Flat battery - help please

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Dirk Diggler

Dirk Diggler

Dirk Diggler

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Ford Kuga 2015 model.

Back in January, I left it for 3 weeks and on return the battery was flat. I got RAC to give me a jump start and all was ok for a few weeks.

I left it for 3 weeks again and now it's flat again, so looking like I need a new battery? The immediate problem is that I can't jump start with the wife's car because even though it provides power, the Kuga doesn't see the key fob and shows an error message "no key detected".

Any ideas?
 
Though if you've flattened it twice battery probably isn't much good it could be a current drain issue and a new battery will run into the same issue.
 
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Rroff said:
Though if you've flattened it twice battery probably isn't much good it could be a current drain and a new battery will run into the same issue.
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Yea, could be but I'll need to get it to a garage to test it!

Are the battery chargers on Amazon any good? I would have thought a jump start from another car would be powerful enough but the thing must be flat as a pancake when it can't detect the key. Maybe I need to leave it trickle charge for a while?
 
If it is like my vehicles sometimes if key isn't detected you have to hold the fob against the start button until it beeps - on mine the closest bit to the logo on the fob is where you hold over the battery. Usually only needed if fob battery is dead or specific faults though.

EDIT: Or as Armageus said the specific key area.

Shouldn't really lose the coding due to flat battery but if so you'll have to get the dealer to help.
 
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A lot of modern cars will drain a battery in 3 weeks with the alarm, especially tired batteries. Best to disconnect the battery if you aren't worried about the alarm functioning when parking up for weeks.

There may a parasitic drain, you'd need a multimeter with the ability to safely measure an Amp or two initially, and don't turn the ignition on with it line. A decent current clamp is safest but a bit specialised,.
 
Dirk Diggler said:
I'll need to check that, thanks

Edit: there's no key logo on the cup holder, but there's one on the steering column but that hasn't worked.
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Ah bugger, that emergency key position is normally for if the battery in the keyfob fails, but worth a try.

(I've got a 68 plate and it's in the cup holder)
 
Fords can be quite finnicky with a low battery, I've seen a few not start at all until the fault codes are cleared. I would get the battery on charge overnight then have another go. Jump starting a totally dead battery can lead to low/unstable voltage which the electronics don't like, giving you faults like the key not being recognised.

Leaving it for 3 weeks shouldn't be a problem, even the maximum drain Ford spec for diagnosis is 20mAh which over 3 weeks would only take ~10Ah out of the battery, so even a fairly old battery should be capable of that. So either the battery itself is toast or you do have something else draining it down.

As you've found the key reader is on the side of the steering column, if the key isn't recognised after the battery is charged/replaced still, then sometimes you just need to persevere with moving the key around that area until it's picked up. If that then fails to work, then some diagnostics are going to need to get involved.
 
first I would get a new battery

2nd , if your able to, buy a charger with trickle charge




when its jump started , you need to run the engine for more than 30 mins to get the battery level back up otherwise it will just simply die again quickly
 
Charge it overnight. Should start like normal.

It's likely the battery is fine. I'd suggest only buying a new battery if it continues to not be able to hold a charge for at least 2 weeks.
 
Disconnect the battery and charge it, hopefully you havent damaged the engine management while try to jump start it, chances are its going to cost
 
Dirk Diggler said:
It regularly sits for 3 weeks idle, therefore I'm pretty much resigned to having to buy a new battery - I just need to get it started in order to drive to the garage. :)
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Check for parasitic current drain?

Make sure you know the code for your car’s media/nav system first.

I recently replaced the OEM battery on a 2008 Renault Megane because it had a bad cell and couldn’t hold more than 10 Volts under load. However, it still held that level of charge for months.
 
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