Case Study
Ford KA Battery Going Flat
Our customer brought their Ford KA to our Worthing garage with a battery that kept going flat after just one day of not being used. The problem had been going on for eight months and had happened more than 50 times, even after a new battery was fitted and another garage had been unable to find the cause. Our Ford specialist technicians carried out a full battery drain investigation to finally track down the fault.
Fault Codes
B10A4-4A:08 – Configuration (proxi) procedure failed
Common Symptoms
- Battery going flat after the car is left for a day
- Car won't start after standing overnight
- Problem continues after fitting a new battery
- High battery drain with the ignition switched off
Ford KA Diagnostics
We began the diagnostic assessment with a fault code scan, which returned code B10A4-4A:08, Configuration (proxi) procedure failed. To investigate this, we checked the serial data readings and confirmed communication with all modules, noting that the mileage display was not flashing, which would usually suggest lost communication with a module. A visual inspection showed all components, including the battery connections, were in good order, and there were no technical service bulletins for this fault. The battery itself passed all tests, showing 13.8v under load and 14v unloaded. However, a battery drain test revealed a high drain of 0.224 amps with the vehicle switched off, far more than normal.
Vehicles Affected
Ford KA
- Ford KA 2008
- Ford KA 2009
- Ford KA 2010
- Ford KA 2011
- Ford KA 2012
- Ford KA 2013
- Ford KA 2014
- Ford KA 2015
- Ford KA 2016
Ford KA+
- Ford KA+ 2016
- Ford KA+ 2017
- Ford KA+ 2018
- Ford KA+ 2019
- Ford KA+ 2020
Ford Fiesta
- Ford Fiesta 2008
- Ford Fiesta 2009
- Ford Fiesta 2010
- Ford Fiesta 2011
- Ford Fiesta 2012
- Ford Fiesta 2013
- Ford Fiesta 2014
- Ford Fiesta 2015
- Ford Fiesta 2016
- Ford Fiesta 2017
Ford B-MAX
- Ford B-MAX 2012
- Ford B-MAX 2013
- Ford B-MAX 2014
- Ford B-MAX 2015
- Ford B-MAX 2016
- Ford B-MAX 2017
Ford KA Repairs
To pinpoint the source of the drain, we checked each fuse in turn and identified interior fuse 5 (10 amp), which protects the audio, DLC, air conditioning and Bluetooth circuits. Removing this fuse reduced the drain to just 0.007 amps. We then disconnected the radio, but the high drain remained, so we accessed and disconnected the Bluetooth module. This brought the drain back down to 0.007 amps, confirming the faulty Bluetooth module was causing the Ford KA battery to go flat. We removed the faulty module to stop the drain, and if our customer needs Bluetooth in the future, a replacement module can be fitted.
Resolution
With the faulty Bluetooth module removed, the battery drain dropped from 0.224 amps to a normal 0.007 amps and the Ford KA's battery no longer went flat. After eight months and more than 50 flat batteries, our customer can now get out and about without worrying about whether the car will start in the morning.
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