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

[Joe Gonsalves]

If your WIFI is enabled and not configured to a network, it will drain the battery overnight. Ask me how I know. Also the OP stated that his phone gave him the battery save message. So he is using the Ford Connect app which uses the telematics modem. This too can drain the battery. I turned both off and don't have battery issues.

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[JoeCee]

This dealer is full of crap. My car gets driven <1000 miles per yr and sits during driving season for many days on end. Never have had an issue. Find another dealer.

 

[Crew4991]

OP since it is a weekend toy, get a battery tender hooked up to the car.

The dealer's advice is nonsense, but the one truth to this is you aren't using the car that often so you should just keep it linked up to the tender and everything will work as expected.

A new battery can go dead too with all the electrical drains such as the security system if the car is locked, accessory lights, stuff like that.

 

[cerbomark]

I ve heard the "key fob in the car" warning for a long time. My fobs are always in the cars. No issues with Mustang battery. Just replaced my 2020 OEM battery just because . My cars sits a week at a time too. No tender, no issues. FYI, if I do put my key on the tool bench and go touch the door auto locks nothing happens so it s not reading anything. No bags and the key is 3 feet from the car. Your results may vary, LOL.

 

[GT0038]

I would go to a different dealer and get a second opinion. My car gets driven once a month and never had a problem like you are describing.

 

[FUN2RIDEFAST]

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..............

Make sure that the trunk light is shutting off when the trunk is closed.

 

[JoeCee]

OP since it is a weekend toy, get a battery tender hooked up to the car.

The dealer's advice is nonsense, but the one truth to this is you aren't using the car that often so you should just keep it linked up to the tender and everything will work as expected.

A new battery can go dead too with all the electrical drains such as the security system if the car is locked, accessory lights, stuff like that.

Tender not needed unless it’s long term storage.

 

[Genxer]

I *thought* my car had a battery issue. After getting the battery checked and finding out it was fine, my problem turned out to be the alternator. I had made the assumption that I wasn't driving my Mustang enough, but the real problem was the system was somehow charging just enough to keep me from being stranded. That is, until the problem worsened and I barely made it home one day. I said all that to say this: Make sure your alternator is charging properly.

 

[Bob Lob Law]

Mine does that sometimes and I drive mine everyday. I'll notice the first thing is my phone charger will lose power as soon as I turn off the car, and my key fob doesn't want to work. It seems to do it randomly, as it's common in the superduties as well. My car is on the stock '22 battery, and when it does that it seems to cure it by taking it out and driving it pretty hard for a few minutes.

 

[MAGS1]

I ve heard the "key fob in the car" warning for a long time. My fobs are always in the cars. No issues with Mustang battery. Just replaced my 2020 OEM battery just because . My cars sits a week at a time too. No tender, no issues. FYI, if I do put my key on the tool bench and go touch the door auto locks nothing happens so it s not reading anything. No bags and the key is 3 feet from the car. Your results may vary, LOL.

In the car is different though. The car isn’t actively searching for the fob if it’s already in the car. If the car is unlocked and the fob isn’t in it, it does look for it (as do almost all newer cars). Walk by the car with the fob in your pocket and the doors unlocked, you’ll hear it start making a bunch of noise priming things because it’s detected the fob nearby. All of that priming is using the battery. I can’t remember the distance but I think it’s 20 feet or closer and the car can detect the fob, so it will prime itself every so often. Locking the car prevents it from looking for the fob and doing all the priming stuff. A faraday box or pouch will provide a similar result as well since the car can’t detect the fob

 

[cerbomark]

In the car is different though. The car isn’t actively searching for the fob if it’s already in the car. If the car is unlocked and the fob isn’t in it, it does look for it (as do almost all newer cars). Walk by the car with the fob in your pocket and the doors unlocked, you’ll hear it start making a bunch of noise priming things because it’s detected the fob nearby. All of that priming is using the battery. I can’t remember the distance but I think it’s 20 feet or closer and the car can detect the fob, so it will prime itself every so often. Locking the car prevents it from looking for the fob and doing all the priming stuff. A faraday box or pouch will provide a similar result as well since the car can’t detect the fob

I don t disagree with anything you said but my other cars have the fobs almost permanently in them and I think it may stop searching and sending at some point . Done this since the inception of the fobs ( I m that old) with not a problem. My mustang keys sits 2-3 ft from front of car on the toolbox and unlocked. So I admit I m not certain of the dead battery draw being the key.

edit. I think we agree fob in car is not an issue .

 

[cerbomark]

In the car is different though. The car isn’t actively searching for the fob if it’s already in the car. If the car is unlocked and the fob isn’t in it, it does look for it (as do almost all newer cars). Walk by the car with the fob in your pocket and the doors unlocked, you’ll hear it start making a bunch of noise priming things because it’s detected the fob nearby. All of that priming is using the battery. I can’t remember the distance but I think it’s 20 feet or closer and the car can detect the fob, so it will prime itself every so often. Locking the car prevents it from looking for the fob and doing all the priming stuff. A faraday box or pouch will provide a similar result as well since the car can’t detect the fob

based on your theory I think I ll just lock the mustang and still leave keys on the toolbox anyway. But it s never been an issue. so fob in the car unlocked or outside car locked. Can t hurt.??

 

[MAGS1]

based on your theory I think I ll just lock the mustang and still leave keys on the toolbox anyway. But it s never been an issue. so fob in the car unlocked or outside car locked. Can t hurt.??

I’ve never left keys in the car, even in the garage. Had a buddy when I was in college that always left his keys in his Corvette in the garage. One night he forgot to close his garage when he got home, left it open all night long and next morning his Vette was gone.

I drive my car every day, keep it in the garage, keep the fob at least 20 feet away and in a faraday box and lock the car at night. It’s probably a bit overkill but these newer cars always have something going that draws battery power. My wife’s SUV is 7 years old and is on the 3rd battery. I’m used to the days where 5, 6, 7 years out of a battery was normal but I don’t think that’s the norm anymore unfortunately.

 

[skinnyb]

Weekend driven here only normally . On a tender all the time when not driving thru the week. BUT, I did take mine off the tender mid week a while back and then went on a road trip on Sunday (off tender about 4 days) and I got the system shutting down to save battery message multiple times for a couple days then went away. BUT I drove on a 1000 mile road trip. 2021, original battery, my modem is unplugged so no draw there. Always leave my fob about 25 feet away, doors locked.

 

[cerbomark]

I’ve never left keys in the car, even in the garage. Had a buddy when I was in college that always left his keys in his Corvette in the garage. One night he forgot to close his garage when he got home, left it open all night long and next morning his Vette was gone.

I drive my car every day, keep it in the garage, keep the fob at least 20 feet away and in a faraday box and lock the car at night. It’s probably a bit overkill but these newer cars always have something going that draws battery power. My wife’s SUV is 7 years old and is on the 3rd battery. I’m used to the days where 5, 6, 7 years out of a battery was normal but I don’t think that’s the norm anymore unfortunately.

I just changed my 2020 oem battery because after 4-5 years I m happy and rather not have to replace at a bad time or location. LOL , I left my garage open a few times myself with keys in all the cars, either lucky or live in a safe area I guess. Hey the mustang is slightly over insured if anyones interested, but I live in a gun state so be careful.
The only time I used a tender was when I lived upstate NY and the car sat for months.
All these new cars are so sensitive with all the electronics .
But back to the original poster, he got issues and the dealer sounds clueless IMO.

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