Infotainment Warning Message

[MountainGoat]

Tester like TopDon

Thanks. I would like to do a load test at home. The Ford techs' load testing takes hours!

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[Cabose-1]

Yeah, i get it all the time when i sit in the truck for ling periods of time with the radio on engine off. Its normal, unless its after 5 minutes, but i usually get it after 45 minutes or so. With radio on, engine off

 

[DanielPierre]

From my in-depth testing and research on the BMS system.
During the recalibration period (Sleep Mode) the 2 key trigger voltages are:
11.3 Volts - ASS Will disable. This is confirmed and a required voltage for ASS to function.
11.5 Volts - This voltage appears to be the voltage (trigger) when things start showing issues.
Such as (Sync-Infotainment), Passive Entry (Door Locks)- usually driver's side, Deep Sleep notifications (Ford-Pass) and Remote Start

Note: Remote Start is affected, due to the fact that the truck needs to verify doors are locked prior to start, if door lock system cannot be activated then remote start will fail, unable to communicate.

Now for the Sync System, that is a generic message that pops up, so some time during sleep mode the system saw that voltage. (11.5 Volts) and thus message was displayed.
Once engine is started and after a few minutes (if needed) the message should disappear, and Sync should display normally.

You are on the right track, with testing after an overnight (sleep). I suggest using a Tester like TopDon, this is an easy and quick way to check the battery health.
The issue is that most of the fault issues (Voltage Related) that pop up on the Ranger are generated from overnight (Sleep Mode) voltages that are measured during that time period.
The fault trigger will remain until it sees a voltage above the fault trigger voltage (during sleep mode)

Why is the above so important in relation to going to A/Zone etc and having battery tested, you now have started the truck and produced a charge into the battery, they do a test, and it tests good. A battery will load test good if it does not drop below 9.6 volts.
What is IMPORTANT for the Ranger battery and the BMS system and associated systems is what the overnight (Surface Charge) of the battery ends up at when you go out to start the truck (Wake-Up) voltage reading is the Most Important.

Note: At factory setting of 75% SOC, I normally saw a wake-up voltage, after sitting for 12 hours around 11.9 volts.
Ref the Maximizing Battery Life thread- for ways to improve this voltage to a higher reading.

So, the basic reasoning for BMS dumping systems is to keep the battery voltage above the minimum voltage for cranking (starter) around 10.2 volts for the Ranger.


My Detailed Thread:

Charging Sys-Full Description-Trigger Voltages-Test Results | 2019+ Ford Ranger and Raptor Forum (5th Generation) - Ranger5G.com


Related Thread: Covering Battery Life and Top-Don Tester / Viking Tester, Great Little tester for Home Use, that does not break the bank. These are not Load Testers but will show battery health and more importantly battery IR reading, a high IR reading affects how the battery will accept a charge. I just installed my battery minder and await monitored results from it being installed.


Maximizing Battery Life | 2019+ Ford Ranger and Raptor Forum (5th Generation) - Ranger5G.com

Airline Tech, Your very detailed dissertation makes a lot of sense and is much appreciated! Thanks

 

[JimJa]

Batteries: My father sold batteries so I thought I was smart about them. Like many things I've found as I age, I'm not nearly as smart as I thought I was. My small knowledge about batteries was revealed when I purchased a one of those street legal, battery golf cart-like vehicles. Doing research when it came time to replace the batteries showed I was blissfully ignorant. But ... what I did discover was batteries - specifically deep cycle batteries - are measured one against the other batteries by their cycles to 50% DOD (depth of discharge). Additionally, replacing a standard vehicle battery with a deep cycle battery is just fine as long as it meets the CCA (cold cranking amp) required.

The most common AGM deep cycle battery is the Optima, rated at 400 cycles to 50% DOD. But ... there is a marine battery, Concordia, that is more expensive but is rated at 1,000 cycles, and although more expensive the cost per cycle is cheaper and it should last longer, but I have no personal experience as yet. People living off the grid are the most knowledgable about batteries and seaching for information on them will give you more than you ever wanted to know, but you will learn much which will help battery decision making when the time comes.

I have a neighbor that replaced his battery with a Lithium Ion battery. This was a year ago and so far he's still happy with it, although it was expensive.

 

[Mlemos89]

Has anyone ever seen the following message on the Infotainment Screen: "Please turn ignition off or start your engine"? As of late my infotainment screen has this message posted after the truck was parked with ignition off for 1 hour or more!

Taking the truck to a dealer will once again result in having to leave the truck at the dealer for an entire day, where they will perform a diagnostics, and at the end of the day the message will be: "we could not find anything wrong"!

Mine did this after first buying used, was the battery. Had them pay for a new one, never seen since, over 5 months later.

 

[DanielPierre]

Mine did this after first buying used, was the battery. Had them pay for a new one, never seen since, over 5 months later.

Apparently there is more to this than “just the battery”. So I have learned through the many very good and detailed responses.

 

[5thranger]

you got robbed then. someone got in there and took it. probably the tailight guy

What I was thinking.

 

[KJRR]

Had mine in to the dealer after getting the system shut down message a couple times and the auto stop start not working. They replaced the battery and bcm. I also bumped the soc to 80%. I don't drive it but a couple times a week if that. Haven't had a problem since and ass works even on short trips.

 

[DanielPierre]

Had mine in to the dealer after getting the system shut down message a couple times and the auto stop start not working. They replaced the battery and bcm. I also bumped the soc to 80%. I don't drive it but a couple times a week if that. Haven't had a problem since and ass works even on short trips.

What is the SOC? In addition to getting the mentioned warning message, my Engine Stop/Start feature also has not worked for some time regardless of the driving distance. From all the information I have received I’m leaning towards a BCM not working correctly.

 

[KJRR]

Airline Tech would be able to describe it better. SOC=State of Charge. I think of it as the higher the % the more your battery charges. But higher the %, the more chance of sulfation in the battery which will shorten its life so its a balance of not too much, not too little. You'll need Forscan to change the SOC.
If you are taking short trips or not driving it daily, the battery will run down. All the damn electronics drain the thing unless you have a battery maintainer hooked up.
If you are under warranty, take it to the dealer and have them check it out. The battery test will take a few hours and if they find a problem, it will take longer. They had mine overnight. Since the new battery, bcm and SOC change, I haven't had an issue though its been less than a year yet.

 

[DanielPierre]

Airline Tech would be able to describe it better. SOC=State of Charge. I think of it as the higher the % the more your battery charges. But higher the %, the more chance of sulfation in the battery which will shorten its life so its a balance of not too much, not too little. You'll need Forscan to change the SOC.
If you are taking short trips or not driving it daily, the battery will run down. All the damn electronics drain the thing unless you have a battery maintainer hooked up.
If you are under warranty, take it to the dealer and have them check it out. The battery test will take a few hours and if they find a problem, it will take longer. They had mine overnight. Since the new battery, bcm and SOC change, I haven't had an issue though its been less than a year yet.

 

[DanielPierre]

Thanks for the SOC explanation. On average my daily trips are between 5 - 25 miles. However, I do on occasion undertake longer trips, such as some 700 - 800 miles a couple of months ago. Even after one of these longer trips the auto stop/start would not work. but just the other day the stop/start feature worked when going shopping and once I returned home form shopping the start/stop feature no longer worked. I also did what you suggested, I connected the trickle charger (battery tender) and noticed that only after one hours the indicator light on the tender confirmed a full charge on the battery. After that I took the truck for a drive and still the auto stop/start feature still did not work. This is when I concluded that the issue is with the BCM. I decided to take a quick read this morning with my voltage meter on my battery, after the truck sat all night outside, and my volt meter indicated 11.92 volt. One further point, I disabled the Auto Firmware update feature several months ago, just to make sure the system would not constantly search for a WiFi signal, just like you would switch your phone to Airplane mode when flying. Regrettably that did not make any difference. I will be visiting the dealership today. Again, thanks for your time and input!

 

[REDWM]

When my 2011 F-150 was having battery issues, the tech at the dealership said that if you leave the key in the ignition but off, it will use voltage maintaining all the electric gismos in the truck. I think she was wrong. (We live in the country at the end of a long driveway so I don't worry about someone stealing the trucks -case someone was going to make an issue of that.) Any way, I get the message about "saving the battery" on the Ranger every so often and the ASS has stopped working. I thought it was just when AC was on but now that it has cooled off, it still doesn't work. So I just ordered an ABLY battery maintainer from Amazon. (yes, I known they are made in China but so are most that I looked at before ordering.) I figured that I could keep the battery going much longer plus use it for my F-150 and Bronco Sport.

 

[REDWM]

How old is your battery? If it's about three years old this suggests it is wearing out.

Many of us use Forscan to make changes to our truck setup, and there is a way reset the battery management. That only buys you a month or so, and you need to shop far an AGM battery specific to your make (some are higher cranking/cold amps). Some forum members have moved off that format but it's not simple.

There are threads on the forum on what others have discovered and done to their Rangers, from changes in Forscan to disabling the Ford charging features (I can't advise this) to specific battery types/brands - I suppose a master list of those would be useful.

How do you do Forscan?

 

[DanielPierre]

When my 2011 F-150 was having battery issues, the tech at the dealership said that if you leave the key in the ignition but off, it will use voltage maintaining all the electric gismos in the truck. I think she was wrong. (We live in the country at the end of a long driveway so I don't worry about someone stealing the trucks -case someone was going to make an issue of that.) Any way, I get the message about "saving the battery" on the Ranger every so often and the ASS has stopped working. I thought it was just when AC was on but now that it has cooled off, it still doesn't work. So I just ordered an ABLY battery maintainer from Amazon. (yes, I known they are made in China but so are most that I looked at before ordering.) I figured that I could keep the battery going much longer plus use it for my F-150 and Bronco Sport.

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