I’m sure you have, but most of those claims usually have abnormal issues causing the excess draw or tired batteries with noticeable reduced capacity.
That's your problem right there. If you don't lock your car, it's always in ready mode searching for a signal from the key fob. And your key fob may be close enough that the car is sensing it, and putting itself in ready mode, thereby constantly drawing power.
Respectfully....as I have no clue, BUT.....I bought my MACh1 in November of 2022. It sits in my garage daily unlocked and the fob is in the sunglass compartment. I don't daily my car and sometimes it sits for days without being driven. Starts every time ? I did the same thing with my Mercedes prior and had zero issues.
Days vs. 14+ days could mean a considerable difference.
Weird.....cause I was away from home last month for 12 days in Arizona. I still had a full battery. My radar detector gives me a battery voltage readout on start-up. Maybe I got a good batch of batteries from Ford????
Very possible. Realistically, if there were enough problems with battery drainage in less than 2-3 weeks with Keyfobs left in the car or close by, Ford would have made sure this warning was clear and advertised as an important not to do practice.
I looked into battery replacement but the ones that fit seem to only offer a marginal upgrade. The OEM battery is only $138, and is the cheapest flooded type. The enhanced flooded type upgrade for $209 has only 10 more CCA and a few more minutes reserve. Unless my battery is actually defective or damaged it doesn’t seem like it needs replacing, and I gave it a charge with a new Genius5 charger so I’m starting from full. I’ve changed my ways and now lock the car always and keep the fobs on the other end of the house. No troubles so far, but since it was intermittent it will probably take several weeks before I feel confident that’s the cause. And of course i always have my little jump box handy, and will check voltage with my multimeter if it happens again and see just how low it gets, and if it might need replacement after all. Thanks to all for the responses, if I have anything interesting to share I’ll update.
You don’t need any upgrade really. Don’t get stuck on CCA ratings either. You can start your engine with a 220CCA battery. CCA was based on 1970’s testing in -20°F Minnesota winter on carbureted vehicles that may take 5-10 seconds to even fire up and run.I’m glad this sparked an interesting discussion
I believe that's exactly what I said was the problem in post #17. This is one of the big reasons why these cars are constantly experiencing a dead battery condition.Updating after almost 2 months keeping the car locked and the fob usually (sometimes I forget) far away on the other end of the house. No more battery troubles to report. I’ve also noticed that the car will in fact make some noises if I approach with the doors unlocked, and it does seem plausible to me that with the fob at the edge of detection range it might go through this wake up cycle multiple times drawing down the battery. So, for what it’s worth, always keeping it locked seems to work.
I’ll theorize that if the fob is left inside the car, in close proximity to the interior antenna, which I think is in the center console, the car does not do this. It does of course sense when the key is removed while the engine is on because it gives you 2 beeps of the horn to let you know. So maybe that is why the person who leaves the fob in the glove box does not have problems.
At any rate, still enjoying the car and hoping this might help someone else. Thanks again for all the excellent feedback
