Do a search, it's a common problem. Mine dies within 2 weeks. Less in winter, and that's with a high quality aftermarket agm battery.

There's a problem with parasitic drain. In my case, the computer is thinking a lot while the car is off. Naturally, the dealer can't find the problem and just put a new battery in. (Not covered under warranty)

I made them take it out and refund my money as the battery tested good.

My solution is to wire it into my solar charger and on board shore power so it's charging whether I'm plugged into shore power or solar.

The dealers around here all kind of suck.

 

There's a problem with parasitic drain. In my case, the computer is thinking a lot while the car is off. Naturally, the dealer can't find the problem and just put a new battery in. (Not covered under warranty)

That's unfortunate. It sounds like it shoud be covered under warranty though, as long as the van is new enough...what was the reason they gave you for it not being covered by warranty? I'm not sure what kind of parasitic drain could kill the battery overnght. Is there a way to monitor that?

 

FWIW, I had a similar issue with my Subaru Forester. Eventually, the dealer found the source of the drain and replaced the "telematics control module" -- no more problem.

 

Yeah I'm wondering if it's not something like that. I found another post that said it was a "body control module" in a Transit that was causing the problem. But the impression I get is that it will be tricky to figure out what's wrong, and also trick to get the mechanic to monitor it for a while to try to figure out what the problem is. I guess I'll wait and see if it keeps happening before I bring it...

 

My 2020 dual battery often sits for weeks without being run and I have never had a no start problem.
I do have all of the Ford telematics crap shut off (AFIK... at least what is possible through the menus ).

 

Many of us who converted Transits had an issue with dead batteries. If you keep the doors open for many hours a day the computer will run and drain the battery. Eventually this will damage the battery. Ford replaced my damaged battery under warranty.

 

Since the original time the battery died, we've gotten a couple messages on Ford Pass they remote accesseries were being shut down to save battery power (and there's no reason it should have). I brought the Transit to an auto store. They did a battery test and it came back as "bad battery." I have an appointment on Tuesday at the local Ford dealer to get it looked at...

If you keep the doors open for many hours a day the computer will run and drain the battery.

Are you sure? That seems like terrible engineering. If I leave the headlights on, the computer should (and does, according to the manual) turn them off to save drain on the battery. Does it really not do the same thing if a door is left open? My kids leave doors open all the time--it's never been a problem for our Odyssey minivans.

 

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it to turn off the headlights based on the battery voltage. I never saw it happen, if left unattended it just sucked the life out of the battery. Granted it was also broken. Before taking it to the dealer remove anything that you have attached to the CCP points, it just gives them an excuse. I might not mention thinking you left the headlights on, they will revert to the if the battery gets drained the BCM may turn on the headlights because the voltage is to low.

-greg

 

Sometimes when you are converting a Transit you might have the doors open for many hours a day. You might also not run the engine for more than a week. That is when the battery can be drained. I think that as long as you run the engine every few days, the battery will stay charged.

 

I think that as long as you run the engine every few days, the battery will stay charged.

Not true it takes more voltage to start than what it can charge just idling.

 

You can't just idle the engine. You need to step on the gas to raise the rpm in order to charge the battery. Or you can connect a battery charger once in a while to charge the battery. After I replaced the battery I was more aware of the issue and tried to charge the battery at least weekly. That seemed to do the trick and I didn't have any more issues with the battery.

 

I have had these problems with my transit for six years, You need to drive it for 10 or 15 miles once every three weeks.

Depending on model year, There are two different kinds of batteries that are standard equipment and two different battery options. So things might be different depending on who is commenting on this thread.

My transit came with a single lead acid battery, a SLA battery, Sealed lead acid.

 

For what it's worth, the Ford dealer said the battery passed all of the checks. I guess I'll just see how things go...

 

Sorry for resurrecting this, but I have the same issue, 2022 Transit 350 Crew. It's died on me a few times, usually in colder weather. I've tried disabling the telematics module, and I'll be sure to run it more often as suggested here. Thanks for all the advice!