So, NO START this morning. What is it?

[Surly Old Bill]

My truck is new enough that there shouldn't be any problems. There haven't been any problems.

Out of the blue:
This morning I go to start it and I get a bunch of error messages on the dash, everything from front camera to traction assist and everything else. I check the 12v battery and it says 11.8vdc. I jump it with a jumpstarter and the engine turns on, so I assumed it was all to do with a low battery for some reason (Ford factory batteries don't have the best reputation, but I think there would be some previous warnings that it was going bad). The dash lights stay lit, including check engine, I get the "service soon" message.

I assumed this was because of a low battery and this stuff would clear itself after idling a while. Nope, I pull out of the driveway and am in "limp home mode".

WTF?

Has anyone dealt with this? Hopefully I don't have to go to a disservice center and leave it there for weeks until they get around to it.

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[HeyBales]

Doesn't seem low enough - mine is living below that morning after morning - no complaints except max battery saver functions enabled.
No hidden or pending DTC's either.

You could at least limp to close car parts place - who will usually do a code read in the hopes they can sell you something.
They aren't supposed to do code clear though, understandably.

But at least gives a clue as to what is current, what is history, what is pending.
Could be after a few starts some will drop off, along with whatever is the reason to limp you.

 

[Surly Old Bill]

I went out to swap places with my Transit(not Connect) behind the driveway gates so I could tinker with the Mav. NOW it isn't in LHM, the xmas tree of warnings stopped, but the CEL is still on. I have Torque app, so I'll scan it to see what's up, but the app and OBD dongle have had a hard time connecting lately, so that's another can of worms.

I am currently charging the 12v battery in place, and the auto charger is running at 16 amps, which is usually a sign of a very low battery. I'm going to guess that the Ford battery died a sudden death instead of a slow failure getting worse over the matter of weeks.

 

[HeyBales]

I went out to swap places with my Transit(not Connect) behind the driveway gates so I could tinker with the Mav. NOW it isn't in LHM, the xmas tree of warnings stopped, but the CEL is still on. I have Torque app, so I'll scan it to see what's up, but the app and OBD dongle have had a hard time connecting lately, so that's another can of worms.

I am currently charging the 12v battery in place, and the auto charger is running at 16 amps, which is usually a sign of a very low battery. I'm going to guess that the Ford battery died a sudden death instead of a slow failure getting worse over the matter of weeks.

True too - heavy drain, went too low, things flagged, things turned off - and it recovered back up to 11.8. But was much lower before whatever saved it.
But DTC's already set.

 

[SafetyGuy]

Good day, Surly

I am of the mind it is your battery as well and would also guess you may have a cell gone.

I haven't run onto any of this myself, but have read other threads here with similar experiences where it was the battery as the root cause.

It is on warranty, so I suggest that you take advantage of them and if there is anything else that is wrong, you will know in short order..

...or pickup and drop in a new AGM if your battery testing shows that is the appropriate next step.

Please let us know the end result. I am fairly certain you already will keep us up to date but it doesn't hurt to say it out loud again!

;-)

I hope this is a quick fix,

Andy

 

[Surly Old Bill]

Good day, Surly

I am of the mind it is your battery as well and would also guess you may have a cell gone.

I haven't run onto any of this myself, but have read other threads here with similar experiences where it was the battery as the root cause.

It is on warranty, so I suggest that you take advantage of them and if there is anything else that is wrong, you will know in short order..

...or pickup and drop in a new AGM if your battery testing shows that is the appropriate next step.

Please let us know the end result. I am fairly certain you already will keep us up to date but it doesn't hurt to say it out loud again!

;-)

I hope this is a quick fix,

Andy

Thanks.
After running my charger for a while, the voltage is at 12.8vdc after disconnecting charger for 10 minutes. Voltage isn't CCA, so the battery may indeed be toast, but at that VDC all the cells are functional, enough to hold voltage above 10vdc (one cell dead).

As for going to a disservice center and leaving my pickup for a few days or weeks just to get a free battery, no thanks. That has been my experience 100% of the time I've had warranty problems with any vehicle; they have you leave it days/weeks before they even have the time scheduled to look at it. I'll pony up the $200 for a new AGM elsewhere rather than go without my pickup for that long. I can always pull the battery and have it tested at an autoshop to see if it's ok or not, but I suspect it's gone bad, as so many other Ford OEM batteries have. I got a whole year and 20k miles out of it, though.

 

[SafetyGuy]

Thanks.
After running my charger for a while, the voltage is at 12.8vdc after disconnecting charger for 10 minutes. Voltage isn't CCA, so the battery may indeed be toast, but at that VDC all the cells are functional, enough to hold voltage above 10vdc (one cell dead).

As for going to a disservice center and leaving my pickup for a few days or weeks just to get a free battery, no thanks. That has been my experience 100% of the time I've had warranty problems with any vehicle; they have you leave it days/weeks before they even have the time scheduled to look at it. I'll pony up the $200 for a new AGM elsewhere rather than go without my pickup for that long. I can always pull the battery and have it tested at an autoshop to see if it's ok or not, but I suspect it's gone bad, as so many other Ford OEM batteries have. I got a whole year and 20k miles out of it, though.

Thinking about it further, have you checked to make sure your battery cables are securely tightened at the battery end?

A bad connection at the battery will definitely make problems such as this as well.

Just another thought.

Cheers,

Andy

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

Thanks.
After running my charger for a while, the voltage is at 12.8vdc after disconnecting charger for 10 minutes. Voltage isn't CCA, so the battery may indeed be toast, but at that VDC all the cells are functional, enough to hold voltage above 10vdc (one cell dead).

As for going to a disservice center and leaving my pickup for a few days or weeks just to get a free battery, no thanks. That has been my experience 100% of the time I've had warranty problems with any vehicle; they have you leave it days/weeks before they even have the time scheduled to look at it. I'll pony up the $200 for a new AGM elsewhere rather than go without my pickup for that long. I can always pull the battery and have it tested at an autoshop to see if it's ok or not, but I suspect it's gone bad, as so many other Ford OEM batteries have. I got a whole year and 20k miles out of it, though.

The hybrid is different than a traditional vehicle.

It needs high VOLTAGE to start. Not high amps (CCA).

I started my hybrid the other day with a camcorder battery. No joke. And it drained the deck of cards sized battery only 3%.

It is your 12v battery reading too low on voltage. I would almost bet the ranch on it.

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

An interesting concept just came to me.
What IF we installed a "step up" boost converter to our stock batteries? Say boost it 2 volts from where it sits?

Wouldn't our crappy stock batteries last 10 years (or more?)? The truck only needs single to maybe double digits for amperage.

 

[Finnster]

As for going to a disservice center and leaving my pickup for a few days or weeks just to get a free battery, no thanks. That has been my experience 100% of the time I've had warranty problems with any vehicle; they have you leave it days/weeks before they even have the time scheduled to look at it. I'll pony up the $200 for a new AGM elsewhere rather than go without my pickup for that long. I can always pull the battery and have it tested at an autoshop to see if it's ok or not, but I suspect it's gone bad, as so many other Ford OEM batteries have. I got a whole year and 20k miles out of it, though.

Do you have more than one local dealer? You could call them and ask "How long"!
I don't expect you to do this, I'm not sure I'd bother myself!

 

[Surly Old Bill]

The hybrid is different than a traditional vehicle.

It needs high VOLTAGE to start. Not high amps (CCA).

I started my hybrid the other day with a camcorder battery. No joke. And it drained the deck of cards sized battery only 3%.

It is your 12v battery reading too low on voltage. I would almost bet the ranch on it.

Yeah, previous experience with Ford OEM batteries makes me 90% sure that it's done after a year of use. I'll get a new H5 AGM battery, likely Interstate, I've never had a bad one of those. I've never found the voltage to be better from a boutique battery brand, so I'm not interested in an Optima or Odyssey (I also don't buy Snap-On wrenches). Luckily I'm headed to Oregon in a couple days, so I can skip sales tax and save $20. I'll have my jumpstarter and even a spare too-big-to-fit battery with me so I don't get stuck somewhere on the way.

The mystery is the sudden drop in voltage. I didn't leave any doors open or things on, I just parked it like I always do. To me, that suggests it's the battery itself. I'm going to drive it to go someplace for a run, and I'll check the voltage tonight and then again in the morning to compare.

 

[Johnkn]

My truck is new enough that there shouldn't be any problems. There haven't been any problems.

Out of the blue:
This morning I go to start it and I get a bunch of error messages on the dash, everything from front camera to traction assist and everything else. I check the 12v battery and it says 11.8vdc. I jump it with a jumpstarter and the engine turns on, so I assumed it was all to do with a low battery for some reason (Ford factory batteries don't have the best reputation, but I think there would be some previous warnings that it was going bad). The dash lights stay lit, including check engine, I get the "service soon" message.

I assumed this was because of a low battery and this stuff would clear itself after idling a while. Nope, I pull out of the driveway and am in "limp home mode".

WTF?

Has anyone dealt with this? Hopefully I don't have to go to a disservice center and leave it there for weeks until they get around to it.

Yours in a 2024 correct? 1-2 years old.. Motorcraft batteries are hit or miss. I've experienced Either infant mortality with several or 6+ years of use. The battery in my new Raptor suddenly died after ~5 months, zero warning, just suddenly one morning only 3-4 VDC. I had the dealer send their Mobile service guy who replaced it in my (safe) garage. The service experience was perfect. If you're is out of warranty just invest in a high quality battery.


good luck

.

 

[zorki1c]

Never had that problem with my Ecoboost

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

Yeah, previous experience with Ford OEM batteries makes me 90% sure that it's done after a year of use. I'll get a new H5 AGM battery, likely Interstate, I've never had a bad one of those. I've never found the voltage to be better from a boutique battery brand, so I'm not interested in an Optima or Odyssey (I also don't buy Snap-On wrenches). Luckily I'm headed to Oregon in a couple days, so I can skip sales tax and save $20. I'll have my jumpstarter and even a spare too-big-to-fit battery with me so I don't get stuck somewhere on the way.

The mystery is the sudden drop in voltage. I didn't leave any doors open or things on, I just parked it like I always do. To me, that suggests it's the battery itself. I'm going to drive it to go someplace for a run, and I'll check the voltage tonight and then again in the morning to compare.

Just out of curiosity why not a OEM size H4 ?

 

[Surly Old Bill]

Just out of curiosity why not a OEM size H4 ?

cuz online sellers say H5? Of course the OEM Battery doesn't have any size designation I can discern upside down on the label.

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