Recall: 25S02 12V BATTERY INSPECTION

[Tbone289]

Our '22 Maverick is very early production, and we've had it over 3 years. It's never failed to start, but I recognized back in '23 already that there was a charging problem, with city driving not adequately charging the battery, AND that it had excessive battery drain when sitting... I installed a 3A battery charger/maintainer underhood, which has masked the problem. I recently replaced the battery, and still see same thing, battery going from fully charged, to 12V (or less!) overnight.

In troubleshooting this, I've turned off the WiFi & Bluetooth routers/modems, and pulled the # 11 fuse to disable the telematics modem. It helped a bit, but not much. I metered the alternator output at the battery as 14.2V, so thats good.

This is NOT just a problem with a cheap battery - there is a problem with the charging system, that's ruining the battery. If you Google at what voltage are lead acid batteries damaged, it says less than 80% capacity (12.4V). Repeatedly starting at voltages lower than that is hard on the battery. There really should be a battery voltage reading on the instrument cluster display.

I'm hoping there's a software update to fix the charging problem, AND that I get a free battery out of the deal.

You're actually safe staying above 50% charge with lead acid batteries. But, all lead acid batteries need to be charged to 100% SoC on occasion to get full life out of them.

Here's a more accurate table with AGM and FLA SoC voltage levels:

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[colinl]

You're actually safe staying above 50% charge with lead acid batteries. But, all lead acid batteries need to be charged to 100% SoC on occasion to get full life out of them.

Here's a more accurate graph with AGM and FLA SoC voltage levels:

great reference.

also, deep sleep kicks in at 12.0v *or* if the rate of discharge is too high.

 

[PanchoBarrancas]

I have a '22 built in mid '21, came with a flooded battery. A year into owning it I parked at a drugstore, came back and it wouldn't crank. I tried to jumpstart it for an hour and it just wouldn't work, the battery was already at 12.6v, if I recall correctly, under no load. I checked and cranking it would drop to about 6v instantly, then over 15 min slowly rise back up to 12.6v without even hooking up the jumper cables.

I had to call Ford roadside assistance to have it towed to the dealership. They replicated the issue, but the tester would somehow show the battery as good.

The dealership did good by me. They put in a brand new AGM and the issue went away, so they put a known bad battery on the tester in order to replace my battery with the AGM for free under warranty. (They claimed the tester produced some kind of receipt for warranty claims.)

I have since been running on that same AGM battery trouble free, auto start-stop still works and all.

 

[GreatWhiteNorth]

You're actually safe staying above 50% charge with lead acid batteries. But, all lead acid batteries need to be charged to 100% SoC on occasion to get full life out of them.

Here's a more accurate table with AGM and FLA SoC voltage levels:

Thnx for sharing that! Life has been better since swapping out the cheap Chinese Camel battery. I bought a cigarette socket USB charger, with voltmeter, am much better able to monitor battery voltage.

The capacity on that Camel battery just faded away. I have the routers turned off, pulled the fuse for the telematics router to stop that battery drain too.

 

[grumpyunk]

I have a '22 built in mid '21, came with a flooded battery. A year into owning it I parked at a drugstore, came back and it wouldn't crank. I tried to jumpstart it for an hour and it just wouldn't work, the battery was already at 12.6v, if I recall correctly, under no load. I checked and cranking it would drop to about 6v instantly, then over 15 min slowly rise back up to 12.6v without even hooking up the jumper cables.

The explanation of the internal problem with the Camel batteries would fit the description of your experience. The connection failed, at least partially, and would not conduct the amps needed to operate the starter, thus the no-start. The voltage dropped as the conduction areas got heated, moved/melted/??? and would not even pass full voltage , much less amperage. As it cooled, it formed a connection that reflected full battery voltage from all cells.
The tester used by the dealer did not apply enough load(amps) to melt the connection again, and drop the voltage as you noted, so it 'passed'. If they used the 'electronic' tester, it would show a well charged battery.... as the conduction was again made, sort of. Had they tried to operate a starter motor with that battery and monitored the voltage, they would/should have seen the volts drop like a rock as the conductor failed again. I know, too wordy. I do not do TLDR, as reading makes the brain work harder so it gets stronger. At least it may.
tom

 

[grumpyunk]

you don't need to for this recall. the scope of this recall is that if your ecoboost original equipment battery is an enhanced flooded battery, it's getting replaced with an agm.

however, since you asked:
go to parts.ford.com and search by vin and type 'battery' in the parts search box. you'll get this. (the EF battery is no longer even listed as a valid part for the ecoboost, only the AGM battery is listed now.)

A while ago I used the part number on the 'enhanced' battery installed in my Mav and searched FoMoCo parts site. This was likely over a year ago. At that time, the part number on the battery was noted as NLA, and the suggested/only substitute available was the AGM model. I think I put a post on-site to that effect.
As I read the recall notice, it indicated Mavericks constructed through a specific date were covered, and it was at least close to the date my truck was put together.
Per post #131 by fcnrwy a few posts above this, the dates for affected or involved Mavericks are::
The build dates of affected Mavs are: Feb 3, 2021-Oct 28, 2022
Perhaps that was an initial announcement, or not. I am a mushroom.
I suspect the Enhanced flooded were a substitute for the specified AGM installed to keep the factory in productin. I also think they used the wrong parameters in the 'as built' files for the BCM tactics/strategy, whether it helped/hurt I know not. I do know the battery installed has started the engine with no problems, but has had serious bouts of nodding off after a few days of full rest, and will NOT charge the battery enough to operate the AutoSS more than one time after a 500 mile highway trip. Nor would it operate the AutoSS after the 500 mile drive back on more than one instance. IOW, the charge system was relatively ineffective, and still is. That was reported to FoMoCo years ago, and they were going to 'get back to me', but never did.
I hope an AGM will help. I also hope they get on the stick and replace the battery. I will likely have all the recalls done when the battery becomes available. Maybe get them to do it in my driveway...

 

[colinl]

Perhaps that was an initial announcement

that's indeed the issue. this recall has changed over time and it's not inspection, it's straight up replacement of any EF battery in an ecoboost maverick. (NOT a hybrid.) that info is somewhere in this thread, most likely, or if not in another mtc thread.

the only thing we're waiting on is Ford gathering sufficient inventory of replacement batteries to start the repairs.

 

[HeyBales]

that's indeed the issue. this recall has changed over time and it's not inspection, it's straight up replacement of any EF battery in an ecoboost maverick. (NOT a hybrid.) that info is somewhere in this thread, most likely, or if not in another mtc thread.

the only thing we're waiting on is Ford gathering sufficient inventory of replacement batteries to start the repairs.

What are the chances they are building sufficient inventory only for this recall replacement of batteries cheaper than the normal AGM's that were going in those trucks?
Trying to save a little money per unit.

Or is that too conspiracy driven?

I guess they could also being doing recalls per region to space it out, if they think they have correct address info. Well, or I guess correct truck GPS location info.
I can't recall such a thing, but how would I know if it occurred except a forum like this.

 

[colinl]

What are the chances they are building sufficient inventory only for this recall replacement of batteries cheaper than the normal AGM's that were going in those trucks?
Trying to save a little money per unit.

hah, no way.

they can use various providers but considering they got into this mess using a supplier they didn't normally use due to supply chain issues in 21/22, I would think that this will be the regular Motorcraft AGM H6 batteries. I'm very confident it will be the same battery and same mfg as what's been installed in every ecoboost Maverick since MY23 production started.

 

[Charlie Daubitz]

Too bad that I already replaced Ford's lousy battery a year ago with an Interstate AGM battery. I wonder if Ford will reimbursed my expenses ($170 plus tax)?

yes if you have the receipt

 

[Charlie Daubitz]

I wish the Ford bot were still here. Maybe they could tell me who I can submit my bill to for my labor and cost of the AGM that I bought aftermarket in order to fix the issue caused by their garbage supplier QC.

Your ford dealer, that's what I did, waiting for notification from the dealer to come get a check.

 

[Charlie Daubitz]

How do you redesign and manufacture in a shirt time about 1,000,000 batteries?

Manufacture error, bad internal welds between cells.

 

[Charlie Daubitz]

Or, not an Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) battery.

This was the battery on recall in my 22 ecoboost 35,000 miles. Replaced with a O'Reilly AGM. works fine 3 months later. bad internal welds, sudden failure while parked.

 

[converseguy]

I have a 2023 Hybrid. I was having frequent deep sleep issues so I bought an AGM battery from Costco and installed it 8 months ago. No deep sleep since then. Will Ford reimburse me for said battery?

 

[Packer Bill]

I have a 2023 Hybrid. I was having frequent deep sleep issues so I bought an AGM battery from Costco and installed it 8 months ago. No deep sleep since then. Will Ford reimburse me for said battery?

No, your Maverick is a hybrid. The recall was for the EcoBoost Mavericks only.

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