EB 2.0 battery replacement...

[Skyline]

Thx...
This part makes me wonder:

A message may appear in the information display to alert you that battery protection actions are active.This message is only for notification that an action is taking place, and not intended to indicate an electrical problem or that the battery requires replacement.

In the middle of the winter with a weak battery, how do you drive the Maverick with no climate system, heated windshield, driver seat and steering wheel? Especially, if the BMS disables the windshield wiper as well. But hey, the battery will be a OK, this is not "an electrical problem", right Ford?

This really started to look like a design flaw, starting with under sizing the battery and cascades from there on...

When they replaced the original standard battery with an AGM I was happy and thought that should fix the issue but less than a year later same problem. Who makes FoMoCo AGM batteries? Anyone know?

Johnson Controls used to, but it is now part of Clarios. They make batteries all over the world, and supply them to OEMs, repair shops, stores etc., under names of Interstate, Duralast, etc...

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[Skyline]

Friday cannot come fast enough, the charge level looks awful:

The ambient temperature is unseasonably warm today @65°F in two in the afternoon. Hopefully, it will start Friday morning for taking it to the dealer....

 

[KrayzieMav]

I've had my Mav (Lar Tremor if that makes a difference) since April and only put 900 miles on it so far, but have none of these issues. Just drove it a few miles today. I am going to buy a battery tester now and check my levels though just to see since I plan on taking it through snowy mountains this winter.

 

[Montana]

I have an oil change coming up this month so I'm going to test my battery. So far it's hasn't been anything like the Escape Hybrid I had but this system is clearly a terrible one. Hybrids are even worse. I don't even have the AGM in mine but I was planning on replacing it with one when it fails. Not so sure now. I've always gone with Interstate but those Everlast ones from Wal-Mart are pretty good from the videos I've seen, for the cost at least. Lots of good options and truth be told, I've have been neglecting monitoring mine because I'm sure it will end up in the same category as some of the reports here. Luckily the truck starts when I need it to at least - which is more than I can say about my previous Escape Hybrid.

I have a NOCO charger just in case - and just a PSA to everyone that uses those - make sure to check them twice a year as well and charge them. Especially in colder climates. Also not a bad idea to invest in an AGM charger if you don't have one.

 

[Skyline]

I've always gone with Interstate but those Everlast ones from Wal-Mart are pretty good from the videos I've seen, for the cost at least.

I hope you won't have to change the battery, but...

While most batteries are made by the same company, Clarios (also owns Johnson Controls), if I change my Maverick's battery, I'll go with EverStart Platinum from Wal-Mart:

https://tinyurl.com/m589863r

Price/performance wise, it's hard to beat and it's an AGM battery...

 

[Gschaef]

Question: Has anyone replaced the OEM battery with a Diehard, Everlast etc. and had that solve the issues noted in this thread? Or does the BSM cause problems regardless of the brand? I originally thought this was mostly limited to the hybrid but I am seeing more and more posts tied to the EB as well and I’m wondering how widespread this might be.

I no longer drive that much and it isn’t uncommon to have my vehicle sit for 4-5 days. And most of my trips are short. I have a 2024 EB ordered with a VIN issued but I’m not interested in any vehicle that might require a trickler be connected. But if the issue can be solved with a non OEM battery then I wouldn’t mind paying out of pocket to avoid these issues.

 

[Skyline]

Question: Has anyone replaced the OEM battery with a Diehard, Everlast etc. and had that solve the issues noted in this thread? Or does the BSM cause problems regardless of the brand? I originally thought this was mostly limited to the hybrid but I am seeing more and more posts tied to the EB as well and I’m wondering how widespread this might be.

I no longer drive that much and it isn’t uncommon to have my vehicle sit for 4-5 days. And most of my trips are short. I have a 2024 EB ordered with a VIN issued but I’m not interested in any vehicle that might require a trickler be connected. But if the issue can be solved with a non OEM battery then I wouldn’t mind paying out of pocket to avoid these issues.

Far from me to influence your decision, based on my and others experience with the EB 2.0 charging system and battery. You need to draw your own conclusion....

I've been doing research on my issue with battery and it isn't only the Maverick that has this issue. If you guessed that the other vehicle from Ford, the Ranger also have this issue you'd be right. Some of the Ranger owners permanently installed a battery tender/trickle charge for easy hookup:

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/thre...-charge-your-battery.22516/page-5#post-524915

Based on what the repair manual states, quote:

These refresh phases are required when the battery charge status is 80% over long periods of time, which increases the risk of sulfation in the battery cells.

It does give credibility to the claim, that the BMS does not allow charging the battery beyond 70 - 80% charge.

The other issue is the frequent battery calibration, quote:

The sensor automatically executes this calibration anytime the vehicle enters sleep mode and when the total vehicle current draw is below 300mA. It takes 4 to 6 hours in the sleep mode to calibrate the battery state of charge to high accuracy.

With the alarm system on the Maverick and the telemetry control module, the draw might be greater than 300mA, that prevent calibration of the battery.

The more I research this subject, the more I dislike it. In all fairness, this issue seems like across Ford's vehicle portfolio, or at least quite a few of them. I haven't looked at other car manufacturers to see, if they have similar issues. Prior to deciding to sell my Maverick, I'll certainly will look into the Honda Ridgeline. No reason to sell the Maverick, if it has similar issues.

 

[dano0726]

Wife’s Bronco Sport Badlands (2.0L) battery died - with no real advanced warning - at about 31K miles…

I changed it out in the Costco parking lot with a brand new Interstate AGM replacement (not about to get it towed to the Ford dealership for another OEM)

There’s a real good YouTube video that I followed while out in the August sun (over 100 degrees here in Houston)…

 

[Gschaef]

Far from me to influence your decision, based on my and others experience with the EB 2.0 charging system and battery. You need to draw your own conclusion....

I've been doing research on my issue with battery and it isn't only the Maverick that has this issue. If you guessed that the other vehicle from Ford, the Ranger also have this issue you'd be right. Some of the Ranger owners permanently installed a battery tender/trickle charge for easy hookup:

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/thre...-charge-your-battery.22516/page-5#post-524915

Based on what the repair manual states, quote:



It does give credibility to the claim, that the BMS does not allow charging the battery beyond 70 - 80% charge.

The other issue is the frequent battery calibration, quote:


With the alarm system on the Maverick and the telemetry control module, the draw might be greater than 300mA, that prevent calibration of the battery.

The more I research this subject, the more I dislike it. In all fairness, this issue seems like across Ford's vehicle portfolio, or at least quite a few of them. I haven't looked at other car manufacturers to see, if they have similar issues. Prior to deciding to sell my Maverick, I'll certainly will look into the Honda Ridgeline. No reason to sell the Maverick, if it has similar issues.

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply and for all the great info. I did some research on the Ranger but did not come across the thread you provided. Sounds like the problem is even more widespread with that model and I didn’t realize Forscan was a possible solution.

I had a Maverick hybrid and the battery issues made me feel like I was the truck’s babysitter rather than the owner and I got rid of it. But I do like a lot about the truck and thought ordering an EB might be the alternative. I realize there is no guarantee but seeing all these posts on this and now the Ranger site are making me wonder. From what I have seen so far, the Hondas do not have this same issue. I like the body style of the Maverick but these issues have me leaning towards the Ridgeline. I would rather pay more and get better quality and reliability. Thanks again for your feedback.

 

[Skyline]

From what I have seen so far, the Hondas do not have this same issue. I like the body style of the Maverick but these issues have me leaning towards the Ridgeline. I would rather pay more and get better quality and reliability. Thanks again for your feedback.

I haven't seen battery/charging system issues with the Ridgeline in its forums, but it is not a new model, like the Maverick. Stating that the RL is "better quality and reliability" isn't too far fetched. On the other hand, it is ~30% more expensive than the Maverick, there is that. I was couple of weeks away from purchasing a Ridgeline, since gave Ford a year to deliver my Maverick and they did that beginning of this year. In retrospect, maybe it would had been better, if Ford did not deliver... albeit my wallet would be a lot lighter in that case...

It's not hard to like the Maverick and I do, but need to resolve this issue with the battery/charging system. I don't believe, that this is related just to the battery, based on other postings in this thread, who already replaced the battery under warranty and the issue returned within a year or so. Would the third-party battery replacement resolve this issue? I have some doubt when looking at the charging system as a whole:

The Power Control Module (PCM) controls the output of the alternator, based on the engine efficiency and may lower/disable alternator output to shed its load on the engine. For example, the alternator charging is disabled during cranking/starting the engine. The ABS sensor is used by the PCM to monitor vehicle speed and adjust the charging system voltage level. If this charging system has an issue, like mine and others in this thread, it doesn't matter if the battery is OEM, or from a third party in my view.

 

[B2000]

Very interesting video. From what that guy says my trips of 15-30 minutes may not be enough to charge my battery even if I drive every day because of the electrical demands of the vehicle and the charging limits established by Ford. That may be what my service advisor was trying to get at although he did not provide anything close to the info in the video nor did he ever call me back.

He said my state of charge was only 56% when I took it in. Obviously start/stop will not work at that level but if it gets any lower when the weather gets cold I don't know if starting will be a problem or if other features will shut down. Of course I can hook up a battery tender but that seems like kind of a pain for a vehicle that is regularly driven. Even worse would be driving unnecessary miles just to charge my battery- that kind of goes against all of the stuff we are doing to increase efficiency and mpg.

I may hook up a cheap battery monitor and see what that tells me- looks like there are some for under $30 that hook up to an app on your phone.

Over the weekend I hooked up a Battery Tender harness and charged the battery using a BT Junior which is all I have. I have one on the car I drive rarely and one on my motorcycle. The BT Junior only charges at 750 mA so it took overnight but I had the green light on the BT the next day.

Hooked up my cheap battery monitor from Amazon and it read 100% and 13.13 volts. After a couple of hours it had dropped to 90% and by the end of the day was down about 25% but still showing good. I only opened the door once (which kicks on a bunch of lights) and disconnected my Motorola wireless dongle.

Sunday I started the truck and the battery monitor said my cranking voltage was good- over 9 volts- and also the charging system was good. Today it is still at 70% (12.61 volts) and the truck has not been driven since Friday.

I have not had any issues starting it and have gotten no battery warnings but it still does not seem right a 7 month old AGM battery would lose 25% power in a day. Temp in the garage is 50-60.

If the guy in the youtube video is correct about the truck limiting charge to 80% and start stop does not work below 70% that is pretty stupid. When the dealer charged my battery they said it got to 87%- don't know if they hit a limit or if they just ran out of time- even though they had my truck all day.

I will leave the harness on it and I put an extension on the harness. Because of the shutters behind the grill there aren't a lot of options for running the cable except where the hood closes on the driver side. I would like to avoid having to open the hood every time so that will probably work- there is a pretty good gap there.

 

[bgn]

I hope folks under warranty choose to get a new battery from Ford rather than spend $200-300 of their hard earned money. I'll be going in for a 3rd battery in less than 2 years whenever I have time. I'm going to get my money's worth. At retail, that's something like $600-750 in batteries.

Who knows, they may even call me out in their recall costs on their next earnings call with how many times my friends at the dealer have seen me.

 

[B2000]

I hope folks under warranty choose to get a new battery from Ford rather than spend $200-300 of their hard earned money. I'll be going in for a 3rd battery in less than 2 years whenever I have time. I'm going to get my money's worth. At retail, that's something like $600-750 in batteries.

Who knows, they may even call me out in their recall costs on their next earnings call with how many times my friends at the dealer have seen me.

I'm going to monitor my situation for a couple of weeks and then decide if I need to contact the Service Manager since the Advisor never called me back. At some point I may press them for a replacement.

When I got the survey from Ford about my appointment I did not give them a good score and then I got a follow up email asking if anyone ever contacted me from the dealer. Nope.

 

[bgn]

I'm going to monitor my situation for a couple of weeks and then decide if I need to contact the Service Manager since the Advisor never called me back. At some point I may press them for a replacement.

When I got the survey from Ford about my appointment I did not give them a good score and then I got a follow up email asking if anyone ever contacted me from the dealer. Nope.

Good idea. I charged mine both going through the BMS and without it with a 12v charger. Will not hold more than 65-70% according to Forscan.

 

[Skyline]

Good idea. I charged mine both going through the BMS and without it with a 12v charger. Will not hold more than 65-70% according to Forscan.

Through the BMS, it will not charge beyond whatever is set in ForeScan, probably 65-75%. If the charger bypasses the BMS, you won't see that in ForeScan, that read the values from the sensors/modules for awhile:

If the charger was improperly installed , the Electrical Energy Management system calibrates the
battery state of charge after about 8 hours*.

NOTE: Any devices left attached to the power socket that draw in excess of 200mA (or less depending on other
battery loads) , prevents a battery monitoring sensor from calibrating the battery state of charge.

NOTICE: If the charger is incorrectly connected to the battery negative terminal, DO NOT reset the battery
monitoring system using the diagnostic scan tool. This reset is reserved for new battery installation only.

*-Why would the system need eight hours to calibrate the battery state of charge is beyond me. Especially, when a small battery tester can do that in less than a minute, that includes opening the hood...

You can fully charge the battery by bypassing the BMS, but give it time until the battery is calibrated. Theoretically, the truck's charging system could overcharge the battery in that case, without calibration, but it's doubtful.

I'll be damned, if I install a battery tender/trickle charger. Less than a year old and need to do that to keep the battery happy? NFW... I'd rather sell it in the spring and buy a Ridgliner that does not have similar issues.

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