06, 07 Ford, Mercury, alarm/starter tech tip

I found this out the hard way and this has been confirmed with audiovox technical support. After installing alarm and remote starters in a fleet of 2006 explorers for t-mobile, we had a hand full that the batteries were dying after sitting for 4-5 days. Turns out that the smart junction box will not go to sleep like it should if you do not install diodes on the transistor lock outputs of the aftermarket alarm/starter. most customers would never let their vehcile sit for this long to experience this dead battery problem so typically this would never be an issue, but if you throw an ammeter on the battery and arm the truck and let it sit for 45 minutes you will see that it will drop after 5-10 minutes but it is not going to sleep fully. So everyone might want to do themselves the favor of installing 2 diodes on your lock outputs and save yourself the headaches that i went through. And it just so happens that the october issue of mobile electronics featured the 2007 explorer in the tech tip section and there was no mention of this problem, i would bet that it still exists in the 2007. Audiovox also said that this problem may be present on rangers,mountaineers, and any other vehicle that shares the same electrical platform. so with remote starter season right around the corner this could be a huge problem if it goes unnoticed by installers. Im sure this issue is with other brands other than audiovox units since almost everyone uses a transistor based door lock output circuit.Hopefully this info will be usefull to other installers!

This has come up here before, as far as we can tell it's just the Explorer. I haven't heard of it on any other Fords...Mike M2

Tech Manager

CS Dealer Services

I've personally only tested and confirmed this on the explorer like I said. Audiovox said it is very possible it may occur on other platforms with the smart junction box. So I guess if you have the time on your hands you can test this on other fords, or just throw some diodes on to be safe.

permentally wake it up.... key on unlock x3 key off unlock x3 etc. etc. etc.

*ALwaYs KnoW YoUr SaLEsmAN!!*