Getting dealer to replace battery

[GR8BBQ]

AI is going to make this issue even worse going forward, if your problem does not fit neatly into a little box. No error codes? No battery replacement.

Made me think of this:

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[roadPilot]

I had my truck in for the battery issue last week and I saw my mechanic friend over he weekend and he asked if I had any further troubles. Not so far... He said if it continues to be a problem and still tests OK they might have to "make it fail". Apparently, this is a common scenario. Dealers can't lose customers over something as simple as this. Ford is stupid for saving 10.00/truck by using undersized batteries but risk losing a customer at trade in time.

They'll eat the cost of a new battery to keep a good customer happy.

 

[rpold150]

I got lucky and a dealer near me replaced the one year old battery with another H6. I left it overnight and picked up later the second day. I think they said they had to charge it, and then let it sit to watch the state of charge. Unfortunately, it's a small thing and I think each service department will treat it differently. I just wanted it on the record that the battery failed in less than a year. A year later and I've had a couple recent experiences where the interior lights don't come on. It's a platinum and should have had the H7 or H8 installed. I'll buy the next one.

 

[National Superbike]

They'll eat the cost of a new battery to keep a good customer happy.

I think he was saying that they have ways to "make it fail" the test so they can actually warranty it. But yes, my dealer is a small town locally owned business that can't afford to have a lot of pissed off customers. The big dealers in ATL are swamped all the time and literally don't care if you come back or not.

 

[Parthery]

To that point, my selling dealer in Atlanta owns 18 stores around the city. I'm positive that because I bought the truck from them, they ate the cost of the battery. If I had walked in off the street and had no relationship with them, they probably would have told me to pound sand.

 

[roadPilot]

To that point, my selling dealer in Atlanta owns 18 stores around the city. I'm positive that because I bought the truck from them, they ate the cost of the battery. If I had walked in off the street and had no relationship with them, they probably would have told me to pound sand.

I've bought over a dozen (14?) new F/L/M vehicles from the same dealership since 2006. Same salesman except my current truck, which I bought from my former salesman's son, who took over his dad's customers when his dad retired. They take VERY good care of me there. I had a no-cost loaner for over 2 months once. I put thousands of miles on that new Explorer. ?

 

[Spiffy]

Ugh. This morning I opened the drivers door and my interior lights did not come on. Yesterday they did.

 

[Calson]

The first option is to buy a battery maintainer for $50 and have it insure the SOC is not a problem. At $50 it is an inexpensive fix. With a new battery if you have a H6 the upgrade to a H7 or H8 may fix the problem but at a much higher cost.

I have had two Motorcraft H6 batteries and after having the same SOC problems with the second one I bought a battery maintainer for the truck and upgraded the battery with a H7 Yellow top. At home the battery maintainer with an extension cord has worked very well. When traveling I depend on the H7 battery to start the engine.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078962VRM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

The Ford BMS is poorly designed and executed. You will not find posts about battery problems on the Toyota, GM, Chevy, or Ram, forums.

I wanted the rear tailgate with the pull out step and grab bar and the large gas tank and the locking rear differential and the trade-off was OK for the most part. The situation has not changed in these aspects.

 

[TarnishedCopper]

I would take the truck to a reputable Auto Parts place who offers Free Battery Tests, and get a load test done. It will probably fail right away. Document that and take it back to the dealer. I got the battery replaced in my 2022 at the dealer. They said "it barely failed at the end of the test." I told them it repeatedly failed to start after sitting in my garage unused for 2 days.

It's amazing how cheap Ford and the dealerships have gotten on warrantee work on obviously inferior parts.(e.g. headlight switch, wiper motor etc.)

 

[Spiffy]

Not a chance the dealership will consider a auto parts battery load test. Dealership has their own very expensive and advanced battery testing equipment.

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