of the first VW Egolfs. I wont trouble you with the long story but they took it back after 3 months and refunded every penny.
We then had two BMW I3's that were fun and an ideal LA commuter car. Had zero issues with them.
Traded second one in for a tesla3 and what a nightmare! I hated that car as a car but in fairness the software was pretty good except for native navigation that was absolute rubbish. It didn't have Android Auto or Apple car play so ended up just using our phones. Replaced the t with this Mustang, the reverse experience. I'm not sure we will replace the ME with another. Leasing may not work for everyone and I know its probably not the best financial decision, but with BEV tech constantly improving, for us its the best way to go.

 

[Kerpazm]

I just installed a Viofo dashcam with the Dongar adapter tapping into the rear view mirror power and got this warning 2 days later. Is it normal to receive this message after a dashcam installation? Is there anything I can do, or is it just a risk of using a dashcam like this? I have confirmed that the dashcam turns off when the car turns off, so it shouldn’t be running parking mode, which is what I imagine would normally cause this warning to appear. Would I be SOL taking it to a dealer to look at, since they would just zero in on the dashcam?

 

[stangbat]

I just installed a Viofo dashcam with the Dongar adapter tapping into the rear view mirror power and got this warning 2 days later. Is it normal to receive this message after a dashcam installation? Is there anything I can do, or is it just a risk of using a dashcam like this? I have confirmed that the dashcam turns off when the car turns off, so it shouldn’t be running parking mode, which is what I imagine would normally cause this warning to appear. Would I be SOL taking it to a dealer to look at, since they would just zero in on the dashcam?

I had electrical system drain messages late last year that were resolved by the dealer installing a bunch of updates. After that I installed a Dongar dashcam adapter (early January 2025). I've never had another drain message. So based on my experience I'd say it is unrelated if you are sure the dashcam is turning off.

 

[JeffGo]

@Mach-Lee Following this post, and after I got the message Electrical System Drain Service Required (I drove it a bit after that), I investigated further and found this device. Attempted to disable it by removing the fuse in it's power line (tapped from their OBD-II replacement connector). Now the car is bricked. I get a sequence of messages, the last asking me if I am connected to a charger and respond on the Info screen (I am not, but I was before this). I click No and the sequence keeps repeating. Car will not shift into gear.

Coincidentally, before I found it and removed the fuse, I charged the night before. I never got a notification about charging complete, FordPass is stuck at 72% (charge did get to 90%), and FP says the vehicle is on. Charge history has not updated in FP or web. Inserting a fuse back into the holder has been troublesome, I think I got it but will triple check today as well as check that the gray connector is secure.

If anyone has ideas, I am open to suggestions. I will disconnect the battery today (Sunday), and will also try to look at diagnostic codes via Forscan (if I can remember how).

2024 GT, 4700 miles.

 

[Mach-Lee]

@Mach-Lee Following this post, and after I got the message Electrical System Drain Service Required (I drove it a bit after that), I investigated further and found this device. Attempted to disable it by removing the fuse in it's power line (tapped from their OBD-II replacement connector). Now the car is bricked. I get a sequence of messages, the last asking me if I am connected to a charger and respond on the Info screen (I am not, but I was before this). I click No and the sequence keeps repeating. Car will not shift into gear.

Coincidentally, before I found it and removed the fuse, I charged the night before. I never got a notification about charging complete, FordPass is stuck at 72% (charge did get to 90%), and FP says the vehicle is on. Charge history has not updated in FP or web. Inserting a fuse back into the holder has been troublesome, I think I got it but will triple check today as well as check that the gray connector is secure.

If anyone has ideas, I am open to suggestions. I will disconnect the battery today (Sunday), and will also try to look at diagnostic codes via Forscan (if I can remember how).

2024 GT, 4700 miles.

That connector you're holding (which is a body harness, not an OBD connector) needs to be plugged in, that's factory. It looks like they just zipped tied the box to the harness, cut that zip tie and see if they cut or spliced any wires. If so you'll have to fix that.

 

[JeffGo]

That connector you're holding (which is a body harness, not an OBD connector) needs to be plugged in, that's factory. It looks like they just zipped tied the box to the harness, cut that zip tie and see if they cut or spliced any wires. If so you'll have to fix that.

That connector has been plugged in all along. I went out to check it and pushed it just in case. It has a latch that is hard to set and I still need to put that back in place. (Working upside down for me is a challenge due to vertigo issues.)

Where I'm at now: car will start.

I still get the Electrical Service message when I start, not the other ones. Also, FP is still not updating and thinks the car is turned on and at 72% charge (it's at 89%) and off.

 

[Fa_]

I got this same message for the first time yesterday night and it turns out that I simply forgot to close the trunk. Closed the trunk plugged the car in and all is well in the morning.

 

[JeffGo]

That connector has been plugged in all along. I went out to check it and pushed it just in case. It has a latch that is hard to set and I still need to put that back in place. (Working upside down for me is a challenge due to vertigo issues.)

Where I'm at now: car will start.

I still get the Electrical Service message when I start, not the other ones. Also, FP is still not updating and thinks the car is turned on and at 72% charge (it's at 89%) and off.

This morning, I charged to 100% - had to turn off location info in the car to get there. IIRC that also will start charging the LVB after it hits 100%?

That enabled some more functionality, like walkaway lock & notifications from FordPass.

This afternoon: owner.ford.com has a "high alert", contact the dealer. I did that.

Then I hooked up FORscan - it's been a while and never on this vehicle. After checking the DTCs, I mistakenly cleared them all!

And now things look much happier! The information in FordPass immediately updated to match the car data (charge 100% instead of 72%, range 282 instead of 185 - this had stopped to some time on Friday night, Vehicle Parked/was Vehicle On).

Charge History for yesterday and this AM is lost, but I track through Emporia as well.

I have an appointment with the dealer on Wednesday, but not sure if this will be necessary unless the DTCs return. I don't know if they are capable of running diagnostics without that.

 

[JeffGo]

What module/parameter is useful to determine SoC for the LVB? I have long forgotten.

 

[roger_rennie]

I’ve had the issue\message twice now. Both times I had charged the car at home and had turned off the power to the charger but not unplugged the charger from the car. I’m assuming the charger, if left connected but not powered up, can provide some electrical drain.

 

[MonkeyNutz]

I’ve had the issue\message twice now. Both times I had charged the car at home and had turned off the power to the charger but not unplugged the charger from the car. I’m assuming the charger, if left connected but not powered up, can provide some electrical drain.

Our new '25 Mach-E has given us two messages about electrical system drain now. We've only had it just a few days short of a month. Both times receiving the message, it was plugged in and waiting to charge at the scheduled charge time. We're keeping an eye on it as it shouldn't be throwing an error in that situation. Our '23 Lightning we've owned for 2-1/2 years has never done this.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Our new '25 Mach-E has given us two messages about electrical system drain now. We've only had it just a few days short of a month. Both times receiving the message, it was plugged in and waiting to charge at the scheduled charge time. We're keeping an eye on it as it shouldn't be throwing an error in that situation. Our '23 Lightning we've owned for 2-1/2 years has never done this.

Did you work your way through the checklist in the first post?

What type of EVSE do you have, and is the schedule being managed by the EVSE or the car?

Some types of EVSEs handle J1772 signals incorrectly, cause charge faults, which can cause 12 V drains.

 

[hedgehog99]

So I don't see PAAK listed as one of the causes of LVB drainage (besides one post in the thread). Is this separate from Ford app (formerly Fordpass) on my phone? I have disabled my PAAK, which was working inconsistently, for almost a year now. I also try to keep my keys in Faraday box. I have not received the warning. Should I try PAAK again since I will be using Ford app regardless.

 

[Chrisbriding]

Just saw this error message again after not seeing it for months; it was after we went on vacation and left the car sitting for 6 days. I think it has to do with my turning the motion detection back on after the last update.

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