Towing a Ford Fusion

GrampaR123 wrote:
Viajante?? What powers your braking system in the car while you're towing?

Not sure. I just know that this simple approach has worked well for me.

Did you try my simple approach? If so, how did it work out ?

Viajante?? What powers your braking system in the car while you're towing?

willald wrote:
We tow a Ford Fusion also, a 2013 hybrid Fusion. You didnt mention what year yours was, or what model, but maybe this will help:

I found very early on with our Fusion that regardless if you turn everything off inside or not, there is parasitic drain on the battery when flat towing it. I put an ammeter across the battery, and found that even with everything turned off, when key is in ACC position and tranny in neutral (what you have to do to tow it), there was a 3 amp drain on the battery.

You could probably pull a fuse or two to stop this, but with how complicated the electrical system is on this hybrid Fusion, I did NOT want to mess with pulling fuses. I hate having to do that, anyway.

The only real solution, IMO: Run a charge line from the MH to the Fusion. Otherwise, you will need lots of jump starts, and will end up replacing your battery in the Fusion way more often than you'd like. Starting batteries aren't meant to be used like a deep cycle battery, and doing so will shorten its life significantly.

Anyway, we ran a charge line to the Fusion, and that solved the problem completely. Very easy to do, only requires less than $20 worth of parts (wire, connectors, fuse link, etc). Now, the battery in the Fusion stays fully charged up whenever we're towing, regardless. One less thing I don't have to worry about. :)

That may be true. However, I have towed as long as eight hours with no obvious effect on the battery.

We tow a Ford Fusion also, a 2013 hybrid Fusion. You didnt mention what year yours was, or what model, but maybe this will help:

I found very early on with our Fusion that regardless if you turn everything off inside or not, there is parasitic drain on the battery when flat towing it. I put an ammeter across the battery, and found that even with everything turned off, when key is in ACC position and tranny in neutral (what you have to do to tow it), there was a 3 amp drain on the battery.

You could probably pull a fuse or two to stop this, but with how complicated the electrical system is on this hybrid Fusion, I did NOT want to mess with pulling fuses. I hate having to do that, anyway.

The only real solution, IMO: Run a charge line from the MH to the Fusion. Otherwise, you will need lots of jump starts, and will end up replacing your battery in the Fusion way more often than you'd like. Starting batteries aren't meant to be used like a deep cycle battery, and doing so will shorten its life significantly.

Anyway, we ran a charge line to the Fusion, and that solved the problem completely. Very easy to do, only requires less than $20 worth of parts (wire, connectors, fuse link, etc). Now, the battery in the Fusion stays fully charged up whenever we're towing, regardless. One less thing I don't have to worry about. :)

Will try on Tuesday and post.

kidkasha wrote:
The way I understood the manual, it said leave key in accesory. Maybe to get it in nuetral, and I am supposed to turn it back to off. Does that make sense?

I turn the vehicle on, shift it to Neutral (after I'm hooked to the tow bar), then turn the key as far to the left as it will go. After you shut the door and wait a short while, you will notice that the dash panels will go dark.

Try it and tell me how it goes. This same procedure works on my son-in-law's Ford Escape toad.

The way I understood the manual, it said leave key in accesory. Maybe to get it in nuetral, and I am supposed to turn it back to off. Does that make sense?

If your Fusion is anything like my Flex..... all you need to do is place the transmission in neutral and turn the key all the way to the left. That should turn off all of the parasitic draws and not drain your battery.

Good Luck.

Presumbably you towed 4 down. Have you read your owners' manual? MOST of the autombiles require the ignition key to be IN the switch....to keep the front tires unlocked (there are exceptions)....and there usually is a fuse that has to be pulled to de-activate something like the dash-board (like my HHR, I have to pull a 2 amp fuse or the battery drops in about 6 hours). My Ford Ranger, nothing electric (fuses,etc), but I needed the "transfer case disconnect kit".