We have a 2013 1.0 Titanium spec B-Max that has been giving us massive issues with battery drain. It started a few months ago and we originally put it down to lack of use during lockdown. Then problems became more frequent so we decided to replace the battery with a new one from Halfords.
Things seemed better for a few weeks but it was still being driven every few days. The car went into the garage for a (presumed) separate issue of a leak in the boot and an airbag module fault. Both faults were resolved in November.
But the battery drain persisted, and in December it would go from 100% charge to completely flat in less than a week.
The same garage had it in last week and said there was a 0.4A drain on the battery when off. With a 60AH battery, this was consistent with our estimate (6.25 days).
I’ve received a phone call today to say they have reduced the battery drain down to 0.1A, which is obviously better but still seems high to me? This was achieved by a combination of:
1) Replacing the battery (again)
2) Replacing battery wiring/harness (exact part TBC)
3) A software update performed by the main Ford dealer in town
However I have a couple of concerns before I collect it. Firstly, is 0.1A acceptable when off? By my maths, that will still be completely flat within 25 days.
Secondly, I’ve read of water ingress issues with rear parking sensors. Is this common? I mentioned it to the garage, but he’s not said anything specific on this. With our boot leak, it seems that might be connected? Especially when you look at the timing.
And finally, he said the start/stop still isn’t working and it might need a new body control unit. He’s quoting this work for me tomorrow. My main concern was the battery drain, but I assumed the lack of stop/start was linked to the battery fault and would have been fixed at the same time.
The repair costs for this car have mounted considerably in the last few months, so I’d appreciate any guidance you can offer before I contact the garage again.
Thanks in advance!
We have a 2013 1.0 Titanium spec B-Max that has been giving us massive issues with battery drain. It started a few months ago and we originally put it down to lack of use during lockdown. Then problems became more frequent so we decided to replace the battery with a new one from Halfords.
Things seemed better for a few weeks but it was still being driven every few days. The car went into the garage for a (presumed) separate issue of a leak in the boot and an airbag module fault. Both faults were resolved in November.
But the battery drain persisted, and in December it would go from 100% charge to completely flat in less than a week.
The same garage had it in last week and said there was a 0.4A drain on the battery when off. With a 60AH battery, this was consistent with our estimate (6.25 days).
I’ve received a phone call today to say they have reduced the battery drain down to 0.1A, which is obviously better but still seems high to me? This was achieved by a combination of:
1) Replacing the battery (again)
2) Replacing battery wiring/harness (exact part TBC)
3) A software update performed by the main Ford dealer in town
However I have a couple of concerns before I collect it. Firstly, is 0.1A acceptable when off? By my maths, that will still be completely flat within 25 days.
Secondly, I’ve read of water ingress issues with rear parking sensors. Is this common? I mentioned it to the garage, but he’s not said anything specific on this. With our boot leak, it seems that might be connected? Especially when you look at the timing.
And finally, he said the start/stop still isn’t working and it might need a new body control unit. He’s quoting this work for me tomorrow. My main concern was the battery drain, but I assumed the lack of stop/start was linked to the battery fault and would have been fixed at the same time.
The repair costs for this car have mounted considerably in the last few months, so I’d appreciate any guidance you can offer before I contact the garage again.
Thanks in advance!
Hi Howard T,
We have a 2013 1.0 Titanium spec B-Max that has been giving us massive issues with battery drain. It started a few months ago and we originally put it down to lack of use during lockdown. Then problems became more frequent so we decided to replace the battery with a new one from Halfords.
Things seemed better for a few weeks but it was still being driven every few days. The car went into the garage for a (presumed) separate issue of a leak in the boot and an airbag module fault. Both faults were resolved in November.
But the battery drain persisted, and in December it would go from 100% charge to completely flat in less than a week.
The same garage had it in last week and said there was a 0.4A drain on the battery when off. With a 60AH battery, this was consistent with our estimate (6.25 days).
I’ve received a phone call today to say they have reduced the battery drain down to 0.1A, which is obviously better but still seems high to me? This was achieved by a combination of:
1) Replacing the battery (again)
2) Replacing battery wiring/harness (exact part TBC)
3) A software update performed by the main Ford dealer in town
However I have a couple of concerns before I collect it. Firstly, is 0.1A acceptable when off? By my maths, that will still be completely flat within 25 days.
Secondly, I’ve read of water ingress issues with rear parking sensors. Is this common? I mentioned it to the garage, but he’s not said anything specific on this. With our boot leak, it seems that might be connected? Especially when you look at the timing.
And finally, he said the start/stop still isn’t working and it might need a new body control unit. He’s quoting this work for me tomorrow. My main concern was the battery drain, but I assumed the lack of stop/start was linked to the battery fault and would have been fixed at the same time.
The repair costs for this car have mounted considerably in the last few months, so I’d appreciate any guidance you can offer before I contact the garage again.
Thanks in advance!
Hi Howard T,
I have or at least thought I had similar problems, in that I would find that all though my 2012 Ford B-Max with 1.0ltr EcoBoost engine never failed to start, I was getting the classic signs of a low battery ie; Stop/Start and Front and Rear screen heaters not working, these would all work again immediately after a manual battery recharge. I decided to buy and fit a new 65AH battery. All then worked well for a few days when the same thing started happening again.
I decided to try and find if there was a parasitic drain on the battery, in order to do this with any amount of accuracy I needed to know what should be drawn when the car's systems were at rest, but neither Ford Customer Relations or my local Ford dealer were either able or willing to answer my question.
I had a rough idea what would normally be the expected drain from a car's systems once it had gone to rest, so I decided to do a few tests to try and find what my vehicles drain was.
I should point out that all this was happening during the Covid-19 Lockdown and the car was not being used for several days at a time.
I started the test by making sure the battery was charged (needs to be a minimum of 12 volts).
I then closed all the windows and locked the doors, the bonnet switch I short circuited, I then set the alarm, and because my car has Keyless entry I removed the key so that it was not in range of the sensor.
I then used both the Clamp meter and the Ammeter in series methods to check the battery's drain, both methods produced similar results.
Because this is becoming very long winded (for which I apologise), I will try to keep it brief.
I found that when the doors are first closed and locked there is about 4.12 amps drawn, this quickly reduced to 2.73 amps, then after a few minutes this went down to 500mA, after about 2.5 hours from the start of the test it was down to about 22mA and there it remained for the rest of my tests which lasted at least 5 hours from start to finnish.
I do not know whether or not you have sorted your problems (if you have I would appreciate knowing the solution), but if not I thought my experience might be of some help.
I have still not sorted my water leek into the boot, but the most common place for water ingress appears the be the vents behind the rear bumper.
Regards.