Second battery has failed - Ford BMS is crap

[Kodiak]

I'm about to park my PB in a Galveston parking lot for a week long cruise. I've contemplated purchasing a portable jump start battery pack, but maybe I'll just go out on a limb and trust the new strategy will not produce a 'dead' truck upon return... thoughts?

I picked up my 2022 502a PB in December 2022 and it sits for 1 week+ regularly. I only have about 4700 miles and 1150 miles of that was driving it home from Granger. I almost always start the truck from the app while I sit at my desk and the truck sitting for 10 days is not uncommon for me. Only once have I had an issue with a large OTA update and my Neco 10 for about 30 minutes fixed that the next day. OTA then went through without issue.

If you are not already having issues with the battery I would be surprised if you have any issue when you return from the trip. The extra jump starter never hurts and if you just factor that cost into the cost of the cruise you will get a nice little unit that gives some peace of mind and you can use it for any vehicle. Enjoy the trip.

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[Atlee]

Calson,
I think what you will see is 2 distinct groups, maybe 3 in the forum. 2021 model years, 2022 models and then 2023+. The 22's bears the worst of Ford with constraint deletes, industry leading number of recalls, abusive lack of communication, wilful deletions of features, and excessive price increases, all while racking in the most profitable season in the history of automobile manufacturing. And when there is a complaint about being gigged for a battery that won't last through the life of the warranty, some 21 owners like Gordo say Stop your Bitchin. I think many of us 22's have exceeded our limits with Ford and grace is not longer merited.

The culture at Ford is terrible. Watch Ford vs Ferrari and you will see the systemic dysfunction that endures today. I don't lay blame on the engineers for our battery failures, it is the bean counters, whose numbers are more valuable than those of engineering. H6 is a fiduciary function. It would not surprise me if the amount of energy used to transport and install these batteries were not a part of the calculated savings, not to mention the reduced cost of a H6 battery blanket vs H7/H8. And I will guarantee you that the weight savings of H6 was a part of CAFE credits. And then, Farley, et. al. made a calculated risk that those who will replace these batteries at their own cost will out way having to pay dealers a fixed cost to replace these using their express lane mechanics. It is a function of costs, not engineering impenitence.

The OTA battery management update did not help me. I'll take it in, burn another day, and see if the third new battery last longer than the first 2. At $80k, I should not have to shell out for a new battery, charger, maintainer, larger blanket and a portable jump starter. It's a problem Ford created, and Ford needs to fix it.

And Juan, I'd get a lithium jump box. You may not want to wait for a kindly person who just finished a cruise to wait around to give you a jump. While you may be willing to do the same for others ...
As I mentioned above, my update does not maintain accessories on start up after a couple of days. I'd be afraid that longer than that, I may not have the juice to start.

I will knock on wood again, but so far my MY22 XLT PB has done well for me. 1/2 or more of the 25K miles have been towing.

I didn't get any last minute deletes during production in order to hasten the build and delivery schedule. To top things off my truck was built or at least started production on 12/23/21, the last day the Ford plants were producing vehicles in 2021. It was physically delivered to the dealer the 1st week in Feb 2022.

It was fitted with a H7 800 CCA battery. I know there were some PB's that were fitted with H7 batteries that only had 760 CCA.

Fortunately, so far, I've only had the truck back to the dealer for routine oil changes plus had a couple of Recalls taken care of, including the wiper motor.

I wish every F150 owner has had my good fortune. so far.

 

[spiritrider1]

If everything works as designed, even if the battery SOC isn't high enough to stay at the desired minimum, the truck is supposed to go into deep-sleep mode to protect the battery from bleeding further.
But having said that, I would never discourage anyone from having a backup power source.

Have a nice cruze!

Thanks! I always have a set of jumper cables on board. Cruises have become quite expensive these days so I've resisted the expense of a power pack because I have that 1st level back-up. But also because, even though I've got a Jan 2021 Job 1 PB that resisted OTA's for the longest time, it's always started for me even when I was troubleshooting a dying 12v battery last winter. The HV battery appeared to start and run the truck perfectly every time. You may recall those conversations back then. Winter exposed the weak battery but the PB is especially tricky since the symptoms are masked by the HV battery. I only figured it out by getting the battery monitor you suggested and also my own digital battery tester.

I put a Costco Interstate H7 in her and she's working wonderfully since.

FYI - I've never put it on a charger (full or trickle) except when I was trying to anticipate a couple of big OTA's that were failing to load.

 

[Gord0]

And when there is a complaint about being gigged for a battery that won't last through the life of the warranty, some 21 owners like Gordo say Stop your Bitchin. I think many of us 22's have exceeded our limits with Ford and grace is not longer merited.

I have a 21 I bought used. It had a crap Ford h6 battery in it. I had battery warnings with it. Thanks to these forums I knew the battery to be undersized and likely crap. I went to Costco the first week I had the truck and bought a German made interstate H8 battery for a whole $170 and replaced the h6. I swear some people in here would spend more on gas driving to the dealership, having them waste gas there, driving home, wash, rinse repeat multiple times all to try to get them to replace an undersized crappy h6 with another undersized crappy h6. Put a better battery in there, quit bitchin, and enjoy the great truck.

 

[spiritrider1]

... I went to Costco the first week I had the truck and bought a German made interstate H8 battery for a whole $170...

I looked at their offerings but didn't see a German one?? Mine is made in China. I was kind of surprised when I saw that since I thought Interstate was a US brand. But because it was Costco (warranty) and branded by Interstate (reputation and experience) I went ahead and got it. I think it was the same price.

 

[Gord0]

I looked at their offerings but didn't see a German one?? Mine is made in China. I was kind of surprised when I saw that since I thought Interstate was a US brand. But because it was Costco (warranty) and branded by Interstate (reputation and experience) I went ahead and got it. I think it was the same price.

I may have lucked out. Mine says made in Germany.

 

[scott011422]

I am a 2022.
Early Job2
No constraints other than Park Assist
Fully Loaded KingRanch Powerboost
X-plan (~$6500 below MSRP at the time)
Still on original battery

So your stereotype isn't exactly accurate.

I know I know.
I'm supposed to be an angry Ford hater to be a forum member.
And honestly, there are plenty of examples of truck owners here that if I were them I would be livid.

But a windshield wiper motor that never failed, and a crappy battery charging strategy for low use trucks, just isn't enough to ruin the ownership experience. Not for me anyways.

I don't recall it ever being asked, Have you been short tripping and not driving often since purchase? Have you pretty much been using the maintainer since the beginning?

If so, That could explain you amazing battery performance!

 

[scott011422]

I have a 21 I bought used. It had a crap Ford h6 battery in it. I had battery warnings with it. Thanks to these forums I knew the battery to be undersized and likely crap. I went to Costco the first week I had the truck and bought a German made interstate H8 battery for a whole $170 and replaced the h6. I swear some people in here would spend more on gas driving to the dealership, having them waste gas there, driving home, wash, rinse repeat multiple times all to try to get them to replace an undersized crappy h6 with another undersized crappy h6. Put a better battery in there, quit bitchin, and enjoy the great truck.

I will admit, For all the posts and complaints i've been doing across the battery threads, I've had maybe 1 battery message since replacing the battery. It was also -10 in the dead of winter. The new battery has also never failed to start the truck. Truck isn't doing the new battery any favors, but no messages and a starting truck is nice!

 

[Snakebitten]

I don't recall it ever being asked, Have you been short tripping and not driving often since purchase? Have you pretty much been using the maintainer since the beginning?

If so, That could explain you amazing battery performance!

For the first two years of Powerboost ownership (2021 Platinum Powerboost for 1 year, and now the 2022 KingRanch Powerboost for more than a couple of years) I daily'd both trucks and my commute is about 50 miles. As I did a deep dive into PIDs and the factory service manual, along with this awesome forum with the gurus that share so generously, I began to get at least a layman's understanding of how the complicated beast operates.

I did eventually decide to start supplementing the onboard charging of the AGM with external charging/maintaining as my personal use began to change. I have other "beaters" I now daily primarily, so the truck often will sit in the barn for several days, and sometimes weeks. If the Bluetooth voltometer reports static voltage below 12.3V, I'll plug the onboard Noco 10 in and try to keep that oem battery from getting injured.
Honestly I wouldn't have predicted it to still be in the truck today, but I guess being so diligent at monitoring it and thus preventing it from ever getting seriously drained has probably made the difference?

I'm heading out in about an hour for about a 2000 mile journey in the truck. A terrestrial cruise, if you will. And THAT is what I truly own this amazing truck for! It just gobbles up the long runs like the land yacht that it is.

Hey @spiritrider1
Be sure to park that truck with the HV battery at a full 63% SOC.
When you return, do the 2-step startup and I bet you will get a nice fat 14V jolt from the DC/DC converter to supplement your AGM the second time you hit the Start Button. ?

 

[Snakebitten]

Just checked the battery. The truck has sat for 3 days, not plugged in.

It's ready to go!
Again, I'm guessing that I just never allowed this battery to get drained/injured, at least not severely.

 

[Gros Ventre]

In the olden days, if the voltage during cranking remained above 10.5 VDC, the battery was good. I had some funny readings 4 months after delivery (summer 21) while on the road for Thanksgiving. Just pulled into a NAPA place along the way (I'm partial to NAPA) and got their off the shelf catalog battery. Put it in (wasn't then smart enough to to know I should have reset something), and got on down the road. Not a peep since out of the electrical system. Later I put in a dashboard voltmeter. Thought Ford's programming was oddly high. Well later learned that the temperature sensor feeding the system is outside in the PAX mirror. Now that the weather has warmed up the programmed voltage is right on the money for a lead acid AGM type battery. My conclusion, despite the fact that Ford should make good on an OEM battery, is just go out and get a non-Ford battery. My winters out here routinely get down to -20ºF (& colder is common). I've had not a peep and the truck has started just fine. Do you need a bigger battery... not really unless you're doing winching or some such. I know, there are those that like the computer counting the coulombs in and out of the battery, but on a lead acid battery (regardless of type) the no load terminal voltage will give you a very good state of charge reading. Note that when you approach the truck or pop the hood, you trigger some modules that will depress the system voltage by about half a volt.

 

[BigJim]

I googled the battery issue since I wanted to know ord fixed it for my upcoming 2024. Here’s what google said:

Did anyone have their battery recalled? 456K vehicles are significant and would think some on this forum received a recall notice.

 

[Calson]

The battery problems are exclusively with Ford F-150 trucks. No such problems with the batteries in the Ram 1500 or the Toyota Tundra pickups. Why not do you think that this is the case?

Ford indirectly acknowledges the problem by installing a H7 in pricier trim level trucks and the H8 in vehicles to be used by government agencies. My final fix was to use Forscan to make changes and to replace the second H6 factory battery with an Optima H7 and to start using a battery maintainer. The costs involved are trivial compared to selling the truck and buying a Tundra or Ram 1500. It is more the time it has taken to determine the best remedy as there are attempts to fix the problems with settings and not with a new battery and a maintainer.

The focus is on increasing fleet fuel economy and so there are high demand components like electric steering assist that helps Ford's fleet numbers even if it causes problems for their customers. There are limitations and expecting a software program to manage parasitic draws on the battery or high demand components is foolish, but then it is rare for manufacturing people with engineering degrees or MBA's to understand these limitations. I spent 30 years in IT with Fortune 100 manufacturing companies and understand the structural issues with their managers.

 

[spiritrider1]

Just checked the battery. The truck has sat for 3 days, not plugged in.

It's ready to go!
Again, I'm guessing that I just never allowed this battery to get drained/injured, at least not severely.

Darn! I forgot to check my SOC upon my return to the truck from the Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas. My Family was A/C starved from the 85% humidity and 99deg Galveston weather. So I started it remotely while on our way to the parking lot and added time to make sure it didn't turn off. Got to the truck running happily and a chilled cabin! Made several stops and didn't detect a hint of battery issues. It sat 6 days straight.

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