2017 Ford Fusion: battery drain or dead battery

Filed Jan 22, 2025 · Electrical, Seats · NC

I obtained my vehicle on Lease in 2017 with 40K miles from Ford of Branford CT. When off lease I purchased it outright. I still own the vehicle and am still having Two main problems, One since almost the beginning. The First is the automatic seat control(driver's). This system would periodically push the driver into the Steering Wheel. I brought it into that dealership several times for that reason, while still in CT. They did claim to get it to stop doing this with some resets, but over time it continued. Around 2020, the vehicle began going totally dead. Initially it was determined to be the Starting Battery. My concern was it to ba a Compiter or Power drain problem. Several batteries and Dealership visits didn't solve it. I moved to SC in May 2022. These problems continued there, where Cox Ford of Southern Pines took over. After more Service visits the only answer was a BAD BATTERY. Recently, after returning from Vacation and having to jump start the vehicle two times, I had several conversations with the service department. Finally a new Service writer found some information. A Technical Service Bulletin described how in this vehicle, how under seat wiring for the automatic seats, were becoming frayed and shorting on metal rails.(182025A). Also another for Battery Drain (SSM 50250). My Automotive background (which I no longer do) Tells me that electric seat wiring, grounding against seat rails could cause the Battery to be Draining. I believe they could be connected.

Filed Aug 15, 2022 · Transmission · WA

The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated upon reversing out of the garage, he shifted from reverse (D) to drive (D), but the vehicle failed to respond. An unknown warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to push the back vehicle into the driveway with assistance. An unknown dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the failure was associated with the transmission shifter cable bushing. The contact purchased a transmission shifter bushing rubber from an unknown dealer and replaced the part himself. Additionally, the contact replaced the battery of the vehicle as the failure had drained the battery. The contact was able to drive the vehicle. However, the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the key fob battery, the vehicle battery, and the transmission cable bushing had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was unknown.

Filed Jun 9, 2022 · Electrical · NH

Vehicle constantly has 12v battery dying. Replaced with new battery and same thing 12v battery keeps dying. Hooked up my current meter to the car and it is constantly drawing 11amps from the battery. Pulled fuses until the current draw stopped and issues is coming from the APIM. I also did some research into the issue and it appears a lot of people are having the same issue where the APIM is not shutting off. How has there not been a recall on this yet? This can be dangerous if you can't start your car and your stuck in a snow storm for example.

Filed Jun 15, 2020 · Electrical · 38,000 miles · IL

Battery continues to drain and vehicle continues to not start. The vehicle was dead twice in oct and nov. In december battery replacement. Has been to dealership 2 more times since with dead battery. The problem does not want to be fixed by ford. They continue to just jump it and say it's ok.

Filed Sep 23, 2019 · Electrical · 37,551 miles · CA

2017 fusion is once again back to make a second attempt to find why the battery is being drained. I have pics of each time that it as completely died and I had to recharge the battery. The last time it was sitting on my driveway for 5 days and it competely drained the battery. I had to put a charger on it overnight through the engine compartment and then when I was finally able to get the trunk then I had to recharge the battery for over 8 hours to get the vehicle started. I do not have the time to take this problem to the to the dealer each time but I am going to take it in again this week 9-23-2019 to see if they can look into what is causing this problem. It is unbelievable to us that ford does not recall these cars.

Filed Aug 5, 2019 · Electrical · 8,432 miles · NY

I have a good battery and my car keeps on draining the battery. The car was only driven 8400 miles mostly highway miles and the only way I can start it is by jumping the battery.

Filed Jun 16, 2019 · Electrical · 321 miles · TX

I am filing this complaint for my sister (she does not have a computer) who has found her ford fusion with a dead battery seven times, starting three days after purchase. On four occasions it was taken to the dealer for service, three other times jump-started by her neighbor so she could get to doctor's appointments. Due to health problems, she cannot afford to miss these appointments. Apparently, this dead-battery issue is a widespread problem with the fusions. In january 2018 ford admitted there is a battery draining problem and instructed her to have the PCM reprogrammed (attachment 2). It did not solve the problem. The dealer cannot find the source of the draining. In her case the battery was found dead after sitting stationary in each instance. This problem will happen again and again. The next time, she will file a lemon law case. Ford should be required to recall all of the fusions to fix this problem, which substantially affects safety, use and market value of the car.

Filed Jul 25, 2017 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 1,884 miles · VT

At 1884 miles, vehicle would not start. When jump started, check engine light was on. Retrieved codes for "almost every module" had low voltage. Battery was charged and codes were cleared. Service tech says there are no service memos or recalls. It appears 14 complaints of dead battery on this make/model were filed on carcomplaints.com: https://www.carcomplaints.com/ford/fusion/2017/electrical/dead_battery.shtml

Filed Jul 6, 2017 · Electrical, Engine · 17,000 miles · TX

I purchased this car on 8/31/16 and on 11/28/16 the dreaded dead battery problems started. I took in it, they replaced the battery on 11/28 said that it was probably just a faulty battery from the manufacture and that it happens, rarely but it happens. On 12/31/17 I went to start my car and it again would not start. Each time that this has happened, I have to manually unlock my car by taking off a piece of the door handle to expose the key hole and the dome lights or dash lights do not come on, that's my dead giveaway that it wont start. When I took it to the shop this time they informed me that the car was manufactured on 8/1/16 and sat too long without being driven so it caused the battery to mess up(even though I had the battery replaced a month earlier, and drive every single day to work). I got the car back and I bet you cant guess what happened on 2/4/17... My car was dead. Wouldn't start, wouldn't unlock... Dead. This time they we're "99.9% sure" they fixed the problem by updating my power train control module. They hadn't, it died again on 5/22/17. When I took it in, they updated the powertrain control module and sent me on my way, so I'm just waiting for it to die again honestly. Then... I told them my transmission is slipping on 5/22/17- they ignored it when doing updates and it wasn't resolved. On 6/13/17 I took it in because the transmission was still slipping so they updated the powertrain control module again... Didn't fix it(obviously) and then on 6/22/17 I took it in because I almost got into an accident due to the transmission slipping and sliding my car into oncoming traffic trying to shirt gears(its automatic) and they replaced a pressure valve, not sure why you would need to replace a part like that on a brand new car anyway, but the transmission still acts up.

Filed Mar 30, 2017 · Electrical · 3,000 miles · IL

There is a well-documented issue about dead batteries in this vehicle, likely caused by a faulty acm (audio control module). There are hundreds of posts about this over the web, some of which can be found here: http://www.fusionsportforums.com/forum/257-fusion-v6-sport-audio-electronics-lighting/3770-dead-battery-93.html high-level complaint: battery is dead after sitting for 8 hours every single day on a new vehicle with less than 3000 miles. Unacceptable!

Filed Jan 11, 2017 · Electrical · 5,000 miles · NY

Dead battery issue. Brand new car sitting for 6 days has battery go below "minimum start" and when start button is pressed, entire car goes dead. Issue is not isolated to only my car. Many owners have experienced this problem only to be told that it's "not a problem". The ford fusion sport forum has tons of people complaining (http://www.fusionsportforums.com/forum/257-fusion-v6-sport-audio-electronics-lighting/3770-dead-battery.html). When I contacted ford corporate customer service, I was told that there are no "recalls nor technical service bulletins" issued on this problem and to lodge a complaint with the federal safety agency. This issue is safety related because owners can be stranded away from home; and this problem happens continuously. Problem occurrence: this problem will occur if the vehicle is parked, shut off, and not used for 3 or more days. Suspected issue: as an it professional, I surmise the problem's origin is based on the car having a modem that needs to "ping" and communicate with the fordpass app on a continual basis (their selling point is that the car can be located anywhere if it's stolen). And just like a cell phone, if the car is parked in an area with only one bar of cell service, the unit must use more and more power to ping the cell tower, thusly draining the car's battery at exorbitantly high rates. Couple this with the fact that the car's battery is not a deep cycle high cca model, and your left with uncertainty that your car will start the next morning.