How long did your original battery last?

[MJ62]

2020 Ford Ranger - so my battery is almost 3 years old. I recently had to get the truck jumped by AAA in the past week, 3 different times. Each technician told me your battery looks great, alternator looks great, but something was probably left on. I can assure I had not left anything done. After the first dead battery, I made sure to check each time i left the truck. After all this back and forth, I finally just put a new battery in. Are these stock batteries only built to last 3 years or so? Maybe I just got unlucky. I live in Socal, so decent weather. I did however do a snow trip at the grand canyon and bryce over new years weekend. So I'm wondering if that decreased the life of my battery. But how long did your original battery last for you?

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[Theslim_spaydee]

I had the original in my 2019 when I traded it in two months ago. All over the southeast and several near zero camping trips up into North GA. The last zeroish degree trip there was a slight hesitation to start but that is the only issue I can remember.

 

[RedlandRanger]

Coming up on 4 years on the original battery (knock on wood) but many have had theirs replaced earlier. These AGM batteries are somewhat finicky it appears. With all the parasitic drain from all the electronics it doesn't help matters any.

 

[BryanJay]

I still have the original battery in my 2019, bought new in February 2020. The last spell of -30 whether we had I got the “Features have been disabled“ message through FordPass, but the truck had been sitting about a week at that point too. Been thinking about a battery maintainer, but I also think a new battery may be in order before next winter.

 

[Nellieg]

OEM battery bought Dec 2019... Trickle charge when voltages drop to around 12v... Vampire pulls charge on battery to that level in a week or so depending on weather. Only hit shutting off messages once on battery then ran battery recovery charging cycles.

 

[Sparky2]

I have the 2019 also purchased late February 2020 still on the original battery but, I am retired and only have 10600 miles on it. Auto stop start permanently disabled with a gizmo and yet I have issues with mine draining frequently so I connect a maintainer occasionally. Hope I’m wrong but my gut says it wouldn’t make it another year. I asked the dealer to load test the battery and they said it’s fine.

 

[oldnslow]

My original battery was showing signs of impending failure at just under 2 years. I replaced it with an aftermarket battery and is doing fine at just under 2 years on it.

I replaced the original when I did because I had a trip coming up and didn't want to have to deal with possible battery issues while on the road. It probably would have lasted at least a few more months.

I drive very little these days so it doesn't always get a good charge. I have a battery charger / maintainer that I use periodically. Its a Battery Minder, 5A model.

 

[Big Blue]

Had the battery replaced on my '19 XLT under warranty after 34 months. I have ASS disabled in Forscan. I'm retired so it will sit 2-3 days at a time and mostly short trips. Had not used a maintainer until seeing all these threads popping up.

Seems there are sevral issues. Most of all the amount of parasitic drain modern vehicles have with all the always on features. We have to have out conviences. Second, it appears that the programing of Fords BMS system is design for fuel economy at the expence of battery life. Thirdly, due to the first two issues infrequent short trips don't get enough charge back into the battery.

The problem is not the AGM battery vs a flooded cell battery. The AGM battery is actually better at handling the continous loads from all the electronic devices and still be able to handle the starting duties

I'm waiting to see the results of @airline tech's study of the Battery Management System. Maybe there are some easy setting changes that will help use infrequent users. Until then I will put it on a maintainer once every other week or so to keep it topped up.

By the way my wife's Mazda has similar issues with short trips.

 

[txquailguy]

Middle of February I'll hit 3 years on the road and I'm right at 94K on the mileage.....same OEM battery I started with......

She has shown zero signs of failure but I will be shocked if I make it through the rest of the winter here in CO and the heat of another summer before a new one is required....

 

[Rinn69]

I still have the original battery in my 2019...May will be 4 years. 6-8 months ago, I reconnected the BMS plug and all was fine. About 2 months ago, when the cold weather started, I noticed the "start truck to prevent battery drain" message a few times. Then, the rear doors touch lock/unlock function wasn't working, only the drivers door worked....thought it might be from a recent car wash trip. So, 2 weeks ago, I disconnected the BMS plug, and now everything works and no more battery messages....... Like another member, I am also retired and only drive it a couple times a week. I think I'll call it the "battery micro-management system" from now on, since it's so annoying...

 

[ROBERTECOX]

I still have the original battery in my 2019...May will be 4 years. 6-8 months ago, I reconnected the BMS plug and all was fine. About 2 months ago, when the cold weather started, I noticed the "start truck to prevent battery drain" message a few times. Then, the rear doors touch lock/unlock function wasn't working, only the drivers door worked....thought it might be from a recent car wash trip. So, 2 weeks ago, I disconnected the BMS plug, and now everything works and no more battery messages....... Like another member, I am also retired and only drive it a couple times a week. I think I'll call it the "battery micro-management system" from now on, since it's so annoying...

exact same conditions as you. 4 yrs in may, low mileage, start truck message, touch lock/unlock behavior, but no BMS plug disconnect on mine..we shall see what happens

 

[rang19ca]

I just replaced my battery this past weekend. I had been getting the battery save messages for a while. I tested it but it was getting low on voltage so I just replaced it. The battery was actually 4 yrs old but I only have 14,200 miles on it. Turns out that AGM batteries last about 4 years tops. I installed an Interstate AGM MTX-48/H6 760.

 

[AzScorpion]

My original only lasted 18 months and when the dealer checked it it had a dead cell. They replaced it under warranty and so far it's been god but I do keep it on a maintainer 3-4 days a week.

 

[Chuck Dragisic]

I have a 19 Lariat. The AGM made it 3 years, and 2 months. It never showed any performance issues. I had noticed the ASS had quit working, and also when I turned the truck off, the radio shut off immediately. I took the truck in, and they said that it had no life left, and incidently, no Warranty! They were supprised that the notification screen did not show a warning. I wonder if living in Houston, where it is hotter than blue blazes had something to do with it.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Purchased Sept 28, 2019 - battery failed in the summer of 2020 - sometimes, batteries are just bad. ?‍

Replaced under warranty - no trouble ever since - not with anything. ?

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