I can't believe what my Ford Dealer is telling me!!

[Edgemere]

Greetings,

I can't believe what my Ford Dealer is telling me!!

I have a 2022 Mustang GT Premium w/ Manual transmission. Stock, except for suspension mods and short throw shifter.
My car is only driven on weekends, its stored for the winter, and currently it has 5400 miles on it. It will be 3 years old October 25th.
I have had no problems with it since I bought it 3-years ago

In early July, out of the blue, I started to get on my Ford phone app that my battery was going into sleep mode (Paraphrasing) to save power.
At about the same time I was having key fob issues too. The car would not detected either one of my fobs to start my Mustang.
I replace both key fob batteries and that problem stopped. However, the sleep mode continued so I brought the car in and Ford decided to replace the battery with a new one. It was fine for two weeks and then the sleep mode crap started again. They ran a 24 hour electronic test, it passed, and I was told my key fobs were to close to the car when parked, and it was draining my battery as the car was trying to communicate with the fobs. So I move the Key Fobs well into my house.

Fast forward 6-weeks to this weekend. No key fob issues, no sleep mode issues. I was out driving my Mustang and all my stereo speakers just stopped working. Radio unit was on, it was not in mute, and there was no sound, no matter how high I turned up the volume. Here is were I cant believe my ears. After 6 hours in their service department today they deemed my battery was so low that it started to shut down certain electrical functions on my car, even while driving it.

I said its a brand new battery that you just installed 6-weeks ago. How could this be? I was told that once the batter was recharged to 100% in their shop my stereo speakers started to work again. What I was told is that I am not driving my car enough to recharge the battery to 100%. I told them again that I drive my Mustang every weekend in the summer, and that I average probably 150 miles each weekend. I was told that is not enough, and I also need to drive it on week days too. By doing this it would keep my batter fully charged. I was also told that there are so many electronic functions that these new cars have that they wear the batteries down even when they are parked. This is the dumbest thing I ever heard. They are keeping my Mustang over night to see if everything works in the morning including my speakers.

So the fix for this is to drive my Mustang every day to eliminate the battery sleep mode, and other electrical problems, like stereo speakers not working. I have a 2024 Trailblazer my wife drives maybe twice a week, and I have a 2025 Colorado pick up that I drive during the week. Neither vehicle has had any issue like my Mustang.

Please tell me that I am not nuts for not believing this bullshit.

Thanks in advance Edgemere..............

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[LOL WUT]

Their advice is poor.

My 2019 was still rocking its original battery when I sold it in June. However, when parked it was always in a tender as cheap insurance.

 

[wingnutt]

BMS reset and battery tender, done.

 

[Mach VII]

Yep, that's a load of crap. I drive my car sometimes only 20 miles or so per week and have no issues like you describe. Was a BMS reset done after new battery was installed?

 

[Snakebyte]

Sounds like you may have something else creating a parasitic draw. Do you have something like Progressive's or Allstate's telematic dongle. Each of those when I had them drained my batteries. I'm guessing you didn't have anything like sound system upgrades, as you didn't mention any (my son had an aftermarket system installed and the installer spliced off an unswitched circuit).
You didn't mention a dash cam, but if you have one on full time ((including when you have the key off) some of them will drain a battery fast. (I learned that the hard way)
Keeping the key away from the vehicle as mentioned to you previously is a good practice for sure.
Of course you (and the dealer) probably checked for dome/trunk lights that stay on....they should auto off after a set time, but maybe the timer is not working correctly???
Anyway, hopefully you figure out what it is before too long. Not fun having an unreliable car.

Edit: Many years ago I had a diode in an alternator that failed and kept draining my battery when the car was running...but not when the vehicle was off. Maybe something like that is happening???

 

[BrakeFade]

Total BS coming from the dealer. Did they check your alternator? That's the question you should ask and find out what they did. Your alternator should be putting out over 14v when tested at the battery when the car is on and minimum 13V when under full load (all accessories on, AC, radio, lights, etc). If it's not, your battery would not be charging fully when you're out and then draining when off. I have never had issues just driving my cars on the weekends. I would probably take it to another dealer.

 

[JetGray_Mach1]

Yeah they are full of shit as usual. The two times I went on vacation, my car was sitting for over a month and it started right up. Either something is draining it or you have a bad alternator. Check the voltage with a multimeter while running to see what it puts out. Should be about 13.5-14.5 while running.

 

[SnowFox]

"keeping FoB to close to the car"

#1 I've kept my fob in the car for over a week without driving. Starts right up when I get back.

as far as I can the car has an additional automatic "deep" sleep mode. (I get a message about it if I infact let it sit to long.) But it still conserves plenty of juice to start, and everything functions as it should.

 

[BigR4444]

I dont know too much about electrical, but I have learned that dealerships dont always know what theyre doing.

If theyre adamant about the FOB being too close to the car and causing the problem, get a Faraday bag. You should have one anyway... if the FOB is that close to the car, it presents a theft risk.
I got one on Amazon that was like 10 bucks.

 

[Whipple Bullitt]

19 Bullitt and 22 Mach 1 sit in sea cans 6 months of the year for last 2 years, never had an issue

 

[I Bleed Ford Blue]

Put on a battery tender to keep your battery topped off, have another dealer do a BMS reset and have them test your alternator, not these clowns, and lock the doors when you walk away. By locking the car it is not actively looking for your fobs and draining the battery. Its also increase security by locking the doors, it makes it a little harder to grab your code if the car is not looking for the fob.

 

[steve_2020]

Drive it more, or use a battery tender.

 

[MD18EcoStang]

Drive it more, or use a battery tender.

I don't do either and never had this problem. I like to drive mine at least once a week, but don't always get to do that, so it's sometimes two weeks between coming out of the garage. I'll use a battery tender when it gets real cold, but only in winter.

 

[Johnny maverick]

The batteries they use are junk .im on my 3rd battery from ford in my truck since June 2022. My mechanic had it plugged into his Ford computer the other day and told me my voltage was dropping quickly while was was doing some diagnostic stuff. I'm just going to get a good aftermarket one. I have good luck with interstate batteries.

 

[Cpcloud]

Battery tender or AGM battery if that's not possible

I have an odyssey battrry that works great after weeks of not startig my car. Just make sure no parasitic drain is occurring from any new electronics (e.g. dashcam)

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