System off to save battery

[Bob Rosadini]

When I open my door, I do not get interior lights or instrument lights.  When I start vehicle everything comes on.  when I shut vehicle off, I get a message that says...." System off to save battery". Vehicle in service date 9/23.  I have brought up 786pg (!!!) owners manual and there is nothing in manual that I can find that mentions this issue.

Thoughts?

[akirby]

Simple - weak battery.  Either it’s not driven enough or it’s defective or you have a parasitic draw.

 

Go get a Solar BA-9 tester and check the CCA (cold cranking amps).  Charge the battery and retest.  That will tell you if it needs to be replaced or just charged.  You might need a trickle charger.

[ausrutherford]

I have had the same issue in the past month with mine. Will probably replace the battery next month. 

[Bob Rosadini]

8 hours ago, akirby said:

Simple - weak battery.  Either it’s not driven enough or it’s defective or you have a parasitic draw.

 

Go get a Solar BA-9 tester and check the CCA (cold cranking amps).  Charge the battery and retest.  That will tell you if it needs to be replaced or just charged.  You might need a trickle charger.

AK,

Thx for response.  Vehicle in service 9/23 and currently just turned 18,000m. And as an 82 year old widower, I don't plan my meals for the week 😎...so I'm constantly taking short trips with an occasional 200 mile RT to Cape Cod.  You are probably correct as when I got the Coyote, I hardly ever drove my MKZ and that led to a battery failure at around 60,000-and that was a bitch to change as the negative is tucked under the cowl on drivers side. So I managed to get that changed but like a dummy, I again did not drive it much and it failed to start about two weeks ago.

So put the charger on it and got a good ground on the shock tower sparing me the ordeal of dragging the battery out.

And very recently a friend of mine has a 22 150 Coyote and he told me his battery suddenly  failed at around 21,000.  What ever happened to the days when your battery would warn you with slow starting for a few days before total failure.

I'll put the charger on it tomorrow.

 

So much for all the relays that are used today??

 

[Bob Rosadini]

5 hours ago, ausrutherford said:

I have had the same issue in the past month with mine. Will probably replace the battery next month. 

Same as me?  Did you get the "System off to save battery" message when  you shut it off?

[Flying68]

10 hours ago, Bob Rosadini said:

AK,

Thx for response.  Vehicle in service 9/23 and currently just turned 18,000m. And as an 82 year old widower, I don't plan my meals for the week 😎...so I'm constantly taking short trips with an occasional 200 mile RT to Cape Cod.  You are probably correct as when I got the Coyote, I hardly ever drove my MKZ and that led to a battery failure at around 60,000-and that was a bitch to change as the negative is tucked under the cowl on drivers side. So I managed to get that changed but like a dummy, I again did not drive it much and it failed to start about two weeks ago.

So put the charger on it and got a good ground on the shock tower sparing me the ordeal of dragging the battery out.

And very recently a friend of mine has a 22 150 Coyote and he told me his battery suddenly  failed at around 21,000.  What ever happened to the days when your battery would warn you with slow starting for a few days before total failure.

I'll put the charger on it tomorrow.

 

So much for all the relays that are used today??

 

Bob, the "System off to Save Battery" is your warning.  You most likely have an AGM battery in that so make sure your charger is AGM compatible.  The short drive cycles are not good for the AGM's long term, although they will hold that charge longer.  I have found that whenever I get the the low battery warning, it only takes 1 night of charging with my NOCO Genius 10 to get it back in shape.

[akirby]

13 hours ago, Bob Rosadini said:

AK,

Thx for response.  Vehicle in service 9/23 and currently just turned 18,000m. And as an 82 year old widower, I don't plan my meals for the week 😎...so I'm constantly taking short trips with an occasional 200 mile RT to Cape Cod.  You are probably correct as when I got the Coyote, I hardly ever drove my MKZ and that led to a battery failure at around 60,000-and that was a bitch to change as the negative is tucked under the cowl on drivers side. So I managed to get that changed but like a dummy, I again did not drive it much and it failed to start about two weeks ago.

So put the charger on it and got a good ground on the shock tower sparing me the ordeal of dragging the battery out.

And very recently a friend of mine has a 22 150 Coyote and he told me his battery suddenly  failed at around 21,000.  What ever happened to the days when your battery would warn you with slow starting for a few days before total failure.

I'll put the charger on it tomorrow.

 

So much for all the relays that are used today??

 

So many electronics nowadays.  They seem fine and start the engine no problem but they don’t have enough capacity and you’ll see very strange electronic glitches before it fails to start.  And voltage will be fine that’s why the Solar tester is needed (Solar is the brand name).  

[Bob Rosadini]

Guys,

Thank you all for your time in responding.

I have a Schumacher SC 1308 charger that also allows you to test battery voltage as well as alternator out put.

I had it on charge last night for about 7 hrs.  Battery was disconnected from truck.  Hooked it back up this AM and the minute I hooked ground, lights came on.  went through the drill-flash headlights 5 times, pump brakes 3 times and everything was good.  Open door and dash and interior lights come on as they should. Drove about 5 miles this AM and then just tested battery voltage as well as alternator performance..first time I ever used those features.

Battery voltage came out as 12.3 and that reading falls in 12.2-12.7 and manual says that falls in "Needs Charging".  As for the run test for alternator, came out at 14.3 which according to charger any reading between 13.4 and 14.6 confirms "proper operation"

 

So while I still have warranty protection -60% coverage - I'm going to take it back to dealer to replace battery.  Also to take advantage of your collective knowledge, when I start truck-regardless if engine is hot or cold, it fast idles at about 1250., then after 2or 3 minutes it will drop to 750 and then eventually it idles at 500.  This does not seem right to me-can see a cold start, but not a warm start.

Any thoughts.

Thx again for your prior comments.

[akirby]

16 minutes ago, Bob Rosadini said:

Guys,

Thank you all for your time in responding.

I have a Schumacher SC 1308 charger that also allows you to test battery voltage as well as alternator out put.

I had it on charge last night for about 7 hrs.  Battery was disconnected from truck.  Hooked it back up this AM and the minute I hooked ground, lights came on.  went through the drill-flash headlights 5 times, pump brakes 3 times and everything was good.  Open door and dash and interior lights come on as they should. Drove about 5 miles this AM and then just tested battery voltage as well as alternator performance..first time I ever used those features.

Battery voltage came out as 12.3 and that reading falls in 12.2-12.7 and manual says that falls in "Needs Charging".  As for the run test for alternator, came out at 14.3 which according to charger any reading between 13.4 and 14.6 confirms "proper operation"

 

So while I still have warranty protection -60% coverage - I'm going to take it back to dealer to replace battery.  Also to take advantage of your collective knowledge, when I start truck-regardless if engine is hot or cold, it fast idles at about 1250., then after 2or 3 minutes it will drop to 750 and then eventually it idles at 500.  This does not seem right to me-can see a cold start, but not a warm start.

Any thoughts.

Thx again for your prior comments.

Dealer may not replace it, depends on how they test it and their requirements.  Worth a shot though.  I try to throw mine on the charger every couple of months just to top it off.

 

I would still get a Solar CCA tester.  They’re not expensive and that’s the definitive test.

 

As for the idle it’s probably for emissions- lighting the cats as quickly as possible.

[Bob Rosadini]

15 minutes ago, akirby said:

Dealer may not replace it, depends on how they test it and their requirements.  Worth a shot though.  I try to throw mine on the charger every couple of months just to top it off.

 

I would still get a Solar CCA tester.  They’re not expensive and that’s the definitive test.

 

As for the idle it’s probably for emissions- lighting the cats as quickly as possible.

AK

Thanks for prompt response.  I will give it a shot at dealer as truck driven daily and this condition -no dash or interior lights on door opening has been an on/off thing for probably 2 months...only in last 2 opr 3 weeks has it been continual.  And ordered the Solar on Ebay..61 bucks due Monday!