Battery dead

[Hybrid dude]

Had it checked at dealer this morning ... surprise ... everything normal, battery at 390 CCA (last time dead battery was 207 CCA).

Service person suggested to have it towed dead next time, just as was suggested to another member in a previous post. So, assuming it will happen again and location is reasonable, will do that. Both occurrences have been in my parking spot, after an overnight rest.

 

I have a plane Jane SE, no perceivable way to leave it on by mistake, no other devices plugged into outlets, etc.

Edited December 28, 2012 by Hybrid dude

[salman]

And I am just back from the dealer, too. They had my car since the 26th. The service adviser  signed it out, but I went to speak to the sales manager and then the owner (2nd or 3rd generation of the family that owns this dealership) joined us. Based on the test results that did not show anything and my reporting of what has happened with other cases, they decided to change out the 12 volt battery. I made sure they understood that in at least one or two cases posted on this board there was a changed battery and then a re-occurrence, and that even in those cases it could still be that bad batteries could be the cause - they understood and felt it was better to try something.

 

As I was driving off I finally got a call back from Mark Coll, a West Coast customer care service manager from Ford. He is not a mechanic or repair manager, but works in customer service and is a liaison between Ford and dealers and customers. He was apologetic and promises to discuss the matter with a technical adviser (a mechanic) who will have access to national reports from dealers and from Ford engineers. He will try to contact the engineer who has worked on mbedit's car in Wilmington, NC, and also will ask whether the jump start A) might erase system memory of a trouble report and/or B) might reset a safety switch that could have shut down 12 volt power.

 

Mark Coll said Ford is keenly interested in tracking & solving problems with its new hybrids, obviously because it is betting a lot of future business on them. I believe him because this is the future of their business. They need the cars to succeed. He will get back to me at the end of next week. There will be some delay in gathering information because of the holiday.

 

Last, Mark Coll also said he is thinking there maybe should be an advisory to have roadside service tow cars that have no 12 volt power rather than jump them, so that  service departments can see them when they are not working.

 

I think having cars towed to the dealer is the right thing to do. Any good dealer should cover taxi and/or car rental costs under such circumstances.

 

A few more notes:

 

My dealer's  meter for checking power draw only works until power shuts down, which is normally 10-15 minutes. They do not have Ford equipment capable of a longer test for a power draw, so I wonder how mbedit's service people did it at their dealership. That would be great to know.

Edited December 28, 2012 by salman

[salman]

When I got home I called 800 392-3673 central Ford Customer Service line. and told them what had happened. I also told them that the kind of people who buy hybrids and electric cars are the kind of people who are really hooked into social media and that Ford REALLY ought to get in front of this if they don't want to damage the brand.

 

I told her that people really want to love this car, this domestic hybrid that's cute as hell. And I reminded her that "people still buy Tylenol", despite the tampering scandal because the company was right out in front with their customers.

 

 

I think that was pitch perfect, very shrewd, and 100% true.

[mbedit]

 Both occurrences have been in my parking spot, after an overnight rest.

 

This has been the same for me. Works fine all day, park it overnight, in the morning its dead. I checked the voltage both times and it wasabout 5.5 VDC.

[FoutsNC]

I have yet to have any battery related issues (knocking on wood), yet I do have a suggestion for those that are having these problems.  Use Twitter!  Company's are paying close attention to their Social Media presence.  I am sure they are watching these forums a bit, yet the major Social Media outlets get much more attention.  Want to see it in action, just tweet about your next airline delay and tag the airline. 

 

Facebook pages are also helpful, yet they do not get the close attention that Twitter does due to the viral effect of Tweets.  Make sure you tag @fordservice, @fordcmax, and @Ford, and @ScottMonty. Scott is the head of Ford's Social media.  I can assure you that I will be tweeting up a storm if something like this happens with me.  It also helps if you have a large following on Twitter.  If you don't have a large following, build a small one and start tweeting.

 

If you are tweeting about your issues, link the tweets here so that others can RT them for you and help spread the word.  I think there are some kinks that still need to be worked out and I am not sure that Ford is hearing us loudly enough yet.  I would also suggest some calls to their Media Relations department.

 

Good Luck!

[FoutsNC]

Oops... @FordCMAXHybrids is the correct handle.  The CMax one is for the European C-Max.

[roninsd]

I like the idea of stating model, and if there has been any battery issues, just to add to the info for those having this issue.

 

ME: 

NO electrical/power problems (yet) --

 

SEL basic. 

No electric hatchback.

Standard radio (no Sony). 

No NAV.

 

Anything else we should mention to help out with diagnostics?

[dtorres]

Roninsd

 

This is a great idea so it's easy to track who is having the problem. I've started a new thread specifically for this.

Edited December 29, 2012 by dtorres

[salman]

Another c-max forum with battery complaints:

 

http://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/f81/any-solid-details-cmax-27953/index2.html

 

I will crosslink a note about this forum on that forum. . .  but getting registered there is a problem. there's a bug that needs the forum administrator.

Edited December 29, 2012 by salman

[Hybrid dude]

I'll also add that my EV+ memory is gone, I think due to the fact that they removed the 12V battery for testing. You'd think the miniscule amount of power required to preserve EV+ memory could come from the lithium battery?

[salman]

I'll also add that my EV+ memory is gone, I think due to the fact that they removed the 12V battery for testing. You'd think the miniscule amount of power required to preserve EV+ memory could come from the lithium battery?

I think all the accessories and computer functions run off 12 volt power. The Lithium battery is high voltage.

[zhackwyatt]

My understanding is the Lithium battery is completely disconnected/isolated from the car when it is shut off.

[jmckinley]

Just a thought on the dead battery issue.  On the Prius, it takes almost nothing to jump the 12V battery.  There are procedures on the 'net telling how to do it with a laptop battery, flashlight batteries, etc.  It only needs enough power to power up the electronics and let the big battery do its thing.  I suspect the 'Max is the same.  

 

Has anyone tried waking it up with something other than a conventional jump from another car?

[Hybrid dude]

I think all the accessories and computer functions run off 12 volt power. The Lithium battery is high voltage.

Thanks, you're probably correct.

[valkraider]

Even if they could still power the 12v accessories from the high voltage battery via the step-down, when the 12v battery is disconnected it would break the circuit which means no juice can flow even if there were juice available.

[andrewwx]

Cool weather has come to Southern California and the 12volt battery is not handling it well. I was hopeful when the dealer found a problem in one of the cells in the original battery and replaced it with a new battery, but the dreaded totally dead Cmax has come back. I have had to jump it almost every other start attempt, and always when it is less than 40 degrees F. In a perfect world I would call roadside assistance to get the problems in the system, but after a graveyard shift one simply wants to go home and sleep - jumping it with the portable takes less than 45 seconds (with all the practice I am getting I might get it down under 30 seconds). I will start calling Ford locally and nationally on Wednesday and hope that we all are starting to light a fire under some engineers ass.

 

I notice that the PRNDL lights stays on after I close the door when all the other lights go off.

 

I wonder if this is a discharging problem or a charging problem.

 

I have an SEL with all the options except the foot activated lift gate. 

 

Cheers all and lets look forward to Ford fixing this soon.

 

Andrew

[darrelld]

Cool weather has come to Southern California and the 12volt battery is not handling it well. I was hopeful when the dealer found a problem in one of the cells in the original battery and replaced it with a new battery, but the dreaded totally dead Cmax has come back. I have had to jump it almost every other start attempt, and always when it is less than 40 degrees F. In a perfect world I would call roadside assistance to get the problems in the system, but after a graveyard shift one simply wants to go home and sleep - jumping it with the portable takes less than 45 seconds (with all the practice I am getting I might get it down under 30 seconds). I will start calling Ford locally and nationally on Wednesday and hope that we all are starting to light a fire under some engineers ass.

 

I notice that the PRNDL lights stays on after I close the door when all the other lights go off.

 

I wonder if this is a discharging problem or a charging problem.

 

I have an SEL with all the options except the foot activated lift gate. 

 

Cheers all and lets look forward to Ford fixing this soon.

 

Andrew

Are you using the cigarette lighter connection with your portable?

Edited December 31, 2012 by darrelld

[Laurel]

Since reading one user's comments, I never put my foot on the brake when powering off (he thought it put it into accessory mode doing that) i.e. I drive in, put my foot on the brake and put it in park, take my foot off the brake and shut it down with a button push.  So far so good.  Would that be the issue with the dead batteries???

[darrelld]

Since reading one user's comments, I never put my foot on the brake when powering off (he thought it put it into accessory mode doing that) i.e. I drive in, put my foot on the brake and put it in park, take my foot off the brake and shut it down with a button push.  So far so good.  Would that be the issue with the dead batteries???

 

I always have my foot on the brake when powering off, no problems so far.

 

As an insurance policy I do carry the Stanley Simple Start, fits perfectly in the small compartment in the hatch.

Edited December 31, 2012 by darrelld

[Laurel]

I was going to add to my post.  I told my husband what I wrote and he said he always puts his foot on the brake when powering off--so there goes my theory LOL.  He said if that was the way to do it, there would be a warning in the manual and there is not.  So who knows what the glitch is.

[valkraider]

So, I'm joining the legions who have woke up to a dead battery on my new C-Max.

 

I called the roadside assitance, and they promptly came out jumpped it with-in 30 min, but I thought it odd and suspected a defective battery so I called the dealer and took it in. They poured over it and called in for tech help, but ultimetly said there wasn't anything wrong with it and reccommended not plugging in accessories to the USB, 12V or inverter when the vehical isn't being operated.

 

I expressed some disbelif at that suggestion and, in fact, if my iPod being plugged into to the USB port can Kill the car, I told them thats a pretty big design flaw as far as I was concerned.

 

Even the Ford Service manager seemed to agree and said he didn't know how they could stand behind that solution.

 

I can't help but think there is an issue like other members have reported that is slow draining the battery.

The USB ports are not powered when the car is off. I have tested them.

 

EDIT:

 

I just tested the others:

 

Both the 12v in the center console, and the one in the rear cargo area stay powered when you shut off the car. I will watch and see if they shut off after a time.

 

The A/C inverter does not stay on when the car is shut off.

Edited December 31, 2012 by valkraider

[andrewwx]

Hi All

 

I do the no foot on the brake shut off, and all of my ports are unused.

 

Cheers

 

Off to San Luis Obispo for New Years

[valkraider]

Both the 12v in the center console, and the one in the rear cargo area stay powered when you shut off the car. I will watch and see if they shut off after a time.

The 12v in the center console shuts off after a period of time (I didn't time it, but I went back to check after an hour and a half, and it was off).

Edited December 31, 2012 by valkraider

[Laurel]

Hi All

 

I do the no foot on the brake shut off, and all of my ports are unused.

 

Cheers

 

Off to San Luis Obispo for New Years

I notice in the owner's manual on page 172 says

1) Move the transmission selector lever to position P. 

2) Press the start button.

There is no reference to pressing the brake while doing this.

 

Conversely to start the car on page 171 says,

1) Move the transmission selector to position P 

2) Fully press the brake pedal. 

3) Press the start button.

 

I don't think this is an omission over keeping your foot off the brake.  So I really think Andrew is correct in using "foot off the brake" to shut down.  Somehow the car has to have a method to recognize shut down versus start up.  I have carefully avoided putting my foot on the brake to shut down since buying it and no problems with the battery so far.  Yes, my husband says he puts his foot on the brake for shut down--but he rarely drives my car.

 

You lucky duck Andrew!  San Luis Obispo for New Year's sounds like heaven.

[valkraider]

The 12v in the center console shuts off after a period of time (I didn't time it, but I went back to check after an hour and a half, and it was off).

It appears the 12v in the rear cargo area does not shut off, at least not as quickly as the one in the center console. It has been on over two hours now, so my assumption is it will not turn off. So don't leave things in the cargo area plugged in....