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2013 C-Max completely dead


Taiwwa
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Sounds like the 12v has got a bad connection, try jumping from the two terminals under the hood.  I think there are other threads on how to jump the battery.

 

Paul

 

Are there two batteries in the car? One in the rear and one in the back, and of course the traction battery?

 

I got the rear one charged fully, as I said earlier, but the connection from the front seems to be taking its time.

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Are there two batteries in the car? One in the rear and one in the back, and of course the traction battery?

 

I got the rear one charged fully, as I said earlier, but the connection from the front seems to be taking its time.

There is only one 12V battery - in the back.  It is connected to the posts under the hood, which is where you should charge or use a "jump starter".  Does your charger give a reading of Voltage or % Charged?

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Are there two batteries in the car? One in the rear and one in the back, and of course the traction battery?

 

I got the rear one charged fully, as I said earlier, but the connection from the front seems to be taking its time.

If you had a voltmeter you could read voltage under the hood and also the power point between the front seats. Depending on what you get would help to determine  where the problem is.

 

Paul 

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One quick Q: isn't the 12V Lithium Ion? Could that explain a sudden death of the battery? I'm thinking right now that the 12V battery needs replacing. Only thing I can think of. 

 

No, the 12V battery is a traditional lead-acid, like you find in most cars. I do agree it likely means that your battery is no longer holding a charge and needs to be replaced. Also, there are reasons that will cause a lead acid battery to suddenly fail; one I recall happened to me several years ago was a plate in one cell of the battery came loose (from what I recall) and kept shorting out the battery.

Edited by raadsel
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I have a 2013 SEL that was manufactured May 2012, recently paid @ $200 total (parts, labor and tax) to replace original 12V OEM battery from factory with a new 12V battery at local Ford Service.  Ford service folks kept testing battery and saying it was fine but my keyless entry wouldn't unlock doors.  After battery replaced problem seems to have gone away.  It wouldn't surprise me if the original 12V are starting to go, this winter was kind of harsh too which probably helped it along.

 

The SEL never seemed to have the 12V parasitic drain that the SE did, I'm pretty mine was just due to age.  If you haven't already you might also want to ask the dealer to take care of all of the items under the 12V battery satisfaction program as Ford did a few things to try to solve that problem, especially if you have an SE.

Edited by jestevens
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It seems to me that the downside to replacing a 12V battery that might not need to be replaced is pretty small in a 2013 that has never had the battery replaced since they all seem to be approaching end of life.  

I also agree if you have 5yrs on the 12v battery it is time to replace if you have any electrical problems at all to be safe. :)

 

Paul

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I have a 2013 SEL that was manufactured May 2012, recently paid @ $200 total (parts, labor and tax) to replace original 12V OEM battery from factory with a new 12V battery at local Ford Service.  Ford service folks kept testing battery and saying it was fine but my keyless entry wouldn't unlock doors.  After battery replaced problem seems to have gone away.  It wouldn't surprise me if the original 12V are starting to go, this winter was kind of harsh too which probably helped it along.

 

The SEL never seemed to have the 12V parasitic drain that the SE did, I'm pretty mine was just due to age.  If you haven't already you might also want to ask the dealer to take care of all of the items under the 12V battery satisfaction program as Ford did a few things to try to solve that problem, especially if you have an SE.

 

We also recently replaced the 12V battery in our 2013 SEL and still had a weird electrical issue a few months later, It appears we had a random parasitic draw and it drew down the battery enough that it wouldn't respond to the FOB and there was nothing on the display when I got the door open with the metal key.  Charging it through the posts under the hood for about 5 hours (6A charge) brought it back to normal and we have had no problems since.

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What is the best deal Ford has had on the batteries? And is there a good replacement you can buy that isn't from Ford? I know currently Ford is offering a $40 rebate but I seem to recall that they've frequently had a better deal. For those of us who don't have to replace the battery yet, wait for a better deal or just get the $40 rebate?

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At the the time they were running a motorcraft special for $80 battery or  $120 (I think?) for the "extended" version battery (which ours is of course) - the rest was labor costs = about $200 total.  It's part BXT67R  The only other battery I could find was on Amazon for $140, and with shipping @ $40 and buying extra long sockets and such it would have been almost the same as just paying the dealer's shop.  It's not the hardest job but it's not as easy as just disconnecting some wires and not really fun outside in the middle of winter with 4F temps.

 

It looks like the current special is $20 gift card or $40 off if you use your Ford Credit Card.  Prepaid Visa Debit gift cards are fun, I never seem to be able to charge them down to get the full value out of them.

Edited by jestevens
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It was the battery.

 

I hooked up a voltmeter and it showed 2.5v.

 

Bought a new one from auto zone. It was $165 or so. Turning in the old battery brought it down to $143.

 

I arced it a few times installing the battery. Boy o boy was that scary. 

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I do kinda feel that 12v batteries should be designed like power tool battery packs. Slide in and out to replace. Also, they ought to have some sort of monitoring system which tells you how much life is left on them. 

 

It is really archaic how that battery is implemented. 

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It was the battery.

 

I hooked up a voltmeter and it showed 2.5v.

 

Bought a new one from auto zone. It was $165 or so. Turning in the old battery brought it down to $143.

 

I arced it a few times installing the battery. Boy o boy was that scary. 

I know I got mine cheaper at FORD, I guess it comes down to whether they give you a discounted price or not.

 

Paul

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  • 1 month later...

Me too. I have a Ford CMax Energi that 3 times over about a year when I go to drive it, it's completely dead.  Here's what I've gathered from the internet so far, which please correct me if it's wrong:

 

1. Lots of Energi owners are having this problem.

2. Two possible cause of the problem: a. FOB battery dead - fix is to insert FOB into steering column as per instruction manual. b. Low voltage battery has gone dead.

3. The Low voltage battery going dead problem is caused by a defective ACM, which draws 400 mA from the low voltage battery until it goes dead, whereupon the low battery needs to be replaced, because once any lead acid battery (low voltage battery is lead-acid) is deep discharged, it's ruined. (Ford technician: Removed Fuse # 79, 400 mA draw down went away. Fuse 79 powers ACM and FCIM. Disconnecting FCIM: no change. Disconnecting ACM: 400 mA draw down goes away.

4. The fix for the low voltage battery problem is replace the low voltage battery and also the ACM (audio control module).

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  • 2 years later...

Having a similar problem, but the 12V is fine.  Press start button and nothing happens, but 12 volt is fine when tested.  Even replaced 12 volt twice in the last year.  It will start immediately with a jump and will continue to restart for a month or more, then the system goes dead again.  I am thinking it is either a relay switch sticking (or not making contact) or a problem with the computer.  It seems like something between the battery and the start button or ignition system is failing.  We had also been getting the "System shutting down to save battery" message usually a couple of days before the problem occurs.  The problem throws no codes, so the dealer is unable to diagnose the problem. Dealer had the car for 3 or 4 days and as usual was unable to duplicate the problem.  Love the car, but can not live with unreliability and will probably be trading it in soon.

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2 hours ago, Civrel said:

Having a similar problem, but the 12V is fine.  Press start button and nothing happens, but 12 volt is fine when tested.  Even replaced 12 volt twice in the last year.  It will start immediately with a jump and will continue to restart for a month or more, then the system goes dead again.  I am thinking it is either a relay switch sticking (or not making contact) or a problem with the computer.  It seems like something between the battery and the start button or ignition system is failing.  We had also been getting the "System shutting down to save battery" message usually a couple of days before the problem occurs.  The problem throws no codes, so the dealer is unable to diagnose the problem. Dealer had the car for 3 or 4 days and as usual was unable to duplicate the problem.  Love the car, but can not live with unreliability and will probably be trading it in soon.

The timing of the “shutdown message” when DCDC converter off (car not in ready to drive mode) depends on the State of Charge of 12 V battery and the “age” of the battery (Ah of computed battery degradation).  I don’t know the exact algorithm, but know that when a new battery is installed, battery age must be reset to zero days to zero out the Ah of battery degradation.  I also know that when SOC > 40% and battery age is zero, the time until message appears is exactly 10 minutes after car is taken out of “ready to drive mode.  It’s easy to check by shutting car off with radio on and staying in car (do not open door).  When SOC is low and battery age is high, the time until message appears can be less than a minute.

 

About 2 weeks ago, I began getting the message sporadically as soon as I opened the door to start the car. Car always started though. But, I knew something was wrong. Voltage under hood after starting car and allowing DCDC converter to charge car for 10 minutes appeared OK but when I checked SOC PID with FORScan, it showed SOC PID = 0%.   Next morning, I checked voltage under hood prior to starting and got 10.01 V.  Car will start at 10V.   I went to Quicklane and Ford immediately found the battery was bad and replaced under prorated 84 month warranty.  My battery was about  65 months old.  

I don’t trust dealer to reset the battery age upon installation of new battery.  They did not do it for my failed battery.  So, assuming your battery is good, I would do the manual procedure to reset battery age in the link below.

 

 

 

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