Found in Driveway, DEAD!

[thebestbear]

I have a '23 PB that was built the first week in April '23 and delivered to me on 5/10/23. I had mostly no battery issues (truck went into sleep mode a few times) until 10/8/23. I got stuck at Lowe's with the SSN message. Got a jump and drove home. On 10/16/23, my dealer diagnosed a faulty battery and replaced it under warranty. I subsequently took the advice of Snakebitten and installed a battery monitor on 11/25/23 which I monitor with my iPhone. I've had several issues of the truck not able to remote start after sitting for 2 or more days, but starting with the two step method has always been successful. AGM batteries must be charged correctly when new, or their lifespan is apparently shortened dramatically. I love this truck, and hope software updates will solve this charging problem. I so appreciate the skills and knowledge that I have gleaned from this forum.

Can you please point me to the monitor and how to first charge a new AGM as I just ordered a $380 battery.

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[air2mag]

Best bear: QUICKLYNKS Auto Battery Monitor BM2 Bluetooth 4.0 12V Device Car Battery Tester

this is the battery monitor several of us are using. I got mine off Amazon. It works great.

 

[Cobra129]

My 23 had a bad battery 4 months after build. The quicklane tested it and it passed, but then the main shop used a different tester and it failed. Both tests were done in the same day. They replaced my factory H7 with an H6, then argued with me that it was supposed to have an H6 despite being a lariat high.

I honestly don't trust the motorcraft battery at all right now. It hasn't shown any issues (yet) but i also feel like it isn't exactly healthy. When I put my Clore charger on it the other day, it showed a 50% SOC. Hell the day they installed it it basically acted dead until i drove for an hour home then put it on the charger.

Thanks, guess I'll see if the battery holds....I now carry a Noco portable jump start just in case.

 

[Cobra129]

I have a '23 PB that was built the first week in April '23 and delivered to me on 5/10/23. I had mostly no battery issues (truck went into sleep mode a few times) until 10/8/23. I got stuck at Lowe's with the SSN message. Got a jump and drove home. On 10/16/23, my dealer diagnosed a faulty battery and replaced it under warranty. I subsequently took the advice of Snakebitten and installed a battery monitor on 11/25/23 which I monitor with my iPhone. I've had several issues of the truck not able to remote start after sitting for 2 or more days, but starting with the two step method has always been successful. AGM batteries must be charged correctly when new, or their lifespan is apparently shortened dramatically. I love this truck, and hope software updates will solve this charging problem. I so appreciate the skills and knowledge that I have gleaned from this forum.

Same here, a wealth of knowledge....I've been also using the two-step method and has been working quite well. Went to family's home for Thanksgiving and drove the Highlander and the F-150 sat for 9 days in the garage....started immediately. Second time I left it for a period of time, no problems starting. just this last instance where it sat for only one day and then it was completely blacked out, FOB wouldn't even work...Cheers!

 

[wrgrimes]

I, too, have had an episode of not starting- 'Full Accessory Mode'.
O'Reilly battery test OK; 2 days later dealer found the battery charge too low to test after 20-30min of highway driving. The dealer replaced the battery under warranty (2mo old).
I am pretty good about 2 step start up, but I need to check my fan speed. I also remote start a lot.
I also check my 12v and hybrid battery SOC frequently.
One thing I am pretty good about- leaving the hybrid with a good charge at night. If I idle charge the battery, it shuts down at around 63% SOC. As I enter my street and driveway, I get a good bit of electric driving. Recently, I have started flipping to Tow Mode about a half mile out. Now I pull into the garage with around 67% SOC and don't have to sit and idle.

 

[Cobra129]

Best bear: QUICKLYNKS Auto Battery Monitor BM2 Bluetooth 4.0 12V Device Car Battery Tester

this is the battery monitor several of us are using. I got mine off Amazon. It works great.

Thank you, just ordered one...

 

[RancidRacer]

I, too, have had an episode of not starting- 'Full Accessory Mode'.
O'Reilly battery test OK; 2 days later dealer found the battery charge too low to test after 20-30min of highway driving. The dealer replaced the battery under warranty (2mo old).
I am pretty good about 2 step start up, but I need to check my fan speed. I also remote start a lot.
I also check my 12v and hybrid battery SOC frequently.
One thing I am pretty good about- leaving the hybrid with a good charge at night. If I idle charge the battery, it shuts down at around 63% SOC. As I enter my street and driveway, I get a good bit of electric driving. Recently, I have started flipping to Tow Mode about a half mile out. Now I pull into the garage with around 67% SOC and don't have to sit and idle.

So Tow Mode disables electric driving? Sure good to know for ensuring a higher SOC during short trips.

 

[RancidRacer]

Can you please point me to the monitor and how to first charge a new AGM as I just ordered a $380 battery.

From what I have read online, and frankly, mostly from reading Snakebitten's very knowledgeable and thorough posts, an AGM battery requires a full charge ( maybe with an AGM battery charger) for the first few days/weeks of its life in service.

 

[Snakebitten]

Actually I think it is @Gros Ventre that has a life long (naval career) knowledge of lead acid batteries and the advantages of properly "preparing" a new battery before installing it. (a proper charge)

As for the SOC on the Hybrid battery,.......

It's absolutely true that Ford has it configured so that if you are in Sport or Tow Haul mode, they disable EV cruising completely. But, they also reverse their charging strategy for the High Voltage battery by keeping it "topped off", rather than what they do when you are cruising in Normal mode and are at a pace faster than EV can engage. In high speed Normal mode they maintain the High Voltage battery at the bottom of the operating range. (43ish SOC)

In fact, in Sport/Tow mode, they raise the threshold for High Voltage SOC considerably beyond ~63%, and even allow regenerative braking to push it into the 70's% at times.

That's awesome for if/when you might need some serious torque for a brief maneuver. ?

And as mentioned above, you could switch from Normal to Sport just before you arrive home and have the battery topped off without needing to idle in Park and use fuel without moving.

In theory, since interstate cruising is beyond EV mode anyways, you could drive in Normal mode for maximum fuel efficiency, and then once you are at interstate speeds switch to Sport and watch your High Voltage battery top-off. At that point when you are cruising up mild grades (over passes), you should see the torque based engine management on the Powerboost reach for battery based torque rather than boost?!!
(verifiable with PID monitoring easy enough)
If that's indeed what happens in Sport mode with a high SOC HV battery, then ironically you would be getting BETTER fuel economy in Sport mode than Normal mode in that scenario.

Come off the interstate, reduced speed, and you switch back to Normal mode and bring EV potential back in play.

I know I know. It's all too granular if you just want to drive your truck. ?
But you gotta admit that there's a crazy amount of user management at your disposal if you enjoy that kind of thing.

 

[TexasTruck]

You are correct, needs to be documented...That should/will be done, but then again, knowing the Ford dealers, hate to not have it for days, maybe weeks at a time. However, majority of recommendations on here have been to replace the OEM battery with a quality AGM battery and that has solved many of the starting problems. Thanks.

I completely understand! My local dealers are 4 to 6 weeks out. I called for the windshield wiper recall and the service writer immediately said, can you leave your truck with me for 4 to 6 weeks... they had the part too

If it's something I can fix, even out of my pocketbook I'll do it myself. I'm not sure if we need more dealerships/service centers, less cars on the road, or they just don't make cars like they use to....

 

[Gros Ventre]

What I saw with the Escape Hybrid traction battery is that Ford selected a region in the charge/discharge curve that was nearly flat (around 40-60%). While the 12VDC system operated much as I'd seen older systems. I believe that was to simplify programming and enable extended life. My 2006 Escape Hybrid is still on its OEM Battery. From that I think the care and feeding of the two batteries in the Powerboost are programmed with a similar, but more advanced, philosophy. The system voltages I see for the 12VDC part don't make sense to me from previous vehicles. It turns out that 12.6VDC is the theoretical 100% charged voltage of a Lead Acid battery. 13.2 VDC was the practical float voltage in the "olden days" of temperature compensation circuitry. More to follow as we learn what Ford thinks they were doing. Also, Wyoming's stretch of I-80 has some really big hills. I've seen my Powerboost go onto the battery on some of the downhills... at 80MPH (the speed limit).

 

[Gros Ventre]

For those of you less familiar with I-80 history... There's section of it between Rawlins & Laramie colloquially known as "The Snow Chi Minh Trail" for its remote and steep terrain... Yes I've been on the battery at 80 MPH...

 

[Borchelt]

Same here on the Duralast. Truck ran fine but failed to apply the OTA until I changed batteries.

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