Towing a Ford Fusion
99 Fleetwood Discovery A class, Just towed to Las Vegas from Los Angeles, and this was my problem, I left the auto lght switch on and when got dark the light went on and battey went dead when I notice...
Forum Discussion
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.
