BobJustBob

I suffered 10 dead battery events (9 from the original battery, 1 from a replacement which Ford provided) in the first 22 months after purchasing my C-Max in November 2012.  I had TSB 14-0155 applied on 30 September 2014, and this seems to have fixed the problem for me--I have not had a dead battery since.

Here's my version of the mpg vs ambient air temperature graph.  I compiled the statistics for roughly a year, from around August 2013 through July 2014.  I took the measurements during my morning commute of around 8.6 miles to work.  (I chose to do it then because I almost always go straight to work; during my evening commute I often run side-errands, etc.).

 

I have started a Lemon Law claim in MInnesota on the dead battery issue.  The last time it died (May 8) was the eighth time in a little over two years.  I picked up all the service records (but not the car) in order to start the Lemon Law process.  The records show that they "Reprogrammed PCM, IPC DC/DC and GMW modules" on May 8 or thereabouts.  Then on May 19 they performed "15B04."  

 

They have reprogrammed stuff before and the battery kept dying, so I have no confidence that this one will work any better.  You never know if they have fixed it until it fails again -- which has been our experience 6 times.  (Two of the 8 times we didn't bother taking it in).

 

I will watch this space with interest to see if this "fix" seems to fix the problem for others. 

Rle:

I am so sorry to hear about your battery problems.  I know this can be terribly frustrating:  I had similar problems with my 2013 C-Max.  The original battery died 9 times; after it was replaced, the new battery died once.  Then, last fall, I had TSB 14-0155 applied, and this seems to have fixed the problem.  I have not had a dead battery since, and we had an absolutely frigid winter in Southeastern Pa. where I live.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that I have had my last dead battery.  I fully understand your decision to pursue your state's Lemon Law; when I had my 10th dead battery, I was kicking myself for not taking the same course of action when it was available to me.  I hope you can get a satisfying remedy no matter which course of action you pursue.  Good luck!

Well, I got this TSB applied this past Tuesday, 30 September.  I will be keeping my fingers crossed that it fixes the problem with the 12-volt battery going dead.

Has anyone had a dead 12v battery not at home?

I suffered a dead battery at work.  The car sat in the parking lot for 8+ hours while I was at work.  When I came out to go home, the battery was dead.  I had to call Ford Roadside Assistance.

In all the instances of dead batteries I have suffered (10 and counting!), the car has been parked for at least 8 hours.  I have never suffered a dead battery when the car has been parked for under 8 hours.

 

Hi All.

On a third day of ownership 2013 C Max SEL made in late May 2013 with total 200 miles,( It was a leftover form 2013 model year ). the 12 v battery died. I had to jump start this car to make it go. Wonderful. Looking forward to more of these pleasures of owning my first Ford product. So I guess there is no permanent fix of 12v battery for our cars. The thing is my wife car, and I had a great deal of influence to swing her from Lexus CT hybrid to Ford c max.  She did not mind paying more for Lexus, but I insisted to go with CMAX for a size difference. One of her concerns was a reliability of it. I guess she was right....as usual.... :(  

dmk2000,

I am very sorry to hear that you are the latest member of the club nobody wants to join--the Ford C-Max Dead Battery Club.  All I can say is:  you have a lot of company and, from what I understand, Ford is working hard to come up with a permanent solution.  Hang in there.  Since you are a new owner you may want to start a document trail in the event you decide to use your state's Lemon Law.

BullDurham,

I am in the exact same situation as you.  My dealer has performed every known "fix" for the 12V battery problem on my C-Max, without success.  I, too, have an open case with Ford Customer Service.  It is up to the engineers at Ford to come up with an effective solution to this problem.

I received my check ($475) on the 17th.  Now, if Ford could just fix the d**n 12V battery problem I'd be a happy man!

I recently had my C-Max in at the dealer for service, and I rented a car from the dealer in order to get to work.  I ended up renting a recent-model Ford Focus sedan.  I haven't driven another car since buying my C-Max, and driving this Focus with its conventional automatic transmission was a real eye-opener.  At low speeds--while driving in a parking lot, for instance--it felt as though I was riding a bucking bronco, the shifts from one gear to the other were that abrupt and jarring.  I hadn't realized how much I've been spoiled by the smooth, seamless, continuously variable transmission (CVT) of the C-Max.  Have any of you C-Max owners ever driven other vehicles with CVT's?  I was wondering how the CVT of the C-Max stacks up against those in other vehicles.  For instance, I viewed some online video reviews of the brand new 2015 Honda Fit, and every one mentioned how noisy the CVT in the Fit is.

Welcome, weebee.  I am wishing you the best with all your new vehicles.

Thanks for the update.  I am envious of the great gas mileage you "warm weather guys" get with your C-MAX.

Here's wishing you continued good luck with the vehicle.

Hi Mikols,

Sorry to hear about your dead battery.  And so soon after you purchased your C-Max.  Ouch!

I am one of those unfortunate C-Max owners who has suffered multiple dead batteries.  My advice to you is to notify Ford about each instance of a dead battery.  Open a ticket with Ford Customer Service at the corporate headquarters (their number is in you owner's manual).  It is only by keeping the pressure on Ford that this problem will be fixed.

Have any of you used a Battery Tender (or comparable trickle / slow) charger for the 12 volt battery in your C Max?

Yes, I have used a Deltran Battery Tender Plus on my C-Max a few times.  I am one of those unfortunate individuals who has experienced multiple instances (9 and counting) of a dead battery in the first 17 months of ownership.

My completely unsubstantiated view is that using this charger forestalls the battery problem.  I seem to go a lot longer between instances of the dead battery when I use the charger.

I note here that I was unable to recover from a dead battery by using this charger.  One Saturday morning, I came out to find my battery had died.  Since I could use a family member's car to get where I needed to go, I decided to put the dead battery on the charger and see if it would recover.  Twenty-five hours later, the light on the battery charger was still red, indicating that it was doing no good.  So I got a jump from a family member's car, drove my C-Max for 45 minutes, then put it back on the battery charger.  Four hours later, the battery was completely charged.  Weird.

Welcome to the C-Max Hybrid Forum, jlpecore11--I just wish it were under more favorable circumstances.

Unfortunately, our beloved C-Max has a serious flaw hiding beneath the covers--a flaw which is causing many of the cars to suffer dead 12v batteries.  If you look in the Batteries sub-forum in the Drivetrain forum of this site, you will see a number of discussion threads about this issue.  Ford is aware of the problem and has been working hard to fix it, but unfortunately in the 17+ months in which the vehicle has been on sale they have not definitively identified the cause of the problem and not come up with an effective solution.  I have read posts from a number of frustrated owners who, after suffering from multiple instances of dead batteries, finally invoked their state's lemon law and had Ford take back their vehicle.

I am one of the unlucky owners who has experienced this frustrating problem--my battery has died six times since I bought my car in November of 2012.  I like my vehicle so much otherwise that I have decided to stick with it, but I am getting angrier with each successive failure.

All I can say is:  you are in good company.  There are a lot of C-Max owners who share your pain and are hoping that Ford can figure out the cause of this vexing problem and come up with a permanent solution.  Stop back often and fill us in on your experience. 

“Unlucky

Posted 25 January 2014 - 10:30 AM

If you can't change the preset for button zero on your radio, that is a defect and the radio needs to be replaced.  In fact, my zero button was causing a small short which drained the 12 volt battery after not using the car for 3 days, which should not happen because the car turns everything off automatically.  It took the local dealership 5 days to find the short.  After they replaced the radio, I can program the zero button and have not lost power.”

Very interesting.  I have noticed that I also am unable to program button zero on my radio (set a preset on button zero, or station 10 whichever way you want to look at it).  In addition, I have had tremendous problems with dead batteries, having had my 12v battery die 6 times, twice after having 13B12 applied on 24 December 13.  I wonder if I can talk my dealer into replacing my radio?

*Sigh*  The 13B12 update failed to fix the problem for me.  I had the 13B12 update applied on 24 Dec 13; I suffered my fifth dead battery this past Tuesday, 21 Jan 14.  I am beyond frustrated at this point--it is obvious that the Ford engineers cannot figure out the source of this problem.  It is a shame, too, because I really like my C-Max otherwise.

I'll have to see if this stays on in the car wash. It's the snap-around pipe wrap you can get for a couple dollars at Wal-Mart.

Hi David,

I also am giving grill covers made of foam pipe insulation a try.  I bought 1/2 inch diameter black foam pipe insulation at Lowe's.  It comes in 5-foot sections, which cost 99 cents each.  I used 2 1/4 sections and sealed all openings in my lower and middle grills.  Unlike you, I cut the insulation in roughly 4 inch lengths to fit the area between the vertical support members.  (I tried to take a photograph of my covers, but am having difficulty with my digital camera.)  I made sure to make each length about 2 or 3 mm longer than the section I was trying to fill, to make for a really tight fit.  Due the flexible nature of the foam, it would "flow" over the vertical support post and almost merge with the edge of the foam in the adjoining section, thus creating a tight seam.

Because the foam is black, it is hardly noticeable when one steps back from the automobile. 

I installed mine on December 24th, so it is too early to tell how successful the covers will be in increasing my cold weather gas mileage.  I was getting desperate--last winter was fairly mild, but this year we have already had two brutal Arctic air blasts come roaring through, and my gas mileage was plummeting.

Hoping it solves the problem because we love the C-Max otherwise.

Me too.  I got this FSA 13B12 applied today.   If it succeeds in fixing the dead battery problem, then it will be a welcome Christmas present for me.  I love my C-Max, but suffered four dead batteries in my first year of ownership.  It is a horribly frustrating problem which I hope is now behind me.

Well, I scheduled an appointment at my dealer on Christmas Eve day to get 13B12 applied.  I am one of the unfortunate owners who has suffered from a dead battery problem--I had four in my first year of C-Max ownership.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that this FSA will solve the problem.  If so, that will be a wonderful Christmas present!

Jus,

I am so happy you got Maxine back.  That is an early Christmas present.

Hi Ponypower,

Yes, there have been a number of owners of 2013 C-Max's who have had their 12V battery go dead--sometimes multiple times.  I am one of these unfortunate owners--my battery has died 4 times (twice within one week on March, once in August, and once in October).  The most frustrating part of this is that Ford seems unable to figure out what is causing the problem.  I like my C-Max enough that I am going to keep it, but I have read posts on this forum from at least three owners who were frustrated enough over this to invoke their state's lemon law and force Ford to take back their C-Max.  This is an ugly stain on what is an otherwise nice car--I sincerely hope that Ford is able to diagnose and fix this problem.

(You can read more about this in the Batteries sub-sub forum in the Drivetrain sub-forum.)

Oh wab,

I am so sorry to hear about this.  I would call the hospital and ask if they have security cameras in the parking facility.

Meanwhile, I hope your wife recovers quickly.  Take care.

Sixteen.

Ambient air temperature.

About a week after I got the so-called customer satisfaction update (13B07, the one that supposedly will increase our gas mileage) this past August, I started keeping a spreadsheet tracking the per-trip gas mileage I experience while driving to work in the morning.  I record this as a function of temperature.  I have a very short commute--8.6 miles--and a good fraction of it is downhill.  I do not keep track of my commute home because I frequently run errands during my evening commute, while I almost never do during my morning commute.

I am posting my results here.  As many others have noted, temperature is a really big factor in gas mileage for the C-Max.  My one-year anniversary of C-Max ownership is coming up in one week (November 21st).  My current lifetime gas mileage is 39.9 mpg.  I so want to get that final one-tenth mpg in order to be able to say I am averaging 40 mpg.  But it is tough--I live in a very hilly area, and one with cold winters.