Agh Dead battery after just 3 days

[HenryMac]

And how do you know that the battery is bad?

For future reference, if you take the old battery to a reputable parts place, like NAPA, they have diagnostics and can tell you if the battery itself is bad, or it just needs charged.

My perspective is a bit different since we live an hour away from any local dealerships. Napa is a 5 minute drive. For something as simple as a battery, I'll fix it myself to get the truck back on the road.

For us the truck is our primary means of transportation, waiting for the dealership is never the ideal approach, due to being so far away.

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[DHMag]

As of the last 2 weeks, I've noticed the auto stop won't engage. When I scroll to the screen, it says "Vehicle charging". After driving nonstop for 250 miles, it still says it's charging when at a stop. When I check the battery with engine running, I measure 14.4-14.6 vdc. I guess I need to check it before I start it to see the condition of the battery.

Edit, just checked the voltage as the truck as sat for about 14 house and it reads 12.2 vdc

 

[Fjsteven]

As of the last 2 weeks, I've noticed the auto stop won't engage. When I scroll to the screen, it says "Vehicle charging". After driving nonstop for 250 miles, it still says it's charging when at a stop. When I check the battery with engine running, I measure 14.4-14.6 vdc. I guess I need to check it before I start it to see the condition of the battery.

Edit, just checked the voltage as the truck as sat for about 14 house and it reads 12.2 vdc

My auto start stop hasn’t worked for month due to vehicle charging.

 

[G-Force]

Well, i got the truck back. Turns out the battery was bad. They jump started it and checked the charging system and it was fine putting out 14.9 volts. Load tested battery and it failed. They installed their Rotunda charger to test battery, the charger failed the battery. They checked for a parasitic drwa and found none. I'm still a little leary of this due to all the wonderful electronics that the truck has. I'm going to keep an eye on it. One thing I did notice before the battery died was I could not start the truck with Fordpass. At first I was getting messages on Fordpass that they were updating the system. Then I would get vehicle failed to start. I just tested Fordpass now and the truck started. We will see what happens tomorrow when I go to start it before going to work.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Well, i got the truck back. Turns out the battery was bad. They jump started it and checked the charging system and it was fine putting out 14.9 volts. Load tested battery and it failed. They installed their Rotunda charger to test battery, the charger failed the battery. They checked for a parasitic drwa and found none. I'm still a little leary of this due to all the wonderful electronics that the truck has. I'm going to keep an eye on it. One thing I did notice before the battery died was I could not start the truck with Fordpass. At first I was getting messages on Fordpass that they were updating the system. Then I would get vehicle failed to start. I just tested Fordpass now and the truck started. We will see what happens tomorrow when I go to start it before going to work.

Hi Mike,

The battery supplier is showing an inability to demonstrate process capability as there are too many battery failures reported on these forums. Ford Quality Assurance must address this with the supplier. AMG batteries are very robust and I am pleased Ford had moved to installing them on new products. They sure beat the old maintenance free flooded cell batteries... The supplier had to get their act together, or Ford has to resource to another manufacturer of which there are only a few. Question is for me...are these batteries sourced to China?

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[G-Force]

Hi Mike,

The battery supplier is showing an inability to demonstrate process capability as there are too many battery failures reported on these forums. Ford Quality Assurance must address this with the supplier. AMG batteries are very robust and I am pleased Ford had moved to installing them on new products. They sure beat the old maintenance free flooded cell batteries... The supplier had to get their act together, or Ford has to resource to another manufacturer of which there are only a few. Question is for me...are these batteries sourced to China?


Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Wait a minute Phil.
You mean to tell me you can ACTUALLY purchase stuff that's not made in China???
I never knew that!!!!
Interesting..........

 

[Fjsteven]

Well, i got the truck back. Turns out the battery was bad. They jump started it and checked the charging system and it was fine putting out 14.9 volts. Load tested battery and it failed. They installed their Rotunda charger to test battery, the charger failed the battery. They checked for a parasitic drwa and found none. I'm still a little leary of this due to all the wonderful electronics that the truck has. I'm going to keep an eye on it. One thing I did notice before the battery died was I could not start the truck with Fordpass. At first I was getting messages on Fordpass that they were updating the system. Then I would get vehicle failed to start. I just tested Fordpass now and the truck started. We will see what happens tomorrow when I go to start it before going to work.

I wouldn’t worry too much. It seems batteries from the factory have a higher failure rate than the ones at the dealership. I would guess the factory ones are not stored as well as the dealership ones. I bet they probably sit for a bit too even with just in time manufacturing.

 

[BButah]

I can go days without driving my truck . So each time I get home, I pop the hood in the garage and hook it up to a Battery Tender. I did this for 17 years on my Audi allroad and only went thru 2 batteries (excluding OEM battery that only lasted 2 years).

If the battery is bad to begin with, this doesn’t help, but for me over the long term, it works great and keeps the battery fully charged and maintained.

The other bonus to opening the hood each time is the engine compartment cools much faster and you don’t cook the hoses, wires and cables for hours in the garage.

 

[Enitan]

Why didn't you just go to a local parts place and get a battery?

two words: factory warranty

Under warranty, why pay for something Ford should be covering?

::Morgan freeman meme:: He’s right you know

Hey, I just did what the dealer wanted me to do. Why should I waste my time and money buying a new battery for it when its covered by warranty? I could have jump started it but why should I when I was able to get it to the dealer and let them see the problem first hand. And how do you know that the battery is bad? Am I inconveniened, yes, to the point where I can't drive my truck. But in the meantime I'll just drive my company car and let them pay for the gas while I get my truck fixed for free under the warranty I paid good money for. The only thing it cost me was the 20 bucks I gave the tow truck driver. But you're right, opinions do vary.

^^ this, personally I used ford roadside. Let ford cover it. I did end up tipping the gentleman the second time. Poor guy, absolute saint. We had some awesome chit chat. As a side note the way ford pays is quite interesting. Don’t stick the guy coming out to jump with a bad survey.

They do. You asked, that's my opinion, and apparently his as well. For a dead battery in effectively a brand new truck, that's cause for concern even if it is just a battery. It's outside of the usual and personally I'd want it looked at as well. Batteries aren't cheap either, normally $150+ for a good one.

Man oh man batteries sure have been surging that’s for sure. They also don’t seem to last as long. I’ve had zero issues with the ford dealer motor craft replacement.

Well, i got the truck back. Turns out the battery was bad. They jump started it and checked the charging system and it was fine putting out 14.9 volts. Load tested battery and it failed. They installed their Rotunda charger to test battery, the charger failed the battery. They checked for a parasitic drwa and found none. I'm still a little leary of this due to all the wonderful electronics that the truck has. I'm going to keep an eye on it. One thing I did notice before the battery died was I could not start the truck with Fordpass. At first I was getting messages on Fordpass that they were updating the system. Then I would get vehicle failed to start. I just tested Fordpass now and the truck started. We will see what happens tomorrow when I go to start it before going to work.

FordPass worked well for me after the replacement I didn’t have to do any “repairing”

Have you had a chance to look at your positive terminal under the plastic trim? If not take a peek every time I look at it my head screams “DANGER WILL ROBINSON DANGER” I’ve never in my life seen quite a setup like that. So far so good though after the replacement. Still makes me nervous to look at the positive terminal connections lol

Hi Mike,

The battery supplier is showing an inability to demonstrate process capability as there are too many battery failures reported on these forums. Ford Quality Assurance must address this with the supplier. AMG batteries are very robust and I am pleased Ford had moved to installing them on new products. They sure beat the old maintenance free flooded cell batteries... The supplier had to get their act together, or Ford has to resource to another manufacturer of which there are only a few. Question is for me...are these batteries sourced to China?

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

I don’t know where they’re sourced from for factory builds but can confirm I had bad cells on the dealership test. Motor craft branded battery has been flawless since even down to well below sub zero temps and wind chills.

Also was that a hint at me calling ford and raising hob?

Wait a minute Phil.
You mean to tell me you can ACTUALLY purchase stuff that's not made in China???
I never knew that!!!!
Interesting..........

You can if you look hard enough. Sometimes you have to go outside the box to find it and pay more. Me if it has a made in the USA label I’ll gladly pay more.

As for the ranger itself: mine came with Wayne MI stickers for the plant though the window sticker didn’t break down parts sourcing or percentages. Either way glad my $$ went to supporting American assembly jobs at least.

 

[G-Force]

I went and bought this off of Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0795CNWZ9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
In the morning when it drive to work the charging voltage is 14.8 to 14.9 volts. According to what I read in the service manual this is normal.
However, after work when I drive home the charging voltage is 13.8 volts.
I don't quite understand why.
I tried turning off the headlights and marker lights but it made no difference. And the auto stop / start worked during this whole time. I have to read more on it.
Oh, I broke down and bought the factory service manual on cd and the paper wiring diagram book from Helm.
If you decide to purchase this just buy the cd. The wiring diagrams are also on the cd. And it wasn't cheap but I feel it was worth it.

 

[Gizmokid2005]

I went and bought this off of Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0795CNWZ9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
In the morning when it drive to work the charging voltage is 14.8 to 14.9 volts. According to what I read in the service manual this is normal.
However, after work when I drive home the charging voltage is 13.8 volts.
I don't quite understand why.
I tried turning off the headlights and marker lights but it made no difference. And the auto stop / start worked during this whole time. I have to read more on it.
Oh, I broke down and bought the factory service manual on cd and the paper wiring diagram book from Helm.
If you decide to purchase this just buy the cd. The wiring diagrams are also on the cd. And it wasn't cheap but I feel it was worth it.

A charging voltage between ~13.1-14.8v is normal. It depends on battery level and amount of charge needed. I suspect your battery needed more juice this morning on your way to work than it needed on the way home. There's a few other contributing factory, load, temperature, etc, but this is absolutely within spec. Every vehicle I've had has also varied in this range.

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