brick wrote: What do you do for power to brake buddy? Run a hot wire from RV?
I ran a wire from the battery of the Focus to a fused 12V receptacle that I purchased and located under the dash. As long as you are planning to stop and unhook the car & start the engine each day on a trip, I see no way that the battery will run down from powering the Brake Buddy.
(Over a period of several days with no battery charging taking place I suppose it would be possible to run down the battery. Naturally that depends on how many times the Brake Buddy is energized during that time period.)
Doug
2006 Jayco Greyhawk Model 27DS
Towing 2012 Ford Fusion Hybrid with Brake Buddy
DouglasCraw wrote: My comment above was regarding the 2012 Focus automatic (I have an SEL hatchback model). The only thing that needs to be done to tow the car (once you have base plate, tow bar and wiring installed) is to put the transmission in Neutral, turn the key to the off position - - and disconnect the negative battery cable. (There is NO need to stop periodically, start the engine and run the transmission through the gears as is required for some other Ford vehicles.)
So, you only disconnect the ground wire from the body of the car and not the negative ground post?
DouglasCraw wrote: My comment above was regarding the 2012 Focus automatic (I have an SEL hatchback model). The only thing that needs to be done to tow the car (once you have base plate, tow bar and wiring installed) is to put the transmission in Neutral, turn the key to the off position - - and disconnect the negative battery cable. (There is NO need to stop periodically, start the engine and run the transmission through the gears as is required for some other Ford vehicles.)
So, you only disconnect the ground wire from the body of the car and not the negative ground post?
That's correct. I assume that Ford made the ground connection accessible since the negative connection to the battery is not readily accessible. Either way, it accomplishes the same objective.
DouglasCraw wrote: My comment above was regarding the 2012 Focus automatic (I have an SEL hatchback model). The only thing that needs to be done to tow the car (once you have base plate, tow bar and wiring installed) is to put the transmission in Neutral, turn the key to the off position - - and disconnect the negative battery cable. (There is NO need to stop periodically, start the engine and run the transmission through the gears as is required for some other Ford vehicles.)
So, you only disconnect the ground wire from the body of the car and not the negative ground post?
That's correct. I assume that Ford made the ground connection accessible since the negative connection to the battery is not readily accessible. Either way, it accomplishes the same objective.
But by disconnecting the fender end of the negative ground wire, you are not disconnecting the battery. The battery is still grounded by 3 wires coming from the BMS (Battery Management System) module still attached at the negative end of the battery and therefore to your car with 3 seperate wires in a shielded cover. I believe these go to the engine, car body and alt. The module that they come from has letters and numbers stamped on it like:
Fomoco
C95Y0 SW 2 21 and
AV6N 10C679 88.
Have you actually disconnected the negative battery cable from the grounding lug? If the battery is not then disconnected, why are all systems in the car dead? NOTHING works - - no lights, no horn, no power windows, no power seat, no power door locks, no audio system, no gauges activated, etc.
You can do what you want - - I'll continue to do as I have - - towing my Focus for over 1,500 miles so far with the negative battery cable disconnected at the grounding lug.
* This post was
edited 04/19/12 01:10pm by an administrator/moderator *
Have you actually disconnected the negative battery cable from the grounding lug? If the battery is not then disconnected, why are all systems in the car dead? NOTHING works - - no lights, no horn, no power windows, no power seat, no power door locks, no audio system, no gauges activated, etc.
You can do what you want - - I'll continue to do as I have - - towing my Focus for over 1,500 miles so far with the negative battery cable disconnected at the grounding lug.
That's cool... No disrespect intended. Yes, I do have the ground lead disconnected on mine but through a turn-key quick disconnect. Then I take a common flat tip screwdriver and on the left side of the module that I was telling you about there is a plastic push-pin where the wires connect to the module. I press this in and the cable disconnects from the module. I am just making sure that "all grounds" are disconnected and no renegade backfeed shorts my diodes.
Have you actually disconnected the negative battery cable from the grounding lug? If the battery is not then disconnected, why are all systems in the car dead? NOTHING works - - no lights, no horn, no power windows, no power seat, no power door locks, no audio system, no gauges activated, etc.
You can do what you want - - I'll continue to do as I have - - towing my Focus for over 1,500 miles so far with the negative battery cable disconnected at the grounding lug.
That's cool... No disrespect intended. Yes, I do have the ground lead disconnected on mine but through a turn-key quick disconnect. Then I take a common flat tip screwdriver and on the left side of the module that I was telling you about there is a plastic push-pin where the wires connect to the module. I press this in and the cable disconnects from the module. I am just making sure that "all grounds" are disconnected and no renegade backfeed shorts my diodes.
Guess you've covered all the bases by disconnecting the wire from the module. I can't imagine that Ford seriously expects Focus owners to disconnect the negative battery cable at the battery. That would require almost completely removing the battery to get at that terminal. I just assumed that since the grounding lug was so accessible, disconnecting the cable at the point was acceptable. As usual, the directions in the Owner's Manual leave something to be desired.
BTW: I had a service tech at a Ford dealership tell me that it was acceptable to disconnect the positive battery cable when towing. Go figure!
I picked up my Focus yesterday and looked at the battery today and the negative post is really buried. If I removed the negative from the firewall and then disconnected the positive which would be much easier, do you see any problems. I am not good with electrical systems but would assume that with both disconnected there would be no chance of hurting anything unless something happens when you put them back on. Is my thinking correct or should I follow the manual?
Why do they say disconnect the ground? It seems to me that there are a lot more places to accidentally get a ground by hitting metal somewhere. I always figured that by disconnecting the positive you have fewer chances of mistakingly making a connection. Electrical is not my strong suit so just kind of wondering. Maybe to keep people from accidentally hitting a body panel with a wrench while disconnectiing the hot? CYA?
2007 Damon Daybreak 3276
2010 Suzuki Grand Vitara
Even Brake
XM Radio
Direct TV crank up dish
Firestone air bags
Blue Ox Alladin tow bar
Hankook Tires
Offline
