Needed to jump my C-Max twice within a week.

[Yiturp]

Hey folks, I just bought a 2017 C-Max Energi with 72k miles on it. The dealer told me that they needed to jump it to start it up to get it ready for me to look at (either Friday evening or Saturday morning). At the end of my work shift yesterday, I needed to jump it. I was honestly lucky that the battery found enough charge to unlock my doors. So far, my battery has tested at around 12.2-12.4 volts. Noticed a couple other topics that might be pointing to a 12v battery replacement, I just wanted to start a new thread to make is easier for me to get the help I might need. I haven't had the chance to take the battery out to get the date on it, but the Ford Dealer "inspection" sticker from November on my windshield marks all systems good to go... So between potentially the ACM power drawing or needing a new battery in general, any other thoughts form you good folks? Thanks

[jzchen]

For ours way before needing a jump there was a indicator I believe on the infotainment screen (if not then the instrument cluster) that the 12V battery was low.  I forget the message specifics but it was clear it needed replacement.  (Car still started normally as we were leaving to go somewhere).

 

I definitely suspect you need to replace it at this point…

[Yiturp]

On 7/25/2023 at 10:58 PM, jzchen said:

For ours way before needing a jump there was a indicator I believe on the infotainment screen (if not then the instrument cluster) that the 12V battery was low.  I forget the message specifics but it was clear it needed replacement.  (Car still started normally as we were leaving to go somewhere).

 

I definitely suspect you need to replace it at this point…

So far I've seen no indicator like that. When I first turned the car on, there was a check engine light, which the dealer claimed may have been because they had to jump start it. After jumping it to leave my work shift, I never had a check engine light. I will be scanning it to try and check the history to find out which code it threw. This time I made sure to manually turn as many things I could think of off before shutting the car down before work, and we shall see if that makes a difference in case there was a power pull somewhere. I'd love to see it be as simple as replacing the 12v battery if there isn't a power draw! 

Thanks!

[jzchen]

I just want to clarify why I suspect the battery and not a power draw issue, and it’s because ours was a 2013 Energi model AND that day someone else on this forum had the exact same low/dead battery issue.  I suspected some sort of SYNC communication with Ford issue.

 

The ‘13 model year did have some sort of drain concern with recall/T-SB.  It involved wrapping a wire harness to the trunk to prevent cutting and shorting, plus some sort of flash.

 

I do hope they got rid of any similar type of issue by the 2017 model year, hence my hunch towards the 12 V needing replacement.

 

Do you have SYNC 3?  Please do follow up with any OBD codes you may find.

[Yiturp]

I believe that I have SYNC 3, though I could be wrong, and my ex wife has a 2014 Focus so I am partially familiar with kind of generalized problems with the ACMs of vehicles of this generation. I certainly will add codes when I find them.