garageman402

Haha this cannot be shipped to California........... The size looks a little too big to fit in the little compartment under the passenger seat. If you buy the Genuine Motorcraft replacement canister, don't buy from Amazon, they will ship old stock. I sent 2 back that expired in 2-1/2 years. Rock Auto first sent me one that someone switched an expired one in, sent that back & got one that expired in 5.2 years. I tried Rock Auto first, in the time it took to return the defective one & get the good one I ordered & returned 2 from Amazon. They're slow but worth it, both around the same price (free shipping Amazon, $7.99 ground shipping Rock Auto). Edit: I did wait to get the store credit from Rock before purchasing another one, that added more time. Total price w/shipping is around $36 at Rock, $39 at Amazon with free shipping.

Actually, I reset the battery life monitor myself with FORScan, the only contact I had with the dealer was by phone requesting the service history. Edit: I did reset the avg mpg (not using FORScan), you think it reset battery range too?

I've read a lot of posts here about 12v battery failures, SOC, & monitors. All have been 5 or more years ago, so I thought I'd start a new thread. I recently acquired my 2014 C-Max Energi SEL from my sister in law who is no longer able to drive. She bought it used from a Ford dealer in 2017 with 25k miles. At my insistence she purchased the extended warranty. That car has over 500 computers in it & only Ford (at that time) had the software. I said if you want to buy that car, you have to buy that contract. She also got the service contract & the (worthless, IMHO) $2500 anti theft rider. Anyway, she immediately had a dead 12v battery, took it to her local dealer (not the selling dealer 30 miles away) & they said it wasn't covered. She raised a stink & I think she took it back to the selling dealer & got it replaced. In either event, it was replaced. I had plugged it in whenever she came over, & the most I could get on the battery range meter was 14 miles. She has since always taken it to the local Ford dealer for every service they tell her to. Battery was replaced 11/21/23. She never plugged it in, I think the only time it was ever plugged in were the (very) few times it was at my house. Just before I got it she only drove a lot of short trips. Her daughter said if I leave it parked very long, battery will go dead. It had 33k miles on it, she only put 8k on it in 7 years. I have been plugging it in every night, got the battery range up to 19 miles. From what I've learned on this forum is there is a 12v battery life counter that regulates charging based on battery age, so I got FORScan lite & the required adapter & checked the battery age. 3772 days! That was October of 2014, so the meter had NEVER been reset. This after two new batteries (that I can confirm) installed by Ford dealers. The computer thought the battery was pretty much a ghost I presume. I think the SOC was around 64% on FORScan. I called the (most recent) dealer to confirm the battery was replaced & advised them to tell their techs to reset the monitor, then I reset it. What I notice now is that my battery range increased to 29 miles! Is that based on the HVB not continuously charging a very old 12v battery? The SOC is now a lot better too, last I checked I think it was low 90s. One of the first times driving it, when I got on the throttle it blew all the built up condensation out of the exhaust. I looked like a skywriter, talk about a smoke screen!! I now know how to use EV Only & EV Later, so if I'm taking short trips I use EV Only so the ICE never starts. Longer trips I use EV Later to run the ICE more. I've also learned to "start" the ICE in the driveway using the throttle, it only works in park, that way you can start the engine to get oil circulating instead of a sudden acceleration which would start the engine & IMMEDIATELY put it under load. It will idle on it's own for a while to get engine up to temperature. If you have had your 12v battery replaced, get the monitor reset, or INSIST if you're at a Ford dealer that they reset it. From what I've read on here, the Ford techs don't know anything about it.

Guess no one wants to reply to a 5 year old thread, lol. Scroll back to the original post, the screen shot has it on there. BAT_ST_CHRG is the indicator. Edit: I found it's a little more complicated than that, you have to add the PID to your dashboard, but finding the correct one is a challenge, I did after much searching. Was able to reset the module, so now it reads 0. I called the dealer to confirm they did install a new battery, & suggested they tell their guys to reset the monitor, I told him it had 3772 days, which is Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014.

I just acquired a 2014 Energi from my sister-in-law who, sadly, cannot drive anymore, & I'm learning more & more about this car. My sis-in-law never plugged it in, she drove it in hybrid mode all the time. She bought it in 2017 with 22k miles, when I got it had 33k, lol. She always took it to the dealer for service, oil change every 6 months, all the recalls, & I see a fairly new Motorcraft 12v battery in there. In later years, the only time it ran was to the pharmacy & back. When I first got it, we drove home (50 miles) at night, mainly using ICE but not really running it hard. One day after picking up my 6 year old granddaughter, we got on the main road & she said "you gotta go fast grandpa", so I pushed it a little harder. OMG, the smokescreen I left behind me, I looked like a skywriter! It dissipated for the most part but could see a little lingering smoke. I thought I blew something up, got it home, checked the oil, full & very clean. I can just assume I blew out the water built up in the exhaust from all those years of putting around town. I did that again, got a little bit of vapor blowing out. Since then we have taken a fairly long trip using ICE only (EV later mode), no more skywriting, lol.

That's what that button is for! So I can use that button to hold the speed on a downhill while increasing regen without using the brake pedal? Would shifting to "Low" have the same effect? Will hill descent control disengage upon stepping on the throttle? Is there any way to tell when the friction brakes start applying? I have noticed the light on the 120v charger stops blinking showing full charge but if I leave it plugged in, it will start blinking again, is that from the DC-DC charging the 12v? I have had it plugged in now for over 24 hours & the light has remained solid. I presume the 12v is now fully charged as well. I think my sis-in-law drove super short trips a lot. In addition to her never plugging it in, I think that contributed to the 12v battery's demise. Now I know how to keep it topped up! Yes, the 2014 has this, along with a line that rises & falls showing charge & discharge. Using the cruise control makes the green ECO light come on, will that provide more regen than manually trying to maintain constant speed? One other question I have. There is an indicator on the lower right corner of the radio control panel just below & to the right of the volume/tuning knob. There is a symbol associated with this in the shape of a lock, sometimes the yellow light is on, sometimes off. What is this indicator? It looks like a button, but it does not depress. Thanks for all your answers, I really appreciate the help!! This is quite a learning curve.

So there's no conventional "starter" to start the ICE? I just acquired a 2014 Energi from my sister-in-law who, sadly, cannot drive anymore, & I'm learning more & more about this car. So, what, basically does the 12v battery do? It has regular starter sized cables coming off it, why would it need those large cables if there's no starter? Would a deep cycle battery be a better choice for this application? From reading this forum, there is no alternator to keep the 12v charged? So there's a DC-DC trickle charger that runs when the car is on. Does it also charge when it's plugged in? I've also noticed you can't use EV later if the battery has no miles left on it. Also it automatically uses the EV at "idle" & take offs, then switches to ICE. ICE shuts off when coasting too. My sis-in-law never plugged it in, she drove it in hybrid mode all the time & she had problems with the 12v right from the start, now I know why. She bought it in 2017 with 22k miles, when I got it had 33k, lol. She always took it to the dealer for service, oil change every 6 months, all the recalls, & I see a fairly new Motorcraft 12v battery in there. In later years, the only time it ran was to the pharmacy & back. When I first got it, we drove home (50 miles) at night, mainly using ICE but not really running it hard. One day after picking up my 6 year old granddaughter, we got on the main road & she said "you gotta go fast grandpa", so I pushed it a little harder. OMG, the smokescreen I left behind me, I looked like a skywriter! It dissipated for the most part but could see a little lingering smoke. I thought I blew something up, got it home, checked the oil, full & very clean. I can just assume I blew out the water built up in the exhaust from all those years of putting around town. I did that again, got a little bit of vapor blowing out. Since then we have taken a fairly long trip using ICE only (EV later mode), no more skywriting, lol. What is the second battery gauge for? I notice when the charge goes out of the HVB, another battery monitor appears, is that "hybrid" mode? Does it only regenerate while braking or will it charge while coasting? On our long trip I went down a steep grade for a few miles, riding the brake pedal lightly all the way down. Got 3 miles worth of charge out of that! At the bottom I pulled over to feel the brake rotors, the rear ones were cold, actually cold, the fronts were barely warm, you could hold you hand on it. So riding the brake pedal will engage the generator in the transmission, & only apply the brake when you push down more? If I put the transmission in "Low" will that increase the charging, or am I losing out by not riding the brake? I know, so many questions! I realize this thread is almost one year old, thanks for any help (advice) you can give this newbie!

I have read where people have used a scanner hooked to the aldl port to monitor oil temp & such. There may be aftermarket gauge kits that can run off the aldl port.