CMax- won't be driven for 4 mo.- prep or advice?

[wamba2000]

HI guys, I've been kind of missing from the forum lately.

 

I find myself now with 4 cars and three drivers, with one of the vehicles on a lease that runs out shortly.  Since the miles are under the contract, and the car's value is under the residual, I will be driving it until turn-in.  Since the CMax is purchased, makes sense to save it more than the others.

 

It will be located where I will rarely if ever get to drive it, so my question:

 

Has anyone had a similar circumstance, and what should be done to make sure it will be ok when again driven?  Any advice or experience you share is much appreciated.

I already filled the gas tank, made sure all power consuming devices are unplugged or out ( other than the vehicle itself, etc.

 

Thanks!

Edited February 12, 2014 by wamba2000

[Edsel]

Put some STA-BIL Storage in the tank and be prepared to jump it when needed.

[fotomoto]

Northern motorcyclist go through this every year so you're not alone by any stretch of the imagination.  Add some fuel stabilizer and a trickle charger to the the 12V battery.  You could also remove the 12V and take it home to keep on a charger.  

Edited February 12, 2014 by fotomoto

[plus 3 golfer]

The only thing I would add is you might want to put the car on jack stands / blocks to remove the weight on the tires.  You don't want permanent flat spots to develop in the tires .  

 

I would personally not remove the 12V  battery (all learned / user programmed settings will likely be lost). I'd leave it in place on a smart charger. 

[fotomoto]

I would personally not remove the 12V  battery (all learned / user programmed settings will likely be lost). I'd leave it in place on a smart charger. 

 

Agreed but the storage location may not have electrical access or allow it. (storage lots) 

[PJFW8]

I agree with all comments BUT the HVB (high voltage battery) can't be ignored.  PM Ford customer service for a recommendation. I would drive it once a month to get the HVB fully charged. There is likely a recommendation in the owners manual.

[plus 3 golfer]

Agreed but the storage location may not have electrical access or allow it. (storage lots) 

Good point.

 

From the owner's manual below if you can't trickle charge it in place.  Also, removing the 12V battery in the C-Max is not as easy as it is on a battery under the hood of a car. Also, I couldn't find any reference to the HVB when storing the C-Max.  I would think a Li-Ion battery would be fine for 4 months.  

.

4. If you are storing your vehicle for more than 30 days without

recharging the battery, disconnect the negative battery cable from the

low voltage battery.

5. If you disconnected the negative battery cable, apply painter’s tape to

the liftgate latch in order to prevent the liftgate from closing fully.

 

Note: If you disconnected the negative battery cable, it will be necessary

to reset memory features. See Changing the Low Voltage Battery.

Note: If you disconnected the negative battery cable and closed the

liftgate fully, you will need to connect a 12 volt power supply to the jump

start prongs under the hood so that you can open the liftgate. See

Jump-Starting the Vehicle in the Roadside Emergencies chapter.

 

 

 

wamba2000, is it worth the hassle storing your C-Max?  Putting an additional 4k miles or so on the C-Max won't affect value at 100k miles and likely very little at 25k.

[obob]

Good point.

 

From the owner's manual below if you can't trickle charge it in place.  Also, removing the 12V battery in the C-Max is not as easy as it is on a battery under the hood of a car. Also, I couldn't find any reference to the HVB when storing the C-Max.  I would think a Li-Ion battery would be fine for 4 months.  

.

 

 

wamba2000, is it worth the hassle storing your C-Max?  Putting an additional 4k miles or so on the C-Max won't affect value at 100k miles and likely very little at 25k.

 

I don't get the part about the lift gate."5. If you disconnected the negative battery cable, apply painter’s tape to

the liftgate latch in order to prevent the liftgate from closing fully."  Does the lift gate being latched drain the HVB(High Voltage Battery) ?

 

Thanks.

[Edsel]

It's an electronic latch.  No way to open it without battery power.

[plus 3 golfer]

Yes, the liftgate needs 12V to operate.  With a dead 12V battery, you need to apply 12 V at the +/- posts under the hood to get the liftgate open.  

 

This has been brought up before and it seems that it would be appropriate for Ford to design a method to open the liftgate with the key. An example where this would be beneficial is that you know the 12V battery is dead and you don't have a set of jumper cables.  With a way to open the liftgate, you could remove the battery, drive to the Ford dealer (or a Walmart assuming eventually replacement batteries are readily available) for exchange and purchase of new battery, return with a new battery and install the new battery.  All is now good.  I've done this many times on other vehicles rather than jump starting a car with a dead battery and driving the car to a battery shop.

Edited February 12, 2014 by Plus 3 Golfer

[MichaelM]

I have a similar issue with my 2004 Thunderbird. The battery is in the trunk under a removeable floor cover. There is no keyhole in the trunk itself. If the battery goes dead the trunk will not release. So they put a key operated access point inside the passenger compartment, behind the drivers seat. It is mechanical and doesn't require power. The key will open the door, but the window drop function doesn't work if there is no power, so it sounds and feels like you could break the window by opening the door.

[wamba2000]

Thank you all for your comments.  The place where the Cmax will be garaged does have power, so could use the trickle charge....but!

 

Right after I posted the original message, I finally heard back from a friend that lives in the area, and we worked out a plan for him to drive the Cmax for 15 miles or so every week to keep it running.  This should help it maintain ok.

I will add the Sta-Bil since the fuel usage will be small.

 

Thanks for all the advice, this community of Cmax drivers is awesome!!