homestead

Glad you got it running. The C-max is kind of low to the ground are there lots of places you can go in Houston that aren't flooded?

Update: Battery was replaced yesterday. Car sat overnight and went back to the dealer to get the battery management system reset. When I turned off the car at the dealer I timed the time until the radio shuts off. 2 min 10 sec. They reset the BMS and the guy says they are supposed to reset all cars after battery change. Drove home 2 miles turned off the car and timed the time until the radio shuts off. 10 min 0s exactly My conclusions , the cmax does not have the ability to auto reset itself overnight and the short turn off time was due to the age of the battery. I doubt they would have asked me to come back the next day if I hadn't asked for the BMS reset on the front end.

I called Autozone they have a 2yr battery for c-max for $119. O'Reilly's wanted $142 So went to another Ford dealer they had the same sad story why they couldn't honor the $99 coupon for the C-max but the guy said he would sell me the better battery for $119 and they would install it for free. So had them do it. Also asked them to jump the car from the hood while they installed it so it wouldn't lose presets.(that worked!) I actually helped the guy install the new battery so the positive terminal wouldn't short out. The tool for resetting the battery management was out on a extended drive for troubleshooting another customer so I can take it back in tomorrow and get it reset.

Went down to my local Ford dealer today with the $99 ford coupon for a new battery. They told me that coupon is for a "Plus" battery and they don't have a Plus battery for the C-max even though the coupon list C-max Hybrid and Energi on the coupon. So will look around some more and see what I can find.

Here is the entire text below on the 2013 F150 manual for BMS page 336 ... Battery Management System (If Equipped) The battery management system (BMS) monitors battery conditions and takes actions to extend battery life. If excessive battery drain is detected, the system may temporarily disable certain electrical features to protect the battery. Those electrical accessories affected include the rear defrost, heated/cooled seats, climate control fan, heated steering wheel, audio and navigation system. A message may be shown in the information displays to alert the driver that battery protection actions are active. These messages are only for notification that an action is taking place, and not intended to indicate an electrical problem or that the battery requires replacement. Electrical accessory installation To ensure proper operation of the BMS, any electrical devices that are added to the vehicle should not have their ground connection made directly at the negative battery post. A connection at the negative battery post can cause inaccurate measurements of the battery condition and potential incorrect system operation. Note: Electrical or electronic accessories added to the vehicle by the dealer or the owner may adversely affect battery performance and durability, and may also affect the performance of other electrical systems in the vehicle. When a battery replacement is required, the battery should only be replaced with a Ford recommended replacement battery which matches the electrical requirements of the vehicle. After battery replacement, or in some cases after charging the battery with the external charger, the BMS requires eight hours of vehicle sleep time (key off with doors closed) to relearn the new battery state of charge. Prior to relearning the state of charge, the BMS may disable electrical features (to protect the battery) earlier than normal.

Here is text from a 2013 F150 manual that doesn't show up in the c-max manual. After battery replacement, or in some cases after charging the battery with the external charger, the BMS requires eight hours of vehicle sleep time (key off with doors closed) to relearn the new battery state of charge. Prior to relearning the state of charge, the BMS may disable electrical features (to protect the battery) earlier than normal.

Since your battery is two years old and batteries don't last long in AZ maybe it's ok that the car thinks it is 4.6 yrs old. Also looks like yours didn't reset itself after sitting overnight when the battery was replaced. I measured the voltage at the battery of of my car this morning and it read 11.91v. I drove it on two 45 min trips yesterday. My battery is 4.5 yrs old.

Does the Service Manual say the C-max will reset itself if it left undisturbed for 8 hours? I see that for other Ford models?

Notice battery life starts going down slightly lower in extreme cold. According to that chart my battery is due to die any day now.

How long in years did your original C-max 12 v battery last? Mine is 4.5 yrs old still original. Don't forget to vote in the poll.

Has anyone tried this battery as a replacement? $119 at Autozone I see Ford has a coupon for $99 w/exchange

Suggest you give a car inside and out a good visual inspection since they tore it all apart. Would have been better if they had troubleshot the problem rather than just start changing stuff. (shotgunning) Good Luck

Where is the filler/reservoir for this?

Thanks for the support!

Quite a milestone. What problems have you had with your car?

I am getting the same decrease from 10 minutes down to one or two, I suspect the last update I had done 6 months ago caused it.

I am about 45 minutes drive from the eclipse path and plan to drive to my son's house to watch it there. We had one here in the 80's but it was overcast so not much to see.

Update: Received the inverter and installed it in the hatch area. Tested it using a 3 prong 120v outlet tester and a floodlight. Didn't want to test it with the stove since its 75F out today but will test it this fall. So, it looks like I am good to go. Anyone know if there is rubber plug in the hatch area to the outside world big enough for an extension cord?

I had a problem similar to this on the drivers seat. Turned out to be a wire pulled out of a connector under the seat. They re-seated the wire and redressed the wires under the seat.

Noticed a crack in driver door arm with the door open. The crack is in the plastic around an arm that goes from the door to the car body. You can see metal in the crack area. No cracking in the one on the passenger side. Anyone else have this also? Do you think it is just cosmetic or sign of future problems? Everything seems to function ok right now.

I see one just about every time I go for a drive now. Wonder what is the total number of c-max's on the road now?

Thinking about getting this inverter https://www.amazon.com/Xantrex-806-1206-PROwatt-600-Inverter/dp/B002O5P8BA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492400093&sr=8-1&keywords=Xantrex+Prowatt+SW600+600W Someone has used this inverter successfully with the same brand pellet stove. I tried running my car last night with headlights off. Was concerned that the running lights on the car might stay on but all exterior lights were off. Only the dash lights were on. I thought this was a problem with c-max at drive-in theaters but perhaps they fixed it. I don't keep my c-max in a garage so no risk of monoxide gas and plan on locking the car doors with another fob leaving a 2nd fob in the car so the horn doesn't honk when you close the door.

Putting a deep cycle battery in parallel with the car battery wouldn't do much to save the car battery. Both batteries would go through the same discharge and recharge cycles, it would just take a little longer before the ice kicks on. Don't understand the reason for putting electric space heater in the car plus how would you power the heater during a power failure?

Thanks for the suggestions and data. I think I will look for a pure sine wave inverter about 550 watts since that is what wattage harman thinks is needed. Their inverter http://www.woodmanspartsplus.com/65651/736584/Pellet/Pellet-Stove-Battery-Backup.html turns out is really a modified sine wave inverter that has been further modified to not shut down with harman stoves logic board. I do have a deep cycle battery out of my camper that I could use for a short term power failure, but would like to get the cables/connectors installed in the car in the event of a longer duration failure and move the inverter to the car.

What I have read states that a full sine wave is required. If this was going to be a permanent situation I agree about using a deep cycle battery but this is for a temporary power failure. If it shortens the battery life , so be it. Judging from a recent power failure locally (we were spared) it looks like it could take a week for everyone to get their power restored.