Battery disconnect and Backup for tow vehicle (Ford)

[AlwaysDreaming]

2016 Ford Fiesta
The owners manual has directions on recreational towing of the vehicle.
With battery connected on key in the ON (II) position, and shift to neutral with foot on the brake. A message does come up indicating "transmission ready". Then you turn the ignition OFF (0). When you do this, you can't take the key out and a message is displayed " Vehicle is not in park" and the key cannot be removed. Then disconnect the battery ground terminal.

Is this what you do with your later model Ford Vehicle?
Do we know why you have to disconnect the battery?
This is problematic as you lose all the the memory settings like
Bluetooth connections, radio presets, and other control centers
presets. I also don't think the electronic locks on the doors will
work.
Is there a device you can plug into the cigarette lighter (12V) that will supply enough power to hold up your settings?
Can anyone confirm that there is no anti-theft steering wheel lock on these vehicles? It doesn't appear to be.

Calling Ford direct was no help, I was told they have no "technical department" (ha ha). Getting ready to call the dealer.

[willald]

I decided to go with the Ready Brute Tow Bar and Surge Brake system. Therefore I have no need for 12V power on the Toad(Fiesta).

I use the Ready Brute/Readybrake also. It is only system I'll use, for some of the same reasons you mention. Have towed 3 different vehicles with it over the course of last 6 years, has worked great with all of them.

With all 3 vehicles, I've always had to leave ignition in ACC mode, and I've never had to disconnect the battery. Since ignition stays in ACC position, there is going to be some power draw from the battery, hence the need for a charge line.

I recommend installing the Brake Active Led Light in the towing vehicle cockpit as it is piece of mind knowing when and if the Toad brake is being applied.

Absolutely! I do, too, but I take a different approach in how I wire that light. I wire it to work directly off the towed vehicle's brake switch, so you know not just when readybrake is engaging, but when towed vehicle brakes are being engaged. This is muuuuuch better, this way you will know right away if the towed vehicle's brakes are ever dragging. I highly recommend this approach, regardless what type of brake system is being used.

This approach does, however, mean that there is some current draw off the towed vehicle's battery, hence the need once again, for a charge line.

Will

[AlwaysDreaming]

willald wrote:
I just set up our 2014 Ford Taurus to flat tow. Had a 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid I flat towed for years before that (until it was totaled in a wreck about 2 months ago). Both vehicles have worked great.

In both cases, I wired a charge line. Did it pretty much same way in both cases - used the 12V line and ground from 6-round wire/connector going to the car from the Motorhome (with a 20 amp fuse on the positive wire right where it connects to the car battery).

Had no choice with the Fusion Hybrid - battery would be dead in 2 hours of towing if didn't. Wasn't sure if Taurus would be same way or not, but since have to leave ignition in ACC mode when towing, odds are there is some drain on the battery, so I wired a charge line.

I avoided vehicles like the Fiesta and Focus, for this very reason - do not like at all, the idea of having to disconnect the battery. If only issue is battery running low, it is muuuuch easier to just run a charge line than have to connect/disconnect battery all the time.

I have indeed read about folks that did not disconnect the battery properly with these vehicles (believe it was a Focus), and a badly burnt transmission was the result. If you have one of those vehicles, I think you really got no choice but to disconnect the battery somehow; the price/risk for failure there is too great. A master battery disconnect switch of some kind might work better, though.

I decided to go with the Ready Brute Tow Bar and Surge Brake system. Therefore I have no need for 12V power on the Toad(Fiesta). Once I follow the Manual on how to disengage the electronic transmission, I disconnect the Battery Ground. I have a battery disconnect switch blade so it is easy to disconnect. Then I put the key in off position and remove it and lock the driver door. 2017 Fiesta does NOT have a steering column lock so this is not a problem. When I want to drive it again I simply put the car in Park and throw the Battery ground switch ON. So far I am happy with the setup and Surge Brake system. Very simple with no electronic or hydraulic unit, just a cable to the brake pedal. At 2200 toad weight, being pulled by a Ford E-350 Super Duty RV (24ft) I don't need much Aux Braking anyway. I recommend installing the Brake Active Led Light in the towing vehicle cockpit as it is piece of mind knowing when and if the Toad brake is being applied.

[willald]

I just set up our 2014 Ford Taurus to flat tow. Had a 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid I flat towed for years before that (until it was totaled in a wreck about 2 months ago). Both vehicles have worked great.

In both cases, I wired a charge line. Did it pretty much same way in both cases - used the 12V line and ground from 6-round wire/connector going to the car from the Motorhome (with a 20 amp fuse on the positive wire right where it connects to the car battery).

Had no choice with the Fusion Hybrid - battery would be dead in 2 hours of towing if didn't. Wasn't sure if Taurus would be same way or not, but since have to leave ignition in ACC mode when towing, odds are there is some drain on the battery, so I wired a charge line.

I avoided vehicles like the Fiesta and Focus, for this very reason - do not like at all, the idea of having to disconnect the battery. If only issue is battery running low, it is muuuuch easier to just run a charge line than have to connect/disconnect battery all the time.

I have indeed read about folks that did not disconnect the battery properly with these vehicles (believe it was a Focus), and a badly burnt transmission was the result. If you have one of those vehicles, I think you really got no choice but to disconnect the battery somehow; the price/risk for failure there is too great. A master battery disconnect switch of some kind might work better, though.

[dubdub07]

carringb wrote:

dubdub07 wrote:
Battery connected or not, the Ford tranny is just in neutral and won't go into gear.
WW

Battery disconnect is a transmission protect procedure. If you don't disconnect the battery, AND it happens to run low, the PCM can shift the transmission into Park, as that is the default setting when low voltage. "PARK" in the dual-clutch transmission is actually just "letting-out" the clutch on both gear sets, causing them to bind and hence not allow movement. There is not park-pawl, like a traditional automatic. If the dual-clutch goes into "park" mode while moving, best case the clutches are roasted, but it could the blow the whole transmission up.

A charge-line *should* prevent the issue, but might not be a bad idea to monitor toad battery voltage, in case the charge line isn't charging for some reason. This would be easy to do with a wifi OBD2 dongle, and even some bluetooth ones might have enough range.

WOW, great info!!!

WW

[AlwaysDreaming]

Campinghoss@51 wrote:

AlwaysDreaming wrote:

dubdub07 wrote:
Battery connected or not, the Ford tranny is just in neutral and won't go into gear. There is no bearing on the battery versus anything to do with towing. You will need to run a power line for AUX braking, but the reason the battery goes dead is due to the accessory not shutting off because it is in N and not P.

This is a simple tow set up. The Ford needs to be run for 5 min before towing and 5 minutes every 6 hours. You then just put it in N and disconnect the battery. Easy. My SHO follows very nicely and I have had zero issues in 10K towing it.

WW

What do you use for a Braking System? Do you need Power? I have been looking at a surge brake system for a Ford Fiesta which requires no power but I don't think I can run the cable to the brake pedal.
Ready Brute Elite Tow Bar with ReadyBrake. http://www.readybrake.com/store/p4/ReadyBrute%E2%84%A2_Elite_RV_Tow_Bar.html

Thanks

I have sent you a pm to offer you pics of how easy it is to run the cable to a Fiesta. I had a dp mh for a few years and pulled the fiesta with the elite tow bar. Check your pm and I can send you all the pics you need.

Having issues with Private Message (loose nut behind the wheel), I did finally get you PM and would like to learn more. Please check you r PM "in box". Thanks, AlwaysDreaming

[carringb]

dubdub07 wrote:
Battery connected or not, the Ford tranny is just in neutral and won't go into gear.
WW

Battery disconnect is a transmission protect procedure. If you don't disconnect the battery, AND it happens to run low, the PCM can shift the transmission into Park, as that is the default setting when low voltage. "PARK" in the dual-clutch transmission is actually just "letting-out" the clutch on both gear sets, causing them to bind and hence not allow movement. There is not park-pawl, like a traditional automatic. If the dual-clutch goes into "park" mode while moving, best case the clutches are roasted, but it could the blow the whole transmission up.

A charge-line *should* prevent the issue, but might not be a bad idea to monitor toad battery voltage, in case the charge line isn't charging for some reason. This would be easy to do with a wifi OBD2 dongle, and even some bluetooth ones might have enough range.

[Campinghoss]

AlwaysDreaming wrote:

dubdub07 wrote:
Battery connected or not, the Ford tranny is just in neutral and won't go into gear. There is no bearing on the battery versus anything to do with towing. You will need to run a power line for AUX braking, but the reason the battery goes dead is due to the accessory not shutting off because it is in N and not P.

This is a simple tow set up. The Ford needs to be run for 5 min before towing and 5 minutes every 6 hours. You then just put it in N and disconnect the battery. Easy. My SHO follows very nicely and I have had zero issues in 10K towing it.

WW

What do you use for a Braking System? Do you need Power? I have been looking at a surge brake system for a Ford Fiesta which requires no power but I don't think I can run the cable to the brake pedal.
Ready Brute Elite Tow Bar with ReadyBrake. http://www.readybrake.com/store/p4/ReadyBrute%E2%84%A2_Elite_RV_Tow_Bar.html

Thanks

I have sent you a pm to offer you pics of how easy it is to run the cable to a Fiesta. I had a dp mh for a few years and pulled the fiesta with the elite tow bar. Check your pm and I can send you all the pics you need.

[AlwaysDreaming]

dubdub07 wrote:
Battery connected or not, the Ford tranny is just in neutral and won't go into gear. There is no bearing on the battery versus anything to do with towing. You will need to run a power line for AUX braking, but the reason the battery goes dead is due to the accessory not shutting off because it is in N and not P.

This is a simple tow set up. The Ford needs to be run for 5 min before towing and 5 minutes every 6 hours. You then just put it in N and disconnect the battery. Easy. My SHO follows very nicely and I have had zero issues in 10K towing it.

WW

What do you use for a Braking System? Do you need Power? I have been looking at a surge brake system for a Ford Fiesta which requires no power but I don't think I can run the cable to the brake pedal.
Ready Brute Elite Tow Bar with ReadyBrake. http://www.readybrake.com/store/p4/ReadyBrute%E2%84%A2_Elite_RV_Tow_Bar.html

Thanks

[dubdub07]

Battery connected or not, the Ford tranny is just in neutral and won't go into gear. There is no bearing on the battery versus anything to do with towing. You will need to run a power line for AUX braking, but the reason the battery goes dead is due to the accessory not shutting off because it is in N and not P.

This is a simple tow set up. The Ford needs to be run for 5 min before towing and 5 minutes every 6 hours. You then just put it in N and disconnect the battery. Easy. My SHO follows very nicely and I have had zero issues in 10K towing it.

WW

[johnwalkerpa1]

rjstractor wrote:
I think a question worth asking is "why does the battery need to be disconnected?" If it's just a simple matter of battery drainage then either disconnecting the battery or rigging up a charge line handles the problem. But if Ford wants the battery disconnected to disable electric power steering, stability control, ABS, the transmission control module or anything else that has the potential to complicate 4 down towing that's a different matter altogether. I have no idea if any of those things are actually an issue, but it's probably worth checking out.

It's a different vehicle and different year (2017 Explorer) but one reason I heard is that parts of the transmission shifter are electronic as opposed to a physical link from shifter to transmission. By disconnecting the battery, it prevents the possibility of the transmission jumping from neutral to some other gear.

I don't know enough about the inner workings of transmissions much newer than about 1990 but if that is really true, it makes sense.

[derh20]

Roadmaster installed a solenoid connected to the battery and a "push button" to connect/disconnect the battery. It works really well. Before disconnecting the battery, I open the driver's door, lock the other doors and then go through the pre-towing process. When done, I shut the door and use a spare to lock the driver's door. Now all doors on the toad are locked.

[MRUSA]

Instead of disconnect, you may be able to install a charge line from your RV and not disconnect the battery. Works on most tow cars, but I have read about one or two that will add miles to the odometer if the battery stays on.

One product that does this is shown here.

[daveengstrand]

Some vehicles required a fuse(s) be pulled. A switch can be used to do the same thing.

[tagretired]

My Honda CR-V already had a switch mounted under the dash. (Previous owner towed this car and had baseplate and aux tail/brake lights installed). When towing, the key is left in the ACC position and the transmission is left in Neutral. Pulling the fuse (or in my case) flipping the switch, keeps the clock/radio from draining the Honda's battery. I have noticed that when I flip it to the cut-out position the clock's time display stops advancing. When we park at a campground, I put the Honda in Park (so i can lock it up) and flip the switch back on, the clock display updates to the correct time. No radio presets are lost. Whoever wired in that switch, knew what they were doing.