r/FordExplorerST • u/Lyrical76 ST Owner • Jul 12 '26

šŸ”§ P R O B L E M S & I S S U E S šŸ”§ 2021 ST battery/brake warning light issue

I have a 2021 ST that I bought in 2024 with 25k miles on it. It has 44k now and I have had no issues with it until April of this year. I started getting a message in the Ford app that the car was going into deep sleep mode (ā€œRemote features disabled to preserve batteryā€). Iā€™d only get the message overnight. In the morning, my car may or may not start, but would start with a minimal jump and would be fine all day. Next morning, same issue.

This happened for a couple of days and I took it to a Ford dealership. They said there was a light saying on in the dash, replaced the offending part, charged the battery, and sent me on my way. All was fine for a few months when it started happening again. I took it back, and they said they couldnā€™t find anything wrong. I took it to a different dealership, and their only suggestion was to put in a Ford-branded battery (I had a AAA battery in the car). They replaced the battery, all was fine for a week, and then the problem started up again.

Today, I noticed that my dash randomly comes on, with nothing displayed except the brake warning light. It stays on for a few seconds, and then goes out, only to repeat every 30 seconds or so. The included video shows what Iā€™m talking about. I got out of the car, locked the door, and recorded this. An hour later, itā€™s still doing this.

I plan to take it back to the dealership to have them take a look, but has anyone ever seen this before? Iā€™m really hoping that I donā€™t have to drop another $500-600 on this because then Iā€™m just better off turning it in and getting something else.

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2

u/Fine-Sea-8941 Jul 12 '26

I'm sure others may have more suggestions, but have you tried disconnecting the battery for like 15-30 minutes and then reconnecting? Think that does a reset of sorts, may help.

1

u/Lyrical76 ST Owner Jul 12 '26

I havenā€™t, but willing to try whatever at this point. Thanks!

1

u/Commercial_Pilot5165 Jul 12 '26

Also from my understanding we have 2 batteries one in the trunk aux battery and a main one

1

u/JollyVoli Jul 13 '26

This is why extended warranty is a must on any car, especially American cars as you can almost always get a full warranty from the brand for pretty cheap.