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garyclegg · 12-14-2012, 09:12 AM

Getting ready to head to Florida. First time towing Explorer with pushbutton acc. worried about the battery staying charged. With the Escape I stopped every 250 miles to do the transmission and never had a problem with the battery. Has anyone had any problems with the pushbutton running the battery down.

Boeing Guy · 12-17-2012, 01:32 AM

We tow a 2012 Explorer. The MH has a pin in the electrical hook up between the MH and the car. It is designed to keep the battery charged. I did NOT shut the car engine down properly at first. I burned up an $850 set of brakes with less than 6K miles on the car.
Make sure you shut down properly and the ignition is in the accessory position. Talk to a service manager. make sure you are doing it right.

I was told the reason that you have to run the engine for 5 minutes every 6 hours is to make sure the battery is charged. I am not sure this is true, but it is what i was told. If that is true, and the MH is keeping the battery charged, then technically, you can run forever.
If the battery loses power,or if you shut down improperly "the computer" (again what i was told) will think the car is freewheeling and will put on the brakes.
One thing I know for sure is I burned up the brakes within one trip towing the explorer.
We now shut down properly and it seems to be towing just fine. My plan is to replace the battery as soon as the warranty life is over (3 years ?). I will NOT get an Auto Zone battery like I usually do. I wil get a Ford factory replacement battery. I was told if the battery goes dead while you are towing, the brakes will be activated. I am not sure any of this is true. But it is what i was told. Good luck.

garyclegg · 12-17-2012, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boeing Guy

We tow a 2012 Explorer. The MH has a pin in the electrical hook up between the MH and the car. It is designed to keep the battery charged. I did NOT shut the car engine down properly at first. I burned up an $850 set of brakes with less than 6K miles on the car.
Make sure you shut down properly and the ignition is in the accessory position. Talk to a service manager. make sure you are doing it right.

I was told the reason that you have to run the engine for 5 minutes every 6 hours is to make sure the battery is charged. I am not sure this is true, but it is what i was told. If that is true, and the MH is keeping the battery charged, then technically, you can run forever.
If the battery loses power,or if you shut down improperly "the computer" (again what i was told) will think the car is freewheeling and will put on the brakes.
One thing I know for sure is I burned up the brakes within one trip towing the explorer.
We now shut down properly and it seems to be towing just fine. My plan is to replace the battery as soon as the warranty life is over (3 years ?). I will NOT get an Auto Zone battery like I usually do. I wil get a Ford factory replacement battery. I was told if the battery goes dead while you are towing, the brakes will be activated. I am not sure any of this is true. But it is what i was told. Good luck.

How do you properly shut it down. All I do is push the button and it shut the engine down. Is there something I'am missing.

Boeing Guy · 12-18-2012, 10:34 AM

I think you are doing it correctly. I put the brake on while I shut it down. I was told that is what caused the computer to think the car was freewheeling and put on the brakes while we towed it. After the brake job, i went through the procedure with a service guy.

He told me DO NOT PUT ON THE BRAKE WHEN YOU PRESS THE BUTTON. And make sure you see a display telling you are in the accessory modet to make sure the car is in the accessory position.

garyclegg · 12-18-2012, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boeing Guy

I think you are doing it correctly. I put the brake on while I shut it down. I was told that is what caused the computer to think the car was freewheeling and put on the brakes while we towed it. After the brake job, i went through the procedure with a service guy.

He told me DO NOT PUT ON THE BRAKE WHEN YOU PRESS THE BUTTON. And make sure you see a display telling you are in the accessory modet to make sure the car is in the accessory position.

We started out of Tennessee today ahead for Florida made it to Forsyth,Ga for the night. Stopped three times to start the car and do the trans. No problems at all.
Thanks again for your help

Harlee79 · 12-18-2012, 10:00 PM

We have a 2013 Ford Explorer and have towed it a few times now. Each time we've had issues with the battery going dead while in route. Ford has even replaced our battery because we burnt it up while towing. We were told by Ford that the reason for starting the car every few hours was to cycle and cool the transmission fluid in the motor. We have found you have to be sure to shut down the vehicle properly or the accessory will stay on for the length of the trip killing the battery. Once the battery is completely dead depending on if you have a limited or keyless ignition things get interesting. We are also using a break buddy and have been told that every time the brakes are activated with the break buddy it turns car onto accessory mode which is also depleting our battery. We will be running a charge wire to the vehicle this year to try to minimize dead batteries, We've been disappointed with Ford's knowledge about towing the vehicle and how it should be done. There is little information in the manual and even less knowledge about how to tow at local dealerships and even the mother ship.

Boeing Guy · 04-29-2013, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harlee79

We were told by Ford that the reason for starting the car every few hours was to cycle and cool the transmission fluid in the motor.

One of us was givenbad information. i am not sure who. We have a battery chargeline from the MH to the toad. I also have a brake buddy.
I run the engine and do the D R N thing every 6 hours. When I shut down I DO NOT put on the brakes when i push the start/stop button. Then i push the button again and make sure i see accessory power active. Everything appears to be working. Once, at the end of the day, i forgot to start and stop the car and take it out of accessory.The next morning, the battery was dead. I started the MH and let it run and charge the toad battery (throughmy RV to taos charge wire). After 5 minutes, i started the toad, and let it run 10 minutes before doing the D R N thing. It seems to work OK.