Issues with 1 year old battery and Ford app remote start

[RangerOwner86]

Good day all, I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday time.

So I have a 2023 Ford Ranger Lariat. Dec 7, 2024 I had the battery replaced under warranty as its state of charge ended up falling to 50%. Truck had 40,830 km's on it. Now, a bit over a year later and the battery only has 5,718 km's on it and my Ford app is starting to give me battery saver mode warnings again. I never had these issues on any previous vehicle. I can't remote start my truck with a key fob as mine didn't come with that option for some reason. My truck also does not have the start/stop function.

I park in a heated parkade everyday at home. Currently most of my driving is to/from work and to/from the grocery store on the weekend. Round trips is around 9KM total for most of my driving. I try and start the truck about 5-7 minutes before I leave work as it sits outside all day. It has been quite cold here recently with day time highs of -15c to -25c (-33c with the wind). At work, truck sits outside for 10 hours.

I have not had any problems until today when I went over to my brothers for dinner. It is a 2-3 minute drive tops. Everything was fine until I went to leave and it gave me the vehicle in battery saver mode. It is -24c out and it was snowing so I wanted to start it before I headed back home.

I have read a few posts saying they have upgraded to the Optima Yellow top battery and that seems to have fixed a lot of the issues. I just don't really want to have to spend $500 CAD on a battery, but if I'm going to have these issues every year with the Ford battery, maybe I'll have to bite the bullet and do it. And where I live, we do get down to below -40c in the mornings and high's of -30c for at least a week every winter.

What are you recommendations? I can take a different way to get to/from work, which would take my round trip to 16 KM from 9 KM. Right now I only get about 10 MPG as I have a 500 lb steel edge in the bed for my winter weight and fuel is anywhere from $1.109/L for regular to $1.369/L for premium.

Thank you for all your help!

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[RangerBill]

Good day all, I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday time.

So I have a 2023 Ford Ranger Lariat. Dec 7, 2024 I had the battery replaced under warranty as its state of charge ended up falling to 50%. Truck had 40,830 km's on it. Now, a bit over a year later and the battery only has 5,718 km's on it and my Ford app is starting to give me battery saver mode warnings again. I never had these issues on any previous vehicle. I can't remote start my truck with a key fob as mine didn't come with that option for some reason. My truck also does not have the start/stop function.

I park in a heated parkade everyday at home. Currently most of my driving is to/from work and to/from the grocery store on the weekend. Round trips is around 9KM total for most of my driving. I try and start the truck about 5-7 minutes before I leave work as it sits outside all day. It has been quite cold here recently with day time highs of -15c to -25c (-33c with the wind). At work, truck sits outside for 10 hours.

I have not had any problems until today when I went over to my brothers for dinner. It is a 2-3 minute drive tops. Everything was fine until I went to leave and it gave me the vehicle in battery saver mode. It is -24c out and it was snowing so I wanted to start it before I headed back home.

I have read a few posts saying they have upgraded to the Optima Yellow top battery and that seems to have fixed a lot of the issues. I just don't really want to have to spend $500 CAD on a battery, but if I'm going to have these issues every year with the Ford battery, maybe I'll have to bite the bullet and do it. And where I live, we do get down to below -40c in the mornings and high's of -30c for at least a week every winter.

What are you recommendations? I can take a different way to get to/from work, which would take my round trip to 16 KM from 9 KM. Right now I only get about 10 MPG as I have a 500 lb steel edge in the bed for my winter weight and fuel is anywhere from $1.109/L for regular to $1.369/L for premium.

Thank you for all your help!

I would put a charger on the battery overnight or longer and see if this causes the issue to go away. I would then set the charge percentage to 90 or 95% using Forscan. Ford sets the charge target to 70 or 75% from the factory and this causes the battery to lose charge as that target is too low to keep up, if not driving for long distances regularly.

 

[Frenchy]

For Warranty I have found the Ford Motocraft to be best. For quality I have found Odyssey by Enersys to be great. Just keep in mind that with the really low drive distance you are not charging the battery completely. If you were able to drive further, this would help quite a bit. Also for when the vehicle is parked outside, you should be using the Block Heater that came on the vehicle as it will help quite a bit with Cold Start. Last but not least, I would consider something like a Battery Tender being hooked up when the vehicle isn't in use

 

[RangerOwner86]

I would put a charger on the battery overnight or longer and see if this causes the issue to go away. I would then set the charge percentage to 90 or 95% using Forscan. Ford sets the charge target to 70 or 75% from the factory and this causes the battery to lose charge as that target is too low to keep up, if not driving for long distances regularly.

Thank you for the reply. Unfortunately I am unable to put a charger on my vehicle. I live in a condo building and have underground parking, but there are no outlets available. If I was to park outside, there is still no outlets available. MY dad is a Ford mastertech, so I can hopefully get him to change the settings in the computer. And yes, in the winter I really don't go anywhere, so not much runtime. In the morning it would be about 5-6 minutes from home to work and in the evening the truck will be running for about 15 minutes total... I'm assuming that it isn't charging much when it is sitting and warming up before I leave work?

 

[RangerOwner86]

For Warranty I have found the Ford Motocraft to be best. For quality I have found Odyssey by Enersys to be great. Just keep in mind that with the really low drive distance you are not charging the battery completely. If you were able to drive further, this would help quite a bit. Also for when the vehicle is parked outside, you should be using the Block Heater that came on the vehicle as it will help quite a bit with Cold Start. Last but not least, I would consider something like a Battery Tender being hooked up when the vehicle isn't in use

Thank you for your reply. Ya, my dad did a warranty replacement on the battery last year. I'm hoping that because it was replaced, it should start the warranty period over on the new battery.
I normally don't use the block heater unless our daytime high is going to not get above -30c. Also, there is a recall on the block heater for my truck saying not to use it and they won't have parts until at least Feb 2026 (good job Ford!)
I unfortunately can't use any kind of battery tender or charger at home as where I live there are no outlets available in the parkade or outside. Maybe I can talk to the one manager at work about letting me take his spot once a week so I'm near a power outlet and can put a charger on the battery for the day to give it a top up.
I'm also going to talk to my dad about seeing if he change the charge from 75% to 95% when driving so it keeps the charge capacity up like it should be.
What type of charger/tender should I purchase?

 

[RangerBill]

Thank you for the reply. Unfortunately I am unable to put a charger on my vehicle. I live in a condo building and have underground parking, but there are no outlets available. If I was to park outside, there is still no outlets available. MY dad is a Ford mastertech, so I can hopefully get him to change the settings in the computer. And yes, in the winter I really don't go anywhere, so not much runtime. In the morning it would be about 5-6 minutes from home to work and in the evening the truck will be running for about 15 minutes total... I'm assuming that it isn't charging much when it is sitting and warming up before I leave work?

No, that is not enough driving time to keep the battery charged. It would help to get your dad to make the change and put it on a charger while there.

 

[RangerBill]

Thank you for your reply. Ya, my dad did a warranty replacement on the battery last year. I'm hoping that because it was replaced, it should start the warranty period over on the new battery.
I normally don't use the block heater unless our daytime high is going to not get above -30c. Also, there is a recall on the block heater for my truck saying not to use it and they won't have parts until at least Feb 2026 (good job Ford!)
I unfortunately can't use any kind of battery tender or charger at home as where I live there are no outlets available in the parkade or outside. Maybe I can talk to the one manager at work about letting me take his spot once a week so I'm near a power outlet and can put a charger on the battery for the day to give it a top up.
I'm also going to talk to my dad about seeing if he change the charge from 75% to 95% when driving so it keeps the charge capacity up like it should be.
What type of charger/tender should I purchase?

I use the NOCO Genius5 charger/maintainer. It also has a de-sulfate mode for the battery.

 

[seanellaz]

Good day all, I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday time.

So I have a 2023 Ford Ranger Lariat. Dec 7, 2024 I had the battery replaced under warranty as its state of charge ended up falling to 50%. Truck had 40,830 km's on it. Now, a bit over a year later and the battery only has 5,718 km's on it and my Ford app is starting to give me battery saver mode warnings again. I never had these issues on any previous vehicle. I can't remote start my truck with a key fob as mine didn't come with that option for some reason. My truck also does not have the start/stop function.

I park in a heated parkade everyday at home. Currently most of my driving is to/from work and to/from the grocery store on the weekend. Round trips is around 9KM total for most of my driving. I try and start the truck about 5-7 minutes before I leave work as it sits outside all day. It has been quite cold here recently with day time highs of -15c to -25c (-33c with the wind). At work, truck sits outside for 10 hours.

I have not had any problems until today when I went over to my brothers for dinner. It is a 2-3 minute drive tops. Everything was fine until I went to leave and it gave me the vehicle in battery saver mode. It is -24c out and it was snowing so I wanted to start it before I headed back home.

I have read a few posts saying they have upgraded to the Optima Yellow top battery and that seems to have fixed a lot of the issues. I just don't really want to have to spend $500 CAD on a battery, but if I'm going to have these issues every year with the Ford battery, maybe I'll have to bite the bullet and do it. And where I live, we do get down to below -40c in the mornings and high's of -30c for at least a week every winter.

What are you recommendations? I can take a different way to get to/from work, which would take my round trip to 16 KM from 9 KM. Right now I only get about 10 MPG as I have a 500 lb steel edge in the bed for my winter weight and fuel is anywhere from $1.109/L for regular to $1.369/L for premium.

Thank you for all your help!

A trickle charger / maintainer could make life much easier. I upgraded my stock H6 to and H7 Battery, under $139 @ Costco with rebate and core swap. Super happy with it.

 

[thesaberhog]

Good day all, I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday time.

So I have a 2023 Ford Ranger Lariat. Dec 7, 2024 I had the battery replaced under warranty as its state of charge ended up falling to 50%. Truck had 40,830 km's on it. Now, a bit over a year later and the battery only has 5,718 km's on it and my Ford app is starting to give me battery saver mode warnings again. I never had these issues on any previous vehicle. I can't remote start my truck with a key fob as mine didn't come with that option for some reason. My truck also does not have the start/stop function.

I park in a heated parkade everyday at home. Currently most of my driving is to/from work and to/from the grocery store on the weekend. Round trips is around 9KM total for most of my driving. I try and start the truck about 5-7 minutes before I leave work as it sits outside all day. It has been quite cold here recently with day time highs of -15c to -25c (-33c with the wind). At work, truck sits outside for 10 hours.

I have not had any problems until today when I went over to my brothers for dinner. It is a 2-3 minute drive tops. Everything was fine until I went to leave and it gave me the vehicle in battery saver mode. It is -24c out and it was snowing so I wanted to start it before I headed back home.

I have read a few posts saying they have upgraded to the Optima Yellow top battery and that seems to have fixed a lot of the issues. I just don't really want to have to spend $500 CAD on a battery, but if I'm going to have these issues every year with the Ford battery, maybe I'll have to bite the bullet and do it. And where I live, we do get down to below -40c in the mornings and high's of -30c for at least a week every winter.

What are you recommendations? I can take a different way to get to/from work, which would take my round trip to 16 KM from 9 KM. Right now I only get about 10 MPG as I have a 500 lb steel edge in the bed for my winter weight and fuel is anywhere from $1.109/L for regular to $1.369/L for premium.

Thank you for all your help!

This is almost certainly a battery issue, or you have something wrong with the wiring in your truck. I too started to be unable to use the app to start my truck due to low battery. However, it was about time I replaced the battery. I would assume your battery is truly low, and if its a truck issue, something is using the battery when not in use. The outside temperature and your driving distance really dont matter. I'd get the electronics looked at, sorry your having issues. 60k miles on mine and only issue I had was a nail in a tire

 

[RangerOwner86]

A trickle charger / maintainer could make life much easier. I upgraded my stock H6 to and H7 Battery, under $139 @ Costco with rebate and core swap. Super happy with it.

Yes, that would make life easier, but the only place I would be able to plug it in would be at work once a week. I live in a condo building with underground parking and there are no useable outlets in the parkade or outside.

Must be nice to get that kind of price. A similar battery at Costco here is $330 CAD.

 

[RangerOwner86]

This is almost certainly a battery issue, or you have something wrong with the wiring in your truck. I too started to be unable to use the app to start my truck due to low battery. However, it was about time I replaced the battery. I would assume your battery is truly low, and if its a truck issue, something is using the battery when not in use. The outside temperature and your driving distance really dont matter. I'd get the electronics looked at, sorry your having issues. 60k miles on mine and only issue I had was a nail in a tire

I had the battery replaced a year ago as it said it was no good after 2 years. Now a year later and I'm having issue again. I never had these kind of issues with any previous vehicle I have owned, but they all had the standard lead-acid battery and if they had remote start, it was with a key fob not an app. I wish I could add factory key fob remote start to mine!

 

[rbern]

I only had the app too for remote start and I had somebody trying to break in my vehicle so I added the module from Ford for the perimeter alarm. Because adding this if you didn't have remote start you got remote start automatically it just worked with the key fire up pressing lock unlock lock It's kind of a bonus with the alarm no programming needed and with some of the Ford points I had and they were running a discount on their parts I only paid $125 bucks for it I've had to see me issue with my battery a little over 3 years and I had to replace drove too many short trips didn't get charged up enough wanted trickle charge it more often I'd like to change at charge rate too My problem is I got an amp in a sub that comes on with the key but then doesn't shut off for quite a while afterwards and all the electronics and the whole thing just run it down

 

[Rp930]

I believe your new battery will run out of warranty when the regular warranty runs out. Parts replaced under warranty don’t start the warranty clock over as far as I know.

 

[RangerOwner86]

I believe your new battery will run out of warranty when the regular warranty runs out. Parts replaced under warranty don’t start the warranty clock over as far as I know.

So my dad looked into it and I'm still within the 3 year/60,000 KM warranty period for the truck, so will get a new battery in a week or two! Then I'm going to take and get a 5 amp charger/maintainer as suggested above and plug in once a week at work to help keep the battery good. I drive more in the non-winter months so not a problem in those months.

 

[TechEditor]

My fix was to disconnect the BMS and allow the battery to fully charge as Henry Ford intended, 100 yrs ago as seen here:

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