Listen to radio in accessory mode for extended time

[Ben Bruce]

Hi All, the Drive In theaters in our area use the cars radio to receive the movie sound.  I can’t figure out a way to leave the radio on for an extended period of time (3 hours). 

 

To say it another way…  When we go with our other cars we simply turn the key to the “Accessory Position” and listen as long as we want (or until the battery dies J).  How can you mimic this in the Fusion?

 

Ben

[Rexracer]

Whats a drive in theater?

 

Kidding, I'm not that young, we still have 2 left in Oregon!

 

Good question, hopefully someone has an answer.

[murphy]

Push the start button without putting your foot on the brake to enter accessory mode.

 

Or push the radio power button.

 

It will shut off if the 12 volt battery gets too low.

[Russael]

It will shut off if the 12 volt battery gets too low.

 

Mine has never lasted more than 5 minutes.  It always dies minutes after I turn the car off from Run mode (You'll see battery save mode pop on the screen for a second and then it shuts off).  Never had a problem starting the car, or leaving it sit for 10 days unplugged, or having the car trip low 12 volt warnings...

[murphy]

If you are seeing the battery saver message then your 12 volt battery is low.  Connect a 12 volt battery charger to the terminals under the hood and fully charge the 12 volt battery.  Then experiment with the radio.

 

My car has been sitting since 10 AM last Wednesday.  I just hooked up the 12 volt battery charger and it indicated 11.5 volts and 27% charge.  That is still enough to start the car because the only requirement is enough power to activate the contactor to connect the HVB to the car.  That immediately starts charging the 12 volt battery.

[Russael]

That's just it - it shouldn't be.  I drive it every day to work, and it gets charged as soon as I get home and remains connected to the charger until it leaves again, so there is no reason that the 12V should even remotely be drained.  There have been times when my car finishes charging that the car remains in charge mode, which we know charges the 12v... unless my car is detecting the SOC of the 12v incorrectly - either the charger thinks its full and the entertainment system thinks it's not, or it's the opposite.

Edited September 17, 2014 at 02:20 AM by Russael

[larryh]

I had TSB 14-0020 applied to my car to fix an issue with the check engine light coming on when using the engine block heater.  The TSB changed how the car charges the 12 V battery.  Prior to the TSB, the SOC of the 12 V battery was around 70% in the morning when I checked it and the no-load voltage was between 12.5 and 12.6 V.  After applying the TSB, it is now around 85% and the no-load voltage is between 12.75 and 12.9 V. 

 

The car charges the 12 V battery a lot more after applying the TSB.  Now it occasionally draws power from the charger to charge the 12 V battery even when the HVB is fully charged.   It did not do that prior to the TSB. 

Edited September 20, 2014 at 12:42 AM by jeff_h

[FordService]

That's just it - it shouldn't be.  I drive it every day to work, and it gets charged as soon as I get home and remains connected to the charger until it leaves again, so there is no reason that the 12V should even remotely be drained.  There have been times when my car finishes charging that the car remains in charge mode, which we know charges the 12v... unless my car is detecting the SOC of the 12v incorrectly - either the charger thinks its full and the entertainment system thinks it's not, or it's the opposite.

 

Have you mentioned this to your dealership, Russael? If you don't want to make a special trip, you can always bring it up the next time you're in for a maintenance visit. How many miles are on your Fusion?

 

Crystal

[Russael]

Have you mentioned this to your dealership, Russael? If you don't want to make a special trip, you can always bring it up the next time you're in for a maintenance visit. How many miles are on your Fusion?

 

Crystal

 

I have 5790 miles on the car, so I probably won't be in for service until 5/2015 for it's first oil change.  What I wanted to have them do while I was there (but I expect resistance) is to have them update ALL of the software in the car for all the modules, even though I don't have any symptoms that impair the operation of the car (except for having the entertainment system shut off minutes after the car is out of Run mode).  I keep my computer up to date, but my car will be 2 years out of date as far as operational software is concerned.

[Ben Bruce]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

 

In practice (on my car at least) there are 3 ways that I have tried and none work as needed.

 

1. Pushing the radio power button when the car is off, will turn the radio on.  This will turn itself off after 30 min.

2. Pushing the start button without pressing on the brake pedal.  This will turn on the radio and all other accessories and dash lights.  Seems to stay in this mode for longer than 30 mins.  Down side is you have the dash lights on and have to manually turn all the other accessories off.

3. Start the car and let it sit idle (in EV mode).  has the same issues as number 2 with the additional problem of starting the engine if you step on the gas pedal.

 

Crystal, Do you know of a way to have the car simply run the radio for a couple hours without all the issues from above.  I would like to take this car to the movies but cant figure out a way to make it work.

 

Ben

[MHAV]

Step 1:  With car completely off, press start button once, w/o foot on brake.  Puts car into accessory mode.

 

Step 2: With foot on brake, move gear shift from Park to any other position, then back to Park.  Radio should come on, and last about two minutes.  To start radio again, repeat Step 2.

 

FYI - If in Step 2 you shift from Park to Reverse, radio volume will reduce because Reverse started backup camera / object alert alarm.  Volume will go back up, once gear shift is back in Park.