[alcatraz]

2017 Escape Titanium 2.0L FWD no aftermarket additions, new battery less than one month ago, ForScan BMS reset,

I disconnected the battery about 4 hours after driving it, contrary to the latest recommendations as to how to do it without disconnecting the battery, but if I don't do it for this test I'll have to disconnect it if it's not driven every day. Tested amps between positive post and cable. Initial draw was 4 amps, and then over the next 4 minutes it gradually dropped milliamps through the ranges down to .370 and stayed there. I'm wondering what the most likely culprit is. The underhood fuse box has lots of square larger amp fuses which will have to be pulled to check, so I can't just use the probes on them like on the smaller fuses (I don't think that's possible...correct me if I'm wrong.) Checking all the smaller fuses yielded no results--0.0 on all. Battery was at 12.7 volts, and the automatic charger at 2 amps does not indicate a full charge, so I'm leaving it on for a few hours. Is the alternator a prime suspect on these? I'll disconnect it and see if it makes a difference. I'm guessing that has to be done from underneath. I have a spare alternator, but are the diodes in these easily replaced. I like to have a spare with me on long trips. Thanks for any similar experiences you may have had.

 

[murcod]

Assuming the 2017 functions similarly to the earlier models, the light circuit is powered for about 12 minutes after the vehicle is locked. That's going to interfere with the measurement you got after 4 minutes.

You haven't mentioned why you think there is a parasitic drain, what exactly has been happening? Is anything left plugged into the cigarette power outlets as they're permanently powered.

 

[alcatraz]

It was four hours, not minutes. There is absolutely nothing plugged in anywhere and no lights are on. The battery is drained to 75%after one night and so low it won’t turn on anything if left over 2. Won’t even unlock except with the emergency key in the FOB. Reattaching the battery cable creates a pretty good spark when it first touched the post.

 

[Gryffindor101]

You could check out one of the existing threads on this. Here is one of them. Might be helpful

Parasitic drain

I have read and see something close to my issue. I used an obd2 reader and cleared a code. Then my ford escape 2.0 2014 fwd would not start. Boosted it and ran fine. 12hr later would not start, boast and good. Battery tests with a multi meter show its charging okay. Unplugged the negative, no...

www.fordescape.org

 

[wiz043]

It was four hours, not minutes. There is absolutely nothing plugged in anywhere and no lights are on. The battery is drained to 75%after one night and so low it won’t turn on anything if left over 2. Won’t even unlock except with the emergency key in the FOB. Reattaching the battery cable creates a pretty good spark when it first touched the post.

If you did not have this problem with your previous battery and it just died of 'old age' your new battery could be faulty if it is not holding charge even for one night. Perhaps you should take it back to where you bought it or get it checked somewhere to see if there is a problem with it before you investigate anything else.

 

[murcod]

Reattaching the battery cable creates a pretty good spark when it first touched the post.

That's totally normal and not a sign anything is wrong with your vehicle.

 

[alcatraz]

If you did not have this problem with your previous battery and it just died of 'old age' your new battery could be faulty if it is not holding charge even for one night. Perhaps you should take it back to where you bought it or get it checked somewhere to see if there is a problem with it before you investigate anything else.

I had this problem with the previous battery as it had numerous times dropped to a “won’t start” condition. Spending $200+ for a new battery after having this problem for over a year was with the hope maybe a new battery would not discharge as much, but I used another old battery for the core charge and kept the original. I figured at 4 yrs old I wasn’t losing everything, but I charged it and it has held its charged for 15 days. The new battery also holds its charge when disconnected for 2 days, which is as long as I have checked it. I’m going to take the cowl off so I can change the cam sensor, so I’ll hook up the battery, do a ForScan reset, connect a jumper as I remove the negative battery cable, and start over testing. I haven’t disconnected the alternator yet because lying on my back under a car always makes me nauseous but looks like I’m going to have to do just that. I’m going to leave this FE undisturbed until I find the problem and drive my ‘05 Suburban, which has a half million miles on it with never a problem. So much for buying my wife a car that she could trust in a few years after I’m gone. We like this car, but we carry a fully charged battery and cables with us when we drive it out of town.

 

[murcod]

I haven’t disconnected the alternator yet because lying on my back under a car always makes me nauseous but looks like I’m going to have to do just that.

Pulling the relevant fuses would be far easier.

 

[smartguy69]

Check you can't still connect to bluetooth with your phone when the car is switched off. Your phone will still see sync but it shouldn't connect when the car is turned off.

Also in the UK I know of one reported issue with towbar wiring that was causing a drain of the battery. Not sure what you call a towbar in the USA for pulling a trailer but if it's got a hitch on the back then get the wiring checked.

 

[alcatraz]

Thanks, guys for the input and suggestions. Here's the latest. As explained before, checkiing the voltage on both the old and new batteries when in place always showed a significant drop in voltage from one night to the next morning--usually 10+ hours. So two days ago (didn't work on it yesterday--Anniversary #57) I took off the cowl, manipulated wiring looking for a rub, break, tear in insulation, location next to a sharp edge, etc. Couldn't find anything, but since no local parts dealer had a cam sensor I switched the almost new sensor I had put in Bank 2 (back when I didn't knoiw which bank is Bank A and was getting PO340), while Bank 2 replace is a 4 minute job. Put it all back together, removed a battery cable and connected ammeter. Immediate 4 amp reading again, then reducing by a few milliamps until it went all the way down to 360 milliamps and stayed there several minutes. I just walked off and left it hooked up to amp meter, Three hours later I went back and checked it: It read 0, then jumped to 2, briefly back to 1, then went to 2 and stayed there. Of course a zero has to be added so it has now a 20 milliamp draw--totally acceptable. I hooked the battery cable back, went through the owner's manual procedure: warm the engine to operating temp, reset clock, presets, etc while it was doing that, drive it ten miles, turn off everything, lock it, and leave it alone for at least 8 hours...I did it for 12. Later we drove it 2 miles into town, with significant engine misfires all the way. Killed the engine for ten minutes while in a store, drove back home to retrieve phone, then drove to a special restaurant on a lake 40 miles away, made 2 or 3 other stops and drove back with perfect operation. Checked the gas mileage on that whole trip to verify it was perfect and it was. After some time checked the voltage--12.87. Left the hood unlatched over night with car locked (no underhood light). Twelve hours later this morning voltage was 12.87. The ONLY thing I can think now is that (1) it is an intermittent problem, (2) it was associated with the wires and moving them changed something, or (3) something got fixed by something I did and didn't know it, I can't think of anyway the alternator is associated with an intermittent loss, but I have seen a YouTube video where the alternator was causing cam sensor misfires. Right now my misfires don't stop once they start, but seem to auto correct once the engine is killed and then restarted. Sorry to write a book...but wanted you to know every single detail. I appreciate your caring enough to try to help me solve this. If I can figure out which fuse(s) disconnect the alternator I'll try that (per Mercod) and the bluetooth suggestion (per smartguy69) if/when this recurs.

 

[alcatraz]

Still (or again) having too much drain, IMO. After charging the battery to full charge and driving two 23 mile legs of a 1 1/2 hr trip, I checked the voltage 3 hrs later and had 12.49 volts. This morning 12.4. I'm not sure what an acceptable milliamp draw would do to battery voltage in 12 hours but this sounds excessive to me. Charts of AGM voltage indicate 12.4 is a 50% charge. Engine running gets almost 14.5. Battery voltage after shutting off is 12.8+. Then an hour later it is down to 12.16--25% charged. Soooo frustrating!!

 

[ChasInRoc]

I have a 2014 Escape and experienced an almost identical battery drain scenario in 2020. My mechanic went through the electrical system and found that the interior electric heater circuit was drawing the battery down. He removed the fuse link from the box by the battery and it's been fine ever since. I've seen some reports that pointed to the rear window wiper motor but that was ruled out early in my case. We never did find out why the interior heater, which I think of part of the cold weather package, might be the culprit.

 

[alcatraz]

Thanks ChasInRoc for your input. I'll look into it but not sure I have that cold weather package. I have also checked my rear wiper also because it is too easy to accidentally turn it on. I've spent more hours trying to figure this one out than on all the cars for all reasons total I've ever owned in 60 years. For 2 days this week this ran so good I thought I might get to liking it again, but then this intermittent drain happened again. I'm just committed to putting a 2 amp charge on it every day for 4-5 hrs until I can find the circuit, and that takes several hours and I'm sure is not good for the battery. Even that doesn't bring it to full charge. I may pull all the fuses for non-essential systems and see if the intermittent problem disappears. None of the Titanium bells and whistles are dependable anyway. This is truly a F-O-R-D Fix Or Repair Daily automobile.

 

[smartguy69]

I wouldn't read too much into the battery voltage readings. I drove 435 miles in mine and it was reading 12.46 volts when I got home. Stop/Start didn't work. Next day drove about 5 minutes and stop start worked. I need to see what voltage the battery shows when stop start kicks in. I will record that and post.

14.4 volts would be normal with the engine running.

Have you got a dashcam plugged that's hard wired.

Also has your car got a tow hitch or previously had one.

You still need to check your bluetooth. I see that you have acknowledged my comment. You could just unpair your phone and see if that helps.

Check the rear fuse box in the trunk to see it hasn't got water in it.

One last thing is did you reset the BMS when changing the battery. Apologies if you have mentioned this already but I didn't have time to read back over all the thread. The BMS is crazy on this car like I said in my first paragraph with driving all that way and stop start not working and then next morning after a short drive it does.

 

[DDS-029]

. . . Reattaching the battery cable creates a pretty good spark when it first touched the post.

Hope I'm remembering correctly, but what was the spark like? Was it yellow with small particles that shoot off straight, and very fast? Or was it bluish and "heavier" in the sense the you can see them start to fall before they disappear?
In my past experiences, the bluish sparks are normal, but the yellowish, smaller, noisier sparks seem to indicate a shorted battery. Could be wrong, but that's how I recall it to be.

 

[alcatraz]

I wouldn't read too much into the battery voltage readings. I drove 435 miles in mine and it was reading 12.46 volts when I got home. Stop/Start didn't work. Next day drove about 5 minutes and stop start worked. I need to see what voltage the battery shows when stop start kicks in. I will record that and post.

14.4 volts would be normal with the engine running.

Have you got a dashcam plugged that's hard wired.

Also has your car got a tow hitch or previously had one.

You still need to check your bluetooth. I see that you have acknowledged my comment. You could just unpair your phone and see if that helps.

Check the rear fuse box in the trunk to see it hasn't got water in it.

One last thing is did you reset the BMS when changing the battery. Apologies if you have mentioned this already but I didn't have time to read back over all the thread. The BMS is crazy on this car like I said in my first paragraph with driving all that way and stop start not working and then next morning after a short drive it does.

Yes on BMS. No tow hitch. Rear fuse box is dry. No dash cam. Nothing aftermarket plugged in. Voltage drop affects engine misfire when it dropped to 12.16 I coul feel that when I drove to town, but not severe like over the past year plus. Phone is not paired with Bluetooth. I’m wondering if the FOB is waking it so am going to start putting it/them in safe. This is keyless ignition tho and won’t start even if FOB is not INSIDE car.

 

[alcatraz]

I don’t remember for sure but if it were blue I’d remember. Just a strong spark like it was turning something on that demands some strong power.

Correction: I paid attention to the spark instead of just hearing it, and it was almost like a spark plug. Strong blue.

 

[alcatraz]

Deleted

 

[alcatraz]

(And now, just this morning after the first part of this reply, I went out and immediately knew (strongly suspected) the voltage was going to be low because the doors would not respond to the touch unlock. Sure enough, after charging it yesterday to full charge (automatic charger had switched to green light indicating full charge), the voltage was 12.19 and it was 13 when I went to bed. I have read somewhere the computer will not work below 12.2, which is about 25% charged.

 

[smartguy69]

Yes on BMS. No tow hitch. Rear fuse box is dry. No dash cam. Nothing aftermarket plugged in. Voltage drop affects engine misfire when it dropped to 12.16 I coul feel that when I drove to town, but not severe like over the past year plus. Phone is not paired with Bluetooth. I’m wondering if the FOB is waking it so am going to start putting it/them in safe. This is keyless ignition tho and won’t start even if FOB is not INSIDE car.

The only thing I can suggest is leaving the car unlocked overnight if you can where you live. Check the battery voltage at night and then again next morning. I had a look on our UK forum to see if anyone has issues. Most of the fixes are a new battery but you have already replaced yours.

Maybe check your wiring looms in the engine bay and see if you have had any rodents nibbling at any wires.

Scratching my head now but possibly check the BMS connection on the negative battery terminal that it's free of corrosion and also on our model that BMS cable disappears inside the inner wing, behind the plastic liner and I believe there is another connection there which can cause issues. Your car maybe different to ours but perhaps worth having a look.