YakMax

Battery issue update: I looked at my planner to figure out when I had the last battery failure and it seems like it was March 27. We have had five months of driving without a battery failure which is certainly something to celebrate!!! On May 22, we took the car into the dealership to have the CSP-15B04 installed or maybe the correct term should be software update. Since the March episode, we have not had a single issue. :yahoo: Reading the C-Max forum from time to time has led to to conclude that Ford has made a much appreciated effort to remedy this battery issue. I do not think I am out of the woods yet but I think the progress and the lack of current battery issues being reporting is promising as well as hopeful.

One post in two weeks or so! I know people are burned out reading about other peoples issues with the C-Max batteries. The more I read, the more I am convinced that Ford has not found a good fix for this problem. When people buy a car, they have a expectation that it will be reliable and get them to work or where ever they daily trips take them to. I realize nothing is perfect in this world, but two years should be enough time to get this issue resolved.

First off, a little background information: I have a 2013 Ford C-max SE and have had three dead battery events. They have always occurred when the car sat overnight. We make a point of making sure that nothing is left on or plugged in. We even make sure the keys are taken out of the ignition switch. I have had all the recalls and updates done including the recent CSP 15B04 which was done this morning. The car has 18,000 miles on it for which it is driven daily, mostly in town. I do read this forum quite often along with all the detailed polls on this dead battery issue. The dealer replaced my battery about nine months ago. I really need some first hand information from forum members on this subject. I want to know if anyone who has had multiple battery failures, have had the dead battery issue resolved No one can be sure so opinions count here.Has anyone had a dead battery in a late 2014 or 2015 model of this C-Max? This is my first Ford product purchase and we really like the car. The reliability is something that I must come to a conclusion and do something about it. I cannot trust the dealer when they say "Ford is getting a handle on this issue", so this is why I need your help.

Aug 1, last Friday was the third time that our C-max battery failed in the last 13 months. This time it totally drained the battery and had to be replaced at the dealer. We have had little or no rain in the last three weeks and the car is driven every day so I would guess that moisture is not a possible culprit in my case. In all three instances, the car is fine when we pull it into the garage and the next morning it is dead. We are very careful to make sure none of the accessories are left on and the keys are out of the ignition. What ever is causing our battery failure must be a signicant amp draw to drain the battery overnight. I had a chat with Ford customer service in Michigan this morning and she said that the engineers are working on a solution to fix this problem. For the moment I am skeptical but we will have to see what the final result will be. I have had all the current updates done and so far nothing has helped this situation. It would be interesting to know if there are any C-Max owners who have had two or more battery failures if they have gone six months or more without a recurrence of battery failure? Every time I thought I was in the clear, it has happened again!!

Before we bought our C-Max, I went to car shows and was really excited about this new Ford product. Last year, we purchased a new C-Max and my wife was excited to have her first new car. Long story short, we have had three battery failures or I should clarify, dead battery experiences and my wife is ready to just give up on this Ford product. I really enjoy the car, but this is her personal transportation to and from work. To top that off, she tried to call me this morning when the battery failed and I had forgot to turn on my cell phone!! It is really hard to think of letting this car go and I am not sure what to do next since Ford has failed to get a handle on this situation. The things that were important like the decent gas mileage have all but been forgotton compared to lack of having reliable transportation. I know there are others going through the same experience but it is personal when there is little recourse available that makes sense in the long term. I never thought I would be venting on this forum, so apologize I must! I just wish the reality was something different in my case.

Yesterday, we woke up to a completely dead C-Max! I must say that Ford Roadside Assistance is very efficient as my car had to be towed to the dealer. The dealer had my car for the whole day as they diagnosed the problem. The paperwork showed that they had to reprogram FCDIM which I believe they called a voltage module or controller. They checked the condition of the battery and it had not been damaged. The work order also stated that there was a recall associated with this battery problem. However after having that experience, the first thing I did this morning was go out and check out the car after it had sat all night. Everything looks good so we will see if this fixed the problem.

ptjones- a big thank you again for doing this research on grill shutters because I have been interested in this subject post updates. Like many people on this forum, I do not have the knowledge or know how to do this testing and that is why I so appreciate your efforts. Keep up the good work!

Nothing glamorous or exciting- I purchased snow tires and had them mounted on aftermarket alloy wheels from Tire Rack.

Yea! finally got mine delivered by FedEx this afternoon. :happy feet: I live in Yakima, Wa and thought I might be one of the last ones to receive their check. The money has already been spent on some much needed snow tires for the wife`s C-Max. We don`t receive that much snow but we have a long steep driveway that gets pretty slick for a few weeks in the winter.

This will be our first winter experience with our new C-Max and so it was time to purchase new snow tires and wheels. I opted to make the purchase through Tire Rack because I could have the tires mounted on wheels and delivered to the front door. For those who might be interested, I ordered WS70 Blizzaks and Sport Edition CS1 16 inch wheels. The wheels cost a little more than steel wheels but I felt they were worth it over the life time of the tires. So the next option was to choose between regular press in rubber valve stems and thread in valve stems. The tire rack rep told me that while the screw metal valve stems look better, that over time, the are more prone to air leaks. Also, since I opted out of TPS sensors and the fact that my wife drives this car the most, reliability of the regular valve stems won out as my choice. For those who are going through this buying decision, I thought I would pass on my experience as it may help others.

Yesterday, with the spare time I had, I went down to the local wrecking yard and went through a whole bin of scissor jacks. I t was hard to make a decision, but I picked out a scissor jack ( made by Toyota), a short lug wrench and jack handle for the sum of $10.00. I am more than aware that most people do not have the time or inclination to do that but for me it was worth it and kinda fun. I couldn`t wait to get it home and clean it up and lube the jack screw. Last night I got the urge to try it out and I was surprised how easy it was to use and get the front tire off the ground. I have two floor jacks already, numerous bottle jacks of different sizes but the scissor jack will be a perfect fit for the little hidden storage compartment in back. My wife is the primary driver of our new Ford C-Max and she has never had a flat in the last 30 years, so she was a little confused when I showed her the new jack. :headscratch: Hopefully we will never have to use it, but we will have one if we need it. As with other posters, just having a spare and jack is worth the peace of mind it provides. :shift:

Post update and less than 2,000 miles on the car- We are at 40.4 but we are still quite warm and using the AC anytime we drive. Can`t wait for fall and getting a fresh oil change to synthetic. Hopefully that may help a little and we shall see.

This morning, I stopped to talk to a friend of mine who has his own independent shop and asked him about the jacking points since a lot of cars share the same pinch seams that are used as jacking points. He said that yes, while the pinch seams look weak, they are indeed strong enough for jack placement. In my situation, I would be using a floor jack that has a rubber pad where it meets the jacking point. I have the room to store all kinds of project material, so I made up some pads that had a step out of plywood and made another one from left over composit deck material to place between the jacking points or pinch seams and floor jack. The plywood ones actually clip in place so you don`t have to hold them while you place the floor jack. :happy feet: I must be one of those people that can make a paper clip complicated, but I feel better now about being able to jack the car up without damaging something in the process. :baby:

Thank you for the nice photo and information on an alternate jacking point for the C-max. Having one jacking point that will lift front and rear is a real advantage and time saver! The bottle jack makes it a little more simple also. I have one of those big floor jacks sold by Costco and it is a lot of work to use on a small car. I just did a test fit of my laminated plywood 4" X 4" X 1 1/2 square and it is too big to be useful. If I use it at all, I need to cut it down to 4 X 3 inches. When I get time, I will run the C-Max up on ramps and look for the B-Pillar spot that you posted.

Last night, I got on my hands and knees with a flashlight and a big mirror to find these jacking points. The mirror made it pretty easy to find the square opening in the front that has the oblong 1 inch hole in the center of it. The rear jacking point just has a hole in the center which was 14 inches in front of the rear tire. When the time comes to switch over to winter tires, I want to know where to place the floor jack so I don`t bend something and later regret it. I really liked the hockey puck idea but in the end I just glued up a couple of 3/4 inch by 4 inch square plywood pieces to place on top of floor jack saddle to keep from bending up or damageing the 1 inch vertical metal seam at the sill. Anyone else care to share their thoughts? I don`t expect to get much information from the dealer but I must admit I have not asked yet either. We just bought the C-Max a couple of months ago and have a lot to learn.

We had the update done last week with just 1400 miles on the car. On mild acceleration, the engine sounds a little louder but we decided to take a 220 mile road trip. Since we purchased our C-Max, we have been stuck at 39 mpg, but we finished the trip which was mostly 70 mph at 40.2 mpg. The trip across the mountains hardly had any flat road surfaces so we are happy to finally be above 39 mpg especially since we had the air conditioning on all the time. While the mileage was nothing spectacular, it continues to inch up every week. :yahoo:

Jeff, after spending some time to find your post on this simple fix, I ordered mine and can`t wait to put it on. Oh, BTW, thank you again! :yahoo:

So has anyone who has had the 13B07 update been told that the grill shutters were activated as a part of this flash? For short trips in and around town, having faster warmups would contibute to better fuel economy. Surely the ford service managers would have an understanding of the scope of this process?

Sorry, my username is not very original but yes I am from Yakima. I really did not have much hope of finding a C-Max at a local dealer so that is why my purchase was in Seattle! BTW, thanks for the welcome!

After spending months reading reviews about the 2013 Ford C-Max and going to the November Seattle car show, I was convinced that the C-max was a great little car for my wife to do in town commuting and an occasional road trip. Then March of this year rolled around and the Consumer Reports article surfaced which called into question Ford`s claim for fuel mileage. My confidence was shaken and having never owned a Ford product, I decided to further read everything I could find on this car. That is when I found this forum which changed my mind. After numerous painful trips to several dealerships, we finally bought my wife her first new car and she couldn`t be happier! We have put 1100 miles on the car and our life time average is 39.5 which seems to be inching up week by week. For what we needed, we opted to buy the SE model, light tan interior in Platinum white which we found at a Seattle dealer. I want to thank the many posters who have taken the time to further my knowledge of this car and the possibilities that it holds. I have spent countless hours on this site soaking up all the experiences and information that has been posted. Thank you to administrators who have added so much to this forum. :worship: