12 Volt battery died

[mmmhmmmm]

For anyone having battery issues I found this other thread very helpful as well:

 

http://www.fordfusionenergiforum.com/topic/1258-the-bxt-99r-390-is-a-standard-car-battery/

 

It has more information about the OEM battery. The info I learned therein convinced me to upgrade to a deep cycle lead acid battery.

Edited February 7, 2014 at 03:09 AM by mmmhmmmm

[mmmhmmmm]

Not to beat the horse, but 12 volt battery issues are also being experienced by Ford Focus Electric owners. 

 

http://www.myfocuselectric.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1756

 

They also call their vehicles FFE...kind of confusing.

[SteveEnergi]

 

 

I recently left my car in the garage for 5 days (Thursday - Monday).  I left my "go times" set, so they kicked off on Thursday, Friday, and Monday.  I left for work this morning and the car was nice and warm for today's "go time".  No issues with the 12v battery.  So either I lucked out and my vehicle doesn't have an issue with the 12v, or "go times" will keep the 12v charged, or the car wasn't sitting long enough.  The garage probably was about 20 to 30 degrees, so fairly warm.

[jeff_h]

No idea if this is a similar issue as Mark originally encountered...

 

A week ago I got a popup on the left screen with the orange wrench and it said "see manual" so I immediately ran a VHR (which showed all OK), and once I turned the car off and back on, the wrench was gone.

 

Two days later it happened again, and again I ran the VHR which said all OK... when car started back up it was gone.  I figured OK well I have that internal 120V outlet on back order (the outlet springs wouldn't hold into the prongs so they ordered another) and when they call to make an appointment to replace that, I'll just ask them to check for stored codes and see what has been happening.

 

Well yesterday evening it happened again, BUT this time as soon as that light came on I heard the HVB fan come on loudly from the back, and the previous two times had not heard that.  I got home and shut down, 30 minutes later started back up and orange wrench was again gone.  Each of these three times I got a text from MFM that "warning light is on" as designed.

 

Sadly, when I went to leave home at 5:30 this morning, I had a text from MFM from 5:15 (Go Time is set for 5:30) that said "12v battery is low"... uh oh that's not good and I was afraid it would be dead.  But it did start up, however the warning light was back on and the HVB fan immediately fired up, and this time the CEL with shape of engine was also on.  I ran a VHR during my drive to the dealer and now waiting to see what it says - I have tried a few times to go to SyncMyRide to view the VHR and site says that it has encountered an error  -- how ironic.

 

After dealer diagnosed for almost 2 hours (I was watching car status on the MFM site to see it was started up and shut down 5 different times) they said it appears to be something with the fan circuitry in the back, but they are not sure since they haven't worked on many Energi models and have never seen this error code before -- so they have ordered the replacement part as indicated by the code, and it should be in on Monday.  He said I could drive it if I wanted but he didn't advise it since the system may revert to limp mode, and how about a loaner car -- so now I have a Focus for the next few days, thankfully the dealer has a rental guy right on site and he has Ford products (I've read others post differently about their dealer) as he offered me a Focus or Edge.

 

So we shall see what happens when the part arrives and they replace it, and see how things go, and I'll post an update.

Edited March 21, 2014 at 02:19 PM by jeff_h

[FordService]

No idea if this is a similar issue as Mark originally encountered...

 

A week ago I got a popup on the left screen with the orange wrench and it said "see manual" so I immediately ran a VHR (which showed all OK), and once I turned the car off and back on, the wrench was gone. ...

 

So we shall see what happens when the part arrives and they replace it, and see how things go, and I'll post an update.

 

jeff_h,

 

I'll keep an eye out for an update. If you need me, send me over a PM.

 

Ashley

[jeff_h]

jeff_h,

 

I'll keep an eye out for an update. If you need me, send me over a PM.

 

Ashley

 

Well they said they ordered a part and I assume it came in as I've watched on MFM today and seen the car active 3 times and now the HVB is drained from an 8 mile drive where they got 24 MPG and a driving score of '48'... ouch.  And then before that a trip with MPG if '7' ... so I am waiting to maybe get a call that it's ready, unless they are still dealing with a code that won't clear, in which case I'll continue driving the Focus I guess.

[jeff_h]

The car is back home, hopefully all is now good -

 

[Nherring]

A new Experience today!

 

Last night I drove home from work - 56 miles, 37 of it on the battery. When i pulled into the driveway, my car showed up with only a remainder charge on the hybrid setting. I plugged in as usual and left the car over night. This afternoon, I unplugged and got into the car to start up and the entire 12v system was dead. Nothing....

 

My charger was in the trunk and of course it's virtually impossible to open with no power, so I hooked up the car with jumper cables under the hood and the car immediately came back to life - no faults no flashing lights, etc. I let the car charge up for 15 minutes and took it on a four mile hike in EV later mode to make sure the battery was fully charged.

 

So it seems to me that Ford's lastest update altered the programming so that instead of throwing off faults and going into limp mode, the 12v system just shuts down. While this is a little better - driving in limp mode is dangerous as hell - it's still off the charts, especially when you can't get into the trunk.

 

So to fix the trunk problem, i attached a string to the manual trunk latch and ran the string in behind the back seats. Now I can just drop the seat and access the string - no more hassle getting into the trunk without power.

 

Bad design though....

[Fusilero]

Been having similar problem. Service team verified low battery and checked all modules, inspected water pump, etc. No solution found with final message to wait for more detailed service in 3rd quarter of 2014 due this being a known problem. Rather than waiting, left car with service for nearly one week as they bring in outside dealer engineer to diagnose further.

[Fat Fusion]

I slapped one of the 12v volt meters into the outlet down low on the console.  Makes it easy to keep an eye on the charge.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Display-Digital-Voltmeter-Vehicle-Voltage/dp/B00962CQNC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1404316651&sr=8-3&keywords=12v+lighter+gauge

 

[yojroz]

Wow, just found this helpful thread!  Here's a reader's digest version of my story.  Bought in March 2013.  Car in shop now getting it's 5th (yes 5th!) new battery!  I also get the wrench icon almost every day now for around 6 months.  It's pretty much guaranteed that if I don't drive my car within 3 days, it will be dead.

Edited July 9, 2014 at 09:07 PM by yojroz

[larryh]

You should contact Ashley from Ford and ask her assistance to help with diagnosing the problem.  See the following thread:

 

"http://www.fordfusionenergiforum.com/topic/1605-official-ford-service-out-of-office-thread/"

Edited July 9, 2014 at 09:48 PM by larryh

[meyersnole]

Wow, just found this helpful thread!  Here's a reader's digest version of my story.  Bought in March 2013.  Car in shop now getting it's 5th (yes 5th!) new battery!  I also get the wrench icon almost every day now for around 6 months.  It's pretty much guaranteed that if I don't drive my car within 3 days, it will be dead.

I agree with larryh... you have an issue. I am surprised the dealership will just keep replacing the battery rather than figure out what is wrong.

 

Another user had a similar issue and they had a short.

[FordService]

You should contact Ashley from Ford and ask her assistance to help with diagnosing the problem.  ...

Thanks, larryh.

 

Wow, just found this helpful thread!  Here's a reader's digest version of my story.  Bought in March 2013.  Car in shop now getting it's 5th (yes 5th!) new battery!  I also get the wrench icon almost every day now for around 6 months.  It's pretty much guaranteed that if I don't drive my car within 3 days, it will be dead.

 

yojroz,

 

Send me a PM with your name, phone number, VIN, mileage, and dealer info. I'll take a look and see how I can help!

 

Ashley

[yojroz]

I agree with larryh... you have an issue. I am surprised the dealership will just keep replacing the battery rather than figure out what is wrong.

 

Another user had a similar issue and they had a short.

They have replaced a short as well.

 

Thanks everyone for the help.  I will get in touch with Ashley!

[FordService]

They have replaced a short as well.

 

Thanks everyone for the help.  I will get in touch with Ashley!

 

yojroz,

 

I got your PM and sent you a response earlier this morning!

 

Ashley

[Fusilero]

To give an update on my "battery drain" problems, the dealer has had the car for 1 month now analyzing the problem. After setting up a detection system to see if energy was being drawn by the car when off, they discovered a sensor module was drawing energy intermittently. As they were unable to detect the specific sensory module, the were approved by Ford to order and replace all 5 modules.

 

1 APIM (sync) module

1 GPS module.

1 FCDIM ( front control/display interface module).

1 Proximity Warning Radar Unit.

1 radio transceiver module (RTM)

 

After 1 week of observing after the modules were replaced, I received my car back. Unfortunately, this was short lived as I delivered the car back to the service department today due to similar drain problems being experienced. In addition I dropped off the car with a) the service wrench illuminated , b) SYNC performing multiple scheduled maintenances and c) excessive battery cooling (from my perception).

 

The dealership have lots of of Ford engineers interested in my car's problem. They indicated a possible update of an unofficial software patch for the sensory moduls. We'll have to wait and see.

 

Eric

[anderson510]

I've had my Ford since October 2013 and just recently it's  been hit by the dead battery syndrome.  It's been to the dealer 3 times, this last time they replaced the battery and assured me that the problem was fixed.  When I went to pick up the car it was DEAD.  I've read a great deal about this issue on all of the Ford forums but nowhere has anyone been able to say what fixed the problem.  My car is still at the dealers, this trip has been going on for almost 2.5 weeks. It's been about a month since I've driven my car. Does anyone know what this problem is and how to fix it so I can point my dealer in the right direction.

[murphy]

Ford will not admit it but it's the wrong battery for the car.  It's a standard lead acid "starter battery".  I replaced mine with an Optima D35 AGM battery and have had no further problems with the battery.  I had to take a hacksaw to the battery tray to make it fit so it's not for everyone.

 

One instance of a "starter battery" going dead is enough to destroy it because of the way the plates are designed.  An AGM battery is designed to survive low charge levels without damage.

[Fat Fusion]

My problem with that diagnosis is my battery never, ever goes low enough to warrant a deep cycle type battery.  Since I've installed my 5 dollar volt meter in the outlet down in the front of the console I've seen it as low as 13.1 volts.  Never below.  Most of the time it's 14+.

[murphy]

My problem with that diagnosis is my battery never, ever goes low enough to warrant a deep cycle type battery.  Since I've installed my 5 dollar volt meter in the outlet down in the front of the console I've seen it as low as 13.1 volts.  Never below.  Most of the time it's 14+.

You probably drive your car every day.  Mine sometimes gets driven once a week.  I was seeing voltages as low as 11.5.  Anything below 11.8 triggers the battery saver.

[Fat Fusion]

Is the car consuming 12V power while sitting there?  Why would it drop from 13 to 11.5 in a week?

[murphy]

Is the car consuming 12V power while sitting there?  Why would it drop from 13 to 11.5 in a week?

Yes,  the computers and data radio are always on otherwise it wouldn't be able to answer a phone call from the MFM web site.  When accessed via MFM I have measured a current spike in excess of 10 amps when the car wakes up due to an MFM request.  It does not go back to sleep right away.

[Fat Fusion]

Ahh ok.  Wouldn't it be better to have a larger capacity battery as well if you don't drive it much?

[murphy]

Ahh ok.  Wouldn't it be better to have a larger capacity battery as well if you don't drive it much?

Yes that can also work.  I had a much bigger Bosch battery stuffed in there for a while.  But the same failure possibility exists.  If the battery goes dead it is very likely the battery will be damaged.  Starter batteries are designed to provide a large amount of current for up to 10 seconds and then immediately be recharged.  The plates shed material when they are discharged to a low voltage.  The material builds up at the bottom of the cell until it reaches the bottom of the plates and then shorts out the cell at which point the battery has to be replaced.  An AGM battery does not have this problem.