Ford Escape car battery needed to be jumped. Ideas for prevention

mash2 · October 2018

Same problem with 2013 escape. I bought long jumpers and actually have jumped from the tab to start on occasion. That has been my solution in a couple of remote emergencies.

Luckyj · October 2018

The small booster pack are a blessing for this.

as for the batterie, as some people said, it could be a ford issue. But I am also curious of the battery size that come with those TV. Like Honda vehicule that are notorious for small batteries and of course very small reserve, could tha battery be on the small size?

Also, I do not own a ford, but tye ambulance I drive are fors, and exterior parking litghs always come on when we open the front doors. Is it the same with your TV. Some people keep automatic light on. Is this your case?

an you also mentionned cooler in the car, is it an ice chest of someking of 12 volts electrical. Any phone charger still hook-up in the car while traveling that would remain on at camp spot?

as for interior light, you could just remove the fuse when geeting in camp for a few days.

And one more for batterie, yep, the standard lifetime for a car batterie is 5 years. Hinda with cold temps and multiple cold start is way less than that. On my old wranglers, 1 can do up to 7 -8 years.

and a car battery that have been depleted, should be fully recharges with a battery charger as soon as possible. And nope, driving around even for a long distance it technicaly not enough. Full recharge will help save that batterie for many more years.

lkc001 · October 2018

I don't know that this is just a "Ford" issue---I have a Nissan Frontier SV V-6 4x4 only @ one year old. Last time I went camping it did the exact same thing!--wouldn't start when I went to start it to back up to the trailer. Had been in & out of the vehicle opening doors repeatedly for 4 days. Never knew that just opening & closing doors could drain the battery. I'm going to get a small jump starter that can charge other things as well and keep that charged & in my vehicle at all times. I was really lucky that there was still one other family in our group that was still in camp or I would have been walking down a dirt road to find help. Once they hooked up the jumper cables, it fired right up. Had no problems after the drive home for 3 hours nor any problem since.

I have left my vehicle doors open in the driveway while cleaning it for extended periods of time & even had the stereo on at the same time, and the dome lights on, never had this vehicle NOT start. I have also never had a problem starting even when it's below freezing and had not been started for several days.

Weird. . . . . . ..

mreric · October 2018

they sell small 10-20 watt solar panels.. use it to charge the TV battery

switch all the inside bulb to LED.

Bayliss · December 2018

Just to add to what others have already mentioned (I'm new to the forum, and late in contributing here), but I too think the trailer is pulling power from your tow vehicle. Disconnecting the 7 pin plug from your TV while camping may solve the problem. We have a Toyota Tundra. When we purchased our 320 S, the tech who hooked it up to our truck told us that he likes the Toyota trailer wiring, because the TV can remain connected while boondocking and will not draw power from the T@B camper. While towing, the truck charges the camper battery. I always disconnected the 7 pin connector when camping and have never had any battery issues on the TV.

lkc001 · December 2018

My tv is not pulling power from tv battery— I never camp leaving the 7 pin connected to the trailer

Ratkity · December 2018

I have a Microstart brand of jump starter - It has a pigtail for the motorcycle and clips for the TV.

I've gone in and out of my Ford truck all weekend during camping, not driven it and it starts fine. Those lights stay on a while too.

The constant power pin turns off in the Ford truck, even if you leave the trailer 7-pin connected (I found out the hard way with my electric jack). I had to rewire my pretend 7-pin to be hot when the lights are on so I could power my electric jack. I set it up that way so I didn't use any power from my camper battery to level the trailer

Awca12a · December 2018

You've been given great advice here and would be interesting to see what you find out.
1) You are not leaving it connected to the trailer while camping and it drains and leaves you stranded anyway
2) You have no problem with it in your driveway and it didn't appear till you started towing
3) Those two things are at cross purposes
4) Confirm your CCA rating on the battery meets or exceeds whats specified in the manual
5) Gold standard is to do a load test on the battery. New or not, it tells you the health and your local shop should do it for free.
6) Assuming the load test shows it's fine, have the shop do an alternator test. If your battery and alternator are OK then you have a parasitic load draining the system.
7) Either have your shop do the test or check youtube if you are comfortable doing so yourself. In simple terms after taking the key out of the engine so you are sure it isn't running, closing the doors and removing anything that is plugged in, you are disconnecting the negative lead from your battery and carefully measuring the amperage going from that disconnected negative lead to the negative terminal of the battery. Note that some people say to take off the Positive and some say to use the Negative. Its a safety issue so if you aren't completely comfortable messing with batteries and your electrical system, let the shop handle it. My preference is negative but I'm not a professional so forewarned is forearmed.
8) From #7 above, you get your parasitic load and it should be zero or nominal. If the car as delivered, nothing connected or installed aftermarket or in the cigarette lighter, has anything above zero or nominal then you have a short within the car. I say nominal because some vehicles have a steady nominal load. Based on #2 above, that shouldn't be the case.
9) Start plugging in the stuff you normally have in the car and do the load test after each one. Note the changes and see the cumulative parasitic load figure.
10) Plug in the trailer with all the appliances off. Check the load.
11) Turn on appliances in the trailer. Check the load.
12) Fairly simple set of steps but it takes time. The metrics will tell you the problem.

lkc001 · December 2018

@Awca12a— thank you so much for the detailed info— the only thing I have installed after market is the tekonsha brake controller with the vehicle specific plug & play connector which plugs directly into the tow pkg wiring already up under the dash— the tekonsha comes on when I start the vehicle & turns off when vehicle shuts off— next time I have an oil change I’m going to ask the mechanic to run a load test & other things you have suggested— I have not had any problems with it not starting since that first time— even if it has been sitting out in the cold & not started for several days— but also have not towed anything since the end of summer either
thakns again!

sbhtennis · December 2018

Ford found 2 areas with a slight draw on my battery. So now that’s corrected. I will disable inside lights from coming on (except the one in the way back can’t be easily disabled) and I will turn dashboard lights down as much as possible
So far good on a one night trip
keep fingers crossed

tabiphile · December 2018

sbhtennis said:

Ford found 2 areas with a slight draw on my battery. So now that’s corrected. I will disable inside lights from coming on (except the one in the way back can’t be easily disabled) and I will turn dashboard lights down as much as possible

To be clear, are those the draws that Ford identified? The interior lights of the TV and the dash lights?
The dash lights should not be on unless you have the key turned to accessory or on and the interior lights should not be on if the doors are closed.....

SueBC · December 2018

I had my Jeep Wrangler Unlimited battery die on me - no warning. Was not pulling trailer or camping. After that experience, I bought a NOCO Genius GB40 Boost+ Jump Starter and Power Bank, and keep it in the car. Check it a couple of times a year to make sure its charged. Feel much better that I can do it myself if need be.

ProulxGo · March 2019

My 2011 Ford Escape had a power leak from the 7 pin wiring that was set in place with the hitch installation. 2+ new batteries later, took it to Ford to check. Took the fuse out for now. (Ford was going to charge me $$$ to re-wire) Going back to the place that installed the hitch to get the wiring fixed when the weather gets better. Always seemed to work when I was towing the T@B though. Maybe because we were driving every day. We usually now tow with our 2003 Ford F150 PU. No problems there. No computers there, either.

Photomom · March 2019

How old is the battery?

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Ford Escape car battery needed to be jumped. Ideas for prevention

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