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How to put car into accessory mode


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You all probably know this, but I just figured it out.  In the past when my husband or I wanted to sit in the car with the radio on and the engine off, we would push the start button once without our foot on the brake.  It was really bothering me to come back to the car and see that it was sitting there with the headlights on.  I figured that was a sure fire way to run the battery down.  I tried to find the answer in the owner's manual without any luck.  So I just went out to the garage to play around.  I did our usual routine--no foot on the brake and push the start button once.  Headlights, radio, and fan came on.  I did read something in the manual about pulling the headlight indicator forward, hearing a tone, and then headlights would switch off in 3 minutes after a door was opened.  I tried that and never heard a tone and the headlights stayed on past the 3 minute mark.  I did discover that the answer to sitting and listening to the radio without headlights on is to push the start button twice (without foot on brake).  The headlights go off, the fan goes off and the radio stays on. That only took me a month of owning the car to find out LOL.  Maybe it is written in the manual somewhere??

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Laurel, when you turn the car off after driving, the radio will stay on until you open the door. So by pushing the start button twice, you've just turned the car on and then off, and it's waiting for you to open the door. But that does give you your radio, which is what you want. :)

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Laurel, when you turn the car off after driving, the radio will stay on until you open the door. So by pushing the start button twice, you've just turned the car on and then off, and it's waiting for you to open the door. But that does give you your radio, which is what you want. :)

Okay I see what you are saying, but if you don't put your foot on the brake the engine won't come on--right???  So wouldn't the two pushes without the brake depressed just put you in accessory mode?  Sometimes I feel sensory overload with learning stuff about this car.

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Okay I see what you are saying, but if you don't put your foot on the brake the engine won't come on--right???  So wouldn't the two pushes without the brake depressed just put you in accessory mode?  Sometimes I feel sensory overload with learning stuff about this car.

W/ no foot on the brake, one push turns on Accessory mode, then the second push turns it off.

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Okay Zhack I see that rationale too, but my issue is with one push of the start with no foot on the brake, has my cars lights on, fan on, radio on.  Two pushes and I have no fan on and no lights on, but the radio is on and the instrument panel is lit.  Why is that?  Thick as a plank am I.

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Okay Zhack I see that rationale too, but my issue is with one push of the start with no foot on the brake, has my cars lights on, fan on, radio on.  Two pushes and I have no fan on and no lights on, but the radio is on and the instrument panel is lit.  Why is that?  Thick as a plank am I.

 

My older car with a traditional key worked the same way. You turn the key to accessory mode, and most of the cars electronics work, including fan. Turn it off and everything goes away except the radio...until you open the door.   This lets you use the most common accessory, the radio, without draining your battery.

 

The only difference between having your foot on the brake or not when you push the button is whether the car has the capability to start the ICE (necessary for driving).

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If your car has the regular key, "Acc" mode is the first click and "On" mode is the second click. "On" mode means everything, including lights, climate control, wipers etc, is activated.

 

With intelligent access, you only have "On". Pushing the button without pressing the brake pedal puts the car in "On" mode, not "Acc" mode. I couldn't find anything in the manual about Acc mode with the smart key. However, I have noticed that you can turn on the radio whenever you want, even if the car is off and the key isn't nearby. So there is that.

 

The headlight thing only works if you've first shut the car off. Supposedly, you can pull the headlight lever toward you until it beeps and the lights will come on, and stay on for 3 minutes.

Edited by mtberman
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The radio will turn off after a while. Maybe 10 or 15 minutes.

 

I have found that if I am in the car I can just press the power button on the radio and it will turn on.

I tried to turn on the radio without the power on.  There is no way to do that.  We have the SEL 303 a with Sony radio.  You have to have the nav screen to do anything with the radio.  So I remain stymied.  Here is the situation.  I drive somewhere, park, leave hubby in the car, and turn it off.  I open the door so everything powers off.  Hubby pushes the start button once without foot on the brake so he can listen to the radio, but the lights remain on, the fan is on, and the radio is on.  We push the start button again without foot on the brake, and the lights go off, the fan goes off, and the radio stays on with the instrument panel lit.  I do not believe the car is on per se--just the accessory mode. So I have to think that two pushes puts the car in accessory mode--the same as if you turned a key part way to put it in accessory mode.  Any more comments??

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I know if I'm getting into the car then shut the door, I can press the radio power button and it turns on.

But it's probably sequence dependent.  If you turn off the car then open and close the door, that's a different sequence of events, and then pressing radio power does nothing.

 

To me, accessory mode is what you get when you push the start button once without using the brake - almost everything is on except for being ready to drive.

When you press it again, almost everything shuts off except for the radio, which is in its "linger" mode for some amount of time.

 

Oh well, what's in a name - whatever works for you.

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Thanks Val!  I just ran out to the garage and found it.  The radio was on Sirius and wouldn't pick up a signal, but surprisingly the nav screen came on and I could put am on.  I am surprised that the nav screen came on with that on/off button since I didn't push any start button for the car.  I wonder if I didn't turn off the radio if the battery would run down?

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Remember, the screen isn't the Nav screen, it is the MyFordTouch screen, which can be used to display Nav, Radio, climate or phone functions.

 

I believe the radio will still auto turn off after a while.

 

You can also change the audio source using the clear-ish "source" button (I think also on the left, just to the rear of the power button), then use the rocker panel which surrounds the big volume button to scroll through presets, or scan.

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Sorry, this might read a little out of sequence, because I had this page open as I went out and tried to run a test. In the meantime you guys have been talking and making this thread longer and covering some of my material that I typed below, but I'll post my results anyway...

 

I just went out to the car and tried numerous scenarios on my SEL with the Sony upgrade.  I was able to push the "hard power" button (the one an inch or so in front of the SOURCES bar, between it and the 8" screen) on my Sony 303 system and get the 8" color screen to come on in all of the scenarios I tried (after opening the door and letting the car go to a cold state or locking myself in the car, whatever, it worked for me just now in this test).  I was then able to listen to the radio without any accessory mode or pushing of the start button.  I did have the key in my pocket, if that makes a difference.  Radio kept playing as I opened and closed the door as well.  I could change input sources (FM, Sirius, etc).  It was cold and late, so I'll try again tomorrow to do a more thorough test of sequences.

 

By the way, because of the above, I have twice "accidently" left the radio playing when I was walking away from the car because of this--I have a habit of pushing the hard power button to shut things off when I am shutting of the car, and sometimes I get out of sequence and evidently turn it back on.   I can hear the stereo playing as I am walking away from the car after locking it, so I have to get back in and turn it off with the hard power button.  I wonder if this scenario is why some people are having dead batteries....

Edited by JohnTrigger
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Thanks Val!  I just ran out to the garage and found it.  The radio was on Sirius and wouldn't pick up a signal, but surprisingly the nav screen came on and I could put am on.  I am surprised that the nav screen came on with that on/off button since I didn't push any start button for the car.  I wonder if I didn't turn off the radio if the battery would run down?

 

Your Sirius often will not work in the garage, as it is satellite reception dependent.  And yes, if you read my post above, I think the battery will certainly run down to some extent (read my accidental scenario above).

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The dead 12V battery issue discussed elsewhere has nothing to do with leaving accessories on. That's a defect.

 

If you want to listen to the radio in the C Max, you can just turn it on. Keep in mind that, like all (or almost all) Fords, the C Max has a "battery saver". If you leave the radio on or leave a door open for more than 20 minutes or so, everything (lights and audio) shuts off automatically after about 20 minutes to prevent battery run-down. I don't think this is anything new. My 1994 Taurus SHO and my 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid both had the battery saver feature. The only time it's really noticeable is when you're waiting for someone for a long time, or if you leave the hatch/trunk lid open for a long time.

 

If the lights and/or radio go off automatically and you want to turn them back on, you can re-set the battery saver by opening/closing any door or trunk/hatch, or by turning the car on and then back off again. The C Max with navigation may have a shorter cycle time, and might require a key on/key off cycle to do this, since the navigation's GPS consumes a lot of power.

 

I haven't looked but there's got to be something about this in the manual. It's probably under "battery saver" but might be in the radio section.

Edited by mtberman
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