Battery dead

[CMax-Traveler]

Got my car back from the dealer, they replaced the 12V battery and did a bunch of reprogramming (not exactly sure of what).  But I lost my EV+ locations and my MyView settings again.

 

At any rate, crossing my fingers that solves my dead battery problem.

[drdiesel1]

By disconnecting the 12V battery, it resets everything to the default settings. You'll need to go through the settings and reconfigure everything to return it back the way you had it.

 

If you have a battery charger, I would charge the battery too. Who knows how long that battery has been sitting on a shelf.

I charge all batteries before installing them.

Edited October 23, 2013 by drdiesel1

[pjurek99]

Since the BIG RESET (dead battery) - I have noticed a few changes. The GPS has been a little more accurate, the MFT became more sluggish, the car was a little more "loose" (less peppiness), BUT the MPG went up a little bit. It is slightly easier now to keep up to the Ford's initially promised 47MPG. I hit almost 46 on a NJ Turnpike today (I95). No pics taken, though. It is now pretty easy to maintain MPG at low ~50's in a city driving. 

I do not know - either the ICE break-in process is accomplished, or they uploaded some further updates or the "hard reset" worked well like an usual Micro$oft-related problem solution - "If system gets sluggish - do the hard reset by turning the stuff off and on".

Edited October 24, 2013 by pjurek99

[CMax-Traveler]

By disconnecting the 12V battery, it resets everything to the default settings. You'll need to go through the settings and reconfigure everything to return it back the way you had it.

 

If you have a battery charger, I would charge the battery too. Who knows how long that battery has been sitting on a shelf.

I charge all batteries before installing them.

 

Why didn't I have to reset everything after my battery died and I had to have it jumped, then?

[wab]

Why didn't I have to reset everything after my battery died and I had to have it jumped, then?

 

Your battery probably wasn't completely dead, just to low to operate the relays.

Plenty left to hold the settings.

[bam48]

http://autos.yahoo.com/news/the-10-least-reliable-cars-181031192.html

 

Just sayin...

 

We have received our buyback and we have purchased another non-Ford vehicle. Good luck to all of you!!

[drdiesel1]

http://autos.yahoo.com/news/the-10-least-reliable-cars-181031192.html

 

Just sayin...

 

We have received our buyback and we have purchased another non-Ford vehicle. Good luck to all of you!!

Never..............Would, I own a Koren car.... :spend: Just say'n :redcard:

Edited October 30, 2013 by drdiesel1

[Laurel]

http://autos.yahoo.com/news/the-10-least-reliable-cars-181031192.html

 

Just sayin...

 

We have received our buyback and we have purchased another non-Ford vehicle. Good luck to all of you!!

Good luck with your new wheels!  I'm glad the buyback worked out for you. 

[Jus-A-CMax]

Never..............Would, I own a Koren car.... :spend: Just say'n :redcard:

No, no, no....it's Just say'n. No "t"s allowed..... ;)

[flatbat]

It's been a while since i posted here, but i wanted to give an update about our Cmax.  Back in the summer after the recalls and the TSB for the dc/dc converter i thought the problems on our Cmax were fixed.  However, in October the dead battery returned and the dealership has given up trying to fix it, as have we.  By Maryland law, the car is now a lemon.  I am in contact with Ford regional sales managers to pursue a buyback, but Ford customer service is atrocious.  They have never met any of their own deadlines.  It's been three weeks since first contact and they haven't even gotten the paperwork from the dealer.  I am very frustrated.

 

One question i have is to those of you who have gotten a buyback - how much of the money did Ford return?

 

Thanks.

[bam48]

 

One question i have is to those of you who have gotten a buyback - how much of the money did Ford return?

 

Thanks.

 

We received every penny we paid for the car plus the $550 the wrong mpg plus another $400 from before (after our 2nd dead battery) for our troubles.  Our dealership also gave us a rental until we found a new car. We just had to be patient, the process didn't go as quickly as they said it would, probably about 2 months total.  Just make sure to always follow up, it will happen! Good Luck!

Edited October 31, 2013 by bam48

[bam48]

Never..............Would, I own a Koren car.... :spend: Just say'n :redcard:

 

The point of the article,  I was trying to make,  was Ford has 5 out of the 10 cars in the most unreliable car category!

Not what should be purchased, rather what shouldn't be!

[flatbat]

We received every penny we paid for the car plus the $550 the wrong mpg plus another $400 from before (after our 2nd dead battery) for our troubles.  Our dealership also gave us a rental until we found a new car. We just had to be patient, the process didn't go as quickly as they said it would, probably about 2 months total.  Just make sure to always follow up, it will happen! Good Luck!

 

Thanks bam48, that's good to hear.  I am following up regularly.

[drdiesel1]

No, no, no....it's Just say'n. No "t"s allowed..... ;)

Er, Uh!  I think you have a T in there :)

[drdiesel1]

The point of the article,  I was trying to make,  was Ford has 5 out of the 10 cars in the most unreliable car category!

Not what should be purchased, rather what shouldn't be!

Have you ever considered why they have 5 cars on that list............Electronic accessories. MFT takes them to the list.

 

Sure those crappy Korean imports don't have any high end tech, so they never have this type of problem.

The porblems they do/did and will have is crap builds, noisy engines, cardboard seats, cheap plastic interiors and hard to get parts.

Remember all the Hyundai's........ Try finding parts for them.  I refuse to own a POS from Korea.  Enjoy!

 

Any Jap car is better, but I still prefer domestics :wub2: How many 6' 1" Japanese and Korean's do you see ?

Domestics fit my size. It's like buying shoes made in China........ They don't fit and they are JUNK.

Edited October 31, 2013 by drdiesel1

[salman]

If not for the 12 volt battery problems that periodically renders C-Max cars inoperable, then I think it would be just groovy to have all kinds of electronic accessories that rank in the top 10 of unreliability lists so that the accessories can't be used and the car has to spend a lot of time in the shop.

 

Somehow other cars start reliably and have power windows that don't roll themselves open randomly and inexplicably and have other electronic accessories that tend to work without trouble. Even some cars made in Korea, let alone cars made in Japan and other countries.

 

My thinking on this is to keep it simple, as the saying goes.

 

My C-Max is at the dealer again about the windows (see that thread elsewhere in the forum) and the car went dead when the mechanic disconnected and reconnected the Body Control Module. I am thinking it is time for a buy back after almost a year of bringing my C-MAX back to the dealer at least 4 times for 12 volt battery issues and at least 5 times for windows opening themselves and once for broken seat belt sensor and once for a missing rear hatch bumper and another time for the headliner recall & the August fuel economy update.

 

Waiting to talk to the service manager. if the car is not ready to go then I will start writing to Ford demanding a buy back, and start shopping for a Prius or a Matrix or maybe a Hyundai Elantra GT. Might start buy back demands even if the C-Max is ready to drive off now. It is just too troublesome and unreliable.

[salman]

and I just talked to the service manager, an excellent, smart, and honest guy.

 

they installed the new Body Control Module (BCM) and the car is still dead.

 

preparing a letter to send Ford by certified mail and also by fax & e-mail if i can find appropriate fax # and e-mail address.

[drdiesel1]

If not for the 12 volt battery problems that periodically renders C-Max cars inoperable, then I think it would be just groovy to have all kinds of electronic accessories that rank in the top 10 of unreliability lists so that the accessories can't be used and the car has to spend a lot of time in the shop.

 

Somehow other cars start reliably and have power windows that don't roll themselves open randomly and inexplicably and have other electronic accessories that tend to work without trouble. Even some cars made in Korea, let alone cars made in Japan and other countries.

 

My thinking on this is to keep it simple, as the saying goes.

 

My C-Max is at the dealer again about the windows (see that thread elsewhere in the forum) and the car went dead when the mechanic disconnected and reconnected the Body Control Module. I am thinking it is time for a buy back after almost a year of bringing my C-MAX back to the dealer at least 4 times for 12 volt battery issues and at least 5 times for windows opening themselves and once for broken seat belt sensor and once for a missing rear hatch bumper and another time for the headliner recall & the August fuel economy update.

 

Waiting to talk to the service manager. if the car is not ready to go then I will start writing to Ford demanding a buy back, and start shopping for a Prius or a Matrix or maybe a Hyundai Elantra GT. Might start buy back demands even if the C-Max is ready to drive off now. It is just too troublesome and unreliable.

Some people are never happy........ Buyers remorse is a common problem. Have fun with those imports ;)

[salman]

Some people are never happy........ Buyers remorse is a common problem. Have fun with those imports ;)

 My 1995 Honda Accord has a bad case of Honda Pattern Baldness (AKA no paint left on horizontal surfaces) but it runs wonderfully and reliably and has never had a problem except for expected wear over 18 years.

 

I should thank you, Dr Diesel, for helping me to clarify my thinking about the C-Max. I had been wavering about giving up on the C-Max, but your comments helped me to reflect on the situation logically and dispassionately. The C-Max is a great concept, but it is very poorly engineered with systems that are 1) unreliable and 2) not understood well enough by Ford to be able to fix them. That is the definition of a Lemon. It is a shame, but there is no getting around the conclusion that the C-Max has shown itself to be trouble as far as the eye can see. Ford's ability to fix the car is not on the horizon.

[drdiesel1]

Mine works fine.......... :happy feet:  To bad your Ford dealer is able to fix your car. Some dealers don't have good techs because they

don't pay well and don't care about their people that work for them. It's all about profits and people come last.  Good luck!

 

 

PS: I bet money they unplugged the BCM with the key on :drop:

Edited October 31, 2013 by drdiesel1

[fbov]

I could not disagree more, salman.

 

As my first new car in 30 years (left a '94 Volvo that was also going bald), I'm quite impressed with the inital build quality, road performance and how well the car's meeting our needs. It's not perfect, but I like the cap-less fueling enough to ignore the occassional steady check engine light. I didn't choose a C-Max, it chose me, and I couldn't be happier. 

 

Best of luck in whatever you buy next. 

 

Have fun,

Frank

[jchaddpete]

On the 4th dead battery event, the dealer replaced a wiring harness (cost of part to Ford was $900) although the technician could not find any definitive problem with the old harness.  He thought replacing the harness was "theoretical", whatever that means--but it is Ford's last attempt to remedy the problem.  The engineer, who authorized this repair, seemed to think that it would be a solution since it worked for a C-Max owner in New York.

Anyway, it's been a couple of weeks with no problems.  I do a voltage check before and after driving, along with recording distances driven and time intervals between driving the vehicle.  My very inexpensive (perhaps not very good) digital voltage gauge generally reads 12.0-12.1 volts before driving and 12.3-12.4 volts after driving.  The amount of time between driving the car seems to make no difference.  The readings seem a bit low, but when I put a charger on the battery, the charger indicated a 75% charge.  Perhaps my digital 12v. gauge isn't effective or the charger reading is not right.

If there is someone else in the forum who has had the wiring harness replaced, I would appreciate knowing their results.  Wouldn't it be great if Ford actually found a solution, even if it cannot be explained.

Jerry

[salman]

Fbov

 

I was also happy with initial build quality, road performance, and how well the car met my needs (until it was repeatedly dead from 12 volt problems and the windows repeatedly opened themselves and the mechanic, an excellent mechanic, could not fix it and the Ford engineers could not fix it).

 

The car drives great. It is very comfortable. It has great cargo space that I need. Fuel economy is great. The price was reasonable.

 

But it is unreliable. Mine certainly has been and too many others have been, as well. That is why I say that there is a design problem. Reliability depends in large part on good engineering design, and so too does repairability. There are always one-off problems with this part or that part, in which case the part gets adjusted or replaced and all is good. But it is clear that the C-Max design has produced problems in some crucial systems that Ford has still not been able to figure out how to fix.

 

Your car, however, might be solid and dependable, and thus it is enviably a great car. May it stay that way for you.

Edited October 31, 2013 by salman

[DaveofDurham]

from the "Windows rolled themselves today thread":

Have you ever heard of the K.I.S.S. method ?  It's a simple test and a vailidation of what's at fault.

 

 

from this ["Battery dead"] thread:

Some people are never happy........ Buyers remorse is a common problem. Have fun with those imports ;)

 

Dr. Diesel -

 

You have inspired me to come up with a simple experiment that you can participate in.  For one month, or longer if you choose, you swap your "works great" C-Max with someone else's "lemony" C-Max.  [Extra credit to you if the "lemony" C-Max is dead and resisting resuscitation at the start of the experiment.] From time to time during the swap, you report back to us on how the "lemony" C-Max is working for you and on your happiness level, and the other owner reports back to us on how your "works great" C-Max is working for them and whether their frown has been turned upside down.

 

 

[drdiesel1]

from the "Windows rolled themselves today thread":

 

 

from this ["Battery dead"] thread:

 

Dr. Diesel -

 

You have inspired me to come up with a simple experiment that you can participate in.  For one month, or longer if you choose, you swap your "works great" C-Max with someone else's "lemony" C-Max.  [Extra credit to you if the "lemony" C-Max is dead and resisting resuscitation at the start of the experiment.] From time to time during the swap, you report back to us on how the "lemony" C-Max is working for you and on your happiness level, and the other owner reports back to us on how your "works great" C-Max is working for them and whether their frown has been turned upside down.

I have a better idea........ Take it to another dealer ;) only after verifying the problem isn't accidental FOB activation  :wub2:

 

It's evident the owner is dissatisfied with the car if he refuses to do a simple verification test. 

Stubbornness won't solve anything. 

Edited October 31, 2013 by drdiesel1