Remote Features Disabled

[slowmachine]

25 hours after a 20+ mile drive, the FordPass app on my iPhone notified me that “Remote features disabled to preserve battery.”

Temp in the garage is 50F, no visible evidence of electrical draw, nothing connected to USB, OBD, or the inverted AC outlet. Resting battery voltage, post-to-post, is 12.15 volts.

Plugged in OBDLink MX+, no codes stored. 14.77 volts at the battery while running, so alternator is working.

I can’t see an activity log for the FordPass app to determine whether it is making unrequested queries in the background.

Any ideas?

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[jinja]

Maybe it's not disabled because of any issue on your vehicle but instead just the iPhone. Do you have battery saver mode turned on on your iPhone? Once it reaches 20% it asks you if you want to enable that

 

[slowmachine]

Maybe it's not disabled because of any issue on your vehicle but instead just the iPhone. Do you have battery saver mode turned on on your iPhone? Once it reaches 20% it asks you if you want to enable that

Phone has not gone below 80% in the past 24 hours. Mostly on the charger 15 feet from the Ranger.

 

[slowmachine]

I went for a 20 mile drive at 45-55 MPH. When I pulled back into the garage, the charging voltage was 12.80 volts, and 12.6 after engine shutdown. I left the hood open so I can check battery voltage periodically and see how quickly it is draining.

 

[geophb]

Shouldn't be 12.15 after only 20 hrs. Mine sat for a full week outside at 20 degrees over thanksgiving and I never got that message.
Even 12.4v is what I would consider "low". At 12.15v I would say it needs charging.
Resting fully charged should be 12.8 or so.

That said I don't know when that message is supposed to come up (i.e. i assume its when the truck goes into "sleep mode").

 

[Toytec]

My first thought was did you confirm remote functions inop after receiving the notice?
I don't take the detail's on Ford pass aap as gospel. I've found them to be inaccurate.
And how long was it parked prior to your drive?

 

[slowmachine]

My first thought was did you confirm remote functions inop after receiving the notice?
I don't take the detail's on Ford pass aap as gospel. I've found them to be inaccurate.
And how long was it parked prior to your drive?

I did not attempt to use the FordPass features after notification. The first thing that I did was open the hood and measure battery voltage. The truck had been parked for about 25 hours, and the battery was at 12.1 volts. From what I read, AGM starting battery resting voltage is often 12.8-12.9 volts. Even a standard lead-acid battery should be 12.6.

Over the past 5 hours with the hood open, the resting voltage dropped from 12.74 to 12.69, so approximately 0.01 volts per hour. I know from talking to the Ford dealer that leaving the hood open turns off most, or all, of the remote functions. This is, at a minimum, a safety mechanism for the technician working on it, assuring that I cannot remotely start the truck in the service bay. Tomorrow morning, I’ll open the hood and measure again.

 

[Stangman570]

I would think you have a bad battery on your hands. If it's dropping that much, time to replace it. I've bought new vehicles off the lot only to replace the battery a week later. The PCM is doing it's job in my opinion. Once it detects the lower voltage it will shut off all it can to preserve the battery. Remember that the communication will always be kept active for updates and signal commands for remote starting. Replace the battery and see how it behaves. If your still getting that type of drop of the same time period then certainly you have something draining off the battery besides the cold. I have found that the diodes in the alternator can lead to some of the excess current draw.

 

[slowmachine]

I closed the hood at 7:15 PM last night, which should have enabled remote functions, but the FordPass app on my phone was stuck at the "remote functions disabled" screen, and I had to force-quit the app to get it working this morning. This is a common problem, by the way, in that the FordPass App routinely crashes on startup and then reloads. IOS 14.2 for those who are interested. I installed Apple Configurator 2 on my Mac mini this morning, so I can now log all FordPass activity while the phone is connected to the computer and at least see how often it is active in the background.

The battery voltage at 8:10 AM today was 12.62V, and that was after opening the rear door twice, causing all of the interior lights to illuminate, etc. This probably means that there is nothing wrong with the battery itself, and something caused an unusually high electrical draw overnight before the disablement of remote features. My phone will now spend the nights connected the computer, logging all FordPass activity.

I also have the Ranger configured to connect to my home Wi-Fi while it is in the garage. I don't know if the Wi-Fi connection is active while the truck is not running, but I'll be attempting to see if my new Wi-Fi setup (NETGEAR Orbi) can log activity from the Ranger.

 

[Stangman570]

I closed the hood at 7:15 PM last night, which should have enabled remote functions, but the FordPass app on my phone was stuck at the "remote functions disabled" screen, and I had to force-quit the app to get it working this morning. This is a common problem, by the way, in that the FordPass App routinely crashes on startup and then reloads. IOS 14.2 for those who are interested. I installed Apple Configurator 2 on my Mac mini this morning, so I can now log all FordPass activity while the phone is connected to the computer and at least see how often it is active in the background.

The battery voltage at 8:10 AM today was 12.62V, and that was after opening the rear door twice, causing all of the interior lights to illuminate, etc. This probably means that there is nothing wrong with the battery itself, and something caused an unusually high electrical draw overnight before the disablement of remote features. My phone will now spend the nights connected the computer, logging all FordPass activity.

I also have the Ranger configured to connect to my home Wi-Fi while it is in the garage. I don't know if the Wi-Fi connection is active while the truck is not running, but I'll be attempting to see if my new Wi-Fi setup (NETGEAR Orbi) can log activity from the Ranger.

I would think that the truck is actively polling the wifi. Could be another reason. To know for sure just drop the battery out of the circuit and retest the voltage from the overnight. That should give a better understanding if it's something in the truck or battery. I agree probably not the battery, but you never know. I often get the ford pass not available, but I just ignore it and lock, unlock, and remote start with no issues. I can't tell you how many times over this past year that I have had to completely remove the app and reinstall it to get it to work.

 

[geophb]

Could also measure amp draw with a multi meter when truck is sitting.

Just dont key on or anything with it hooked up, it will blow the fuse in the multimeter.
Been there ?

Edit: It can be finaggled to be hooked up without fully disconnencting power to truck. Otherwise it may change readings.

 

[Jfleming]

FYI-

Mine did the same thing. Had a bad battery. Ford replaced it under warranty**. I bought mine in June, it was only 2 or 3 months old when this started happening.

Since they replaced the battery no problems.

** When I say they replaced it under warranty, this was of course after the normal screwy Ford Dealer - accuse the customer first routine. They implied that it must be something I did. Told me maybe I don't it drive fast enough, told me I don't drive it enough, etc...

After all this, they actually load tested the battery and promptly replaced it when if failed the test.

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