Update to Battery Saver Mode

[Terry G]

I recently went to my Ford dealership for an oil change and a complimentary battery check. When they did the battery check they said that they also did an update to my battery saver mode software. Problems with my battery saver mode had occurred just a couple of weeks before so I thought that the update might correct those problems as did the dealership folks. Everything went well for about a week and a half and then the car went back into battery saver mode. I reset it myself and things seem to be working again (like my dome lights when opening the door and my app access for remote starting). The question is why this happened in the first place. Ford's answer is that perhaps I am not driving it for long enough periods to charge the battery adequately and that the cold is tripping the battery saver mode. What is happening? The battery seems to be fine except it doesn't seem to be charged enough. I should be able to drive short distances and have my battery receive an adequate charge if the battery is fine. Is this just a software issue that Ford can't seem to address properly?

Sponsored

 

[HeyBales]

So the Battery Management System reads that your battery SOC or voltage is so low, it may not start the truck.
So the system takes action.

So 1st lights are turned off sooner and sooner - battery saver functions.
2nd if getting worse the modem is disabled soon after turnoff - aka Deep Sleep mode you may receive notice in Fordpass about.

Likely no problem with your "battery saver mode" - it's doing exactly what it should be doing, protecting the battery from longer drain times at higher rates, so you can start the truck.

The easy battery check usually won't reveal an actual battery issue unless it's really bad - they don't load test it after a charge up, and sitting overnight to see if it holds a charge.
So not surprising on easy check all appear fine.

There is no "battery saver mode software". So nothing got an update.

There is an update to the AC module, as Ford has seen it pull power longer than it should, draining the battery for some lower than it should go when truck is turned off.
That may help some.
Likely what you got.

If you did a Reset yourself as described in the manual - the process that says to do this after a new battery is installed - you have made things worse.

You are telling the BMS here is a new battery - treat it as such.
New batteries have less internal resistance, and therefore receive less charge rate.
You told the system this is new battery max charge - so ya the BMS system now thinks your prior say 12.1 V where it started doing battery saver functions, is the good line, so now it'll let it drop even lower before it applies battery saver functions.
Fine way to kill a battery sooner.

Which if under warranty - you may want to do, get a new one sooner.
And carry a jump pack for when you finally do kill it with that process.

Yes - this is an issue Ford can't seem to address, unless you can drive a couple hours daily.
Undercharges for long enough the battery sulfates, then it can't take a full charge.
The farther you are from couple hours daily with truck on - the faster it has potential to go.

 

[Terry G]

Thanks for the response Mike. I have an appointment to take it into the dealer next Monday and your post led me to some questions that I will be asking them about. Questions such as what level of battery check did they do on my battery, whether resetting the battery saver mode (which they suggested I do) was a good idea or not and what the "update" updated. I have a new battery in case it is just a matter of a battery going bad.

 

[ZABSMAV]

So the Battery Management System reads that your battery SOC or voltage is so low, it may not start the truck.
So the system takes action.

So 1st lights are turned off sooner and sooner - battery saver functions.
2nd if getting worse the modem is disabled soon after turnoff - aka Deep Sleep mode you may receive notice in Fordpass about.

Likely no problem with your "battery saver mode" - it's doing exactly what it should be doing, protecting the battery from longer drain times at higher rates, so you can start the truck.

The easy battery check usually won't reveal an actual battery issue unless it's really bad - they don't load test it after a charge up, and sitting overnight to see if it holds a charge.
So not surprising on easy check all appear fine.

There is no "battery saver mode software". So nothing got an update.

There is an update to the AC module, as Ford has seen it pull power longer than it should, draining the battery for some lower than it should go when truck is turned off.
That may help some.
Likely what you got.

If you did a Reset yourself as described in the manual - the process that says to do this after a new battery is installed - you have made things worse.

You are telling the BMS here is a new battery - treat it as such.
New batteries have less internal resistance, and therefore receive less charge rate.
You told the system this is new battery max charge - so ya the BMS system now thinks your prior say 12.1 V where it started doing battery saver functions, is the good line, so now it'll let it drop even lower before it applies battery saver functions.
Fine way to kill a battery sooner.

Which if under warranty - you may want to do, get a new one sooner.
And carry a jump pack for when you finally do kill it with that process.

Yes - this is an issue Ford can't seem to address, unless you can drive a couple hours daily.
Undercharges for long enough the battery sulfates, then it can't take a full charge.
The farther you are from couple hours daily with truck on - the faster it has potential to go.

On our last two battery replacements, it was at the dealership for less than two hours. You talk about something about locking the doors for overnight after doing some specific steps. This was never mentioned at all by our dealership service. Here we are again after just having the last battery replaced less than 6 months ago. The AC module was updated. Made zero change. We drove it close to 700 miles over Thanksgiving and this is what our battery shows. Crock of baloney to say "just drive it more". We bought ours to use for the short trips across town that usually get the worst mileage in our other two gas V8 vehicles. Why advertise such terrific "City" MPG if using it for that doesn't recharge the battery. Also suggestions to plug it in is also rediculous as we didn't buy a plug in electric car and would never buy one. Calling the dealership today to take it in for another battery.

 

[mgr1001]

I just had my first battery replacement, under warranty, after owning the vehicle for about 9 months. I got the "battery saver" notification via my Ford Pass app . The battery the dealer replaced my original one was an AGM battery. Interestingly, the Ford technician told me that the new battery was not charged at the dealership . When I asked him whether I should charge it up he said that was an excellent idea since there seems to be a large draw on the battery even when the vehicle is parked . I put a battery tender on overnight and that seemed to do the trick . Time will tell. Also got one of these from Amazon for about $7. Not sure if it'll give me any useful information what it's like having a voltmeter built in.

 

[ZABSMAV]

I just had my first battery replacement, under warranty, after owning the vehicle for about 9 months. I got the "battery saver" notification via my Ford Pass app . The battery the dealer replaced my original one was an AGM battery. Interestingly, the Ford technician told me that the new battery was not charged at the dealership . When I asked him whether I should charge it up he said that was an excellent idea since there seems to be a large draw on the battery even when the vehicle is parked . I put a battery tender on overnight and that seemed to do the trick . Time will tell. Also got one of these from Amazon for about $7. Not sure if it'll give me any useful information what it's like having a voltmeter built in.

Sounds like your dealership tech was an idiot. They should have installed a fully charged battery.

 

[HeyBales]

On our last two battery replacements, it was at the dealership for less than two hours. You talk about something about locking the doors for overnight after doing some specific steps. This was never mentioned at all by our dealership service. Here we are again after just having the last battery replaced less than 6 months ago. The AC module was updated. Made zero change. We drove it close to 700 miles over Thanksgiving and this is what our battery shows. Crock of baloney to say "just drive it more". We bought ours to use for the short trips across town that usually get the worst mileage in our other two gas V8 vehicles. Why advertise such terrific "City" MPG if using it for that doesn't recharge the battery. Also suggestions to plug it in is also rediculous as we didn't buy a plug in electric car and would never buy one. Calling the dealership today to take it in for another battery.

Just over 3 months new battery for me - and that included 2 full chargeups with 3600 mile trip with 6 days in-between, end of Oct.
This morning resting 11.6V.

Minimum of 5 days 2 x 15 min drives - each ends with charging amps at 1 or below, rarely 2A.
4 days a week add 2 x 10 min drives.
1 day a week add probably extra 30 min.

Despite comments the BMS can't charge high enough - I've seen it sit on 6-9A for 5 minutes at a time - it can obviously charge high enough.
Not everyone drives 2 hrs daily - someone misread the chart of average drive times when they were figuring out the algorithm.

 

[HeyBales]

I just had my first battery replacement, under warranty, after owning the vehicle for about 9 months. I got the "battery saver" notification via my Ford Pass app . The battery the dealer replaced my original one was an AGM battery. Interestingly, the Ford technician told me that the new battery was not charged at the dealership . When I asked him whether I should charge it up he said that was an excellent idea since there seems to be a large draw on the battery even when the vehicle is parked . I put a battery tender on overnight and that seemed to do the trick . Time will tell. Also got one of these from Amazon for about $7. Not sure if it'll give me any useful information what it's like having a voltmeter built in.

Goof balls - it's part of the called out process - and they didn't want to use a bay for it.

If you garage the truck and don't normally lock it - get into the manual Under Maintenance/Battery and do the BS Reset in case they didn't do that either.
(you should top off charge before this)
Then do the next step BMS Relearn.
Notice truck locked overnight. You know they didn't do this - and most dealerships appear unaware or assume it'll happen automatically. I'm betting the former.

If you have multimeter - you can confirm if that is accurate at morning startup Voltage - and then just notice it as time goes on.
If no MM - just note the direction it goes thru the 1st drives.

 

[sajohnson]

No vehicle with a properly functioning charging system should have to be driven for hours to keep a healthy battery charged.

We drive our BS Badlands very little. This March it will be 4 years old, and it currently has ~7,000 miles on it. A typical trip is my wife taking it to the grocery store which is about 6 miles away.

Due to the issues Ford had/has with battery failure, I've kept an eye on the resting voltage with my Fluke DMM. The OE battery was fine but replaced under the recall with an AGM. The average AGM voltage has been slightly higher (>12.70V vs >12.65V for the FLA) -- and that's after just a 12 mile r/t drive and starting the engine twice (and recently, using the seat warmers).

It typically sits for days. When the voltage gets below ~12.6 I put a Battery Tender (BT) on it. The BT indicates a full charge within a few minutes.

 

[johnDeere]

No vehicle with a properly functioning charging system should have to be driven for hours to keep a healthy battery charged.

We drive our BS Badlands very little. This March it will be 4 years old, and it currently has ~7,000 miles on it. A typical trip is my wife taking it to the grocery store which is about 6 miles away.

Due to the issues Ford had/has with battery failure, I've kept an eye on the resting voltage with my Fluke DMM. The OE battery was fine but replaced under the recall with an AGM. The average AGM voltage has been slightly higher (>12.70V vs >12.65V for the FLA) -- and that's after just a 12 mile r/t drive and starting the engine twice (and recently, using the seat warmers).

It typically sits for days. When the voltage gets below ~12.6 I put a Battery Tender (BT) on it. The BT indicates a full charge within a few minutes.

According to the books, for a AGM battery at 12.6 volts, its only a little over 80% charged.
You have a long way to go before its up to 100% charged.
I have charged my battery (Flooded) with three different smart chargers, and all three have a different thinking when the battery is full.
My second installed flooded battery has removable covers, so I can check the water level, so far I have not checked the specific gravity of the acid yet.
23 mav hybrid 19k miles, running two 12v flooded batteries.

 

[sajohnson]

According to the books, for a AGM battery at 12.6 volts, its only a little over 80% charged.
You have a long way to go before its up to 100% charged.
I have charged my battery (Flooded) with three different smart chargers, and all three have a different thinking when the battery is full.
My second installed flooded battery has removable covers, so I can check the water level, so far I have not checked the specific gravity of the acid yet.
23 mav hybrid 19k miles, running two 12v flooded batteries.

I'm not sure where the '12.6 volts' came from.

In my post I said:

"The average AGM voltage has been slightly higher, >12.70V..." (greater than 12.7). Usually >12.75V+ -- which is 90%+ SOC:

I have never seen 13.0V, except immediately after disconnecting the BT. Then it settles to 12.8V or slightly higher.

If people are having battery problems, it is not because they aren't driving for 2 hours at a time. Our Badlands is usually only driven 6 miles one-way and the battery SOC is typically 90% or more. Not 100%, but close to it. We've never seen a battery warning, either with the OE FLA battery (used for 3 years) or the AGM recall replacement.

Unless an owner is taking very short trips, the length of their driving is not the issue.

 

[PeteSJCA]

Called two local dealerships today and asked if my original 2022 maverick hybrid 12v battery could be replaced with the newer 2025 Ford Maverick AGM OEM battery... Of course I was told two different things, one said yes, the other no. I'm willing to pay Ford for the upgrade as my warranty has just expired. Advice please!

 

[HeyBales]

Called two local dealerships today and asked if my original 2022 maverick hybrid 12v battery could be replaced with the newer 2025 Ford Maverick AGM OEM battery... Of course I was told two different things, one said yes, the other no. I'm willing to pay Ford for the upgrade as my warranty has just expired. Advice please!

If willing to pay - get a better AGM.

If you mean pay the difference - sounds like warranty wouldn't apply anyway - so full boat.

 

[ZABSMAV]

According to the books, for a AGM battery at 12.6 volts, its only a little over 80% charged.
You have a long way to go before its up to 100% charged.
I have charged my battery (Flooded) with three different smart chargers, and all three have a different thinking when the battery is full.
My second installed flooded battery has removable covers, so I can check the water level, so far I have not checked the specific gravity of the acid yet.
23 mav hybrid 19k miles, running two 12v flooded batteries.

How is it possible to have two batteries installed and functional in the Maverick. The Maverick cannot even properly recharge one 12v battery. It could never possibly recharge two paralleled 12v batteries. There just isn't enough amps flowing to properly and quickly charge the single one, let alone trying to charge two batteries. Also, where do you mount it? Do you take up part of the already limited storage space under the rear seat?

 

[johnDeere]

How is it possible to have two batteries installed and functional in the Maverick. The Maverick cannot even properly recharge one 12v battery. It could never possibly recharge two paralleled 12v batteries. There just isn't enough amps flowing to properly and quickly charge the single one, let alone trying to charge two batteries. Also, where do you mount it? Do you take up part of the already limited storage space under the rear seat?

Mine does not have a problem charging.
And this is what it looks like for having two batteries under the back seat.
Normally the voltage is as high 15 volts when charging.
That picture was taken in the summer, and right after I turned on the truck.
.i would rather have a working truck than have the little extra space.

Sponsored