Battery dead

[mbedit]

That may be good info aschofer... I will pay good attention to that procedure. thanks.

[shadd]

My battery died on my C-MAX this morning for the third time. This is after the dealership already replaced my original battery with a new battery after the first two times. The only thing I can think I did was leave my phone charger and usb plugged in over night.

[aschofer]

My battery died on my C-MAX this morning for the third time. This is after the dealership already replaced my original battery with a new battery after the first two times. The only thing I can think I did was leave my phone charger and usb plugged in over night.

 

shadd:

 

Sorry to hear about your battery problems. Try this with your new battery.

 

When you are ready to shut off the CMax, put your transmission into Park, pull up the Parking Brake Lever and then push the PowerOff button (without your foot on the brake pedal). I believe that if you keep your foot on the brake pedal when you press the Power Off button, I'm highly confident you are putting the CMax into a "Battery Save" mode which, to me, means the car has not been shut down correctly and is probably allowing the electronics to keep running, draining the battery.

 

When I picked up my CMax from the dealer, I noticed on the Synch Display that the car was going into a "Battery Save" mode when I kept my foot on the brake pedal when pushing Power Off button. When asked, the salesman said that you do not put your foot on the brake when powering off the CMax.

 

This could be a reason so many people are experiencing Dead Batteries because they are putting their foot on the brake when shutting off/powering off the CMax. The "Battery Save" mode probably drains the battery until it's dead.

 

Hope it helps.

 

By the way, I have 1,000 miles on my CMax and no battery problems so far, knock on wood:)

[Bob999]

I noticed the parking lights remained on after I thought I closed the door on the vehicle. Upon investigation I found a rear passenger door ajar. When I fully closed that door the parking lights switched off.

 

I don't know if the lights would have been turned off by the car at some point but the headlight delay time had been satisfied and they had switched off. So this behavior might contribute to the explanation of dead batteries.

 

Perhaps a related matter is the size of the low voltage battery. The Owners manual lists the battery as "BXT-96R-500 / BXT-96R-590" but when I checked the battery installed in my car I found a different size (73 I think but am not sure) and a very much lower capacity--390.

[darrelld]

I would think that 390 CCA would not last long on a high compression hybrid like the C-Max. A factory screw-up maybe, they are built alongside the regular Focus? I will check to see my battery capacity.

[C-MaxJaxon]

I noticed the parking lights remained on after I thought I closed the door on the vehicle. Upon investigation I found a rear passenger door ajar. When I fully closed that door the parking lights switched off.

 

I've had the hatch do this a few times. I have to open and slam the hatch to get the lights to go out.

[Bob999]

I would think that 390 CCA would not last long on a high compression hybrid like the C-Max. A factory screw-up maybe, they are built alongside the regular Focus? I will check to see my battery capacity.

I will look forward to learning the size/capacity of the battery installed in your vehicle.

 

I'm not sure the 12v battery is used to start the gas engine--I understand a "good" 12v battery is necessary for the car to operate but as I understand it the car does not have a traditional starter--rather the motor/generator set in the transaxle functions as the starter and I think it is connected to the high voltage battery.

 

See description here: http://www1.eere.ene...poet_2012_p.pdf

[darrelld]

I will look forward to learning the size/capacity of the battery installed in your vehicle.

 

I'm not sure the 12v battery is used to start the gas engine--I understand a "good" 12v battery is necessary for the car to operate but as I understand it the car does not have a traditional starter--rather the motor/generator set in the transaxle functions as the starter and I think it is connected to the high voltage battery.

 

See description here: http://www1.eere.ene...poet_2012_p.pdf

 

Thanks for the link, you analysis would make sense given the duty cycle demands on the start/stop components.

[darrelld]

I noticed the parking lights remained on after I thought I closed the door on the vehicle. Upon investigation I found a rear passenger door ajar. When I fully closed that door the parking lights switched off.

 

I don't know if the lights would have been turned off by the car at some point but the headlight delay time had been satisfied and they had switched off. So this behavior might contribute to the explanation of dead batteries.

 

Perhaps a related matter is the size of the low voltage battery. The Owners manual lists the battery as "BXT-96R-500 / BXT-96R-590" but when I checked the battery installed in my car I found a different size (73 I think but am not sure) and a very much lower capacity--390.

 

I too have the 390 CCA, no problems with starting yet.

[StoBro2]

Another 390 CCA battery here, also no starting problems to report. According to FordParts.com, the 12V battery for the C-Max Hybrid is a BXT-67R, which is also used in the Fusion Hybrid and maybe some other applications. It's rated CCA is 390. Could the owner's manual have a typo?

[mbedit]

Woke up this morning to a dead battery. Again. This is the 2nd time now. The 1st go Ford came back and said to make sure no accessories are left plugged in, which I was doing, so thats not it. Also, Had been making sure I don't press on the parking brake as mentioned above... so I'm pretty sure thats not the issue. I have to take a bit of that concept with some skepticism I think. A "Saving Mode" would imply to me that its actually trying to save the battery, and, in fact the battery-save mode is differentiated from "normal hybrid mode where the powertrain blends electric and gasoline engine power as appropriate ("EV Auto" setting); [to] a battery-saving mode that reserves the battery power for later use ("EV Later" setting)."

 

Which tells me that it should drive more on the gas engine, and not use the battery. 

 

Any how, the night before, something smelled like electrical shorting/burning, and I think in fact that something in the instrument panel is causing a short and draining the battery, which would be consistent with another poster who said they actually found an electrical issue. 

 

The good news was the Ford Roadside assistance was prompt, and the car started after a jump, and I took it back to the dealer, and they are going to try and dig deeper... I hope. 

[RedLdr1]

The good news was the Ford Roadside assistance was prompt, and the car started after a jump, and I took it back to the dealer, and they are going to try and dig deeper... I hope. 

 

When I had the bad Instrument Panel one of the clues was that after jumping off the car everything appeared normal.  A car that needed jump started should at least show a low battery warning light until it is back up to full charge.... 

[mbedit]

Well, everything did seem normal after the jump. Both times now...  though I can't recall specifically looking for or seeing a low battery level when the roadside applied the jump to it. I suspect they will send me packing again, in which case I should probably plan to take some digital snaps of the panel when it starts on the jump next time, so I can provide more info to help the technicians solve the problem. I have a difficult time believing that leaving an iPod plugged in or pressing the Brake would cause the battery to mysteriously drain. Both times I've put a DVM on the 12VDC Battery and it has read 5.5VDC. The idea that there is an electrical short causing the problem makes more sense. 

[RedLdr1]

 I have a difficult time believing that leaving an iPod plugged in or pressing the Brake would cause the battery to mysteriously drain.

 

I do not believe that claim for one minute...  I leave "stuff" (iPod, Cell phone, camera battery charger) plugged in all the time and have not had any issue.  And the brake issue would be Highlighted in the Owners Manual if that were the case...

[valkraider]

If you can't put your foot on the brake when shutting down Ford is going to have a hard time with this one.  Every single drivers training program for the past 50 years has been teaching people to have their foot on the brake when they put the car in park and shut down...

This is an absurd thing if it is indeed true, and Ford will have to change it.  No matter what the person does with the brake, shutdown button, or parking brake - the battery should not die overnight.

 

Nor should on a 2013 model year vehicle a door or reading light being left on kill the battery.  I have not owned a car since 2000 which didn't shut off the interior lights after a period of inactivity.  That is standard now, even my 2008 bottom-of-the-line no gucci features fleet model pickup truck does that.  The C-Max would be the first vehicle in a decade to not shut off the interior lights automatically to prevent a dead battery.

Things connected to the USB system should not either.  Most vehicles cut off power to the USB or 12v accessories after a certain amount of time - but even if they don't, only one night should not be enough drain to kill an auto battery unless you are powering a hair dryer from it...  Once a cell phone or some other small device is charged, they barely take a trickle of power.  I have left a GPS device plugged in and turned on in my camper 12v system for over a week without killing the battery.  It's just not that much power draw unless something is broken...

If a car that is only a month old has the battery die there is something wrong.  This should not happen, ever.

[mbedit]

I agree valkraider. I like the C-Max, I really do. This is a bit of a downer, and I'm hopeful that ford will get to the actauly root of the problem and fix it. In the mean time they are making sure I have a vechical to drive at thier expense, but I'd rather have my car! I'll I can do is keep working the issue, which includes using sources like this forum to try and figure out whats going on. I guess Ford wants to take it in steps, but even the service manager at the dealer did not think that not plugging in acessories was a credible solution to the problem, but they apperently need to go on what the Service technicains they called for help at the Ford Corporate office say... So now with that solution debunked maybe they will get more serrious.

 

If my local dealer can't fix it, I'd honestly have no problems with them shipping back to the mother plant to get it repaired... but that seems unlikely. Need to play the game and keep records... in NC if they can't fix teh defect after 4 attempts, I can lemon law it. I'd hate to do that, but I also can't be calling for roadside assitance every other week to jump it.

[darrelld]

I agree valkraider. I like the C-Max, I really do. This is a bit of a downer, and I'm hopeful that ford will get to the actauly root of the problem and fix it. In the mean time they are making sure I have a vechical to drive at thier expense, but I'd rather have my car! I'll I can do is keep working the issue, which includes using sources like this forum to try and figure out whats going on. I guess Ford wants to take it in steps, but even the service manager at the dealer did not think that not plugging in acessories was a credible solution to the problem, but they apperently need to go on what the Service technicains they called for help at the Ford Corporate office say... So now with that solution debunked maybe they will get more serrious.

 

If my local dealer can't fix it, I'd honestly have no problems with them shipping back to the mother plant to get it repaired... but that seems unlikely. Need to play the game and keep records... in NC if they can't fix teh defect after 4 attempts, I can lemon law it. I'd hate to do that, but I also can't betalling for roadside assitance every other week to jump it.

 

 

I would push them to give you another C-Max, its had this problem too often for a brand new vehicle. If they refuse get Ford corporate involved.

Edited November 30, 2012 by darrelld

[valkraider]

Check Lemon Laws in your state.  Each state does them differently.

I missed a Lemon Law buyback by one month because I didn't know the correct process to follow, and I got stuck with a vehicle which was buggy...

[mbedit]

So, I called Ford and logged the concern. Apparently they say there isn't a record of this concern being raised. So if other people are having this issue, be sure to call the Ford Customer service and raise the concern so it gets the proper awareness. 

[mbedit]

An Update just as an FYI. The Ford dealer has spent a week now tearing through my C-Max, and they think they found a failed electrical module that was exhibiting an intermittent spike and leach on the electrical system, so they have ordered the the part and will replace the module and test to see that the spike has gone away. I'm optimistic that they dug in and really found the root cause on the second go around, and I have to believe that contacting Ford helped raise the concern and gave the dealer resources they needed to fix it. 

 

I probably won't get it back until next Tuesday, but I'd rather they really dig in and fix the problem.

[RachelnLa]

Glad it's being handled.

[shadd]

Battery dead for me again this morning. Dealership didn't find any issues with it last time I took it in, battery was testing at factory standard. My rear hatch light was flickering when I got into the car this morning, which gave me the feeling it wasn't going to start.

 

I know for a fact I didn't have the brake pressed when I shut it off yesterday... nothing plugged in the outlets.

[erwhitham]

I'm loving my C-MAX, but as an early adopter and picky car owner I had paint flaws at the bottom of the doors....drips marks. Interrior mirror's back film was flawed and passanger front door was out of alignment. Dealer fixed all and gave me a loaner. Great dealer.

 

Now the irritating stuff. Put the car in reverse and it won't go until I shift to Park or N or D and return to reverse. Happened 8 times so far. Also, the multi-purpose center screen dies and nothing will work until I put it in reverse and the rear camera is displayed. Then then back to park or drive and then I get the radio and navigation again. Also, my "Green Leaf" display disappeared completely and then started working when I shut off the car and started again.

 

OK Ford....get your software engineers on this STAT. I hope this is not going to last for the next 10 years I hoped to own this thing.

I had the same experience with the screen and realize that the rear camera is somehow related to the car's overall functioning. My car also has run it's own "Check System" till car resumes normalcy. Reported this to my salesman and will have it checked out after Christmas.

[Hybrid dude]

Battery and entire car dead again this morning. Haven't found any obvious cause. Will be calling roadside, jump, etc.

[RachelnLa]

Aww that's the pits.