2013 SHO "Check Charging System"

[maansman]

Well recently my SHO decided to give me another treat to figure out. As soon as I shut the car off, (and you know how everything stays on until you open the door), my Sync radio says "Shutting down system to save battery" and the "Check charging system" comes up on the dash display right away... Ugh. I know it can't be the charging system...Torq app said 14+...I doubt it's the battery as well, since it happens right away...the car is not even a year old, and only has 4,500 miles.....

I think it's related to Sync somehow....someone suggested 'factory default' for the Sync, which I did....and for a few days it never returned...but now it's back. It just won't allow me to stay in 'accessory mode'.

The main concern I have is that in order to bring it to the dealership, I need to bring my car back to stock as I have an Unleashed tune.....but I'm afraid the system will shut me out while restoring!

Any ideas?

-Mark

[bpd1151]

Hook it up to a battery tender just to ensure you have enough juice to reload the stock file.....

Irrespective of what your app may be indicating appears to be plenty of voltage.

Not worth tanking the ECM midway through the tuning process to risk having the car shut down.

[maansman]

Hook it up to a battery tender just to ensure you have enough juice to reload the stock file.....

Irrespective of what your app may be indicating appears to be plenty of voltage.

Not worth tanking the ECM midway through the tuning process to risk having the car shut down.

Thanks.  I was thinking the same thing, but my concern though is that there is enough juice in my battery, and I think the software in the car is shutting the system down even though there is plenty of juice.....

[bpd1151]

No problem.

Past history has shown that the medium duty/use batteries Ford installs from the production line, have been less than stellar.

Given all the electronics of our techno sleds', it's surprising a higher rated battery isn't installed from the get go.

Additionally, those apps haven't always been known to produce the most accurate results either.

It may be something fluky in your software, but don't discount it may be something as simple as premature battery failure looming either.

Good luck.

[SHOdded]

What is the production date on your SHO?  If it was sitting on dealer lot for a while, that has a tendency to kill the battery right quick.
http://www.etis.ford.com/vehicleRegSelector.do

A bad BCM or APIM can drain the battery quickly also.

[wasinger3000]

My car sits most of the week and a lot of the times I will get these warning messages if I try to flash a new tune so I always hook up a battery charger before I flash a new tune. I know it's the underrated battery causing the issues for me.

If you connect a good battery charger you will be fine. It needs to be a high output because there is a lot of drain during this process. Make sure you turn off the radio, hvac, and lights.

You might be able to bring just the battery into your dealer and have them run a test on it and if it's bad they will warranty it. This way you can avoid any tune related issues.

[maansman]

To add...I forgot to mention that the radio goes crazy sometimes.....all power off, sound still coming from the speakers......sometimes it would just be frozen and won't shut off......these things are making me think it's a software thing........I will test my battery though....

[ZSHO]

Check to see if you see if your battery has the green eye,also i know there is a TSB for the intelligence mode and static radio,sync,and good luck on the ride.

[maansman]

Well, here is an update......it's for sure the Sync system.  I reset it again, and the issue has not happened......but it will in a few days....but I took the chance while it was working, and got the car back to stock.  So....the problem does not concern me anymore, since if it keeps happening, I'll have it looked at my next oil change....I don't use accessory mode much anyway.......strange stuff though...amazing how the Sync system controls the car. ScArY!

At least the issue was mentioned, in case someone get's the same issue....put the radio back to factory reset.

Thanks everyone
- Mark

[SHOdded]

Bought yourself some time there, good job!