Dead Battery for the fifth time

[The Jeaner]

UPDATE concerning my 2013 C-Max SE dead battery: about a week ago, dealer performed the CSP I described in my earlier post . (BTW, I have 27,000 miles on my car, and other than having had this dead batt problem, I LOVE this car.). So far, so good. Hopefully this will resolve the issue.

[ptjones]

UPDATE concerning my 2013 C-Max SE dead battery: about a week ago, dealer performed the CSP I described in my earlier post . (BTW, I have 27,000 miles on my car, and other than having had this dead batt problem, I LOVE this car.). So far, so good. Hopefully this will resolve the issue.

Keep us Posted. :)

 

Paul

[FordService]

My first dead battery happened today at home, I worry about it happening after work. Will call dealer first thing in AM. This may seem far-fetched, what if it has something to do with time change & system updates?

 

Calling your dealer is a great first step, Katrina Ferland. Were they able to look at your C-MAX Hybrid? 

 

UPDATE concerning my 2013 C-Max SE dead battery: about a week ago, dealer performed the CSP I described in my earlier post . (BTW, I have 27,000 miles on my car, and other than having had this dead batt problem, I LOVE this car.). So far, so good. Hopefully this will resolve the issue.

 

That's great, The Jeaner. I'm lovin' your C-MAX love!  :love_shower:

Sounds like your dealer took good care of you; keep me posted. 

 

Rachel

[Maxy]

UPDATE concerning my 2013 C-Max SE dead battery: about a week ago, dealer performed the CSP I described in my earlier post . (BTW, I have 27,000 miles on my car, and other than having had this dead batt problem, I LOVE this car.). So far, so good. Hopefully this will resolve the issue.

The Jeaner,

 

Are you referring to 13B12 CSP? If you are I am sorry to say that I had that done on my c-max in April and I have had 2 dead battery since than and 12V battery replaced twice:(

Very frustrating for sure. I know Ford is trying to find this mistarious drain but after almost 2 years of waiting and hoping for a cure with no definite solution I have requested a buy back.

[mxanotcar]

Monday 11/14/2014.  Weather temp 33F.  Time 6:40am.  Thin ice on windshield, turned up max heat, used windshield fluid wiper to thaw the ice faster.

Drove above 55mins.  Parked and locked the car. 

Weather temp was 62F around 11:30am.  Turned on the radio with ignition key positioned at 1.  One minute later, a message about "Low battery . .. " and it turned off.

 

May be I caught it and charged the battery before another the dead battery espisode occurrs.

[ptjones]

Monday 11/14/2014.  Weather temp 33F.  Time 6:40am.  Thin ice on windshield, turned up max heat, used windshield fluid wiper to thaw the ice faster.

Drove above 55mins.  Parked and locked the car. 

Weather temp was 62F around 11:30am.  Turned on the radio with ignition key positioned at 1.  One minute later, a message about "Low battery . .. " and it turned off.

 

May be I caught it and charged the battery before another the dead battery espisode occurrs.

Do you carry a jumper battery with you, sounds like a good idea. It would be interesting if adding another battery as mentioned before would give you greater endurance. Do you have a voltage meter to see what your voltage is? This would give you advanced notice of a problem and it would be good info when you get "low battery..." message. :) 

 

Paul 

[stevedebi]

Monday 11/14/2014.  Weather temp 33F.  Time 6:40am.  Thin ice on windshield, turned up max heat, used windshield fluid wiper to thaw the ice faster.

Drove above 55mins.  Parked and locked the car. 

Weather temp was 62F around 11:30am.  Turned on the radio with ignition key positioned at 1.  One minute later, a message about "Low battery . .. " and it turned off.

 

May be I caught it and charged the battery before another the dead battery espisode occurrs.

There is no excuse for this; after that long a run, the 12v battery should have been charged up. Check in with the dealer.

 

I don't quite understand from your post if the car then ran, or was dead?

[mxanotcar]

I have an 8 years old portable jumper with air inflator in the rear hatch area.  Also have a volt meter, but have not used that to check on the 12V battery anymore.

 

After recieving "Low battery..." message, I turned the key to on and left it there for 5mins for the Hi-Volt battery charging the 12V.  After that, I locked the car, and after 3 to 4hours turned on the car and drove normally.  Either the 12V battery is dying from not getting charge or the electronic and software issues saying the "Low battery...." although the 12V was not low (also the other way around).

 

This occurrence has not seen since that day (hoping). :)

[The Jeaner]

Hey, Maxy and other C-Maxers, Yes, the work done on my car was per CSP 13B12. In addition, though, after performing the work described in the CSP, the mechanic checked and found that there was still a drain on the 12V battery. Further investigation revealed a chafed wire in the rear hatch area, which he repaired. All covered under warranty. I will let you know if I have another dead battery; so far is good.

[Cobra]

Just joined. I was googling "how to manually put a Cmax in neutral when it's dead" when I found this forum and thread.

 

The wife's Cmax has been in to the dealer 5 times also. They've 1) replaced the battery once or twice, 2) did the software upgrade, 3) and said . . . . .huh. It's still under warranty so we call them every time it happens. I don't attempt to  jump it, because some bean counter will probably tell me I voided the warranty, so I don't. (And yes, things like this have happened.) Anyway......

 

What is the wire chaffing deal? Where exactly in the rear hatch area is it located? If I can help the mechanic figure out what to look for, all the better.

 

Bigger battery? How much bigger?

 

Pretty close to turning this thing in for Lemon law. Car was the wife's choice, and I think she may have learned her lesson, since the Focus it replaced has 230K on it and still runs like a top. To save myself time and grief, if this Cmax can be made reliable, then all is good.  

 

Also, if anyone knows how to put it in neutral when it dies, it'll save the chance of the tow truck driver tearing the car up because it has to be dragged on to the truck. So far, so good, but at 5 times, pretty sure I'm pushing my luck.     

Edited November 24, 2014 by Cobra

[Kelleytoons]

Sorry to hear about your troubles -- the question I always ask is "Standard radio or MFT?"  It's not the only cause by a long shot, but we definitely find more standard radio issues than those with MFT.

 

You also put 2013 as the year and I do think this is an issue which has improved with time, because it does appear less common than those with 2014 (particularly after January builds).

 

I don't think your wife made a bad choice at all -- indeed, it was a bold and rather brave one considering how little press and talk there is about this superior car.  Remember, every single car model has lemons (which is why entire laws were enacted for the purpose) and if you went to the Focus forums you'd find folks who would call it a big mistake to buy one because they ended up with one made on a Monday.  If the "lesson" she learned is to never take a chance on new technology then she will miss out on an awful lot of truly great things in life.

[plus 3 golfer]

...

 

Also, if anyone knows how to put it in neutral when it dies, it'll save the chance of the tow truck driver tearing the car up because it has to be dragged on to the truck. So far, so good, but at 5 times, pretty sure I'm pushing my luck.     

See the owner's manual  under "Brake-Shift Interlock."  You need to be able to get into the vehicle.  So, if you have an SEL, the key to open the door is inside the key FOB.

[Cobra]

I don't know what you mean by MFT or standard. We have the base model and did not subscribe to the SYNC. If MFT is the big screen in the middle that shows phone calls, CD, Radio station, etc. Then that is what she has.

 

As for choice, I never buy the first year of anything for this reason. Some can deny it, but first year models are always plagued with problems. But, she really wanted it. She likes the car just fine, even with the downgraded mileage rating. It's just unreliable at random times. We use it for long distance travel, sometimes it's just her and my daughter. Car being dead in Iowa in the middle of the night doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling. I believe this is unacceptable in a brand new car.

 

And I would rate it as "good enough" for what it is, if it wasn't randomly dead. "Superior" is stretching it a bit. Just my opinion.

Edited November 25, 2014 by Cobra

[Cobra]

The key works just fine, getting into the car isn't the problem. The owner's manual show's the oval panel that you remove, then the whole passenger side of the center console. Me and the first tow truck driver tried to follow the directions, but this Cmax doesn't have the panel like it shows. It looked like we would have tore a lot of stuff up just to flip the interlock.

 

How come they couldn't make it user friendly like every other car in the world? You can either stick your key in a hole by the shifter to unlock, or pop off a small access panel to do it. Requiring tools that you may not have with you to make a car able to move is a bad idea.

[Cobra]

Also, anybody know what wire harness in the rear hatch has chaffing issues?

[Kelleytoons]

MFT is My Ford Touch and is a touch system (and voice controlled) system.  If that is what you have then you have the SEL (because the SE "base" system doesn't have that).  All SEL models come with it standard.

 

Rating, of course, is all arbitrary based on your own particular needs, desires and preferences.  The C-Max is the best car I've owned (in over half a century and many, many autos).  So it is "superior" in every way to everything else I looked at (although, to be fair, I did not look at everything but only what I could afford and met certain of my standards -- I'm sure there are much better vehicles for more money out there, or better vehicles that didn't have the head room or comfort that I needed, like the Focus, which was not the form factor my wife and I could live with).

 

And, yes, taking a chance on anything that's the newest, be it a car or the newest iPhone, is always more risky than things with a proven track record.  And a car, being more expensive than anything else you'll ever own outside of a house (or a boat, I guess, if you have a lot of money) is usually something you don't want to take many risks on (which is why I didn't get a 2013 model).

[kostby]

Also, anybody know what wire harness in the rear hatch has chaffing issues?

Full details in this link, including a downloadable copy of the technical services bulletin that includes photos of the hatch in "Figure 1."

http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/4307-12v-battery-tsb-14-0155/?hl=14-0155

 

The check for wire chafing applies to vehicles built on or before 6/3/2013.

Edited November 25, 2014 by kostby

[bgarr]

Joining the chorus...

 

We have a 2014 CMAX SE, bought two months ago.  1600 miles. The battery just ran down last night for the third time.  The first two times I was able to jump it.  This time, the battery wont take a charge.  I think it is damaged.  I just sent it to the dealer on a ramp truck.  This on a brand new car...

 

I am pretty easy going and understand that things happen.  But this problem has been dogging the CMAX's for at least a year.  If the dealer cannot solve the problem I will have to start the lemon law process to return this car.  I come from a Ford family.  My father retired from Ford in Dearborn.  But this is not cool.

[ptjones]

I was away for a week with MADMAX in the garage and when I opened the door voltage meter was reading 11.7volts. HVB SOC was approx. 3/4 and everything worked fine. :)

 

Paul

[FordService]

Just joined. I was googling "how to manually put a Cmax in neutral when it's dead" when I found this forum and thread.

 

The wife's Cmax has been in to the dealer 5 times also. They've 1) replaced the battery once or twice, 2) did the software upgrade, 3) and said . . . . .huh. It's still under warranty so we call them every time it happens. I don't attempt to  jump it, because some bean counter will probably tell me I voided the warranty, so I don't. (And yes, things like this have happened.) Anyway......

 

...

 

Welcome to the forum, Cobra!  :) 

 

Is your wife's C-MAX currently at the dealer? Please send me a PM with additional details, including the VIN, current mileage, dealer info, and your full name and contact info; I'll see how to best assist.

 

Joining the chorus...

 

We have a 2014 CMAX SE, bought two months ago.  1600 miles. The battery just ran down last night for the third time.  The first two times I was able to jump it.  This time, the battery wont take a charge.  I think it is damaged.  I just sent it to the dealer on a ramp truck.  This on a brand new car...

...

Congratulations on your new C-MAX, garr! Let's get you back to driving it.  :thumbsup: 

 

Is your vehicle still at the dealer? Please send me a PM with your full name, best contact number, VIN, and dealer info; I'll look into next steps.

 

Rachel

[Cobra]

It isn't, but the next time it goes in, I'll let you know.

[pittcmax]

I'm getting the run a round on this issue at my dealer...

 

Apparently using the C-Max like you would say, every other car on the planet is a no go. Apparently you must make sure that all power adapters are unplugged even if no phone or other device is actually plugged in to the loose cord. 

 

Now we all know this is not true, but try talking to a "technician" who knows everything and he will tell you the above. I'll just document really well and the third time it occurs I will lemon law it. 

 

My battery after driving 25 miles home died 5 hours after I parked it in front of my home. Yet cords drawing no power, while the vehicle is in Park, ignition off, keys out and locked is the problem. 

 

Guess I will start pricing the Camry Hybrid, or Jetta Hybrid 

[ptjones]

I'm getting the run a round on this issue at my dealer...

 

Apparently using the C-Max like you would say, every other car on the planet is a no go. Apparently you must make sure that all power adapters are unplugged even if no phone or other device is actually plugged in to the loose cord. 

 

Now we all know this is not true, but try talking to a "technician" who knows everything and he will tell you the above. I'll just document really well and the third time it occurs I will lemon law it. 

 

My battery after driving 25 miles home died 5 hours after I parked it in front of my home. Yet cords drawing no power, while the vehicle is in Park, ignition off, keys out and locked is the problem. 

 

Guess I will start pricing the Camry Hybrid, or Jetta Hybrid 

Why don't you get a SEL instead, CMAX is better than both of those cars. IMHO :)

 

Paul

[pittcmax]

Why don't you get a SEL instead, CMAX is better than both of those cars. IMHO :)

 

Paul

How can I be sure the SEL will be better? 

 

I like the car, but to be told "I caused" the problem by having accessory ports plugged in (though drawing no current), caused a battery discharge just isn't a fight I want to have.

 

I did try all the 4 door hybrids and this was the best of all of them in regards to space and power. I was also able to get the price down to about 22K before taxes and fees on this one. I never wanted MFT.... I always mount my iPad mini in my vehicles as it is far superior to any infotainment system available. For me spending 3K extra for items other than seat heaters that I will never use just feels like a waste. 

Edited December 5, 2014 by pittcmax

[ptjones]

Then it would seem jumper battery is the simplest solution until FORD can figure it out, it only takes a minute to do. I would suggest a plug in voltmeter for $5 so you an monitor voltages. :)

 

Paul