Dead battery-- easy fix 2020 NFGT


SYCO GT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Sep 9, 2006
5,043
California
Under doors 2 layers. Also 2 layers where aero tunnel exits onto the lower part of doors.

Appreciate the clarification! Taking another look at everything now.
 

mccarter1369

Ford Enthusiast
Mark II Lifetime
Sep 18, 2006
159
Coeur d'Alene, ID
2020 Ford GT dead battery / charging battery when doors wont open.

I was travelling for several weeks, battery was dead, and I couldnt unlock car or open doors. I search threads on this forum and found all sorts complicated suggestions (take FR wheel off ). Leave windows down 1/2" so you can open doors, etc.. The solution was actually very easy.

1. Take valet key (real metal key that's inside the FOB) and use key hole under right side rear bumper. This opens the rear truck lid.
2. Use FORD GT battery tender by connecting it to the charging port (cigarette lighter port) in the trunk. (The battery tender will not work until you hold down the reset button on the tender for 10 seconds).
3. 10 min of charging later, the car opened and started.
Thanks so much. This saved a lot of time and hassle. With the new chargers and higher amperage, it may not be an issue now. but I needed to do a few extra steps. I followed all of these steps to allow access to the rear compartment cigarette lighter port, only to find my battery would not "wake up" with the charger connected to the port. I snipped the end of my NOCO cigarette lighter charger and spliced in another connection to change between the regular NOCO female connector and a connector with exposed black and red wires. I connected the end with the exposed wires to a small battery jump pack jumper cable and turned on the pack (assuming maybe DC would wake the battery up). It did not wake up the battery, but it gave me enough "juice" to then open the driver's door. From there, I could open the front compartment. I connected jumper cables to the GT and then to a Li car battery and it started right up. I then connected the regular cigarette lighter charger to the port in the rear compartment and saw that the batter had "woken" up and would now take a charge. Problem solved...MacGuyver-ed my way through it. But the first step Alan listed above was realizing that the valet key would open the rear compartment on some cars. I hope maybe this saves someone else a little headache. Here are a few photos:
 

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ed.life

GT Owner
Nov 16, 2012
29
Victoria B.C. Canada
I read this post for ideas to help with battery issues as my car won't wake up. This is what I have tried;
I have a 2020 L029
I left it on the charger connected to the rear port and the car would not start - appeared to have a dead battery.
I put the charger on the front battery posts and still a dead battery.
I held the reset on the charger for 10 secs and the car came to life - headlights flashed, relays clicked in the engine compartment.
The voltage at the post with the charger active is 13.76 vdc.
The charger shows fully charged. The GT seems to be cycling lights and relays but still will not start.
Any ideas? How do I wake it up?
 

fjpikul

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Jan 4, 2006
11,680
Belleville, IL
There were some cars that had a bad start button or some secondary circuit that needed to be replaced. Battery was fine, as soon as switch/circuit were replaced. Have you talked to the concierge?

Have you used Ford Pass and tried to start it remotely?
 
Last edited:

italianjoe

Well-known member
Apr 9, 2018
205
Dearborn Heights Mi.
I read this post for ideas to help with battery issues as my car won't wake up. This is what I have tried;
I have a 2020 L029
I left it on the charger connected to the rear port and the car would not start - appeared to have a dead battery.
I put the charger on the front battery posts and still a dead battery.
I held the reset on the charger for 10 secs and the car came to life - headlights flashed, relays clicked in the engine compartment.
The voltage at the post with the charger active is 13.76 vdc.
The charger shows fully charged. The GT seems to be cycling lights and relays but still will not start.
Any ideas? How do I wake it up?

Hello ed.life
I have seen a few no starts with the battery fully charged and the biggest issues I find are the ground cable or the positive cable at the starter. I would suggest looking at the battery cables first then look at the grounds in the engine compartment then the battery cable to starter. Your car being a 2020 should still be covered under warranty so I would suggest contacting your concierge for a GT certified technician to look at it.

Joe
 

FlagstaffGT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
I had Sanderson Ford run a 15 amp ctek connector to my 2017 trunk. I also made an adapter for jumper cables and battery chargers.50CE988D-3BB3-44BC-9D00-E6A9067BD2AB.jpegE0F75113-6910-432E-9815-D3E6C92E3515.jpeg
 
Last edited:
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ed.life

GT Owner
Nov 16, 2012
29
Victoria B.C. Canada
There were some cars that had a bad start button or some secondary circuit that needed to be replaced. Battery was fine, as soon as switch/circuit were replaced. Have you talked to the concierge?

Have you used Ford Pass and tried to start it remotely?
Thank you for your thoughts, I have a call into the Concierge. update to follow when resolved .......ed.life
 

ed.life

GT Owner
Nov 16, 2012
29
Victoria B.C. Canada
There were some cars that had a bad start button or some secondary circuit that needed to be replaced. Battery was fine, as soon as switch/circuit were replaced. Have you talked to the concierge?

Have you used Ford Pass and tried to start it remotely?
thank you for your comments. I have acall into the concierge, I think they are off untill next year ! ........ed.life
 

ed.life

GT Owner
Nov 16, 2012
29
Victoria B.C. Canada
I had Sanderson Ford run a 15 amp ctek connector to my 2017 trunk. I also made an adapter for jumper cables and battery chargers.View attachment 67307View attachment 67308
I have tried the 7 amp boost and a 10 amp Noco, maybe I need 15 amps to get the GT going! ......ed.life
 

ed.life

GT Owner
Nov 16, 2012
29
Victoria B.C. Canada
Hello ed.life
I have seen a few no starts with the battery fully charged and the biggest issues I find are the ground cable or the positive cable at the starter. I would suggest looking at the battery cables first then look at the grounds in the engine compartment then the battery cable to starter. Your car being a 2020 should still be covered under warranty so I would suggest contacting your concierge for a GT certified technician to look at it.

Joe
Thanks Joe, It's not just won't start. It behaves irratic relays click lights flash. this cycles for about 5 minites then goes to sleep!
 

FlagstaffGT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
I have tried the 7 amp boost and a 10 amp Noco, maybe I need 15 amps to get the GT going! ......ed.life
My 7 amp maintainer 10 second press was able to energize the car to light up and windows down so doors and front cover could open
 

ed.life

GT Owner
Nov 16, 2012
29
Victoria B.C. Canada
I had Sanderson Ford run a 15 amp ctek connector to my 2017 trunk. I also made an adapter for jumper cables and battery chargers.View attachment 67307View attachment 67308
I got the GT fired upwith a 15amp boost from Noco GB70. I now have the boost and the ford charger, hopefully the battery will get enough charge to stay awake ! .....ed.life
 

PilotMarky

Ford GT Team Alumni
Dec 11, 2018
62
If you leave the CTEK long enough to get a green full light, it should be OK. The flickering lights and clicking will go away. Just have to be patient. Connecting to the posts seems to be the better option than the rear port.
 
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ed.life

GT Owner
Nov 16, 2012
29
Victoria B.C. Canada
Thanks for the suggestions. I am now at the point where I have the Ford CTek charger connected directly to the battery posts. Prior to putting the charger on I had approx 1.2 volts at the battery. Hopefully the battery will take a charge overnight. I was considering taking the battery out, but once I got started, I realized this was no small task. Ford must have built the car around the battery. Any other thoughts are welcome.
 

PeteK

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Apr 18, 2014
2,469
Kalama, Free part of WA State
If you only have 1.2 volts, it's dead.
 

Stef

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Apr 5, 2009
1,111
Southern California
I just recently had to deal with this.

10 second delay after repeated tries failed to work.
Battery was down to only 1.1 Volts!

Dead as a door nail.

Here is what worked for me.
Kept the electronic charger plugged into the wall and the port in the trunk, hooked a fully charged battery to the jumper posts in the front.

System came to life immediately and woke the in car battery which flashed the charger to detect the battery.

Took 13 hours to revive the battery fully. The charger got very warm to the touch from 2 to 4 during charging program which was about 10 hours.
This had me more then a little concerned so I placed a fan to circulate air on the charger.

Seems to be okay now but I wonder how much wear and tear this causes to the battery and shorten its life when becoming severely discharged like this.
 

fjpikul

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Jan 4, 2006
11,680
Belleville, IL
Did you not have it on the charger to begin with?
 

Stef

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Apr 5, 2009
1,111
Southern California
Did you not have it on the charger to begin with?

Usually its hooked to the charger 24/7 but was left disconnected for approx two weeks.
 

fjpikul

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Jan 4, 2006
11,680
Belleville, IL
I am surprised. Our three cars (IndyGT, Sound waves, mine) were stuck in the Reliable warehouse in Phoenix due to a bad truck after the Rally. I was a little worried but all three functioned perfectly after sitting there for 3 weeks. Since mine is an 18, I have no charging port in the trunk.
 

Stef

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Apr 5, 2009
1,111
Southern California
I am surprised. Our three cars (IndyGT, Sound waves, mine) were stuck in the Reliable warehouse in Phoenix due to a bad truck after the Rally. I was a little worried but all three functioned perfectly after sitting there for 3 weeks. Since mine is an 18, I have no charging port in the trunk.

I was surprised too. When I had the Xpel done my installer had the car for almost a month without any charging and there were no issues.

Took a while, it was the first NGT him and his crew had ever done. And I think he posted the project on his social media, so the entire car community in Riverside California area had a chance to drop by his shop and see the new GT in person.
I wouldn't doubt he even charged admission.