4 wheel tow experiment done

[CHS]

All the talk of the truck dropping out of (neutral To Mode) when the battery dies down from towing (which I don't believe happening).
I put my 2021 ranger in neutral mode shut truck off, then disconnected the + battery terminal. Reinstalled it and it was still in neutral tow mode. So I believe that should show that a dying battery does not have any effect on tow mode reverting back to normal and trashing the transmission.

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[D Fresh]

Just out of curiosity how long did you have the battery disconnected?

And did you roll the truck while battery was disconnected to verify?

 

[CHS]

Just out of curiosity how long did you have the battery disconnected?

And did you roll the truck while battery was disconnected to verify?

Just a few minutes. I opened the door (after reconnected) with truck off I heard the door chime as usual in tow mode and the dash states it was in tow mode still.
I did not roll truck while disconnected.

 

[D Fresh]

Just a few minutes. I opened the door with truck off I heard the door chime as usual in tow mode and the dash states it was in tow mode still.
I did not see a need to roll the truth.

So with battery disconnected you still got the chime and dash display? Where did it get power for that? Perhaps the system was not without power long enough to come out of neutral.


Just playing devil's advocate. I don't flat tow my Ranger. But the issue intrigues me.

 

[CHS]

So with battery disconnected you still got the chime and dash display? Where did it get power for that? Perhaps the system was not without power long enough to come out of neutral.


Just playing devil's advocate. I don't flat tow my Ranger. But the issue intrigues me.

OOp's
After your last post I retried it to see if it still rolls and that is when I (as you did) realize that the terminal I removed off the positive side was incorrect.
I re-tested it by putting in tow mode, removing the NEGATIVE terminal making sure everything was shut down. (YES) I should have to the negative in the first place)
With the negative terminal off the battery the truck was totally dead. I rolled the truck, re-attached the battery terminal. the display was black. once I hit the push button start (without foot on brake) the displayed came up and it was still in tow mode and it rolled.
Unless you can think of something (else) I missed, I think it is safe to say a low or dead battery should not effect the tow mode.

 

[D Fresh]

OOp's
After your last post I retried it to see if it still rolls and that is when I (as you did) realize that the terminal I removed off the positive side was incorrect.
I re-tested it by putting in tow mode, removing the NEGATIVE terminal making sure everything was shut down. (YES) I should have to the negative in the first place)
With the negative terminal off the battery the truck was totally dead. I rolled the truck, re-attached the battery terminal. the display was black. once I hit the push button start (without foot on brake) the displayed came up and it was still in tow mode and it rolled.
Unless you can think of something (else) I missed, I think it is safe to say a low or dead battery should not effect the tow mode.

This seems pretty thorough to me.

 

[CHS]

This seems pretty thorough to me.

If anything, it puts my mind at ease.
Thanks for correcting my mistake.
Also, it seems the ones that had the tranny issue's were 2019's (unless I missed some)

 

[Joeiconic]

I don’t see this as conclusive test. When you reconnected the battery, the vehicle simply returned to the last known state because the battery was not ever detected to be in a weakened state during active monitoring by the computer. I think it could be a different scenario where the truck is actively monitoring a weakening battery and has to take measures to preserve power.

 

[CHS]

I don’t see this as conclusive test. When you reconnected the battery, the vehicle simply returned to the last known state because the battery was not ever detected to be in a weakened state during active monitoring by the computer. I think it could be a different scenario where the truck is actively monitoring a weakening battery and has to take measures to preserve power.

If you think it has to take measures to conserve power, why would it not be the same as disconnected the battery all together. That disconnects everything.

 

[D Fresh]

I don’t see this as conclusive test. When you reconnected the battery, the vehicle simply returned to the last known state because the battery was not ever detected to be in a weakened state during active monitoring by the computer. I think it could be a different scenario where the truck is actively monitoring a weakening battery and has to take measures to preserve power.

You might be on to something.

We know our trucks act funny when the battery gets low.

It'd be worth a shot to run the test simulating a good battery dieing with a load of some sorts.

 

[D Fresh]

If you think it has to take measures to conserve power, why would it not be the same as disconnected the battery all together. That disconnects everything.

One of the measures it takes COULD be to exit tow mode.

 

[CHS]

You might be on to something.

We know our trucks act funny when the battery gets low.

It'd be worth a shot to run the test simulating a good battery dying with a load of some sorts.

If someone wants to purposely half kill their battery for this, go for it. Me not doing it.
If the computer needs to shut down part of the system to conserve power, and kills the program to keep in tow mode, how is no shutting down everything not doing the same thing. Overthinking things I think.

 

[D Fresh]

If someone wants to purposely half kill their battery for this, go for it. Me not doing it.
If the computer needs to shut down part of the system to conserve power, and kills the program to keep in tow mode, how is no shutting down everything not doing the same thing. Overthinking things I think.

Could be overthinking.

Could save a tranny.


A simple inverter hooked direct to the battery powering a garage mini-fridge should kill it pretty quick.

 

[Joeiconic]

If someone wants to purposely half kill their battery for this, go for it. Me not doing it.
If the computer needs to shut down part of the system to conserve power, and kills the program to keep in tow mode, how is no shutting down everything not doing the same thing. Overthinking things I think.

You cut the power, so the truck can’t do anything with no power. When you reconnected, the truck detected a fully charged battery. The truck never detected a weakened battery. I agree the best test would be to connect a weak battery and see what happens. My truck oftens sits idle a week at a time. During that time it will sometimes send me a message via the app that it’s shutting off certain functions to preserve battery life. So that life preserver protocol is definitely built in.

 

[CHS]

Could be overthinking.

Could save a tranny.


A simple inverter hooked direct to the battery powering a garage mini-fridge should kill it pretty quick.

Also kill half the life of the battery. That's (Lead acid) battery 101 in the RV world

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