For those who have had 12v Battery problems

[JayCo59]

My SE has the MFT 8" screen and my issue didn't happen in cold weather.  From what I'm reading on these TSB's  they don't apply to my car.

I'll call the ford dealer but I suspect I'll get an "Unconfirmed" diagnosis and they'll just do nothing.

Thx,

Jay

[Bill-N]

My SE has the MFT 8" screen and my issue didn't happen in cold weather.  From what I'm reading on these TSB's  they don't apply to my car.

I'll call the ford dealer but I suspect I'll get an "Unconfirmed" diagnosis and they'll just do nothing.

Thx,

Jay

 

Tell 'em it happened in cold weather.  They have no way of knowing if you jumped it yourself or called AAA.

 

It ridiculous to think that you might get stranded if you were to take a trip to a cold weather area.  

 

Just my 2 cents worth.

[GaryM]

I have only had my C-Max SE a couple weeks and have not had any issues at all, but I have to admit this thread does make me nervous about it. Is there any easy way to tell what firmware versions are in the car to know if mine needs the update? My build date is 02/13 and it had 120 miles on it at he dealer when I test drove and bought it. I always lock my car and all the lights are out before I walk away. I do have the large MyTouch screen. I do have a 12 volt jump starter pack, I think I will be leaving it in the car for the time being.

[mczajka]

I'm trolling your fine forum because I am an early Fusion Energi owner (build date 2/12/2013) with a 12 volt that has gone dead twice in about a week. Please give me a break...I went in to get a C-MAX Energi and fell in love with the Fusion Energi. I took it in last friday (after borrowing a friend's battery charger) with the most recent TSB and they tested the battery which they said was fine, but they did not apply the TSB (probably because it referenced cold weather). I've had the car since March and it's been great up until this heat. A/C has been running, and the big battery cooling fan has been running more often when I stop in traffic or at lights, probably all draining the battery. Car was only sitting 8 hours today in a covered parking garage, and the 12 volt was dead.

 

Is the most recent TSB working for most people?

[Maxy]

Sorry to say mczajka, I had the latest updates to my C-MAX in May. TSB13-4-13 and TSB13-5-1.  3 weeks ago battery was dead again:( Did not have the time to take car in, but reported it to ford customer service and they gave me a new case number. They had no new recommendation about the battery problem. It is frustrating to say the least....

[mrobinso8]

I also had it done and it did not help.  Talked to Ford Customer Service Rep.  She was supposed to talk to Engineering and get something for me by tomorrow.  She called today and could not get anything for me sine she thinks "the engineer is out sick" and she will be back to me the 24th at the latest.    Would be nice for Ford to hire another engineer.

[mczajka]

How long is it sitting unused?

[Maxy]

How long is it sitting unused?

Interestingly enough, I had the car sitting once for 10 days and twice for 3 days and it has started just fine. All three dead battery problem occurred during regular use over night or end of the day, approximately 4-6 weeks apart. It is coming up 6 weeks, so I am a bit nervous every morning before I am getting ready to go to work.

[Bill-N]

I talked the service folks into performing the relevant TSB.  In my case, the "at rest" battery voltage increased about 0.5 volts, so the TSB does make a difference.

[GaryM]

I am just at 3,000 miles and have not had any battery issue yet, but I did notice something odd. I had a few things to take in from the car, so I did not have a hand free for the key. I was able to close the doors and brought all my stuff in the house. I went back out to lock the car and noticed the corner marker lights were still lit. I decided to leave it unlocked to see, and it had to be over 15 minutes before I finally gave in and clicked the remote lock, and sure enough, the lights went off in a few seconds. Most times when I park, I see the marker lights go out shortly after the last door is closed, so this is not normal. If someone parked in a garage and didn't lock the car, it would not take long for the marker lights to draw the battery down flat. 

[zhackwyatt]

I am just at 3,000 miles and have not had any battery issue yet, but I did notice something odd. I had a few things to take in from the car, so I did not have a hand free for the key. I was able to close the doors and brought all my stuff in the house. I went back out to lock the car and noticed the corner marker lights were still lit. I decided to leave it unlocked to see, and it had to be over 15 minutes before I finally gave in and clicked the remote lock, and sure enough, the lights went off in a few seconds. Most times when I park, I see the marker lights go out shortly after the last door is closed, so this is not normal. If someone parked in a garage and didn't lock the car, it would not take long for the marker lights to draw the battery down flat. 

Interesting, I leave my car unlocked all the time in the garage and have not noticed this.  Have you changed your "Home Light" settings?  I have mine on the shortest time interval (can't remember what that number is exactly).

[GaryM]

_{I have not changed the "Home Light" setting from factory. I will look in the manual and see how to check/change it. I think it is pretty short though, as most times the lights are out fairly quick, and always right away when I do hit the lock button on the remote.}

[salsaguy]

settings / lighting / home light /

then select mode either preset or set your own internal

Edited August 2, 2013 by salsaguy

[hotelie1970]

Three month old 2013 C-Max Hybrid SEL with approximately 4,000 miles, driven daily for approximately 20 to 30 miles, was DOA this morning.  After reading the owners manual was able to jump start it with a battery charger.  While the car started and the display came back on, the Sync was acting "stupid" and even though my iPhone connected to the Sync when I dialed a call the display showed "no signal" and then the Sync stopped responding.  I drove the car to our dealer, Lindsay Ford in Wheaton, MD, and they gave me a loaner car and are keeping the car and doing diagnostics.  I'll update when we get the report and the car back.  BTW we've never gotten better than 39.8 miles per gallon regardless of highway or city driving.  Not happy with that! 

[rickyu]

My 2013 C-Max with 4300 miles is sitting in a friends drive way DEAD. Nothing electrical is working. No dome lights, no radio, no indicators lights, no power locks, no horn. I left it in the drive way as it was late and got a ride home with my partner. Will be going back to friend's house, which is 50 miles away, and call roadside assistance. Hope they come out on a Sunday. I am not happy about this.

 

I'll submit a survey whenI know the package number.

[BobJustBob]

 

My 2013 C-Max with 4300 miles is sitting in a friends drive way DEAD. Nothing electrical is working. No dome lights, no radio, no indicators lights, no power locks, no horn. I left it in the drive way as it was late and got a ride home with my partner. Will be going back to friend's house, which is 50 miles away, and call roadside assistance. Hope they come out on a Sunday. I am not happy about this.

 

rickyu,

 

Sorry to hear that you are now a member of "the club."  I suffered my third dead battery last Monday (8/12).  The whole situation is terribly frustrating.  I suffered two dead batteries within one week in late March.  Then, I had the 13-5-1 TSB applied the first week in May, and that seemed to fix the problem.  Then, the first week in August, I had the 13B07 upgrade installed, and 10 days later suffered the third dead battery.  This has left me wondering if somehow the 13B07 upgrade "reversed" the effect of the 13-5-1 TSB.  All I know is, I like the C-Max overall, but this battery problem is killing my enjoyment of the vehicle.  I hope Ford solves this once and for all soon.

[MSmith1915]

My C-Max had a dead battery the other morning.  I must admit it was self imposed.  I had gone out to the car and turned the accessories on to check the mpg reading and forgot to turn it off.  I don't think it was on longer than 4 or 5 minutes.  When I opened the car door, the center screen had a message that said 'System Off to Save Battery.  Please turn ignition off or start engine.'  Tried to start with the start button and nothing happened.  I hooked up jumper cables and the car immediately came to life and the I was able to start the car.    Here's my take on the 12 volt battery.  It must be a really small battery with a low amp hour output.  The reason the system shut down was to protect the high voltage battery.  The high voltage battery keeps the 12 volt battery charged and the Battery Management System will not let the lithium ion batteries deplete to a low level where they could be damaged.  That being said, the battery problems we are reading about have to be either the 12 volt battery itself or some system that is not shutting off which drains the the 12 volt battery and the battery management system will disconnect the high voltage battery to protect it.

 

Note:  Just looked up the BXT-96R-500 and it has 625 cranking amps (500 at 0 degrees F) and a 90 minute reserve capacity.  I looked up my 2004 Ford Escape battery and the specifications look very similar.  So, the amp hour output is not any lower than a normal battery.  My next guess would be that even in accessory mode, there is a pretty large draw on the 12 volt battery, hence the short amount of time all the systems stayed powered up.

[JAZ]

Yes, when that "System Off" message on the black screen appears you have mere seconds to try a restart:  had that happen in the middle of nowhere (aka middle of Pennsylvania) and as soon as I saw it hit the Start button.  Engine switched on and saved us some grief.  First time it happened I measured 11.3 volts at the front hookup points.

[MSmith1915]

I looked at my owner's manual (the one that came with the car) and the part numbers for the Low Voltage Battery are BXT-96R-500/BXT-96R-590.  I opened the cover in the cargo area to look at the battery and the part number on the battery actually installed in the car is BXT-67R-390.  I wonder why the difference from what the manual says and this makes the 12 volt battery considerable less capacity than the BXT-96R-500.  Should I ask Ford to put the battery the manual says should be installed?

Edited August 25, 2013 by MSmith1915

[wab]

My 2013 C-Max with 4300 miles is sitting in a friends drive way DEAD. Nothing electrical is working. No dome lights, no radio, no indicators lights, no power locks, no horn. I left it in the drive way as it was late and got a ride home with my partner. Will be going back to friend's house, which is 50 miles away, and call roadside assistance. Hope they come out on a Sunday. I am not happy about this.

 

I'll submit a survey whenI know the package number.

 

Greeting and welcome

 

 

Dead Battery was the #1 topic a few months ago, not so much now.

 

Do you have an SE or SEL?

 

And when was your car made?

 

SE's are much more prone to battery failure than SEL's.

 

 

TSB 13-6-23 seems to have fixed most of the SEL's.

 

http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/2370-tsb-13-6-23-updates-tsb-13-5-1-hybrid-and-energi-cold-weather-charging-improvements/

 

 

SSM 33298 along with TSB 13-6-23 seems to have solved most of the SE's.

 

http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/2428-ssm-32298-2013-c-max-fusionmkz-hybridenergi-possible-water-intrusion-in-connectors/

 

 

Warning: It doesn't take many times for a dead battery condition to kill your battery.

 

Probably a good idea to put a battery charger on if you've been driving in the rain.

 

You might want to print the TSB and SSM, a few smaller dealers haven't worked on enough C-Max to be aware of this problem.

 

Hope this helps

wab

[rfruth]

Wonder why and if SE's are more prone to battery failure than SEL's (that is what the poll indicates) more SE owners chimed in ?  (would seem to me the SEL's would be more prone (isn't the push button start system 'looking' for its key 24 7)) ?

[wab]

Wonder why and if SE's are more prone to battery failure than SEL's (that is what the poll indicates) more SE owners chimed in ?  (would seem to me the SEL's would be more prone (isn't the push button start system 'looking' for its key 24 7)) ?

 

Take a look at these.

http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/2651-tsb-13-7-10-12-volt-battery-discharged-will-not-hold-charge-radio-with-42-inch-display-only-built-on-or-before-6212013/

 

http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/2428-ssm-32298-2013-c-max-fusionmkz-hybridenergi-possible-water-intrusion-in-connectors/

 

SSM 32298 - 2013 C-MAX, Fusion/MKZ Hybrid/Energi - Possible Water Intrusion In Connectors

Some 2013 C-MAX, Fusion/MKZ Hybrid/Energi vehicles may exhibit various drivability or electrical concerns accompanied by one or more diagnostic trouble codes, with the most common being P26C3, P26CA, P26D0, P2800, P2802, U019F and U0284. On C-MAX inspect connectors C134, C140, C144, C1651, C1717 and C1812 for signs of water entry/corrosion and service as necessary. On Fusion/MKZ inspect connectors C146, C1651, C1812 and C2251 and service as necessary. 

 

Most/Some of these connectors are evidently unused and not weather protected on the SE.

Specifically the connectors for fog lights on the SEL... no fogs on the SE but the connectors are their.

 

Both of these are generally speaking for SE's

 

Check these and other TSB's in the

"Maintenance, TSB's & Recalls"

sub-forum located close to the bottom of the forum home pg.

[salsaguy]

more SE issues are partly because the SE is less expensive than the SEL so there are more SEs sold than SELs but we don't have the sales numbers breakdown but we know that from experience.

[Cowspotdog]

Add me to the dead batteries woos - third time it has happened now :(

[BobJustBob]

 

Add me to the dead batteries woos - third time it has happened now :(

 

Sorry to hear that, Cowspotdog.  I, too, have had three dead batteries.  It is very frustrating.  The really frustrating thing about it is that I haven't been able to spot any kind of pattern leading up to the dead batteries, so I don't have any inkling as to what is causing the problem.  Some have suggested a problem with electrical connections, but I don't think that is the cause in my case.  We had the wettest summer on record here in southeastern Pennsylvania, and the one dead battery I suffered then was during a relatively dry period.  The other two dead batteries occurred in late March, before the wet weather of the the summer.