2025 Hybrid - Potential Battery Drain?

[bcoo4]

Hello Gang,

Figured Id post a thread indicating my first issues with MY25 Hybrid. Off the bat I assume its the classic battery drain issue posted here many times over.
I thought this was mostly fixed going into the 25 refresh?! (Different AGM Battery?)

Alas, When I went to go to work this morning, I opened the door to no Logos on the illuminated screens (just illuminated backlight in black), and just a constant clicking under the hood. The biggest indicator that something was not right, was that I heard the Old Version of the Ford Doorbell Chime (higher treble frequency ding-a-ling - Annoying), Not the usual calmer/quieter ding-a-ling which I have heard only since purchase. The backlights on the screens and buttons would all illuminate and then go out, in a loop. The truck never attempted to turn over upon full key turn.

This lasted about 5 minutes, until clicking stopped and there is no response when turning the key to any position.
I put it on a battery tender and am calling my dealership, asap.
=================================================

Personal Ranting:

I would think with all of the tech on/in this vehicle, there would be a simple way to warn me about the battery potentially getting low or needing a charge?! I mean the App will alert me when my Washer fluid is low... Why would the system allow me to get into a situation like this without a single warning sent to either the app, or during my previous drive? (Saturday afternoon).

Weird thing is, I brought my truck in the previous week for its first oil change. Now this...

I feel like Ford should be supplying a Jump pack free of charge unless they can confirm the issue will not return...

Thank you all for any tips, tricks, advice, and/or info.

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[710-oil-614]

Sounds like a bad battery more than a battery drain issue. Have the dealership test it - I'll bet they toss a new one in under warranty.

Ford has done the math. It is still cheaper for them to use asstastic quality batteries (AGM or not) and if 1 out of 10 fails and they have to replace the battery it is still cheaper for them to use the shit quality batteries and replace 10-20% of them.

 

[Propane Burning Man]

I am not agreeing the battery quality is the issue. What makes them shit quality? My Transit is almost 11 years old with 120,000 miles and still has the original 2 AGM batteries and I have never put a charger on them. My 007 Mustang original FLA battery lasted 13 years! I did put a battery tender on it in the winter when it was parked for months at a time. But my Maverick is having battery issues. There is no doubt in my mind the charging system is not charging the damn battery to full charge when I drive it. When my dome lights fail to come on I throw a charger on it and it gets fully charged. It will then go about 10 days before the dome lights fail to come on again. That tells me the vehicle is not charging the battery to 100%. I have had the battery checked and have been told every time it is OK. Ford needs to fix the charging system not the battery.

 

[HeyBales]

Hello Gang,

Figured Id post a thread indicating my first issues with MY25 Hybrid. Off the bat I assume its the classic battery drain issue posted here many times over.
I thought this was mostly fixed going into the 25 refresh?! (Different AGM Battery?)

Alas, When I went to go to work this morning, I opened the door to no Logos on the illuminated screens (just illuminated backlight in black), and just a constant clicking under the hood. The biggest indicator that something was not right, was that I heard the Old Version of the Ford Doorbell Chime (higher treble frequency ding-a-ling - Annoying), Not the usual calmer/quieter ding-a-ling which I have heard only since purchase. The backlights on the screens and buttons would all illuminate and then go out, in a loop. The truck never attempted to turn over upon full key turn.

This lasted about 5 minutes, until clicking stopped and there is no response when turning the key to any position.
I put it on a battery tender and am calling my dealership, asap.
=================================================

Personal Ranting:

I would think with all of the tech on/in this vehicle, there would be a simple way to warn me about the battery potentially getting low or needing a charge?! I mean the App will alert me when my Washer fluid is low... Why would the system allow me to get into a situation like this without a single warning sent to either the app, or during my previous drive? (Saturday afternoon).

Weird thing is, I brought my truck in the previous week for its first oil change. Now this...

I feel like Ford should be supplying a Jump pack free of charge unless they can confirm the issue will not return...

Thank you all for any tips, tricks, advice, and/or info.

Keep reading about the classic battery complaints on prior FLA model years.
Rarely is there a battery drain, that leaves the truck dead after a day or two.
Vast majority still start - and in fact drive truck to dealer and discover bad battery that is replaced.

Undercharging issue is one cause of that eventual bad battery - cheap battery doesn't help either. AGM helps with latter part. Not sure if the updates on 25 help with former.

If you didn't get a notice in Fordpass (and truck was parked where it normally has ATT signal and does report that) about going into deep sleep mode, or battery saver enabled (depending on how the app notifies this week) - then I'm thinking you truly do have a battery drain issue - something has gone glitchy and leaving a module on or brought back on.
And it drained so fast there was no ability to get that final notice from the truck to Ford to app.

Outside of a flaky actual drain issue - the normal notice that Fordpass would give that the truck has battery saver enabled - is exactly the warning that it's time to put a trickle charger on.
Because in normal daily usage - you'll get that warning months before there would likely be an actual issue. Why no actual voltage readings - sadly because average driver wouldn't have a clue anyway.
Really - you just haven't seen that because you have a different issue.
Keep reading the threads - you'll see all kinds of drivers with the more problematic FLA batteries doing their recharging when they see the interior lights no longer staying on after door open - and that is well below when the battery saver functions have been enabled.

 

[710-oil-614]

I am not agreeing the battery quality is the issue. What makes them shit quality? My Transit is almost 11 years old with 120,000 miles and still has the original 2 AGM batteries and I have never put a charger on them. My 007 Mustang original FLA battery lasted 13 years! I did put a battery tender on it in the winter when it was parked for months at a time. But my Maverick is having battery issues. There is no doubt in my mind the charging system is not charging the damn battery to full charge when I drive it. When my dome lights fail to come on I throw a charger on it and it gets fully charged. It will then go about 10 days before the dome lights fail to come on again. That tells me the vehicle is not charging the battery to 100%. I have had the battery checked and have been told every time it is OK. Ford needs to fix the charging system not the battery.

And I'm not agreeing that your 11 year old and 18 year old vehicles have any bearing on the quality of batteries Ford is putting into vehicles today.

What OP has described does not fit the bill for deep sleep/battery drain issues - it sounds like a bad battery all together.

 

[surfstar]

The biggest indicator that something was not right, was that I heard the Old Version of the Ford Doorbell Chime

This can occur for other reasons. I use a hide-a-key / vault when surfing. Using the key to physically unlock the door vs the fob button results in the weird door chime.

 

[bcoo4]

This can occur for other reasons. I use a hike-a-key / vault when surfing. Using the key to physically unlock the door vs the fob button results in the weird door chime.

Thanks! I was like "whoa, here we go..." when I heard it at first...

About to try a jump start, upon Ford Dealers recommendation. Ill keep updating as I understand and learn more. Perhaps it is something different like others are noting.

 

[Propane Burning Man]

And I'm not agreeing that your 11 year old and 18 year old vehicles have any bearing on the quality of batteries Ford is putting into vehicles today.

What OP has described does not fit the bill for deep sleep/battery drain issues - it sounds like a bad battery all together.

I agree also that OP has a battery issue base on what he said is happening. I have seen batteries go bad with an internal short. They go dead all of a sudden and will not take a charge and will cause the battery charger to over heat.

As far as the quality bashing here thats been going on since I have been reading MTC it seems to be nothing more than the bashers opinion. I have yet to read an explanation as to why these are crap batteries. I have had my current battery tested at the dealer and a shop that sells batteries and my own home tester and it passed as OK. If the charging system in my Maverick is not charging the battery fully when I drive it the battery is going to slowly get drained down. That is what is happening. A slow drain down. I throw the charger on it and it charges right back up and is good for 10 days.

 

[HeyBales]

I agree also that OP has a battery issue base on what he said is happening. I have seen batteries go bad with an internal short. They go dead all of a sudden and will not take a charge and will cause the battery charger to over heat.

As far as the quality bashing here thats been going on since I have been reading MTC it seems to be nothing more than the bashers opinion. I have yet to read an explanation as to why these are crap batteries. I have had my current battery tested at the dealer and a shop that sells batteries and my own home tester and it passed as OK. If the charging system in my Maverick is not charging the battery fully when I drive it the battery is going to slowly get drained down. That is what is happening. A slow drain down. I throw the charger on it and it charges right back up and is good for 10 days.

Ya I've said cheap batteries too, but even when mine was in an undercharged state, a battery tester using declared Amp hours and CCA - both reported the battery was above 85% SOH, just needed to charge it. So I guess not super cheap as possible. Perhaps worse QC, or failures are hitting exactly the numbers Ford is willing to accept.
Resistance not good - hmmm, wonder why. 4.91 on new battery.
0% SOC - ha - made it 5 more months!

 

[bcoo4]

Hello Gang,

Figured Id post a thread indicating my first issues with MY25 Hybrid. Off the bat I assume its the classic battery drain issue posted here many times over.
I thought this was mostly fixed going into the 25 refresh?! (Different AGM Battery?)

Alas, When I went to go to work this morning, I opened the door to no Logos on the illuminated screens (just illuminated backlight in black), and just a constant clicking under the hood. The biggest indicator that something was not right, was that I heard the Old Version of the Ford Doorbell Chime (higher treble frequency ding-a-ling - Annoying), Not the usual calmer/quieter ding-a-ling which I have heard only since purchase. The backlights on the screens and buttons would all illuminate and then go out, in a loop. The truck never attempted to turn over upon full key turn.

This lasted about 5 minutes, until clicking stopped and there is no response when turning the key to any position.
I put it on a battery tender and am calling my dealership, asap.
=================================================

Personal Ranting:

I would think with all of the tech on/in this vehicle, there would be a simple way to warn me about the battery potentially getting low or needing a charge?! I mean the App will alert me when my Washer fluid is low... Why would the system allow me to get into a situation like this without a single warning sent to either the app, or during my previous drive? (Saturday afternoon).

Weird thing is, I brought my truck in the previous week for its first oil change. Now this...

I feel like Ford should be supplying a Jump pack free of charge unless they can confirm the issue will not return...

Thank you all for any tips, tricks, advice, and/or info.

Update: I was able to jump start the vehicle. As soon as I connected the negative jumper it came back to life.

There was a power control module fault. The dealership cleared all codes and tested battery. They told me to continue using as normal and return if any other codes appear.

The tech w/ the code reader stated there were pages of error codes, that are all common with a dead battery happening...

The tech cleared the codes before I could ask for a printed list of what all was being read.

I guess there was no explanation of why the truck did not seem to have enough power to start this morning and no prior codes/errors. They essentially shrugged and sent me on my way... Weird... Let me know if I should have handled this in any other manner.

I should note, this was my dealers quick lane (first come first serve) service. That is what they told me to use if I was able to get it jumped.

 

[HeyBales]

You had to connect the jump starter to get life to the system.

But they tested the battery and said just fine?

Ya, a list of codes related to low 12V system isn't useful, so that's understandable.

But even if they mean there was a PCM fault and battery was actually fine - then why the PCM fault?!

Not exactly the module I'd like to have with potential to flake out and prevent the 12V system working correctly - or while driving flake out. Yikes.

 

[710-oil-614]

I agree also that OP has a battery issue base on what he said is happening. I have seen batteries go bad with an internal short. They go dead all of a sudden and will not take a charge and will cause the battery charger to over heat.

As far as the quality bashing here thats been going on since I have been reading MTC it seems to be nothing more than the bashers opinion. I have yet to read an explanation as to why these are crap batteries. I have had my current battery tested at the dealer and a shop that sells batteries and my own home tester and it passed as OK. If the charging system in my Maverick is not charging the battery fully when I drive it the battery is going to slowly get drained down. That is what is happening. A slow drain down. I throw the charger on it and it charges right back up and is good for 10 days.

Because many folks have dead battery issues like OP and when tested at the dealership they test as bad and are replaced - that would indicate a quality assurance issue with the batteries - likely going to cheapest/lowest bidder.

We've seen it with the CV axles in hybrids. Ford is build this to a price point and not a penny more.

They'd rather have parts fail and pay out warranty claims and recalls than pay more for parts they know won't fail.

 

[bcoo4]

You had to connect the jump starter to get life to the system.

But they tested the battery and said just fine?

Ya, a list of codes related to low 12V system isn't useful, so that's understandable.

But even if they mean there was a PCM fault and battery was actually fine - then why the PCM fault?!

Not exactly the module I'd like to have with potential to flake out and prevent the 12V system working correctly - or while driving flake out. Yikes.

They tested the battery which read as:

Good - Recharge.
Voltage: 12.24
Measured: 449 CCA
Rated: 540 CCA
Temp: 74 °F.
"Battery is good, but low on charge. Fully charge battery."

It then lists common things to check for low charge.

The issue was very odd to me. Upon opening the door this morning, my usual clicking noises was interrupt near the middle portion, and continuously looped that click over and over, even after shutting the key to the office position.

It kept looping until what I assume was the battery going out, no longer allowing the click process to complete, or even go through it's shut off sequence after exiting, w key out. Felt like a glitch of some sort imo. Especially since it did not stop clicking after turning key to off..

 

[Propane Burning Man]

Because many folks have dead battery issues like OP and when tested at the dealership they test as bad and are replaced - that would indicate a quality assurance issue with the batteries - likely going to cheapest/lowest bidder.

We've seen it with the CV axles in hybrids. Ford is build this to a price point and not a penny more.

They'd rather have parts fail and pay out warranty claims and recalls than pay more for parts they know won't fail.

You can ruin a perfectly good battery by draining it too low on a regular basis. A top quality FLA battery will sulfate and short out the plates if it is in a constant state of low charge. So a dead battery is not proof that it is a cheap battery. There is something more going on with this issue than a cheap battery. Too many Maverick owners have replaced their batteries only to have the problem return soon after. And I understand all the manufacturers will try to get the parts they need at the least amount. I think everyone agrees on that.

 

[710-oil-614]

Then why do so many of us have no issues at all? If it was a BMS or parasitic drain as the only issue we’d all be experiencing it.

Im sure it’s both but there’s no denying Ford builds everything they can for as cheap as possible regardless of how much they try to sell it for.

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