Received My First "Remote Features Disabled To Preserve Battery" Message

[MORSNO]

Our car (8-month-old 2025 Reserve II) was only sitting in our garage for a couple days when I received this message on my phone and noticed that the car was in like a preserve battery mode. What has been your experience when parking at an airport for a couple weeks? Was the battery dead or did the preserve mode hold enough battery power to start the car? Am I going to have to purchase and carry a NOCO battery jump pack everywhere?

We did drive the car yesterday on a 50-mile trip without any issue and everything was working fine afterwards, but now I'm questioning how long the car can sit for before the battery is actually dead.

 

[NJRonbo]

I can't give you a definitive answer but here is my opinion...

I have been part of this community for a few years. I have read about several instances where people get into their Lincoln vehicles, and it's completely dead.

So, reading your post, it's a situation I have seen time and time again and one that has been of major concern to me to the point that I have my dealer check the charge of my battery every 6-9 months that I take it in for an oil change.

For some reason, when left idle for a long period, the batteries in these vehicles seem to die.

And this is not exclusive to Lincoln vehicles. I have seen a post or two in the Lexus community with the same issue.

I think that the electronics in these vehicles remain active even when the car is not in use. There has also been speculation that if you keep your key fob stored on a table in your home, and it's too close to the vehicle, it's continued communication with the vehicle can drain the battery. I have read people buying faraday bags to store their keys in to prevent that from happening.

 

[B_A_H]

It's pretty common. You get that message along with auto stop/start deactivating. It happened to me and the dealer installed a new battery and it was fine afterward.

 

[ColonelColt]

Modern cars are nothing but rolling computers...everything is drawing amperage. Depending on the car one realistically expect a mont of sitting before the battery is depleted.

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[MattMacMan]

Common issue. We often have to jump vehicles that sit on the lot for 2 weeks sometimes. As previously mentioned, the amount of electronics in any new vehicles these days is vast. And this creates a power draw issue. What we as a dealership have been doing is popping the hood and disconnecting the battery when they get put on the lot. When its time to demonstrate for a customer, we grab the key blade out of the fob, manually unlock the door, pop hood and connect the battery and all is well. It also keeps us from having to replace 10's of batteries every few weeks throughout the lot. I know its not ideal, but it works. Seems its pretty common across all brands these days.

 

[NJRonbo]

Just to clairfy,

If one were to get that warning in their vehicle, the response would be to take it to the dealership for a possible battery replacement?

I always have my service department check the battery when I take my vehicle in for an oil change, as I am afraid of that warning.

 

[MORSNO]

I received the warning a second time this week. So, these cars could never be taken to an airport parking garage when someone leaves on a two week or more vacation? I guess I'll be ordering a NOCO Jump Pack for travels away from home.

 

[C Krohn]

My 2020 Corsair sometimes doesn’t get driven for a week or more. I occasionally get the “ system shut down to conserve battery” warning, but it always starts. I bought the car as a CPO, but it was only in service for 2 years and had less than 11k miles on the odometer, so I presume the battery is the original one ( I can’t find a date code on the battery).
I do carry a battery booster in both cars, but haven’t had to use one yet.

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[greerl]

I received the warning a second time this week. So, these cars could never be taken to an airport parking garage when someone leaves on a two week or more vacation? I guess I'll be ordering a NOCO Jump Pack for travels away from home.

For peace of mind a Jump Pack may make sense but absent a battery drain that could/should be fixed it seems likely to me that either it's time to replace your battery or you started out without a full cgarge.

As for full charge:
Get a GT model as charging the HV battery keeps the 12V charged OR
Get a battery maintainer and make sure battery is fully charged before dropping off at airport.

 

[bbf2530]

Just to clairfy,

If one were to get that warning in their vehicle, the response would be to take it to the dealership for a possible battery replacement?

I always have my service department check the battery when I take my vehicle in for an oil change, as I am afraid of that warning.

Hi NJ Ronbo. No. There are many situations where getting a “Remote Features Disabled to Preserve Battery” warning is “normal”, and is simply the BMS (Battery Management System) turning off features to preserve battery power.

Among others, these can include the vehicle not being started/driven for 14 days or more, extremely cold temperatures, the vehicle being driven solely for short trips (insufficient driving time to maintain battery charge) etc.

The Owners Manual contains more details about this driver alert and others.

Then of course, there are situations when that warning can point to a weak/failing battery, or other issues which need to be checked. I guess the trick is for us, as owners, to understand how our vehicles operate, so we know when it is due to our particular driving situation/environment, or if it may be due to a problem which needs diagnosing.

Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[DonL]

I was got the message a few times, But went on a longer trip and haven't gotten it again ............................... like the manual says

 

[MORSNO]

Hi NJ Ronbo. No. There are many situations where getting a “Remote Features Disabled to Preserve Battery” warning is “normal”, and is simply the BMS (Battery Management System) turning off features to preserve battery power.

Among others, these can include the vehicle not being started/driven for 14 days or more, extremely cold temperatures, the vehicle being driven solely for short trips (insufficient driving time to maintain battery charge) etc.

The Owners Manual contains more details about this driver alert and others.

Then of course, there are situations when that warning can point to a weak/failing battery or other issues which need to be checked. I guess the trick is for us, as owners to understand how our vehicles operate, so we know when it is due to our particular driving situation/environment, or if it is due to a problem.

Hope this helps and good luck.

I wonder how long after receiving the warning before the battery is actually dead? Our car and battery are less than a year old. I wish I could manually turn this on when I know the car will be sitting for a few days and preserve the battery versus a constant drain. I guess I'll find out when we leave with our truck and camper for a month or two this summer when we head back to Alaska for a visit. I'll repost back and let everyone know how it goes after sitting for that long.

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[bbf2530]

I wonder how long after receiving the warning before the battery is actually dead? Our car and battery are less than a year old. I wish I could manually turn this on when I know the car will be sitting for a few days and preserve the battery versus a constant drain. I guess I'll find out when we leave with our truck and camper for a month or two this summer when we head back to Alaska for a visit. I'll repost back and let everyone know how it goes after sitting for that long.

Hi MORSNO. Like most vehicle manufacturers, Lincoln/Ford has storage recommendations for a vehicle which will be sitting unused for 30 days or more.

It includes recommendations such as disconnect the battery or connect to a trickle charger, fill the fuel tank (to minimize condensation), inflate the tires to the max cold tire pressure listed on the sidewall (to minimize flat spotting, and don’t forget to adjust back down when we get back home) etc. etc.

The instructions are in the Owners Manual, or at least used to be. I forget the exact listing in the Index, but try looking under “Storage”, “Vehicle Storage”, “Vehicle care” etc.

I’m sure others will also jump in to help, so have a fun and safe trip later this year, and keep us updated.

 

[Lincoln777]

For a month or two sitting, I'd definitely disconnect the negative battery terminal or get a battery tender - that preserve mode won't keep it alive that long. I've had mine sit for 3 weeks and it was pretty weak even with the system shutting stuff down.

 

[NJRonbo]

Just found this on Reddit and it may be a game changer for many of us:



Gonna give you a little trick that we use when it comes to doing software updates to force the Battery Monitor System (that's what determines the battery state of charge and is causing your battery saver concerns) to reset. Start the vehicle, open the hood and look at your battery. On the negative battery connection there is going to be a small 2 wire connector, that's the BMS sensor. Unplug it for about 10 seconds, then plug it back in. Allow the vehicle to run for about 15 minutes then shut it down and walk away. The BMS will reset and go to a higher state of charge. With all the electronics onboard today, if/when the vehicle battery state of charge drops below approximately 85%, it will start to enter into a Load Shed Strategy and start limiting or disabling certain system to preserve the battery. If the vehicle isn't driven a lot, that can cause the BMS to become biased low resulting in repeated battery saver concerns. IF that doesn't work, then the battery isn't likely holding a good charge and needs to be tested and replaced.

 

[MORSNO]

Just found this on Reddit and it may be a game changer for many of us:



Gonna give you a little trick that we use when it comes to doing software updates to force the Battery Monitor System (that's what determines the battery state of charge and is causing your battery saver concerns) to reset. Start the vehicle, open the hood and look at your battery. On the negative battery connection there is going to be a small 2 wire connector, that's the BMS sensor. Unplug it for about 10 seconds, then plug it back in. Allow the vehicle to run for about 15 minutes then shut it down and walk away. The BMS will reset and go to a higher state of charge. With all the electronics onboard today, if/when the vehicle battery state of charge drops below approximately 85%, it will start to enter into a Load Shed Strategy and start limiting or disabling certain system to preserve the battery. If the vehicle isn't driven a lot, that can cause the BMS to become biased low resulting in repeated battery saver concerns. IF that doesn't work, then the battery isn't likely holding a good charge and needs to be tested and replaced.

I'd like to hear more on this, maybe from one of the Ford/Lincoln techs on here?

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[NJRonbo]

I'd like to hear more on this, maybe from one of the Ford/Lincoln techs on here?

This came from a senior master technician at Ford. You can reference his posts on Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/user/NoCommittee1477/

But, of course, it would be nice to hear from any Ford/Lincoln techs in this group

 

[Lincoln777]

I tried that BMS reset trick on my Aviator and it actually worked - haven't gotten the battery warning since! Definitely worth a shot before heading to the dealer for a new battery.