2024 having 12v low voltage battery issues with my Hybrid...

[Waterick]

Because of the posts here I bought a voltmeter that plugs into the cigarette lighter socket. It's very consistent and gives me peace of mind.

The problem with that is: that socket does not power up until you turn on the ignition or at least the accessory power. Then the 12v battery is getting power from the inverter. You need to be able to get a reading before even opening a door to get a good indication, if possible.

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[Maverick2022XL]

Bought my Maverick in May in July I noticed that my interior dome lights were not coming on and from all the battery post on here that I've read I knew the 12v battery was in a low voltage state and the truck was disabling certain circuits. So I checked it and it was a 11.5v... Got out my old ass battery charger and in about 4 hours it was charged up to 12.8v... Fast forward to today opened the door and once again I noticed no dome lights, so I checked the voltage at the battery and it was 11.7v.. So obviously the trucks charging system is not keeping the main battery charged up, we drive it pretty much every day have around 5k on it now that works out to around 1000 mile per month or close to 240 per week give or take.. So when the POS Ford Pass app tells you to drive the truck more... How many more does one need to drive it to keep the battery happy...
Anyway my real question is how does going to a AGM really help if the trucks charging parameters are still the same.. The difference between a flooded and AGM's voltage state of charge are very close the AGM is only a few tenths higher??

To the original question. AGM will charge quicker and discharge slower. It won't help but it will have to charge it differently since AGM is not as tolerant to higher charging voltages. That is where the BCM in conjunction with the BMS regulates the smart charging system for the battery type installed.

 

[Matso]

I feel your pain and all I can say is good luck. I've been dealing with the same issue for about 3 months now in my '24 Lariat hybrid. 12v reading 11.5-11.7v every morning before driving. Battery saver mode is a daily occurrence, Ford Pass app is useless for remote functions. The dealer had it for over a week and they came up empty. Battery tests good and no parasitic draw detected. My service advisor is in contact with the Ford service engineer weekly and I still do not have a solution. They are clearly not interested in utilizing further resources to address this problem. As long as it starts, they're fine letting this ride.

 

[FredFein]

'24 Hybrid. I drive maybe 5 miles a day. I constantly get a message on my phone telling me my Maverick has disabled remote services to conserve energy (or something like that). Never a problem starting, don't notice any issue with lights, etc .... but I do hear this Maverick making click noises a lot when it's just sitting there. Is this an issue ?

 

[Darnon]

Yes and thanks been there already my question is how does just going to a AGM solve the issue?
If the trucks not able to charge a flooded battery then how is it supposed to charge a AGM…..

Because it's not a charging issue, but a battery issue.

The battery may even test fine, but if you actually put a light load on them for a few minutes they substantially drop voltage. There are also some circumstances where the Telemetry module can be too active when shut off which exacerbates the issue.

 

[CD_SM]

'24 Hybrid. I drive maybe 5 miles a day. I constantly get a message on my phone telling me my Maverick has disabled remote services to conserve energy (or something like that). Never a problem starting, don't notice any issue with lights, etc .... but I do hear this Maverick making click noises a lot when it's just sitting there. Is this an issue ?

The clicking is totally normal (if slightly disconcerting at first).
If you're driving only 5 miles a day, you're probably on electric for much of the drive. Depending on a few other factors, the truck probably won't charge the 12v much if at all while in electric mode.
You might try driving it in Sport mode once every couple days to force the ICE to run more. Or try taking an occasional longer drive, with some higher speeds, again so the ICE gets the HVB to a higher state of charge. That should make the truck more willing to charge the 12v since it's not worrying about the HVB.
The whole charging thing is complex and computer driven and is trying to solve a bunch of things simultaneously. Like most software, it sometimes makes mistakes (or more charitably has sub-optimal results for one of the goals).

 

[HeyBales]

Because of the posts here I bought a voltmeter that plugs into the cigarette lighter socket. It's very consistent and gives me peace of mind.

Have you tested it against a multi-meter from the plug?
Mine reads 0.2 higher than MM or PID for it. Just started using it.

That 0.2 makes a difference. This morning was 11.8.
Initially thought in good range though bottom.
Then started truck and saw 15.0 and realized no it was 11.6, under good range, no wonder it's maxing out the charging at 14.8.

 

[HeyBales]

The clicking is totally normal (if slightly disconcerting at first).
If you're driving only 5 miles a day, you're probably on electric for much of the drive. Depending on a few other factors, the truck probably won't charge the 12v much if at all while in electric mode.
You might try driving it in Sport mode once every couple days to force the ICE to run more. Or try taking an occasional longer drive, with some higher speeds, again so the ICE gets the HVB to a higher state of charge. That should make the truck more willing to charge the 12v since it's not worrying about the HVB.
The whole charging thing is complex and computer driven and is trying to solve a bunch of things simultaneously. Like most software, it sometimes makes mistakes (or more charitably has sub-optimal results for one of the goals).

Sadly looking at the PIDS for amps and volts to the car battery - engine on or off or longer drives doesn't matter.
Nor does the ever fluctuating level of the HVB SOC matter.

It's what it thinks the SOC of the car battery is - if around 65% or high volts, mine doesn't give much charge to the battery at all. Doesn't matter what else is going on.
If it's low it does, again doesn't matter the state of anything else.
So if the SOC is off the whole system is off for what it's going to do.

That full charge, reset BMS, and sit overnight, then recharge - seems to be best.

Probably because SOC% is not an accurate thing - better on lithium-ion batteries though.

 

[HeyBales]

The problem with that is: that socket does not power up until you turn on the ignition or at least the accessory power. Then the 12v battery is getting power from the inverter. You need to be able to get a reading before even opening a door to get a good indication, if possible.

Accessory level doesn't seem to click that connection to the HVB yet.
Key On does.
I've measured accurate from the power socket with multi-meter, same as battery - down in the 12V range Acc mode, 14V On mode.
You can watch the PIDs for HVB and car battery from a scan tool.

To the point of door open - Lariat trim matters for that and the extra things being done for push button start, compared to XL/XLT trims without it.
The info screen on is minor when you open the door.
You can get in, close door, and wait for that to turn back off, if measuring from battery.
But even a quick reading from the socket isn't going to cause a huge battery drain with Key to Accessory.

 

[RevHart]

I feel your pain and all I can say is good luck. I've been dealing with the same issue for about 3 months now in my '24 Lariat hybrid. 12v reading 11.5-11.7v every morning before driving. Battery saver mode is a daily occurrence, Ford Pass app is useless for remote functions. The dealer had it for over a week and they came up empty. Battery tests good and no parasitic draw detected. My service advisor is in contact with the Ford service engineer weekly and I still do not have a solution. They are clearly not interested in utilizing further resources to address this problem. As long as it starts, they're fine letting this ride.

My 24 hybrid was doing the same thing. I kept getting the message, "remote feature disabled to preserve battery". I would open the door and have no dome lights, but then the key fob wouldn't work and the battery was dead. That happened twice. The first time they replaced the battery, but three days later it was dead again. This last time they did something called a battery stratification and seemed to have done the trick. Hopefully, it's fixed.

 

[MaveRichard]

I started to get "remote services disabled" warnings first when I was parked overnight in more remote locations. Searching for a network connection drained the battery enough and the warning was issued at or about 40% SOC of the 12v battery.

I had been watching it fall/fail for months and figured it was only a matter of time before I experienced more severe issues and it left me stranded.

Because of this I took it to my local dealer and it failed a load test - replaced under warranty.

FMC-BXT-99RT4-A was the only part number that Ford has for the hybrid, so that is what they replaced it with.

Interestingly, when I got the truck back the state of charge was only 65% but has slowly worked its way up to 75%. Unless I change something with Forscan, I expect that this battery will last another 18 months. At this point I will have it replaced again, or swap in an AGM if I am going to keep the truck.

The truck is trying to charge an AGM battery where there is a flooded battery.

Edit to add: I charged the battery last night, reset the BMS, then let it sit for 8+ hours. This morning the battery was at 94% SOC (highest I have ever seen) and did not fall at all during my 30 minute commute. I will continue to monitor…

 

[AVC]

There may be a service feature to "relearn" the charge characteristics of the either battery, typically used when a battery is replaced, but can be done if the battery condition wasn't learned correctly from the start. Many modern battery management systems monitor net energy (current over time) coming and going to determine charge level, rather than simplistically monitoring voltage levels.

 

[CD_SM]

Sadly looking at the PIDS for amps and volts to the car battery - engine on or off or longer drives doesn't matter.
Nor does the ever fluctuating level of the HVB SOC matter.

It's what it thinks the SOC of the car battery is - if around 65% or high volts, mine doesn't give much charge to the battery at all. Doesn't matter what else is going on.
If it's low it does, again doesn't matter the state of anything else.
So if the SOC is off the whole system is off for what it's going to do.

That full charge, reset BMS, and sit overnight, then recharge - seems to be best.

Probably because SOC% is not an accurate thing - better on lithium-ion batteries though.

What I am saying is the truck's computer is probably *choosing* not to charge the 12v battery high enough during the OP' short trips, based many factors beyond the 12 SOC - in particular the SOC of the HVB, which is itself affected by a myriad of factors. Now, those other factors are probably important too, for other reasons (e.g. the longevity of the HVB, or fuel efficiency).
To say it a little differently, in a Maverick hybrid, charging the 12v is not constant like in a normal ICE car - it is an active decision by the truck's computer, and sometimes that decision isn't good WRT the 12v system. The OP's driving habits just happen to often let the truck make a bad decision.

 

[HeyBales]

What I am saying is the truck's computer is probably *choosing* not to charge the 12v battery high enough during the OP' short trips, based many factors beyond the 12 SOC - in particular the SOC of the HVB, which is itself affected by a myriad of factors. Now, those other factors are probably important too, for other reasons (e.g. the longevity of the HVB, or fuel efficiency).
To say it a little differently, in a Maverick hybrid, charging the 12v is not constant like in a normal ICE car - it is an active decision by the truck's computer, and sometimes that decision isn't good WRT the 12v system. The OP's driving habits just happen to often let the truck make a bad decision.

Ya - I've not seen that in the scan gauges.
Nothing else matters.
The HVB SOC is constantly going from 30-70%, for me usually 30-50%.
Perhaps if you could possibly get HVB SOC to hang around 30% without the engine coming on some how, then it might matter, but even at 35% it'll charge a low car battery.
The engine just needs to come on to recharge the HVB after all when 30% finally hit sitting.

ETA: I'd bet OP's truck battery getting to same 65%.

 

[HSBII]

Thanks for all the great info…
If I understand this correctly the AGM can better handle being in a low state of charge and recover slightly faster than a Flooded battery.
This to me just means that it might last a little longer before it take a shit as well..
Without a way of other than an outside charging device (IE a battery charger) as others have done to there trucks there is no way we’re going to keep the battery at a good SOC…
Its apparent that Ford is not doing anything to correct this issue as it’s been going on for 3 years now… I know some have changed the charge parameters with Forscan but that is just another band-aide just like adding a remote changing system…
It appears to me we have a fake plug in hybrid… Not one that plugs in to recharge the hybrid battery but one that needs to recharge the 12v battery…

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