So, NO START this morning. What is it?

[HeyBales]

Good day

This an update to yesterdays post I made that I was going to carry out my monthly battery recharge followed by locking the truck up for a battery relearn process (you need to lock up your truck for 9-10 hours after fully recharging the 12 volt battery).

So I am sitting in my truck while my wife is in at her hair appt (listening to the Jays vs Rockies game on my phone) and am watching the voltage indicator I got for my birthday (what can I say, my wife got me what I wanted and I am a man of simple needs...mostly ;-)

I am impressed at the battery charge level indicated after 45 minutes engine off time.

It is currently sitting at 12.83 volts!

That is a well charged original 12 volt AGM battery, if you ask me.

I will continue my monthly charge and relearn cycles as the more I do it the more I see the positive effect it has in keeping my battery in its best possible condition.

Have a good one,

Andy

PS - The 12 volt power point on my truck just went out after exactly 70 minutes...interesting! I was expecting 90 minutes.

I thought I'd heard 60 min for the 25/26.
75 min for pre-25.
Ahhhh, those heady days are a long faded memory...

You might want to multimeter that port compared to the adapter reading.
Mine have always been off - the higher the V, the more elevated the reading.
My current good one reads 0.1 V higher at non-charging voltage.
0.2 V while charging.

And I've confirmed the V at the port matches the voltage at the battery - usually.
It also matches the OBD scanner PID for charging voltage.

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[SafetyGuy]

I thought I'd heard 60 min for the 25/26.
75 min for pre-25.
Ahhhh, those heady days are a long faded memory...

You might want to multimeter that port compared to the adapter reading.
Mine have always been off - the higher the V, the more elevated the reading.
My current good one reads 0.1 V higher at non-charging voltage.
0.2 V while charging.

And I've confirmed the V at the port matches the voltage at the battery - usually.
It also matches the OBD scanner PID for charging voltage.

Good point, after my ball game is over (in extra innings right now), I will go out and check to see if there is a voltage difference.

Andy

 

[SafetyGuy]

I thought I'd heard 60 min for the 25/26.
75 min for pre-25.
Ahhhh, those heady days are a long faded memory...

You might want to multimeter that port compared to the adapter reading.
Mine have always been off - the higher the V, the more elevated the reading.
My current good one reads 0.1 V higher at non-charging voltage.
0.2 V while charging.

And I've confirmed the V at the port matches the voltage at the battery - usually.
It also matches the OBD scanner PID for charging voltage.

Hello @HeyBales

So I just metered all of the 12 volt points that I could, a couple of times and here is what I found: Note that the power was turned off at all times while I was metering.

First, before opening the truck door, popping the bonnet etc and looking through the truck window,
-cigarette lighter port was at 12.53 volts
-12 volt port at right rear of box was 12.6 volts

1st value after opening everything up including bonnet, rear seat and driver door,
-12 volt battery @ 12.50
-cigarette port indicator @ 12.46
-rear 12 volt port @12.2

2nd test results
-12 volt battery @ 12.40
-cigarette port indicator @ 12.48
-cigarette port metered @ 12.41
-rear 12 volt port @ 12.2

So, there we go. I took a couple readings so I could compare. It isn't an exact science but still gives us a good idea what our batteries and charging systems are doing.

As well, the truck could still be doing stuff in the background while I did this so doing it twice seemed a good idea.

Cheers

Andy

 

[HeyBales]

Hello @HeyBales

So I just metered all of the 12 volt points that I could, a couple of times and here is what I found: Note that the power was turned off at all times while I was metering.

First, before opening the truck door, popping the bonnet etc and looking through the truck window,
-cigarette lighter port was at 12.53 volts
-12 volt port at right rear of box was 12.6 volts

1st value after opening everything up including bonnet, rear seat and driver door,
-12 volt battery @ 12.50
-cigarette port indicator @ 12.46
-rear 12 volt port @12.2

2nd test results
-12 volt battery @ 12.40
-cigarette port indicator @ 12.48
-cigarette port metered @ 12.41
-rear 12 volt port @ 12.2

So, there we go. I took a couple readings so I could compare. It isn't an exact science but still gives us a good idea what our batteries and charging systems are doing.

As well, the truck could still be doing stuff in the background while I did this so doing it twice seemed a good idea.

Cheers

Andy

Ok - anybody buy Andy's voltage reader.
not even going to mention mine.

 

[b25crew]

Maverick battery
I have noticed in the past the battery voltage was below 12V most of
the time when I get in to go somewhere. I have one of the
cheap ass voltage and temperature displays that plug into
the cig lighter. The thing does seem to be relatively accurate.
Checking against my Fluke the voltage was with in a 10th.
I also noticed when it was colder the charging voltage would
be at 15 which is a bit high but not too high.
Then I noticed that the auto start stop was disabled (not by me).
It said disabled due to charging. I don't do a lot of short trips
so this was concerning to me....

I have an old Duracell DRMC4A 4 Amp Battery Charger Maintainer.
I have used this thing on my Mustang with a more than 10
year old Optima battery that still seems to be hanging in there.

I figured what the hec - can't hurt anything (famous last words!)
and I put the Duracell DRMC4A on the Maverick and let it go.

It takes a while for all 4 indicators on the DRMC4A to stay
on. Once I left the charger on for a few days all of the indicators
were on. I noticed that the charging voltage hovers more around 14V
and below now. When I get in the voltage is above 12. I don't know
if this DRMC4A can get rid of some of the battery sulfides somehow or if
its is ALL IN MY IMAGINATION???

And of course the auto start stop is again enabling itself....
Just my 2 cents....

 

[SafetyGuy]

Maverick battery
I have noticed in the past the battery voltage was below 12V most of
the time when I get in to go somewhere. I have one of the
cheap ass voltage and temperature displays that plug into
the cig lighter. The thing does seem to be relatively accurate.
Checking against my Fluke the voltage was with in a 10th.
I also noticed when it was colder the charging voltage would
be at 15 which is a bit high but not too high.
Then I noticed that the auto start stop was disabled (not by me).
It said disabled due to charging. I don't do a lot of short trips
so this was concerning to me....

I have an old Duracell DRMC4A 4 Amp Battery Charger Maintainer.
I have used this thing on my Mustang with a more than 10
year old Optima battery that still seems to be hanging in there.

I figured what the hec - can't hurt anything (famous last words!)
and I put the Duracell DRMC4A on the Maverick and let it go.

It takes a while for all 4 indicators on the DRMC4A to stay on. Once I left the charger on for a few days all of the indicators
were on. I noticed that the charging voltage hovers more around 14V
and below now. When I get in the voltage is above 12. I don't know
if this DRMC4A can get rid of some of the battery sulfides somehow or if
its is ALL IN MY IMAGINATION???

And of course the auto start stop is again enabling itself....
Just my 2 cents....

Good day @b25crew

Lots to unpack in your post!

If your battery is usually below 12 volts, carry a booster pack just in case and check out local replacement battery costs if you suddenly need one...if you have warranty contact your dealer to see about a replacement.

Others here are more conversant on battery replacement requirements when they test them, then I.

Eco boost stop start-a number of eco owners state they disable their stop start due to the turbos need for constant cooling and stopping at lights and shutting off may be...sub-optimal for turbo life. Just passing on what I have read here, not an expert opinion. Many disable through programming via Forscan or something like that. Others just keep it on Sport Mode, or I think you can disable it every time you start through the menu.

If your truck is disabling your stop start, you definitely have a battery problem of some sort.

If you do change your battery and upgrade to an AGM, I recommend doing a full charge on your new battery, install the new battery and do a relearn procedure as I detailed in my post...9-10 hours of the truck locked up with a full battery so the truck can learn you have a new fully charged battery.

Your manual gives you the proper procedure on how to change the battery and how to do a battery relearn when a new battery is installed...or you will not charge it properly. Give it more time then the manual says-go with 9-10 hours undisturbed and locked up truck time.

Online it says it takes a long time to recondition an older battery, the worse it is the longer it takes. May be best to upgrade to a new AGM and put this one behind you.

Just because your little plug in indicator is inexpensive, you still seem to be getting very good indication of voltage. This is good.

Some info that may help with your post is needed.

What type of battery do you have in your ecoboost?

I am guessing a flooded lead acid battery but you could have an SLA or an AGM.

I looked up your charger and though you say it is old, it seems competent and says it is appropriate for Sealed Lead Acid batteries, AGM, GEL and last but not least, also Li batteries. Does not mention FLA batteries.

It has a de-sulphation capability.

All batteries are different in construction and also vary in their needs when charging!

From discussions in this forum I believe all our Mavericks are already programmed for charging AGM batteries, not FLA or SLA as charge profiles are very different.

This leads me to believe that other FLA/SLA batteries if they are used in our Mavericks will have their lives shortened.

AGM batteries can take a far higher charge then FLA/SLA batteries. This will contribute to their shortened life if installed.

Here is some of the info I found on your charger.

You stated that you see 15 amps when charging...it is my thought that this bears out your truck thinks it is charging an AGM battery.

If you do have a FLA/SLA battery in your truck, then this is slowly killing your battery due to too high of a charge voltage. They are more sensitive to the high voltage meant to charge an AGM battery!

Phew, sorry for the long post, but we had to cover a lot of ground!

Let us know if you have other questions,

Andy

 

[b25crew]

HOLY ISH DUDE - WOW you pulled a crap load of info on that charger...
Yeah I suspect the battery is on it way out...
It was / is an experiment - like I said this charger has kept the old and I mean old Optima battery
up to par. Granted the old Mustang does not get out of the garage in the cold and snow hardly ever. It was out in January for new tires but, that was out and back...

The notes you found stage desulfication - interesting ! I suspected as much because of the
"reviving" of my optima battery.

Anyway the battery in my 2.0 EB is (BAGM-48H6-760) and says AGM Tech.

Great info thank you.
The info on the charger where did you get that???
website?
app?

Thanks again!

tlp

 

[SafetyGuy]

HOLY ISH DUDE - WOW you pulled a crap load of info on that charger...
Yeah I suspect the battery is on it way out...
It was / is an experiment - like I said this charger has kept the old and I mean old Optima battery
up to par. Granted the old Mustang does not get out of the garage in the cold and snow hardly ever. It was out in January for new tires but, that was out and back...

The notes you found stage desulfication - interesting ! I suspected as much because of the
"reviving" of my optima battery.

Anyway the battery in my 2.0 EB is (BAGM-48H6-760) and says AGM Tech.

Great info thank you.
The info on the charger where did you get that???
website?
app?

Thanks again!

tlp

Of course it isn't a problem, just trying to help out another Maverick owner!

Here is where I found it on a Manual site. Copy and paste it onto your browser and you can see all the info they have. Interesting stuff, eh?


https://manuals.plus/asin/B0C46Z446K


So you have an AGM battery after all.

So here is my thought as to why these batteries are dying before their time.

That said, all newer vehicles seem to suffer from slow parasitic draw down...the cost of technology.

Ahem, my hypothesis...our trucks have never (since new, most likely) been properly trained in order for the truck to know what a full battery looks like.

Truck is manufactured, battery put in it, then driven a short distance and parked in a lot and locked. Truck retrains to a non full battery, charges to that level from that point forward.

Afrer an indeterminate time, Truck is driven a short distance and put onto a truck or train car and locked, battery is slowly draining down with insufficient charge time. Transported somewhere else and repeat.

This procedure continues till it gets to your dealer. Sits there a bit, never gets a full charge and keeps retraining to lower and lower battery charge levels when it is boosted and driven a short distance, test drive etc and locked...again.

It is bought and taken home...cue truck going to sleep/battery protection mode...and unhappy owners.

This situation is even worse when a truck has to sit at a dealer or is on a sale hold as the battery doesn't ever get charged up and the truck retrained to properly charge up!

Now, previous years many batteries were wet cell so the charge from the truck is set to AGM so that will hasten those batteries early demise....too high charge voltage values.

And this doesnt account for all the sudden parasitic drain events a comparatively few owner have. These are a different issues, work with your dealer if your truck has these other charge issues.

Okay, That is my thought anyways.

I recommend everyone uses a 4-5 minimum smart charger appropriate for their truck battery and charge the heck out of it and then do the truck lockup process and let the truck sit for 10 hours, As described in the manual and expanded on in earlier posts above.

Have a good one,

Andy

 

[Surly Old Bill]

Well that is a good bit of news! Always nice to not have a battery die on you when on the road.

Do you have one of these voltage indicators thst fits into the trucks cigarette lighter/12 volt port...?

I just got one from my wife for my birthday from Amazon and it works great.

I just did just did a battery charge cycle all day to day and doing a battery relearn right now, overnight.

Just a thought for you to see what your charging system is doing easily and cheaply.

Have a good one, and if you have another mystery battery dump, further investigation of a sudden parasitic drain may be in order.

Andy

my USB port device shows voltage.

Frankly, I'd rather be slapped in the face with an obvious reason for a battery to drain overnight. Now I'll have to be concerned that it could happen again at any time without warning.

 

[SafetyGuy]

my USB port device shows voltage.

Frankly, I'd rather be slapped in the face with an obvious reason for a battery to drain overnight. Now I'll have to be concerned that it could happen again at any time without warning.

Yes, that is a concern. I invested in a small battery boost years ago and I have used mine several times...to help others, but I have it if I need it!

Cheers,

Andy

 

[CurtisB]

going to a dealer and not having use of my vehicle for days/weeks is only an option of last resort.
I understand there are people who have no experience/skill with mechanical things and MUST go to a repair shop for even minor things, but I am not one of them. Or perhaps they have additional vehicles to use (I do, actually), or plenty of time on their hands (I don't). In my 50 years of vehicle ownership, I have learned to avoid dealership disservice centers if at all possible. Difficult and expensive issues like the torque converter on the Transit(not Connect) are one thing, but a bad battery or rattling dash is something completely different and not worth the lost time compared to the "savings" of warranty tinkering with almost always additional damage to the vehicle.

Maybe things are different outside of the cities, but that's how it goes here.

I follow the same rules you do! You can make up money lost, but you can never get back time lost.

 

[Darryl]

@Surly Old Bill
Although you don't need a lot of amps to start a hybrid, a load test on the battery may reveal if it has problems, and that you can get done for free at virtually any auto parts store that sells batteries.
The pre-25 MY hybrids have noted a TON of battery issues, so this situation is far from unique.

Many have resolved it with a better capacity AGM, and others with a BMS tweak to get the battery charged at a more appropriate level, or both of these remedies.

There was also a module that was implicated in a parasitic battery drain than apparently resolves the issue for most vehicles with that problem via a reset of the module.
I recall a thread that @Darryl commented on regarding this. Maybe he can chime in.

In any case, good luck.

My standard recommendation is to FULLY change and test the battery. Replace with an AGM if it's even borderline. Ford is finally replacing with AGM under warranty even if not originally equipped with an AGM battery. Perform a BMS reset. And if under warranty, reprogram the ACCM. If outside of warranty, perhaps see if the battery works. If problems persist, pay to have the update. That will likely fix the problem in 90+% of the cases.

 

[Cherokee]

Never had that problem with my Ecoboost

I keep watching the Hybrid threads, hoping to see these issues go away. I want to consider the hybrid in 2029 when I replace my problem free Ecoboost.
I think it would be fun to play with the hybrid and get the super mpg’s

I’m assuming I can get in a nice warm cab on those winter mornings by turning things on from inside the cabin with the key fob.

I’ll likely rent a 2029 for a week to see before I buy one.
Lots to watch, plenty of time for Ford to fix bugs like battery drainage.

 

[MaverRick]

It still blows my mind that Ford gave me a new battery even though my 3 year old original battery was still working problem free!

 

[Surly Old Bill]

It still blows my mind that Ford gave me a new battery even though my 3 year old original battery was still working problem free!

Disservice centers acting as agents for Ford (Ford doesn't own or operate dealerships) can often do things like this because it doesn't affect their profit margins, and may actually increase them, since FoMoCo reimburses them for the work they do on warranty. I'm sure there are eyes watching and a few stings happening to try to keep the disservice centers on the up-and-up, but replacing a battery isn't like saying an entire engine needs to be replaced for $8000...paid for by FoMoCo and not the dealership.

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