2018 GT Battery Drain

[_roguecoyote__]

Hey guys, has anyone had issues with their batteries draining constantly? I'm on the verge of buying a battery with more CCA than the one that came with the car.

I've had the car towed numerous time for this issue and Ford cant figure out why the battery keeps draining. They've tried pinning it on my radio, however I've had my aftermarket radio for a year and this issue started back in late December of 2018.

Any insight on what I could possibly do before I drop money on a new battery?

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[ugstang17]

So put the original radio back in the car. Show that the car is still bleeding itself. While current leeches are troublesome, you can estimate the size of current drain based on time and the Ah rating on the battery. That will first give you an idea of how bad the current draw is. Then a current probe clamped on the positive terminal (if over 10a draw) or a multimeter placed in series between the pos terminal and cable (if under 10 amp -- most multimeters are max 10a current measuring devices) both set to measure DC current and begin pulling fuses and observing the current draw. When you pull the one that drops the current to minimal you have found the bus causing the problem. Then its just a matter of having the schematics to divide and conquer which circuit on that bus is the source of the problem. If you don't have a schematic you can at least narrow it down for your dealer who can then pull their schems after confirming your findings and isolate the fault within that bus.

Don't let them blow you off. If they lack the electrical know-how get a referral and go to another dealer or escalate to a regional rep. Your a soldier, stand your ground. You paid for a warranty for this reason. Just give the service department due diligence in trying to resolve the issue. Not every electrical issue can be found at he drop of a hat. I know I ahve been troubleshooting electrical/electronic/electromechanical issues all my life. Sometimes they elude you. There have been times where I could not find the issue for my customer and referred them to a more senior service tech who I woudl work with to resolve and learn from. A good tech will be humble enough to do that.

Best of luck.

 

[boB]

If something is draining the battery then changing to a new battery won't help much. Connect an ammeter to the circuit to see what is taking power and how much (Ford should have and may have already done this). Use a clamp-on ammeter to avoid overloading the meter as circuits activate. You could remove the radio fuse to verify that it is not the culprit.

 

[_roguecoyote__]

Thanks guys, I'll look into it and hopefully have this problem solved

 

[ugstang17]

Just remember hat a tech is only as good as the 411 given him.......and given the fact that the equipment in question is exhibiting the problem at the time of being diagnosed. An intermittent issue is a troubleshooters nightmare and we hate them as much as the owner of the equipment wanting the problem resolved. Sometimes due to time constraints the tech can only make an educated guess and replace the more common or most likely to fail part hoping it is resolved. Believe me, no one regardless of their line of work wants a return for the same problem. It sucks for the customer, it sucks for the tech, and it sucks for the company.

Be patient with them and work with them, but stand your ground. Stay professional and stay persistent and it will get resolved. My sister-in-law in Georgia stood her ground over her Ford Focus trans and with my advice/help (shes a single mom) after 2 years she finally got them to acknowledge the problem and replaced the clutch pack on the car. Took escalating it to Ford and being persistent though. Good luck and thanks for your service.

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