Replacing the 12v battery

[RGrove]

I hate the cloud, I'd kill that swizzle in a heartbeat if I could. My radio was great until an update, now it's a random noise box. I found out today (from this forum) that the constantly changing shift habits are probably relates to updates.
Effing software companies conditioned humanity to accept half-finished products from the factory through the sneaky capability of fixing it when the customer complains or they discover a problem in the wild. I've written software so I get that sometimes you can't anticipate every condition in the field, but the ability and effectively cheapened cost of fixing on the fy through "updates" has dramatically lowered the quality of delivered products everywhere. It sucks, and I was happy it hadn't reached vehicles...until it did...

Sorry, I'm a few beers in at the fire pit and wishing these damn kids would stay off my lawn...?

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[Bo15]

Just replaced mine on the '21 PB. Pretty easy, just heavy.

Remove long bolt and move battery strap out of the way.
Remove negative.
Remove ground cable from frame (easier to put new battery in).
Remove positive. Protect cables from touching other metal.
Remove old battery and remove blanket.
Clean out battery tray and blanket.
Slide blanket on new battery and place on tray.
Make sure battery secure under tray tabs.
Attach battery strap and secure long bolt.
Attach positive cable.
Attach ground cable to frame.
Attach negative cable.

Took 15-20 mins. Short test drive. Didn't lose any settings.
Reset BMS.

12V 94R AGM DUAL X2 48
SLI94RAGMDP

 

[Brentlange]

If your Powerboost gets the latest Battery Management update, your Powerboost is going to treat your new/next AGM battery a lot nicer than it has in the past.

I don't know how much that will help when a truck sits several days in a row, except that it will at least start that daily decline from a higher SOC?

I don't get very worked up about putting a vehicle on a maintainer if/when it's going to sit unused for a while. I've been doing that for many years with motorcycles, toy cars, RVs......

And none of those machines have 42 computer modules and an ongoing relationship with the mothership in the cloud.

On the topic of Batteries, I recently purchased a '21 PB from a dealer that had replaced the AGM battery and while driving home (1100mi) I was bombarded with the Blis/cross traffic faults non-stop. I have hit some points listed in the forums such as taillight moisture, 275 connector, connectors at tailgate (405/408) which did not look the same as in posted pics, and resetting BMS. All of these items were inspected and greased. No change. Next, check updates? Is this inclusive to a software update for the truck? And pulling up and codes in forscan, outside of heading to the dealer to inquire on a flash... any other thoughts?? Thanks!!

 

[Snakebitten]

On the topic of Batteries, I recently purchased a '21 PB from a dealer that had replaced the AGM battery and while driving home (1100mi) I was bombarded with the Blis/cross traffic faults non-stop. I have hit some points listed in the forums such as taillight moisture, 275 connector, connectors at tailgate (405/408) which did not look the same as in posted pics, and resetting BMS. All of these items were inspected and greased. No change. Next, check updates? Is this inclusive to a software update for the truck? And pulling up and codes in forscan, outside of heading to the dealer to inquire on a flash... any other thoughts?? Thanks!!

Chances are, if you fetch a used 2021, it has a lot of upside if/when you can get it uptodate with software.

That's the good news.

The not so great news is that if it is a 2021 and it is lagging by much, then in my opinion the waiting for the OTA method to get caught up isn't very trustworthy. So you're a prime candidate for the FDRS/Mongoose self service method.

But even that isn't as bad as it might sound. It's stings a little to add ~$600 to the purchase price of the truck, but that feeling you get when you have successfully updated the truck is pretty nice. You have a fresher truck than the one you brought home.

Or put another way, I traded in a much nicer 2021 Platinum Powerboost than I purchased a year prior. Those were the dark days of OTA, I can tell you. Lol

 

[Calson]

Your F150 employs both volatile and non-volatile memory in its many different modules. The battery age-state is one example of data which is retained even when the battery is disconnected indefinitely, but which can be reset when appropriate.

I have personally done a leisurely swap of my starting battery, absent any tool to provide alternate 12VDC, without losing any of my infotainment and similar configurations.

In some cases it's useful to have memory 'clear' upon loss of power as an easy reset mechanism.

You may not agree with which data Ford elects to retain absent battery power for a given duration, but they certainly understand how to accomplish data retention in the absence of a battery.

So having to buy a device and a battery pack to provide power to the computer is a feature? So you are saying that Ford could use static memory for the settings but can't be bothered to do so.

I use Fordscan and a laptop and a special USB connector so I can save my settings to the laptop before replacing a battery. OK if someone is bored and needs a hobby.

 

[Gros Ventre]

I had some funny readings on my OEM battery about 4 months after delivery. As it turned out I was on the road for several days and just stopped in a nearby NAPA store and bought their off the shelf, catalog replacement battery. I was not smart enough to do anything except drop it in and get on down the road. Note that whatever Ford engineers chose to have powered by the underseat smaller battery remained powered. On returning home I did a "wetting down" charge. This is a low rate long term charge to ensure all active materials are set up. This took about 10 hours on my automatic AGM charger. Now 2 3/4 years later I've not had a single peep out of the electrical system to include three winters where temps get down to -20ºF and below. Bottom line: I believe the Ford batteries are defective. Having installed a regular old dashboard voltmeter, the programming is just fine with one exception. It appears that the temperature sensor driving system voltage is out in the Pax side mirror. This then results in very cold weather system float voltage being higher than needed after all is warmed up. This in turn may lead to a shorter battery life from over charging. All I can say from observing the system voltage is that it is programmed according to known formulae for charging and floating. I have ceased paying any attention to those % numbers in the computer. Those are only as accurate as the programming that counts the coulombs passing by. The system voltage really tells the story. Battery voltage is as accurate a measure of capacity as anything and has been well known for over a century. As I mentioned: Just go split for a non-Ford battery.

 

[Mstephens20]

If your Powerboost gets the latest Battery Management update, your Powerboost is going to treat your new/next AGM battery a lot nicer than it has in the past.

I don't know how much that will help when a truck sits several days in a row, except that it will at least start that daily decline from a higher SOC?

I don't get very worked up about putting a vehicle on a maintainer if/when it's going to sit unused for a while. I've been doing that for many years with motorcycles, toy cars, RVs......

And none of those machines have 42 computer modules and an ongoing relationship with the mothership in the cloud.

How do I check if I have this update available?

If your Powerboost gets the latest Battery Management update, your Powerboost is going to treat your new/next AGM battery a lot nicer than it has in the past.

How do I know/check if I’ve received this update or I have it available. Have been thinking about replacing my battery since every start I get the “charging system service soon” popping up.

 

[Snakebitten]

How do I check if I have this update available?


How do I know/check if I’ve received this update or I have it available. Have been thinking about replacing my battery since every start I get the “charging system service soon” popping up.

Look for the "VIN lookup" thread and ask your question there, along with your VIN. There are a few very generous fellas over there that can possibly see if you have gotten the update in question.

But regardless of whether you have or not, that shouldn't stop you from replacing a wounded AGM and resetting your BMS. As many have stated, a fresh non-oem battery and driving the truck remedied their low voltage/SOC related issues.

It's also very easy and inexpensive for a truck owner to monitor the health of their battery. One of the simplest ways is installing a $25 Bluetooth voltmeter to the AGM battery itself. It allows you to see and log the voltage of the battery for 24/7, and to view at your leisure.

Installs with one 10mm wrench in 3 minutes.

And honestly, if you know what to look for, you will know whether you have the charging strategy update by watching the voltage from the smartphone app.

Just installed a 3rd one on my Mach-E

 

[Mstephens20]

Look for the "VIN lookup" thread and ask your question there, along with your VIN. There are a few very generous fellas over there that can possibly see if you have gotten the update in question.

But regardless of whether you have or not, that shouldn't stop you from replacing a wounded AGM and resetting your BMS. As many have stated, a fresh non-oem battery and driving the truck remedied their low voltage/SOC related issues.

It's also very easy and inexpensive for a truck owner to monitor the health of their battery. One of the simplest ways is installing a $25 Bluetooth voltmeter to the AGM battery itself. It allows you to see and log the voltage of the battery for 24/7, and to view at your leisure.

Installs with one 10mm wrench in 3 minutes.

And honestly, if you know what to look for, you will know whether you have the charging strategy update by watching the voltage from the smartphone app.

Just installed a 3rd one on my Mach-E

When I first received the truck about a month and a half ago I received the notice once, along with “12v battery low”. I reset BMS and starting charging battery because of shorts trips and monitoring battery and never really had the message again. Then about 2 weeks ago I did a whole weekend of FDRS updates and ever since then it seems like every start I get the “charging system service soon” notification. Also feels like after all the updates the battery monitor was giving me low battery notifications quicker than before. I’ve seen all the threads about OEM batteries and figured it’s time to replace but other then the notices popping up I haven’t had any other issues starting or remote start or anything not working, So haven’t pulled the trigger yet.

 

[Snakebitten]

When I first received the truck about a month and a half ago I received the notice once, along with “12v battery low”. I reset BMS and starting charging battery because of shorts trips and monitoring battery and never really had the message again. Then about 2 weeks ago I did a whole weekend of FDRS updates and ever since then it seems like every start I get the “charging system service soon” notification. Also feels like after all the updates the battery monitor was giving me low battery notifications quicker than before. I’ve seen all the threads about OEM batteries and figured it’s time to replace but other then the notices popping up I haven’t had any other issues starting or remote start or anything not working, So haven’t pulled the trigger yet.

My apologies.
I wasn't aware that you have already done considerable due diligence chasing these things down. That's good news and makes it much easier to dicipher what's going on with the truck.

So you are able to monitor the low voltage buss at all times.
And are you stating that according to FDRS, you are caught up on updates?

If so, you should be able to confirm whether your truck, while running, is charging the battery at a much healthier voltage (13.7<>14.x) even after the battery is at 85% SOC or higher.
(without using the HVAC fanspeed trick)

If your truck does not yet have the update, you would easily witness a drop in voltage in the ~12.7V range once the AGM SOC reached 80% or more.

Admittedly it's even easier to see what's going on watching multiple PIDs than just a voltmeter, but as long as you know specifically what to look for, the voltmeter tells the same story.

And finally, if you do see voltage at 13.7+ and the SOC is not reaching 85-90% after a decent drive, I'd consider that enough evidence to suspect the battery just isn't healthy enough for the improved charging strategy to rescue it.

I regret to admit that I still haven't used Forscan to lower the SOC target value that I modified many months ago. So I can't verify whether or not it is being influencial with the new update. I can only say that it never seemed to do much of anything with the original charging strategy.

 

[Snakebitten]

(Edit: after making this post I realized I wasn't looking at a single day. No wonder I was a bit stunned)


I didn't mention in the novel above anything regarding your voltmeter log.

I haven't anything like that in my logs!
Can you describe this day? I mean what the truck was experiencing?

There's considerable amount of events where the voltage was 12.3 or lower. Even my 750 day old oem original Motorcraft H7 rarely gets down below 12.3V

The only thing that makes any sense was if this was a log during many hours of FDRS work. I admit that can tax the AGM and account for multiple swings like that log presents. But 24 hours straight? No way you were awake for all that? ???

 

[Hyins]

Just using FORScan to change TargetSOC to 120% and turn off SRC, all problems will be gone.

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/thr...ge-how-to-power-accessories.13862/post-452723

 

[Mstephens20]

My apologies.
I wasn't aware that you have already done considerable due diligence chasing these things down. That's good news and makes it much easier to dicipher what's going on with the truck.

So you are able to monitor the low voltage buss at all times.
And are you stating that according to FDRS, you are caught up on updates?

If so, you should be able to confirm whether your truck, while running, is charging the battery at a much healthier voltage (13.7<>14.x) even after the battery is at 85% SOC or higher.
(without using the HVAC fanspeed trick)

If your truck does not yet have the update, you would easily witness a drop in voltage in the ~12.7V range once the AGM SOC reached 80% or more.

Admittedly it's even easier to see what's going on watching multiple PIDs than just a voltmeter, but as long as you know specifically what to look for, the voltmeter tells the same story.

And finally, if you do see voltage at 13.7+ and the SOC is not reaching 85-90% after a decent drive, I'd consider that enough evidence to suspect the battery just isn't healthy enough for the improved charging strategy to rescue it.

I regret to admit that I still haven't used Forscan to lower the SOC target value that I modified many months ago. So I can't verify whether or not it is being influencial with the new update. I can only say that it never seemed to do much of anything with the original charging strategy.

I wasn’t able to get 100% caught up on FDRS since I ran out of time so I still had some updates to go but I did get the GWM, APIM, TCU and IPC updated. Also the CMR, the PSCM and APIM.
I got the login screen when trying to update the BCM so couldn’t get that done.
Later today I’m going to hook up the charger and get the AGM above 80% SOC and see what it’s charging at after that.

 

[Mstephens20]

(Edit: after making this post I realized I wasn't looking at a single day. No wonder I was a bit stunned)


I didn't mention in the novel above anything regarding your voltmeter log.

I haven't anything like that in my logs!
Can you describe this day? I mean what the truck was experiencing?

There's considerable amount of events where the voltage was 12.3 or lower. Even my 750 day old oem original Motorcraft H7 rarely gets down below 12.3V

The only thing that makes any sense was if this was a log during many hours of FDRS work. I admit that can tax the AGM and account for multiple swings like that log presents. But 24 hours straight? No way you were awake for all that? ???

On that log basically I was doing updates 5/10-5/12. The log appears to show that after those updates the SOC starts higher but appears to drop faster now.

 

[RGrove]

Well. Happy memorial day.
I've said a lot lately, "this truck has constant faults and things that don't work, but it hasn't left me stranded yet."
But today it finally has!
I left the truck running and ran in to Harbor Freight quick, as I'm in the middle of installing hvac at my house, and on getting back into the truck found the shifter locked, AC blowing warm, and this fault on the display.
New 12v battery, same P0B24 fault, and 2 hours of waiting. No change. Oddly, when I turned it back on again, it resumes the timer from last run, now at 45 minutes run time a 3 miles of electric drive. I have a hunch that if I could get it to release that and start a new trip, it would let me start and drive to the dealer.

BTW, I had this truck in the shop for 3 days for P0B24, and the dealer told me they "reprogrammed the battery" to fix it on pickup. On a follow up call, he said they actually just cleared the cel and did a drive cycle, and the cel didnt come back. That was Fords official repair procedure. Now I have a useless truck, abandoned in a mall parking lot on a holiday weekend.

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