MSmith1915

600 miles was a possibility, but my wife got cold feet.

Add me to the list of 500 milers.

I looked at my owner's manual (the one that came with the car) and the part numbers for the Low Voltage Battery are BXT-96R-500/BXT-96R-590. I opened the cover in the cargo area to look at the battery and the part number on the battery actually installed in the car is BXT-67R-390. I wonder why the difference from what the manual says and this makes the 12 volt battery considerable less capacity than the BXT-96R-500. Should I ask Ford to put the battery the manual says should be installed?

My C-Max had a dead battery the other morning. I must admit it was self imposed. I had gone out to the car and turned the accessories on to check the mpg reading and forgot to turn it off. I don't think it was on longer than 4 or 5 minutes. When I opened the car door, the center screen had a message that said 'System Off to Save Battery. Please turn ignition off or start engine.' Tried to start with the start button and nothing happened. I hooked up jumper cables and the car immediately came to life and the I was able to start the car. Here's my take on the 12 volt battery. It must be a really small battery with a low amp hour output. The reason the system shut down was to protect the high voltage battery. The high voltage battery keeps the 12 volt battery charged and the Battery Management System will not let the lithium ion batteries deplete to a low level where they could be damaged. That being said, the battery problems we are reading about have to be either the 12 volt battery itself or some system that is not shutting off which drains the the 12 volt battery and the battery management system will disconnect the high voltage battery to protect it. Note: Just looked up the BXT-96R-500 and it has 625 cranking amps (500 at 0 degrees F) and a 90 minute reserve capacity. I looked up my 2004 Ford Escape battery and the specifications look very similar. So, the amp hour output is not any lower than a normal battery. My next guess would be that even in accessory mode, there is a pretty large draw on the 12 volt battery, hence the short amount of time all the systems stayed powered up.

Your C-Max has a pretty sophisticated Battery Management System to control the charging and discharging. Lithium Ion batteries can not tolerate an overcharge or a charge depletion without overheating or suffering some sort of internal failure due to a low charge. The Battery Management System manages all this without user input. Just drive and enjoy and let the computer manage all that under the hood stuff.

It's been a few days since the 13B07 update and my wife has had time to drive the car for those few days. She normally averages 37-38 mpg and the current reading is 41 mpg, a noticeable improvement. I drove it to the gym the other day, 4.6 miles one way and I got 50.2 mpg. I like the update.

Recumpence, what are some of the scangauge codes you use?

Just got 13B07 update today. Went for a short drive and the update seems to be working OK. Initial impression: it does seem easier to average higher mpg. My drive home with a mix of city and highway driving, averaged 48 mpg. The real test will be when my wife gets behind the wheel. She averages about 37 mpg. I'll update in a few days.

I use Gas Cubby on my iPhone. You can keep fuel mileage data for multiple vehicles and also maintenance data and cost. You can store all your stats for each vehicle, i.e. VIN number, insurance, license plate etc. It also has a pretty good reporting feature which you can export to email. Mike

Two things: The pen/tire gauge holder in the glove box. And if you lightly press the turn signal (either direction) you get a few seconds of turn signal for a lane change and not have to worry about forgetting to turn the signal off.

This company, http://www.clearmask.com/about_our_kits.php , has the 2013 C-Max with and without the bumper sensors.

I just accept the fact that the car gallons and pump gallons are not going to be the same. So, for 3 or 4 fill ups, I fill up to what the car says I used. That way my MPG will be the same as what the car calculates. Then, after 3 or 4 fill ups, I'll use about 2 gallons of gas and then top off until the pump clicks to a stop. Usually it's about 1 gallon more than what the car display says. The MPG is pretty low but it's over a small sample of miles, maybe 80 to 100 miles and wont skew your total mileage very much.

Let's all keep in mind that it's the car's computer (an MS Windows system) that is controlling everything. That's why, when you push the start button, you wait until you get the OK To Drive message, unlike a normal car where you can turn the key and throw the shifter into drive/reverse. Basically, the computer is booting up, initializing all the systems, running checks and diagnostics, etc. I to have noticed, sometimes, when I put the shifter into reverse, there is a slight pause before the gears engage to get the car moving. Sometimes you have to give the computer a chance to catch up with what you are demanding of the systems.

I vote for San Miguel beer from the Philippines .

Lift up the cover in the back. On the right side there is a storage compartment, lift the rubber mat up and then lift the plastic cover, that is where the 12 volt battery is located.