2017 Escape Battery Problem
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Lead Driver
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 8,813
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From: Littleton, New Hampshire
2017 Escape Battery Problem
The battery in my 2017 Escape will not hold a charge for long periods of time unless I drive it. I have had previous cars I could let sit all winter (like my 2005 Dodge Dakota) and it would start after months of sitting. I let my Escape sit for about two months and the battery went totally dead. Put it on a two day slow charge and it started okay. Drove it on a 20 mile trip and when I went to restart the battery was dead again. Took it to the dealer who put it on a heavy duty charger and they say the battery is fine. I'm going to let it sit for about a week and see if it starts. Anyone else have a problem with an Escape battery? Could there be something draining the battery when it is parked? If this continues I may have to consider disconnecting the positive battery post.
Senior User
Joined: Dec 2016
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May just be the security/radio and ECU memory feeds draining it over such a long period. You can always place an ammeter in the battery circuit (don't start the engine though), and remove fuses until you find which circuit is drawing power and take it from there.
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Lead Driver
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 8,813
Likes: 13
From: Littleton, New Hampshire
I put a solar powered battery tender on it but apparently that isn't enough to keep it charged. I guess I could leave my plug-in battery charger on it all winter.
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Lead Driver
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 8,813
Likes: 13
From: Littleton, New Hampshire
Went out to start it this morning and the battery is dead again. Was sitting only two days. I called the dealer and they will pick it up. There must be some kind of unusual parasitic draw going on for it to go dead in two days. I will report back here if the dealer can get to the bottom of this...
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Lead Driver
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 8,813
Likes: 13
From: Littleton, New Hampshire
Picked up my Escape this morning. The dealer replaced the battery under warranty. They apologized for not replacing it the first time but said they cannot replace it under warranty unless they get codes out of the car's system that tells them the battery is bad. I guess mine was marginal the first time they looked at it. BTW, the battery is not your common variety $100 battery. It is a heavy-duty $300 super battery that is supposedly a lot better than stock. That said, if I ever have to replace it out of warranty, I guarantee it will be replaced with a $100 common variety battery. Dealer said they had no warranty problems with batteries all winter but have had to replace three in the last few weeks. They suggested I try to drive the car at least once a week to keep the battery up. Now that I know I have a good battery I'm going to try to keep it fully charged with my solar battery tender...
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,529
Likes: 35
From: Kansas
Do you have an indoor garage to park your Escape?
Horror Freight sells a battery maintainer (notice I did not say it was a battery charger) that you can catch for about $6 on sale.
It's probably got enough milliamps to it that it should keep your battery charged for extended periods of time.
Horror Freight sells a battery maintainer (notice I did not say it was a battery charger) that you can catch for about $6 on sale.
It's probably got enough milliamps to it that it should keep your battery charged for extended periods of time.
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Lead Driver
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 8,813
Likes: 13
From: Littleton, New Hampshire
Do you have an indoor garage to park your Escape?
Horror Freight sells a battery maintainer (notice I did not say it was a battery charger) that you can catch for about $6 on sale.
It's probably got enough milliamps to it that it should keep your battery charged for extended periods of time.
Horror Freight sells a battery maintainer (notice I did not say it was a battery charger) that you can catch for about $6 on sale.
It's probably got enough milliamps to it that it should keep your battery charged for extended periods of time.
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Senior User
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Yes, I do keep the car garaged 100% of the time. Is the Harbor Freight maintainer solar powered? If so, I have one one those but I wonder if it gets enough sunlight in there to be effective. Is there some way to determine if a solar charger is putting out anything? I put it in the garage window facing the sun about 1/2 of the day.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,529
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From: Kansas
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Lead Driver
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 8,813
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From: Littleton, New Hampshire
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Lead Driver
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 8,813
Likes: 13
From: Littleton, New Hampshire
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