21 Powerboost SSN Low Battery

[Musclez]

So just a standard battery 12v replacement?

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[Gros Ventre]

Yes, I'm speaking of the large 12VDC battery up under the hood. A PowerBoost also has a smaller 12VDC battery. It's under the rear seat Pax side. It serves to power certain key circuits when the engine is started by the larger battery (there is a significant voltage droop during engine cranking). My belief is that the larger 12VDC battery is the culprit. I hate to tell you to just replace the "new" battery the dealer put in, but... If you still see the same funny stuff, you'll reach a point that such may be the next step. In my case when my funny stuff began, I called my dealer (with whom I have a good relationship) and asked. They weren't sure what to do and I was several hundred miles from them. So, I just pulled into NAPA (I've had good experiences with NAPA) and said you got a battery for the 21 PowerBoost... They looked it up, had one so I said "sold." Took it out the door and swapped it. Wasn't knowedgeable enough to do the fancy battery monitor reset etc. Did the rest of the Thanksgiving driving and when home did the "wetting down" charge I've spoken of. Like I've said: not a peep since. That's now three Wyoming winters which routinely get down to -20ºF and lower. I didn't do a core turn in and took the Ford OEM battery back to the dealer a week or so later and they tested it; said it was fine. BTW there is a specific type of charger for AGM batteries, so get one if you don't have one already.

 

[Musclez]

Yes, I'm speaking of the large 12VDC battery up under the hood. A PowerBoost also has a smaller 12VDC battery. It's under the rear seat Pax side. It serves to power certain key circuits when the engine is started by the larger battery (there is a significant voltage droop during engine cranking). My belief is that the larger 12VDC battery is the culprit. I hate to tell you to just replace the "new" battery the dealer put in, but... If you still see the same funny stuff, you'll reach a point that such may be the next step. In my case when my funny stuff began, I called my dealer (with whom I have a good relationship) and asked. They weren't sure what to do and I was several hundred miles from them. So, I just pulled into NAPA (I've had good experiences with NAPA) and said you got a battery for the 21 PowerBoost... They looked it up, had one so I said "sold." Took it out the door and swapped it. Wasn't knowedgeable enough to do the fancy battery monitor reset etc. Did the rest of the Thanksgiving driving and when home did the "wetting down" charge I've spoken of. Like I've said: not a peep since. That's now three Wyoming winters which routinely get down to -20ºF and lower. I didn't do a core turn in and took the Ford OEM battery back to the dealer a week or so later and they tested it; said it was fine. BTW there is a specific type of charger for AGM batteries, so get one if you don't have one already.

So you replace the hood 12v correct I noticed you said something under the pass seat I haven’t seen one there.

 

[Snakebitten]

Right now nothing aside from pcm code because I pulled the 3 connectors to restart the truck.

freaking asinine, P068A - ECM/PCM Power Relay De-Energized Performance - Too Early

Keep an eye on codes and I will be happy to post everything I can find in the factory service manual related to the codes you harvest.

Also, if it were my truck, I would definitely use the 2-step Powerboost startup procedure just to discover if the procedure circumvents the SSN alert. I'm not saying that it will for sure, but it'd be interesting.

Since it's a Powerboost, it provides a unique opportunity to manually give the truck a "gentler" wake up when starting.

Step 1. Do NOT put your foot on the brake before hitting the start button. Basically you are putting the truck in Accessory Mode. But unlike a traditional truck, you are not taxing the low voltage (12V) battery in the truck because a Powerboost instantly enables the DC/DC converter. So two things are taking place in the initial few moments of step 1. (A) the low voltage side of the truck is getting provided a healthy amount of current. (B) The 30-40 modules onboard are being given an opportunity to handshake and come online without the burden of being instantaneously ready to move the truck.

Step 2. After 5-10 seconds of accessory mode, and after clicking the OK button on the steering wheel to clear any/all alerts, THEN put your foot on the brake and hit the start button a second time. Of course Step 2 is actually just starting the truck normally, but the truck is already fully booted up and the high amperage starting event (12V starter) will not be competing for available current.

Just curious if using the 2-step starting procedure will avoid the SSN and throwing the code(s)

I'll go see what I can find for P068A

 

[Gros Ventre]

So you replace the hood 12v correct I noticed you said something under the pass seat I haven’t seen one there.

The PowerBoost has one, I don't know whether the Non-PowerBoosts have one. It is under the rear pax seat against the back of the cab wall. I did not replace that smaller battery

 

[Gros Ventre]

Keep an eye on codes and I will be happy to post everything I can find in the factory service manual related to the codes you harvest.

Also, if it were my truck, I would definitely use the 2-step Powerboost startup procedure just to discover if the procedure circumvents the SSN alert. I'm not saying that it will for sure, but it'd be interesting.

Since it's a Powerboost, it provides a unique opportunity to manually give the truck a "gentler" wake up when starting.

Step 1. Do NOT put your foot on the brake before hitting the start button. Basically you are putting the truck in Accessory Mode. But unlike a traditional truck, you are not taxing the low voltage (12V) battery in the truck because a Powerboost instantly enables the DC/DC converter. So two things are taking place in the initial few moments of step 1. (A) the low voltage side of the truck is getting provided a healthy amount of current. (B) The 30-40 modules onboard are being given an opportunity to handshake and come online without the burden of being instantaneously ready to move the truck.

Step 2. After 5-10 seconds of accessory mode, and after clicking the OK button on the steering wheel to clear any/all alerts, THEN put your foot on the brake and hit the start button a second time. Of course Step 2 is actually just starting the truck normally, but the truck is already fully booted up and the high amperage starting event (12V starter) will not be competing for available current.

Just curious if using the 2-step starting procedure will avoid the SSN and throwing the code(s)

I'll go see what I can find for P068A

Had not thought of this two step method... Neat idea if needed.

 

[Musclez]

Keep an eye on codes and I will be happy to post everything I can find in the factory service manual related to the codes you harvest.

Also, if it were my truck, I would definitely use the 2-step Powerboost startup procedure just to discover if the procedure circumvents the SSN alert. I'm not saying that it will for sure, but it'd be interesting.

Since it's a Powerboost, it provides a unique opportunity to manually give the truck a "gentler" wake up when starting.

Step 1. Do NOT put your foot on the brake before hitting the start button. Basically you are putting the truck in Accessory Mode. But unlike a traditional truck, you are not taxing the low voltage (12V) battery in the truck because a Powerboost instantly enables the DC/DC converter. So two things are taking place in the initial few moments of step 1. (A) the low voltage side of the truck is getting provided a healthy amount of current. (B) The 30-40 modules onboard are being given an opportunity to handshake and come online without the burden of being instantaneously ready to move the truck.

Step 2. After 5-10 seconds of accessory mode, and after clicking the OK button on the steering wheel to clear any/all alerts, THEN put your foot on the brake and hit the start button a second time. Of course Step 2 is actually just starting the truck normally, but the truck is already fully booted up and the high amperage starting event (12V starter) will not be competing for available current.

Just curious if using the 2-step starting procedure will avoid the SSN and throwing the code(s)

I'll go see what I can find for P068A

I’ll give this a try moving forward.

 

[Gros Ventre]

Keep an eye on codes and I will be happy to post everything I can find in the factory service manual related to the codes you harvest.

Also, if it were my truck, I would definitely use the 2-step Powerboost startup procedure just to discover if the procedure circumvents the SSN alert. I'm not saying that it will for sure, but it'd be interesting.

Since it's a Powerboost, it provides a unique opportunity to manually give the truck a "gentler" wake up when starting.

Step 1. Do NOT put your foot on the brake before hitting the start button. Basically you are putting the truck in Accessory Mode. But unlike a traditional truck, you are not taxing the low voltage (12V) battery in the truck because a Powerboost instantly enables the DC/DC converter. So two things are taking place in the initial few moments of step 1. (A) the low voltage side of the truck is getting provided a healthy amount of current. (B) The 30-40 modules onboard are being given an opportunity to handshake and come online without the burden of being instantaneously ready to move the truck.

Step 2. After 5-10 seconds of accessory mode, and after clicking the OK button on the steering wheel to clear any/all alerts, THEN put your foot on the brake and hit the start button a second time. Of course Step 2 is actually just starting the truck normally, but the truck is already fully booted up and the high amperage starting event (12V starter) will not be competing for available current.

Just curious if using the 2-step starting procedure will avoid the SSN and throwing the code(s)

I'll go see what I can find for P068A

Looked up an explanation. Apparently there is a read write feature going on during the engine shutdown process. If it does not complete because voltage was removed too early there can be corruption of the stored code. So why is that going on? My take goes back to the defective battery issue that's been bounding around this website. If the battery allows the voltage to drop too low during the shutdown process I infer this would be set. Awaiting your take there Snakebitten...

 

[Snakebitten]

This is the complete pinpoint work flow regarding the code.
I personally believe that the vast majority of the culprit for this code on a Powerboost is a weak AGM battery, and or a combination of the 2 12V batteries.
And you can clearly see that Ford's diagnostics for the code STARTS with eliminating them as the source.
But it's also clear to see that if the batteries are healthy, the code can still be triggered by a few other potential components failing:

(Note: The code is possible on all of the current F150 drivetrains)

Beginning of Pinpoint testing procedure

 

[Musclez]

Looked up an explanation. Apparently there is a read write feature going on during the engine shutdown process. If it does not complete because voltage was removed too early there can be corruption of the stored code. So why is that going on? My take goes back to the defective battery issue that's been bounding around this website. If the battery allows the voltage to drop too low during the shutdown process I infer this would be set. Awaiting your take there Snakebitten...

So in your opinion best battery choice?
Optima or duralast?

https://www.autozone.com/batteries-starting-and-charging/battery

 

[Musclez]

Anything I can check with OBDLink Mx+ ? I have one

 

[Snakebitten]

Anything I can check with OBDLink Mx+ ? I have one

That's a wonderful tool and I use it extensively with my Powerboost for monitoring both the ICE side of the truck, and the "electrified" side as well.

The problem is that the OBD port has to be energized for the adapter and the monitoring app to get any PID communications.
I personally think the best way to check the health of the AGM battery is to get a voltage reading when the battery is sitting undisturbed to see if it is even holding it's head above say ~12.4V or more.

I use a cheap Bluetooth voltage meter that allows me to log and read the voltage without waking the truck up. Or even if I do wake the truck up by approaching with a FOB or opening a door, I want to see the voltage WITHOUT the truck itself providing any current or assistance to the AGM.

If my truck sits unused for several days and I do not have a trickle charger on it, the static voltage will eventually drop to the 12.2-12.3V range. I personally consider that the threshold for intervention. Either drive the truck, plug in the battery charger, or even turn on generator (ProPower) mode and let the truck self charge the AGM.

If I wasn't so willing to be diligent at nursing the 2 year old AGM battery, I'd just go replace it now. But I'm being stubborn and seeing if I can keep the truck happy by participating as a human BMS, if you know what I mean. ??

 

[Snakebitten]

Just for grins, here's my OBDlink dashboard for the Powerboost.
Top 50% is ICE monitoring
Bottom 50% is electrons.

Note my oem Motorcraft AGM nearing 730 days

 

[Musclez]

Just for grins, here's my OBDlink dashboard for the Powerboost.
Top 50% is ICE monitoring
Bottom 50% is electrons.

Note my oem Motorcraft AGM nearing 730 days

Anyway to send me that dashboard lol

 

[Gros Ventre]

So in your opinion best battery choice?
Optima or duralast?

https://www.autozone.com/batteries-starting-and-charging/battery

I've long been partial to NAPA batteries. I have no opinion on Optima and Duralast. I've been using NAPA batteries for 25 years. The benefit in my mind, besides a good product, is you can make good on their guarantee at any NAPA store across the US. I once bought a NAPA battery at the NAPA store on Guam (talk about way out in this world). It's common for batteries to fail due to the heat close to the equator. Got back to the states and it failed (Seattle area). The Napa place I went to didn't bat an eyelash... Along the way, I had one of their batteries go 8 years here in Wyoming, with many going 6 or 7. I do alot of care & feeding and these were flooded cell types. My take is a good name brand battery ought to go 3 to 5 years. I'm still learning about how to make AGM batteries have a long life.

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