Ford Not My Favorite Today

[commadorebob]

I bring this up here because the Maverick has the same stupid design.

Start rant....
My son's 2020 Escape still had its OEM battery. It needed to be replaced because even after leaving it on a charger to 100%, I would get the "battery saver" message immediately after he turned his Escape off. So, I took it down to the local auto parts store and bought a new AGM for it.

To whoever at Ford thought that replacing a battery must involve taking out the entire air filter housing.... I hope you are no longer employed. Have you ever seen a vehicle before designing that? The battery is a consumable and should always be easy to swap out. Given that the AGM in an of itself weighs 100 pounds, why are you adding additional steps to get it out?

Seriously, there is almost a foot of free space behind the battery. If you would have moved it back two inches, no one would have to remove anything but the battery to get it out.

...End rant.

Fortunately, the Expedition is, as my daughter calls it, "a truck with a roof" and it appears to be built like one with the battery front and center with nothing but the bracket holding it down. But I guess I need to keep in mind what it took to swap out the battery in the Escape when my Maverick inevitably needs a new one.

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[Pointyears]

I bring this up here because the Maverick has the same stupid design.

Start rant....
My son's 2020 Escape still had its OEM battery. It needed to be replaced because even after leaving it on a charger to 100%, I would get the "battery saver" message immediately after he turned his Escape off. So, I took it down to the local auto parts store and bought a new AGM for it.
[...]

When I bought a replacement for my Escape, the battery place said that Escapes didn't qualify forr the free install with purchase. Go figure.
If you haven't installed it yet, there are some good youtube videos to show easier ways.

Luckily, the Mav hybrid's 12v is under the rear seat.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

I bring this up here because the Maverick has the same stupid design.

Start rant....
My son's 2020 Escape still had its OEM battery. It needed to be replaced because even after leaving it on a charger to 100%, I would get the "battery saver" message immediately after he turned his Escape off. So, I took it down to the local auto parts store and bought a new AGM for it.

To whoever at Ford thought that replacing a battery must involve taking out the entire air filter housing.... I hope you are no longer employed. Have you ever seen a vehicle before designing that? The battery is a consumable and should always be easy to swap out. Given that the AGM in an of itself weighs 100 pounds, why are you adding additional steps to get it out?

Seriously, there is almost a foot of free space behind the battery. If you would have moved it back two inches, no one would have to remove anything but the battery to get it out.

...End rant.

Fortunately, the Expedition is, as my daughter calls it, "a truck with a roof" and it appears to be built like one with the battery front and center with nothing but the bracket holding it down. But I guess I need to keep in mind what it took to swap out the battery in the Escape when my Maverick inevitably needs a new one.

Agreed, Sucky design.
I replaced my wife's 2016 Escape's twice. I have found, removing the air filter box easier than trying to remove the cowling.
For those not familiar. That's the battery tucked snugly underneath the cowling.

 

[commadorebob]

When I bought a replacement for my Escape, the battery place said that Escapes didn't qualify forr the free install with purchase. Go figure.
If you haven't installed it yet, there are some good youtube videos to show easier ways.

Luckily, the Mav hybrid's 12v is under the rear seat.

Oh, I got it replaced. Fortunately, the air filter assembly is only held down by faith and dreams....

 

[commadorebob]

Agreed, Sucky design.
I replaced my wife's 2016 Escape's twice. I have found, removing the air filter box easier than trying to remove the cowling.
For those not familiar. That's the battery is tucked snugly underneath the cowling.

My dad's 2018 Escape is the same. The 2022 Explorer also had its battery buried up underneath the cowling. Fortunately, never needed to replace it.

 

[zen_]

That does look pretty annoying, but I would probably be more concerned about having to remove a wire harness clip and what look like plastic clips on the bottom of the filter housing than the time (unless it was an emergency battery replacement in terrible weather). It's a dumb design for sure, but those plastic parks inevitably get brittle and break too being removed multiple times during the service life of a vehicle.

German vehicles (Audi and BMW for sure) are notorious for almost comedic lack of thought into access for common repairs and faults, although it seems like cars that used to be good (like Toyota) are also going in the wrong direction too. Ford seems somewhere in the middle with some good, some bad.

 

[Pointyears]

German vehicles (Audi and BMW for sure) are notorious for almost comedic lack of thought into access for common repairs and faults

I have a Mercedes Sprinter diesel who has its 12v underneath a panel under the driver's floor mat. I'm scared to even look at that.

 

[1929]

Luckily, the Mav hybrid's 12v is under the rear seat.

Is the battery box ventilated?

Not a fan of battery inside the passenger compartment.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

Is the battery box ventilated?

Not a fan of battery inside the passenger compartment.

Kind of.
The battery is vented via a vent tube.

And there is this outflow vent behind the backseat.

 

[Backin15]

I had a Sebring, the battery was in the fender and required wheel and fender liner removal to replace it. A month after replacement the new battery failed, Batteries + refused to take it back because I didn't have my paper copy of the receipt.
My Grand Cherokee has the battery under the passenger seat, that wasn't a fun one to change either.

 

[Propane Burning Man]

My Transit has 2 AGM batteries under the driver seat which must be removed to replace the batteries. The good news is that the original batteries are still going strong after 11 years. But replacement will take place at some point. I already have the big star socket needed to take out the bolts holding the seat in place.

 

[First Sergeant]

Friend had a Cadillac CTS that needed new headlight bulb. I can't remember if it was the fender or fender liner, all had to come out and even then it was a huge hassle, time consuming! He had the dealer do it, total was close to $375 bucks. MIT engineer gradutes?

 

[REDRUM]

My 99 Ranger headlights lasted 15 years. Had to remove the battery to change drivers side headlight bulb.
We have 2 of those Escapes.
Mine 2014
Wife's 2017.
Let the dealer change it. They did the airbox method.

 

[bgn]

The design is a head scratcher. I'd say it's made to generate revenue for the dealers so they can charge you $300 for a battery and $50 for installation, but everything else is fairly easily serviceable on these things so I don't know that that makes much sense.

 

[Carlitos_92]

I took the battery out to get more working area at the firewall grommet. It was not a big deal. I would not expect to replace the battery completely more often than every 3 years or more.

Taking out the airbox makes it easier to do a few other things under the hood as well. At this point removing it is routine.

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