12 Volt battery died

[mczajka]

So the latest on this...I'm documenting so anyone else who has this issue might see it...they are testing the battery again. My local service rep. though just called me reading something back from what appeared to be a Ford database, saying that the battery should be tested from the trunk area. I think they were testing from the front of the car. So, they are going to run a long test again.

 

Someone, Ford?, also disabled my password to MyFordMobile either last night or this morning without telling me. LOL. I was able to reset it though. I was checking the car once or twice a day, but I don't think Ford wants you to check your car multiple times if it's not plugged in. What do you think of that? Is this in the manual? They certainly don't want me checking it during their tests, but they never told me this. I now know.

 

So, I guess don't use MyFordMobile if your car is sitting in a lot whilst you are on vacation. They really need to do something about this.

[murphy]

 

So, I guess don't use MyFordMobile if your car is sitting in a lot whilst you are on vacation. They really need to do something about this.

That is definitely the case.  As I said previously on the forum there is a current spike in excess of 10 amps when an update is requested from the car by MyFordMobile.  I don't know why their cell transmitter needs so much power.

[larryh]

This is an excerpt from an older revision of the manual: 

 

If the vehicle is left inoperative for over 31

days, it may be necessary to jump start the

vehicle. See Roadside Emergencies

(page 232).

 

They deleted this from the latest revision.  I wonder how often MFM contacts the car.  Probably only when starting/stopping the car, at the start/end of charging, and when you attempt to contact it from MFM.  I don't see anywhere that it states limitations on how often you can use MFM to contact the car.  The car has all sorts of features that constantly require power from the battery even with the car is off, such as the circuits that enable remote start and locking/unlocking the car from the keyfob, the circuits to detect when the car is plugged in to initiate charging, the circuits to enable contact with MFM when initiated by the user, etc. 

 

Yes, using MFM during the tests to contact the car would probably mess up the test results. 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2013 at 09:43 AM by larryh

[rtshinn]

I left my headlights on the night before and the battery died. Somehow the 'Home Light' setting was set back to 'manual'. Since they upgraded, I did notice that the parking lights were blinking and when I connected the little backup jumper I bought the Nav screen said something about 'Battery Preservation Mode'. It's possible the upgrade only lets the battery discharge so much.

[Andre07]

This is an excerpt from an older revision of the manual: 

 

If the vehicle is left inoperative for over 31

days, it may be necessary to jump start the

vehicle. See Roadside Emergencies

(page 232).

 

They deleted this from the latest revision. 

 

Do you have a link for the new and older revision of the Manual please?

[Andre07]

And yes, the car is dead. This is good for me, because now I hope they believe what I am saying. Unfortunately, you have to use the car to get it to fail. If you use a charging station every night, you may not uncover this problem. This is all building up to me going on a flight in a few weeks. I hope it's resolved by then, otherwise when I return, my car will be dead in the airport parking lot, and I will have to use my new battery jumper.

 

Can you clarify what yopu mean by having to use your new battery jumper please and how ypou plan on using it?

[larryh]

The manuals are available at the following link:  http://www.motorcraftservice.com/vdirs/SPubs/default.asp?pageid=oghome&gutsid=spubs_serv_all_new&TYPE=OWNERGUIDE&menuIndex1=11,  The old and new manuals are the first and third printings of the 2013 Fusion Hybrid/Energi manuals.

Edited July 30, 2013 at 09:29 AM by larryh

[Andre07]

The manuals are available at the following link:  http://www.motorcraftservice.com/vdirs/SPubs/default.asp?pageid=oghome&gutsid=spubs_serv_all_new&TYPE=OWNERGUIDE&menuIndex1=11,  The old and new manuals are the first and third printings of the 2013 Fusion Hybrid/Energi manuals.

Thank you, found them but could see nothing on the 12Volt Battery so far.  I will keep on reading.

 

Any idea if there is a Service Manual out on these Hydrids or Energi yet?

 

I am really surprised why Ford Engineers did not include an option for the Controller not to charge up the 12Volt Battery when it is notice to be low on charge, same as the Engine will start when the HVB is detected to be low on Charge.

 

I would think then that Ford would tuely have a better idea.

Edited July 30, 2013 at 02:27 PM by Andre07

[mczajka]

Andre07

 

Can you clarify what yopu mean by having to use your new battery jumper please and how ypou plan on using it?

 

If my 12 volt were to die again, I will use this to get my car started so I'm not stranded: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XQ9MGE/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Andre07]

Andre07

 

 

If my 12 volt were to die again, I will use this to get my car started so I'm not stranded: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XQ9MGE/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Ah ok understood and great idea.

 

Too bad we cannot find a way to boost start the 12 Volt Battery from a tap point from the HVB.

 

We have a lot of smart ppl here, many one of them will find a way............. if only we could find a Service Manual with Schematics on the HVB and the Test Points..

[Andre07]

Ah ok understood and great idea to have a portable Battery Jumper onboard.  From what I have been reading this should be a required item to have onboad at all times since there is no indication on any of the screens on the State of Charge of the 12 Volt Battery.

 

Too bad we cannot find a way to boost start the 12 Volt Battery from a tap point from the HVB, then all we would need would be a Jumpper Cable..

 

We have a lot of smart ppl here, maybe one of them will find a way............. if only we could find a Service Manual with Schematics on the HVB and the Test Points..

 

I did find some Manuals...Checking thru them now

 

http://www.gobookee.net/2013-fusion-service-manual/

 

Up:date:

 

Darn, we need a Credit Card Verification to be able to download any of these.....  so link is no good unless we want our Credit Card given to an unknown Website.  Not me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Edited July 30, 2013 at 03:15 PM by Andre07

[murphy]

The normal publisher of Ford manuals is:

 

http://www.helminc.com

 

 

Unfortunately the wiring diagrams for the 2013 are not yet available.

[Eric4539]

Andre07,

 

Ford has the manuals available on the website below, but you may not find the details that you are looking for.  You know murphy (and others) would have found wiring diagrams and schematics if those were available!   :)

 

owner.ford.com

 

On the bottom of the home page you'll see a link to Owner's Manual and Videos.

Edited July 30, 2013 at 06:27 PM by Eric4539

[Eric4539]

So now I have a dead 12V battery!!  The car was fully charged on 7/30 at 6:37pm.  I unplugged it on 8/1 but I have not driven the car since 7/30 prior to charging it.  Today it is dead.  MFM is still not working, showing Last Updated 3 days ago and 22 mi in the battery.

 

No response from the car at all....

[murphy]

If the 12 volt battery is dead MFM is not going to work.  The AT&T data radio runs on 12 volts.

[larryh]

If you look at the notifications in MyFord Mobile, what was the time/date of the last notification.   Click on the caption just to the left of My Account at the top and then select view all.  That should tell you the last time a notification was sent to MFM. Unfortunately, I don't think the list includes any of the notifications that MFM synchronized settings changes made at MFM web site with the car.  Do you remember if you got any sync messages when you were modifying the value charge settings yesterday?   Maybe MFM and the car were not communicating so the charge locations were not updating.  I think you need to charge the car after deleting the charge locations before your home charge location will show up.

Edited August 2, 2013 at 10:20 PM by larryh

[Eric4539]

I jumped the car, have to keep my foot on the accelerator to keep it running.  The engine light is on and the wrench icon is also on.  I am waiting for a call from the dealer.  What next?

[murphy]

It would be interesting to activate Engineering Test mode to see what DTCs, if any, are in the list.

Doing that requires turning the car off.

 

If your HVB has a good charge you don't need to keep the engine running.  As long as the car is in run mode the 12 volt battery is being charged.  The engine is not involved in charging the 12 volt battery other than indirectly by charging the HVB.

[Eric4539]

Thanks murphy.  As soon as I jumped the car and got it running, I plugged it in but there was still no response.  So I had to jump it again.  

 

The error message said to Stop Safely Now.  Seriously??  After about 5 minutes I received a text message from MFM saying my 12 volt batter was low so please charge it.

 

I plugged the car in and still nothing.  So I was on the phone with my local dealer that is now certified to work on Energi's.  Had to wait for on the technicians to call me back.  In the meantime I had a friend sit in the car and keep the engine running.  I had 20 miles in the battery.

 

The dealer called after about 10 minutes, now I had 18 miles in the battery.  He told me since the wrench icon came on I had a serious problem and I should have the car towed in.  He said I should not drive the car.  The soonest they could see me is............Tuesday at 9:00am!

 

I told him that many on this forum complained about the 12v battery, but he didn't comment......so I asked him if he thought it would be OK for me to try plugging the car in again (3rd try).  He said I should and if that cleared all the error messages then I would be fine.

 

Well, the car recognized the charger, everything lit up again, and I left for an appointment.  About 15 minutes later I received a text that my car was fully charged.

 

Now my question is - do you all think the 12v battery is charged up and everything is fine?  I have a dinner to attend in a couple of hours.  I am a little hesitant to drive it and then have it not start after dinner.  You are all experts at this!  Thanks!

[larryh]

If the 12 volt battery really was low on charge, then it would take a couple of hours to fully charge up the 12 volt battery.  I don't think it can happen in 15 minutes--that was just topping off the HVB.  I would leave the charger plugged in for a couple of hours at least.  Does the light on the charger indicate that the battery is still charging?  Wait till the charger light goes out.  When I topped off the battery last Sunday, I observed the charger still charging the 12 volt battery for two hours after topping off the HVB (http://www.fordfusionenergiforum.com/topic/874-12-volt-battery-test/?p=6191).  Hopefully you haven't unplugged the charger yet.  Otherwise, I don't know if it would resume charging the 12 V battery if you plugged it in again.

 

Note that the voltage on my battery was only down to about 12.45 V.  You might want to get a battery monitor to monitor the battery voltage.

Edited August 2, 2013 at 11:20 PM by larryh

[Eric4539]

When I plugged the car in it was 75% full, so 3/4 of the charging ring lit up.  The various clicks took place and the fan in the trunk turned on.  Then I left for an appointment, I was gone perhaps 45 minutes, and when I got home the charging light was off and the fan was off.  I am using a 240v charger.

 

Not sure what to do next....

[murphy]

When you receive the text message that charging is complete that refers to the HVB.  That is the time when charging of the 12 volt battery starts.  I have a Leviton charger.  The 12 volt battery is finished charging when the yellow charging light on the charger goes out.

[Eric4539]

Ok, thanks again murphy!

 

All lights on my charger are off so I am going to assume the 12v battery is now charged!

 

I will take the car to dinner.....hopefully everything is fine.  I will let you know how it goes.

[murphy]

If you enable Engineering Test mode and scroll up 4 screens it will display the 12 volt battery voltage.

[larryh]

If you enable Engineering Test mode and scroll up 4 screens it will display the 12 volt battery voltage.

 

But won't the car then be on?  If it is charging the battery, then you will see that voltage instead?