Battery issue with 2016 Cmax Hybrid?

[BrandonP]

I purchased a 2016 Ford C Max Hybrid about 15 months ago, with about 90k miles on it. It has actually been one of the best running vehicles I’ve ever owned up to now. 

 

Over the last week or so, I’ve been getting notifications on this “gold star connect” app (tracks where my car is, trips, battery levels, etc) telling me the battery was running low. It has usually been warning me that it was asking 10v. 

 

Around the time this started, I tried to start the vehicle and instead all that came up was a wrench icon and a message saying “see manual”. I turned off the key and tried again - and it started fine. This did not happen again until today. 

 

Today at work, the app notified me that the battery was at 8.429v, the lowest I’ve seen. I didn’t see this until just as I was leaving. When using the key clicker to unlock the car, nothing happened. I thought maybe the battery in the key died, so I manually opened the door. 

 

I immediately noticed upon entering the vehicle that the usual stuff wasn’t appearing on the dash screen. It was just off. I started the car, and got the wrench icon and “see manual” message again. This time, I hit OK and drove down the street to the gas station. It drove fine. 

 

After getting gas, the car started up like normal again and ran fine. As of this moment (after my 45 minute drive home), the app shows my better is at 12.7v. 

 

Full disclosure, I am not a car person. I have no idea if this is the battery that all cars have, or if its the other battery that powers the car when it’s in EV mode (I assume there is a separate battery for that?). 

 

I am hoping all this points to is me needing to spend the $150 or whatever to replace the car battery and nothing more. It’s a used vehicle and I don’t know how old this battery is. But are these error messages signs of something worse?

[jzchen]

Welcome to the forum!

 

Yes that is the 12 V low charge warning.  I'm glad she still got you home that voltage is very low (8 V).  I suggest you have it tested and buy a replacement if it tests bad.

[fbov]

And, if it tests out bad, DON'T FEEL BAD about replacing the 12v battery at 5 yrs. That's good life in Houston. 

[Bill-N]

If you do have the 12V battery replaced, be sure the battery age setting is reset.  This needs to be done so the charging system can work correctly (different rate of charge depending on battery age).

 

Search the forum for more info.

[jzchen]

Hi,

 

I meant to come back and respond to your questions but got sidetracked I'm afraid.

 

There is a separate High Voltage battery that is much much higher than 12 V, I would guess 200 V plus.  That is not being monitored by your app as far as I can see of what you shared.

 

At this point as kindly mentioned most likely the 12 V needs to be replaced.  After a long drive the voltage of the battery may go up to a respectable level such as 12.7 V, but this may be a phenomenon called surface charge.  The battery may still be weak/need changing.

 

I suspect this "gold star connect" device uses and OBDII dongle connected to the OBDII port?  It's a connector underneath the dash on the driver side.  (It has 16 pins if you count carefully).  Sometimes devices connected to this port even when the car is shut down and left can/may eventually drain the 12 V.  If you have your battery tested AND it tests good, I would suggest removing this device when you are not in the car/not using it.

 

Please feel free to post any more questions you may have.