Unexplainable Battery Drain

All I know is when I disconnect the battery to add accessory items… my battery tells my phone that it has shifted to low battery power….
And my windows get the annoying “window bounce”…. Which by now have become an expert at resetting my windows….

What could have happened to your battery… is it got so low it lost the majority of its capacity…and can not take a charge….
But that would be pure speculation and just a far fetched guess.

Sorry to hear your ills…
Let us know what the culprit (to your battery drain issues) turns out to be????

Had this issue on our 2021 Badlands but not nearly this severe. Would die after a few days. We had the battery replaced and haven't had an issue since. I'd go to the dealer and have the battery replaced. Ford's can be notorious for this kinda issue.

Put an ammeter in-line with the battery, and start pulling fuses...

(If you don’t want to go old-school, you can get a clamp-on DC ammeter like this).

MountainOtter

2022 Badlands 2.3L For the life of me, I can not figure out what is draining the battery. I had added on a winch, one light bar, and fog lights. So I figured maybe one of those was defective, and started working backwards, disconnecting the most recent addition to see if that was the cause. But all my modifications are completely disconnected from the Bronco. Yet it's still happening, the battery drains overnight, and I have to jump it to get it going again. Hell I had a seven hour drive back from Moab the other day, got home, not 10 hours later the battery is dead.

I had AutoZone test it a couple weeks ago before the problem got worse and the battery was at 100% so I just don't have a clue anymore.
I'm going to take it to Ford on a warranty claim, but does anyone have any suspicions about what's causing it? Could one of my modifications have damaged something?

Has there been anyone else reporting a similar mystery battery drain?

Likely a dumb question but have you had your alternator tested. Also from my experience the auto zones of the world are not reliable when it comes to testing batteries. (Ask me how I know) I've had similar issues where I added accessories and drained my battery so low it would take a jump and charge but not fully charge. Especially when adding lighting. If it were me I would take it to an actual battery store (locally we have Budget Batteries) they should be able to do a 24 hour charge and then tell you if it's i truly good or just plays nice for a day. If the battery is bad they can often save it. If this is a bad battery it will eventually kill your alternator. 90% of my experiences have been battery 8% alternator and 2% both. One will kill the other over time. If your vehicle dies while driving it is the alternator.

If you think it may be a defective battery, charge it until the voltage reads 13.8 volts or so. Then disconnect the ground terminal and let it sit overnight, and measure the voltage. It should be 12.9 or so (voltages are temperature sensitive). If the voltage is less than 12.5 volts, your battery has an internal discharge path, and is bad..

Update for those following. It was one of the rare instances of the factory battery being defective.

MountainOtter

Update for those following. It was one of the rare instances of the factory battery being defective.

Don’t fell like your alone. A few years ago I had a brand new Jeep same problem. The dealer put in a new battery and we never had another problem.

I have a 2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid with the factory 12v, I'm just a little nervous. 👽

jimFish

I have a 2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid with the factory 12v, I'm just a little nervous. 👽

If you are still on the OEM battery after 8 years, you can stop worrying about whether it’s any good, and start planning on replacing it.

2024 bronco sport few weeks old battery dies over night. i watched it also go from 11.xx volts to 9.86 in 15 minutes.
this morning i check volts. key fob in pocket opened door and reached in to pop hood. battery was 11.94 volts. I closed hood... went back to car bit later ( almost 2 hours) to go to gym and could not start volts were 9.86. Ford said battery ok. its back at dealer for other testing now. I don't seem like I'm alone here having battery draining issues while parked

3 times now battery volts too low to start

bruno the brunco

2024 bronco sport few weeks old battery dies over night. i watched it also go from 11.xx volts to 9.86 in 15 minutes.
this morning i check volts. key fob in pocket opened door and reached in to pop hood. battery was 11.94 volts. I closed hood... went back to car bit later ( almost 2 hours) to go to gym and could not start volts were 9.86. Ford said battery ok. its back at dealer for other testing now. I don't seem like I'm alone here having battery draining issues while parked

3 times now battery volts too low to start

Has the alternator been tested? It appears to be draining while sitting? But all these show sub 12 which is no good. A bad alternator does not properly charge a battery and can also slowly make your battery bad. Either way an overnight charge at a battery place would be good as well as an alternator test. A battery can also have enough power to look good but not be good enough to start a vehicle AMPS and cranking AMPS are different.

OrangecrushBronco

Has the alternator been tested? It appears to be draining while sitting? But all these show sub 12 which is no good. A bad alternator does not properly charge a battery and can also slowly make your battery bad. Either way an overnight charge at a battery place would be good as well as an alternator test. A battery can also have enough power to look good but not be good enough to start a vehicle AMPS and cranking AMPS are different.

If they didn't test alt they are nuts but i can't answer yes or no to that. It's being worked on at ford dealer now. they are letting it sit overnights with a recording Amp meter. and yes it's draining even front of my eyes ( and overnight). Ford said battery was good and something must be drawing on it. It blows my mind that anything at all in the vehicle can suck a battery down in 15 minutes. Personally I still think its the battery but even opening a door on a bronco fires up all these relays. you can hear the clunking. while i was there i opened a maverick in the showroom. same thing clunk clunk clunk as the pickup comes to life. seems like a dangerous design to me. My 2023 crosstrek quite as a mouse if i need to open door and get something after i park.

Right now it seems i can't touch a door or anything without starting a massive battery drain. if the car is off in driveway and i open door to get something afterwards ... pow the battery gets sucked down. it's happening more and more. the truck is brand new and I'm sure we open closed doors a lot to show people and do things when we first got it. About a month later is when this all started.

bruno the brunco

2024 bronco sport few weeks old battery dies over night. i watched it also go from 11.xx volts to 9.86 in 15 minutes.
this morning i check volts. key fob in pocket opened door and reached in to pop hood. battery was 11.94 volts. I closed hood... went back to car bit later ( almost 2 hours) to go to gym and could not start volts were 9.86. Ford said battery ok. its back at dealer for other testing now. I don't seem like I'm alone here having battery draining issues while parked

3 times now battery volts too low to start

Good afternoon. Would you please send over a private message with your VIN and dealer info so I can look into this battery drain concern?

Dealer was told to reprogram BCM and PCM ( i think ). I may ask when i pick it up. I'm being told it's now repaired. Also they are giving me a new starter battery because mine deep cycled so many times. I was going to ask for such but they just did the right thing. nice

2021 badlands battery drain after 2 days of sitting. Same problem since bought new in 21. I'm n industrial electrical tech for 25 year and a navy electrician 20 years efore.csnt find issue. New battery yellow top. Dosnt drain if disconnected. Removed wires from every line on positive side of batter, and every fuse one at a time no change. Drains at 4.2 amps if you open door. Slowly drops to about 100 to 400ma and periodically jumps to 4 amps. I keep it on battery minder or start and drive every two to three days. No response from Ford or anyone have a solution. Any new info would be helpful. Now at 36k miles. 2.3l badlands.

Rjcook

2021 badlands battery drain after 2 days of sitting. Same problem since bought new in 21. I'm n industrial electrical tech for 25 year and a navy electrician 20 years efore.csnt find issue. New battery yellow top. Dosnt drain if disconnected. Removed wires from every line on positive side of batter, and every fuse one at a time no change. Drains at 4.2 amps if you open door. Slowly drops to about 100 to 400ma and periodically jumps to 4 amps. I keep it on battery minder or start and drive every two to three days. No response from Ford or anyone have a solution. Any new info would be helpful. Now at 36k miles. 2.3l badlands.

I replaced my battery on my MY22 Badlands a few months ago. These things are basically, always on with all the electronics and over the air updates. I live in AZ and when it sits without driving it drains faster. If you aren’t driving them for a couple of days, put it on a battery tender. I am now at 40K miles.

TK1215

I replaced my battery on my MY22 Badlands a few months ago. These things are basically, always on with all the electronics and over the air updates. I live in AZ and when it sits without driving it drains faster. If you aren’t driving them for a couple of days, put it on a battery tender. I am now at 40K miles.

Yeah replacing a 2 year old battery really tells all. Even with the superior AGM design.
I have never had any vehicle that clicks and clanks just sitting in a garage. Another thing that’s hard on batteries is driving with the “Auto Stop” on. This also isn’t going to help anyone’s starter last longer.
I do the same, a tender on the battery. Mine can sit for weeks without driving.

extra toasty

Yeah replacing a 2 year old battery really tells all. Even with the superior AGM design.
I have never had any vehicle that clicks and clanks just sitting in a garage. Another thing that’s hard on batteries is driving with the “Auto Stop” on. This also isn’t going to help anyone’s starter last longer.
I do the same, a tender on the battery. Mine can sit for weeks without driving.

Even dealers will tell you they do not like auto/start stop. Very few think this is a good idea. One of the best things I did was get an auto/start stop eliminator. Also, the Raptor does not have ECO mode. I can't tell you how pleased I was when I found out. All that crap bothers me. The Raptor has a direct injection engine to meet crazy emission standards. This design will foul the valves over time actually making emissions worse. When they produce the engine everything is fine. Clean and meets the emission standards. After time the consumer has to deal with the fouled valves all in the name of emissions. You can't make this stuff up.

I hate all the new electronics. Its always looking for a FOB . It’s always connected to a cell service. Sat radio is aways trac king.
Here’s a g wiz, check your wiper washer motor. Mine was spinning in the direction to wash rear window. I have a soft top. Turned out the relay that changes the polarity on the pump is not replaceable without changing the load center. But would run by itself. Rewired a new control circuit.