NHTSA Complaint #11416345 — 2013 FORD C-MAX

THE RADIO WOULD NOT SHUT OFF OR CHANGE STATIONS AND THE VOLUME CONTROL DIDN'T WORK. THE DASH SCREEN SAID THE RADIO WAS OFF. COULD NOT CHANGE AUDIO INPUTS FROM FM STATION IT WAS TUNED TO. THE RADIO STAYED ON WHEN THE CAR WAS SHUT OFF EVEN WHEN THE DOORS WERE OPENED. I GOOGLED THE PROBLEM AND FOUND IT IS A KNOWN ISSUE THAT CAN DRAIN THE BATTERY COMPLETELY. THE SUGGESTED FIX WAS TO PULL THE RADIO CIRCUIT FUSE FROM THE MAIN FUSE PANEL UNDER THE DASH, (#79), WHICH I DID. THAT RESET THE AUDIO SYSTEM AND HAS RESOLVED THE PROBLEM FOR NOW AT LEAST. THE LAST TIME I HAD WEIRD AUDIO PROBLEMS WAS WHEN THE 12V BATTERY STARTED TO NEED REPLACING. I THOUGHT IT WAS DUE TO IT BEING 4.5 YRS OLD BUT NOW AM WONDERING IF IT WAS HASTENED BY BATTERY DRAIN FROM AUDIO SYSTEM WHEN VEHICLE WAS PARKED. THIS PROBLEM COULD STRAND DRIVERS AND LEAVE THE VEHICLE INOPERABLE DUE TO DEAD 12V BATTERY (WHICH IS IN A VERY HARD TO REACH COMPARTMENT IN THE BACK HATCH). I'VE ALSO NOTICED THAT THE BACK HATCH UNLATCHING SWITCH DOESN'T ALWAYS WORK AT THIS TIME, WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT BE RELATED (SAME ISSUES HAPPENED LAST TIME THE 12V BATTERY DIED 4 YRS AGO). COULD THIS BE RELATED TO SOME OTHER ELECTRICAL SHORT IN THE LOCKING SYSTEM WIRING PERHAPS? FORD NEEDS TO SOLVE THIS AND ISSUE A RECALL TO REMEDY SINCE THE PROBLEM SOUNDS PRETTY COMMON.