nogoodbum

In hindsight, first LB was replaced 11/2020 based on internal car battery monitor [I suspect] & not on any outside the car tests. According to bill statement, correct part# was used & battery monitor was reset. Carfax report showed regular upkeep by previous owner at Ford dealers as he/she moved from original purchase in Tenn. to trade-in in NC. After first LB was replaced I checked local DIY part chains to see if & how much I may had been overcharged by dealer. Turns out dealer was very fair on battery price. I noticed at the time all the local part stores listed the battery as a non-stock item available only by special order. Again, in hindsight this now leads me to think LB was old stock [only took 4hrs to install "new" LB]. Again I live in what I would call a hybrid/electric desert [out of 100 Ford cars new or used available locally you would be lucky to find more than 2 or 3 H/E]. Have had no problems with radio or rear hatch or anything else with car. The biggest problem with dealer was a total lack of communication. Phone call went unanswered & not returned. Had to contact Ford national complaint center [1-800-392-3673] to get any kind of answer from dealer. Three weeks in, dealer said they were in contact with Detroit about car "tracing" problem even to the point of replacing batteries & programming in both key fobs. I do not know if dealer tested battery outside of the car & just relied on car monitor but can't think of reason why they would not. They said battery tested as "good" when charged but finally replaced after 3 weeks of looking for problem. The points of my original post are IMO the battery poses different symptoms of failure than we see in regular cars & that to advise others to check dates on battery purchase to guard against getting one that may have been sitting on a shelf for several years as I believe my first replacement was. THANKS for replying

Hello, New to forum, reader much more than poster, with a short story & observations. Purchased a 2013 C-Max 08/2020 with a clean Car-Fax report at a very good price [live in a 'hybrid/electric desert] here in eastern NC, 60 miles west to triangle car would have $2K more. 11/2020 car stopped, towed to local dealer, they replaced 12V battery [LB little battery]. Not surprised, 98K & 7yrs on OE battery. No problems [I still need to find a 12yr old to explain how to work radio cluster & steering wheel buttons] until 09/2021. Car died with all 12v powered items not working; previous failure some 12v were working but very weak. Towed to same dealer, after a week they said LB needed charging [as if I had left lights on]. After charging & driving car to their storage spot, car quit again when they tried to bring it to customer pick-up [after I had paid bill]. Rather than admitting they sold & installed a "new" LB 11/20 that went/was bad, they spent the next THREE weeks [I suspect a half a day or two per week] chasing a "phantom"electric drain. They finally put in another new LB in week 5, took a week for new LB to arrive from their supplier. Car has been running & starting great ever since. Observations: #1 LB is more a marine battery than a auto battery [low CCA-longer amp-hours versus high CCA-shorter amp-hours. Typical auto battery tests & observations don't work [some of us for 50+yrs}, especially because LB doesn't start car but big battery [BB] does. #2 If you put in a new LB, check the date of manufacture before purchase. Of all the brands of batteries out there are made by only 3-5 different makers. Look online on how to read code for each one to get the freshest one possible. #3 If you have a problem with a dealer service dept. as I did. call the national Ford service complaint line [#online]. Be sure you have your vin# & service personnel names & #s. They were VERY helpful lighting a fire under dealer service dept. for me Thank for reading, sorry for long story.