2014 C-Max Battery Problems

[AMA904]

Have the 2014 models (any of them) had the same battery problems that the 2013 models had?

[DaveofDurham]

Have the 2014 models (any of them) had the same battery problems that the 2013 models had?

Yes, there have been some 2014 vehicles with 12 volt battery issues. 

 

See for example post #1162 on page 59 of the "Battery dead" thread.    http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/361-battery-dead/page-59?do=findComment&comment=42157

[AMA904]

Yes, there have been some 2014 vehicles with 12 volt battery issues. 

 

See for example post #1162 on page 59 of the "Battery dead" thread.    http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/361-battery-dead/page-59?do=findComment&comment=42157

Thanks. That certainly doesn't look good

[Kelleytoons]

The question I would ask any folks with battery problem is this: Do you have MFT?

[AMA904]

The question I would ask any folks with battery problem is this: Do you have MFT?

What are you implying here? That those with MFT don't have the battery problems? Or do have the battery problems?

[Kelleytoons]

I believe that there are many causes of battery problems, not the least apparently is some sort of connector issue with water causing difficulties.  I also think that a major cause is the standard radio somehow not turning off or draining power and I think it's this reason that the SEL models (which come with MFT) show less battery issues than the SE models (which can be so equipped but not as part of the base package).

 

So I would be curious to know if folks who have a 2014 model SE with battery problems have MFT or not.  If they do have MFT, the next thing I would suspect would be water issues (and those connectors).  If a 2014 model has MFT AND has no water issues (say they are fairly sure they didn't experience any wet conditions prior to the battery problem) then it's something special to remark about.

[AMA904]

I believe that there are many causes of battery problems, not the least apparently is some sort of connector issue with water causing difficulties.  I also think that a major cause is the standard radio somehow not turning off or draining power and I think it's this reason that the SEL models (which come with MFT) show less battery issues than the SE models (which can be so equipped but not as part of the base package).

 

So I would be curious to know if folks who have a 2014 model SE with battery problems have MFT or not.  If they do have MFT, the next thing I would suspect would be water issues (and those connectors).  If a 2014 model has MFT AND has no water issues (say they are fairly sure they didn't experience any wet conditions prior to the battery problem) then it's something special to remark about.

Does this mean something like driving in the rain can then lead to battery issues?

[Kelleytoons]

You need to read all the other threads and form your own opinions.

 

Like you, I live in Florida and pretty obviously drive in the rain all the time (even go through puddles, some of them quite deep) with Maximis with no issues.  But others have reported issues with "wet episodes" apparently leading to corrosion in connectors that was "solved" by merely replacing the connectors and packing with grease (and they have also reported then never experiencing any more battery problems).  AFAIK these were all issues with earlier models (i.e. 2013) but I'm guessing just statistically you could find a 2014 in there somewhere.

 

My hunch is they have addressed the most common causes of these issues and that models built this year (and further on, hopefully) will have have a lot fewer issues.  But also, clearly, there are some vehicles for which they don't understand what is happening.  Again, my belief is these are all vehicles without MFT (or, let's say, the preponderance of them are without MFT).  And, like with any vehicle made nowadays, there are also some lemons that come off the line that no amount of fixing will ever help (but these are rare, obviously).

 

I would buy another C-Max today in a heartbeat and never worry about any of these things (of course, I would NOT buy one without MFT, but not for that specific reason -- I just happen to think it's a major reason to buy a Ford).  If your concerns are whether you should buy based upon this I can tell you there is NO vehicle on the market today for which you could not find similar problems (not necessarily battery problems, just chronic issues for which *some* people conclude they don't want a car from that maker anymore) even if statistically they make up a very small part of that universe.

[drdiesel1]

Thanks. That certainly doesn't look good

Why, because there's 1 known reported issue with a 14 ? I've had a 2013 NRG and came back and bought a 2014.

Never had problems with either one. It's a great car and if you let 1 known issue stop you from buying one, good luck.

You'll be missing a great car. Maybe a Tesla might be a good car, but alas, they have 12V battery problem too.

[scottwood2]

Why, because there's 1 known reported issue with a 14 ? I've had a 2013 NRG and came back and bought a 2014.

Never had problems with either one. It's a great car and if you let 1 known issue stop you from buying one, good luck.

You'll be missing a great car. Maybe a Tesla might be a good car, but alas, they have 12V battery problem too.

I too am concerned with this issue.  I was curious and went over to the Chevy Volt forum which has the best rating of any car for customer satisfaction and they too had a number of issues listed including 12V battery issues.  The cars today are much better than they were in the past but there are still issues.  

[Jus-A-CMax]

I too am concerned with this issue.  I was curious and went over to the Chevy Volt forum which has the best rating of any car for customer satisfaction and they too had a number of issues listed including 12V battery issues.  The cars today are much better than they were in the past but there are still issues.  

 

Guys, guys, guys - its the new HYBRID reality that as soon as you have batts involved, there will be and could be issues. I think you're all missing the boat here - find a GREAT dealership who is knowledgeable and will take care of you and know Ford will back up and look into any issues. Just because its  :airquote: not fixed yet, does not imply Ford does not care or is non-nonchalant about it. If anyone has a dead battery or any issue, we also have a Ford Rep here on this forum - Crystal, feel free to PM her.

[salman]

The 2013 and 2014 are essentially the same car, esp when it comes to the things that have contributed to the dead 12 volt problems: same lectronics systems, same wiring connectors, same coolant pump.

 

My 2013 had problems, my 2014 had problems, and when the 2014 was serviced - replacing connectors on the main wiring harness and thn replacing the coolant pump because of its connectors - those repairs were made because the issues had been identified on other CMaxs, both 2013 and 2014. That is what the engineers on the hotline told the service manager and mechanic servicing my car. If the engineer had not encountered the problems before, he would not have recommended those repairs on my car.

 

I have not had a problem with the battery since the pump was replaced in May.

 

If it turns out that bad connectors are the cause (or main main cause) of the dead 12 volt problem, then Ford should have the problem fixed for the 2015. Water tight electrical connectors are (ahem) a mature technology. But time will tell if 1) the connectors are the main culprit, and 2) if Ford fixes them for the 2015 model.

 

Insofar as the bad connectors are concerned, rain, sleet, snow, and car washes can gget water into the connections. The problem is not driving in the rain. The problem is the connectors are not water tight.

 

I looked into reports of battery problems with other hybrids last year. Yes, some priuses have had dead 12 volts after sitting unused for several weeks (main cause is the OEM battery is small and has a low reserve rating, as compared to standard sized batteries. Optima makes a more robust after market battery for the Prius). But I saw nothing with any car that is comparable to the problem with the CMaxes

 

At first, in January 2013, I thought maybe the small size of the CMax battery could be the cause, but that is water under the bridge. It is not the cause. It seems like bad connectors are the main cause. A bigger battery would get drained, too.

 

Would I buy a CMax today? No, I would wait until the 12 volt problem is definitively fixed, which should be for 2015.

 

Has Ford been trying to solve the problem? Absolutely. Has Ford taken responsibility for the problem by buying back or replacing cars when the lemon law is properly invoked? Yes, and without a fight in almost all cases described on the forum.

 

I think Ford is a good company and the CMax is a great idea, but with a significant bug that might be close to being fixed. Time will tell.

[AMA904]

The 2013 and 2014 are essentially the same car, esp when it comes to the things that have contributed to the dead 12 volt problems: same lectronics systems, same wiring connectors, same coolant pump.

 

My 2013 had problems, my 2014 had problems, and when the 2014 was serviced - replacing connectors on the main wiring harness and thn replacing the coolant pump because of its connectors - those repairs were made because the issues had been identified on other CMaxs, both 2013 and 2014. That is what the engineers on the hotline told the service manager and mechanic servicing my car. If the engineer had not encountered the problems before, he would not have recommended those repairs on my car.

 

I have not had a problem with the battery since the pump was replaced in May.

 

If it turns out that bad connectors are the cause (or main main cause) of the dead 12 volt problem, then Ford should have the problem fixed for the 2015. Water tight electrical connectors are (ahem) a mature technology. But time will tell if 1) the connectors are the main culprit, and 2) if Ford fixes them for the 2015 model.

 

Insofar as the bad connectors are concerned, rain, sleet, snow, and car washes can gget water into the connections. The problem is not driving in the rain. The problem is the connectors are not water tight.

 

I looked into reports of battery problems with other hybrids last year. Yes, some priuses have had dead 12 volts after sitting unused for several weeks (main cause is the OEM battery is small and has a low reserve rating, as compared to standard sized batteries. Optima makes a more robust after market battery for the Prius). But I saw nothing with any car that is comparable to the problem with the CMaxes

 

At first, in January 2013, I thought maybe the small size of the CMax battery could be the cause, but that is water under the bridge. It is not the cause. It seems like bad connectors are the main cause. A bigger battery would get drained, too.

 

Would I buy a CMax today? No, I would wait until the 12 volt problem is definitively fixed, which should be for 2015.

 

Has Ford been trying to solve the problem? Absolutely. Has Ford taken responsibility for the problem by buying back or replacing cars when the lemon law is properly invoked? Yes, and without a fight in almost all cases described on the forum.

 

I think Ford is a good company and the CMax is a great idea, but with a significant bug that might be close to being fixed. Time will tell.

 

Just curious, what would you buy then?

[Kelleytoons]

But remember, asking someone who had a (relatively) uncommon problem what HE would buy is a bit like asking someone who was just divorced whether they would favor marriage again.  

 

You need to make your OWN decisions -- as I always say (and will continue to say) if all you did was spend time in hospitals you'd conclude there were no healthy people in the world.  The vast majority of us have had no issues with our C-Maxes and likely never will.  If you aren't comfortable with a car that might have issues, then don't buy a new one.  Buy something used that continues to run well and you will save yourself a TON of worries (that is unless it stops running well, as it inevitably will).

[Adrian_L]

There seems to be a pattern on this forum.  1) Problem with car stated.   Doubts about reliability  2)Response: "I love my C-max and it hasn't had any problems!"  How is this helpful or constructive I have yet to figure out. 

 

If my hybrid didn't start one day and I had to jump it, take it to the dealer to check it out.  No problem.

 

2nd time it happened--ok, now I'm getting annoyed.  But if the dealer can fix it and make me happy.  Again, no problem.

 

Third time I'm losing patience.  Again, great to hear you love your '13 Energi or '14 Hybrid or whatever, and it hasn't had any problems.  That doesn't help me much.

[Kelleytoons]

Adrian -- we aren't responding to someone with a problem (at least *I'M* not) but rather someone who's trying to make up their mind about buying this car.  Pretty obviously if you come to any forum with an issue (which is mostly why folks come to any forum) it isn't helpful for someone to say THEY don't have that issue.  In those cases the best help is to try and figure out what to do about it.

 

But coming to a forum and trying to make a decision about a particularly hardware/software/place to live/job to get means that all aspects must be discussed.  You can say "Hey, *I* wouldn't buy this!" and I might say "But *I* would buy this!" and those are both equally valid things to contribute to the discussion.  The problem, again, is that the majority of people who come to a forum have problems (even I only came here at first because I had, if not problems, at least questions I needed answered).  

 

I would invite you to go to ANY forum about ANYTHING and you'll see the same pattern.  It's one of the reasons you have to take the reviews of things you read at Amazon with a grain (or perhaps a large block) of salt.  There isn't one single item I've seen there that doesn't have at least one review stating it's a piece of crap that never worked properly and that person would never buy from that company again. The difference is that there you have a lot of folks willing to rate a product highly if they were satisfied with it, unlike places like forums where people come to complain.   If forums were more balanced (that is, if there were more people who came to them with zero issues than not) you could form a pretty good opinion but as it is it's just too lopsided to make a qualified judgement from the stories told there.

[salman]

Just curious, what would you buy then?

 

The car most similar to a CMax is a Prius V. It is a little bigger and does not accelerate or maneuver as well as a CMax, but it gets better MPG and the Prius has proven reliability.

 

If you read back in the forum, you will see that when I started the bu back case for my 2013 CMax I was at first certain I would not do a replacement. I thougth I would buy a Prius V. Almost did, but then decided to take my chances with a CMax again because I like driving it and I had found a good dealer service department.

 

Then my new 2014 had two dead 12 volt episodes! Remember, this was after the lemon law buy back for my 2013.

 

Dealer service was great and immediately contact Ford engineers about the dead 12 volt in the 2014. We had already been around the block 7 or 8 times with the 2013 and developed a good relationship. After the second 2014 dead 12 volt episode the coolant pump was changed (May 2014) and no problems since.

 

Would I do it all over again. No.

 

Does every CMAX have dead 12 volt episodes? No, but a non-trivial minority of them do, and the cause seems to be the design of the electrical connectors. I would wait for the fix to be fully proven before buying a CMax.

 

But that's just me. I don't care to tell others what to do. I can only say what I think I would do.

[drdiesel1]

The car most similar to a CMax is a Prius V. It is a little bigger and does not accelerate or maneuver as well as a CMax, but it gets better MPG and the Prius has proven reliability.

 

If you read back in the forum, you will see that when I started the bu back case for my 2013 CMax I was at first certain I would not do a replacement. I thougth I would buy a Prius V. Almost did, but then decided to take my chances with a CMax again because I like driving it and I had found a good dealer service department.

 

Then my new 2014 had two dead 12 volt episodes! Remember, this was after the lemon law buy back for my 2013.

 

Dealer service was great and immediately contact Ford engineers about the dead 12 volt in the 2014. We had already been around the block 7 or 8 times with the 2013 and developed a good relationship. After the second 2014 dead 12 volt episode the coolant pump was changed (May 2014) and no problems since.

 

Would I do it all over again. No.

 

Does every CMAX have dead 12 volt episodes? No, but a non-trivial minority of them do, and the cause seems to be the design of the electrical connectors. I would wait for the fix to be fully proven before buying a CMax.

 

But that's just me. I don't care to tell others what to do. I can only say what I think I would do.

But, you just said it's been fixed...........Why continue to bash on it ;) Prii's are scrap-metal  :spend:

I like how Toyota tried to sweep their problems under the rug by trying to bribe their way our of the deaths

related to the problems with the unwanted acceleration as well as avoid a national recall. I wouldn't buy

a POS Toyota for any reason, so expect me to hammer it when you tout that turd on this forum. Toyota's

are a POS, and that's everyone of them. Junk cars. Stupid Americans buy the overpriced Lexus brand by

the millions. What a waste of good money :spend: for a crappy underwhelming glorified, Toyota.

Edited August 26, 2014 by drdiesel1

[Kelleytoons]

Yeah, and after driving both a Prissy and a Prissy V for a week I can tell you there is NO way in hell I'd ever buy that car, mpg or not.  It's not just not fun -- it's a accident waiting to happen.

 

I was literally almost run over twice coming out of our development because I could not accelerate up to "highway speeds" (um, 55 mph -- I could barely get to 30 in the time I had and this was a *very* reasonable amount of time for even an RV.  Just not a Prius).  It's loud and uncomfortable and the ONLY thing it has going for it is good FE.  But I can get better FE from a bicycle and would be safer on the highway with it (because at least I wouldn't be *trying* to pull out in front of other cars :>).

 

Quite honestly, I can't imagine anyone who's ever driven one for even a short period of time wanting another one, but that's just me.  Heck, there are some marriages I don't understand either, and those folks *seem* real happy, so go figure.  Maybe if all you ever do is drive around Mayberry for short periods of time a Prius would be great (and I guess there are still some places left like that in the U.S. -- I just don't happen to know where they are).

 

If I hadn't bought a C-Max I think I'd have gone with the Buick Encore -- electronics pretty nice (not as nice as MFT but close), great ride and build, and a terrific armrest <g>.  But, of course, I'd have missed the mpg.

[AMA904]

I just want everyone to know that we are very interested in the C-Max. We are being careful because we are just now finalizing a lemon law buyback of our Escape. I asked about the battery problems because I couldnt get a very clear picture based on the big thread. It seems a lot of the owners didn't say what year or model C-Max they had.

[sidedrum]

I have a 2014 C-Max Hybrid SE with the standard radio. It's in the shop right now for second time after having a dead battery. I had the software updated and did not help.

[AMA904]

It really seems that the SE's are a big problem and the SEL's for whatever reason don't have an issue or don't have many issues. I'm not bashing Ford here, but that is part of my concern. The quality just doesn't seem to be there with SOME of these vehicles.

[RobMax]

It really seems that the SE's are a big problem and the SEL's for whatever reason don't have an issue or don't have many issues. I'm not bashing Ford here, but that is part of my concern. The quality just doesn't seem to be there with SOME of these vehicles.

 

I had the same concerns you did before I bought our SE, but I figured most online posts would be from people trying to find more info about their problems, so it skews how reliable any vehicle looks. The # of "complaint posts" is far outnumbered by the # of people satisfied with their purchase who never post anything on any forum.

 

As for the battery issue, and the SE looking more troublesome than the SEL, that poll could be skewed by the SE model possibly selling in higher #s than the SEL. I have no knowledge of which model sells in higher #s, but normally the base version always sells more since it's cheaper, and I would bet the percentage of reported battery issues across the # of both models sold is similar, but because the SE likely sells in higher quantities it just appears to be more troublesome.

Edited August 26, 2014 by RobMax

[scottwood2]

Again it is hard to tell the numbers but most of the issues with SE's are with the standard radio according to the poll.  Numbers are much lower for the 202A and 203A packages but then again how many people buy an SE with these upgrade package?   

[RobMax]

Again it is hard to tell the numbers but most of the issues with SE's are with the standard radio according to the poll.  Numbers are much lower for the 202A and 203A packages but then again how many people buy an SE with these upgrade package?   

 

Exactly. Poll results could just be mirroring model sales volume and nothing more. I bought a bare-bones SE without any options since it was cheaper, and made up the bulk of what I saw on the lot too.