Cowspotdog Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 After my last dead battery issue and them finding a faulty cell that was replaced - it has been six wonderful months with no issues on my 2013 C-max but yesterday the dreaded 'dead as a doornail' returned and this time it isn't holding any recharge at all. On previous occassions when we have jump started it and got it going it would be fine but not this time - twice we had to jump start it yesterday and again this morning to get it down to the service dealer. This is now the 7th dead battery. It is sad - this was my first ever brand new car...something we saved a long time for and something that we hoped would be reliable and that I could depend on - and of coarse like so many C-max owners this hasn't turbed out to be the case. Every morning when I go out to start my day I open the car door and silently hold my breath to see if the lights come on and every morning you wait and dread to see when they don't - this isn't how it should be when you buy a car brand new :( Nothing to do now but wait and see what the service department finds this time and maybe also start considering whether it is time to trade it in and actually get a 'reliable' car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestevens Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 Sorry you are having this issue for so long, especially having saved up for the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelleytoons Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 Did you have the latest TSB that was supposed to resolve a lot of these issues? (Um, can't find my notice right at the moment but you should be able to find it here on the forums. Seems to me it came out in August but I could be mis-remembering). You would have gotten a notice about it -- don't assume your dealership did everything they should or even know about it, as it's up to you to be pro-active in this department. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowspotdog Posted October 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 Yes - when ever we get recall notices I always take it straight away and get the issue reported fixed and the sfotware updated. I really love this little car and it would be totally perfect if not for this ongoing battery issue. Mine is the SE model and from what I read it seems to be the one that suffers with this the most. I am seriously thinking of trading up to the latest model but must admit I am scared the same battery issues will playgue even newer models. Surely by now Ford must know what is causing this - why haven't they come up with a permanant fix for it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordService Posted October 2, 2015 Report Share Posted October 2, 2015 Yes - when ever we get recall notices I always take it straight away and get the issue reported fixed and the sfotware updated. I really love this little car and it would be totally perfect if not for this ongoing battery issue. Mine is the SE model and from what I read it seems to be the one that suffers with this the most. I am seriously thinking of trading up to the latest model but must admit I am scared the same battery issues will playgue even newer models. Surely by now Ford must know what is causing this - why haven't they come up with a permanant fix for it? Hi Cowspotdog, I want to check out some options. Please private message me your VIN, mileage, best daytime phone number, full name, and dealer name/location. Meagan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockwallRick Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 My daughter just bought a new 2015 C-MAX Sel. She could have saved some money by buying a used 2013, but I advised her not to, primarily because of all the battery Issues that seem to be inherent with the 2013 model. :rockon: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WNY Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 I bought a used 2013 with 20K miles, they did all the updates for the TSB's, and anything that needed updating in the car, it took over 3 hrs for them to update everything. They also put a brand new battery in it too. So far, after a month and 3000 miles, no problems. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retiredtraveler Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 You guys have me frightened now. I have the 2013 SE and got my first dead battery after 23000 miles. It started instantly, I backed the car out of garage to the house, let the car sit for 5 minutes, then absolutely dead. Couldn't even get the door locks to click. I was able to jump start it and take to dealer. They did nothing other than charge it. What I'm worried about is that there is no battery gauge, therefore, no warning. Is anyone going out regularly and putting a voltmeter on their car to see if it is charged? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obob Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 (edited) You guys have me frightened now. I have the 2013 SE and got my first dead battery after 23000 miles. It started instantly, I backed the car out of garage to the house, let the car sit for 5 minutes, then absolutely dead. Couldn't even get the door locks to click. I was able to jump start it and take to dealer. They did nothing other than charge it. What I'm worried about is that there is no battery gauge, therefore, no warning. Is anyone going out regularly and putting a voltmeter on their car to see if it is charged? As far as I can tell, there haven't been a lot of problems since the last update. (So you may have a unique situation. The past problems happened mostly when the car had been sitting awhile, like overnight.) I have something like this in my car and a dead battery is no big deal. http://www.amazon.com/DBPOWER-12000mAh-Portable-Starter-Battery/dp/B00YE5Q182/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1450734545&sr=8-18&keywords=battery+jump I have had three dead battery surprises, none since the last update which was earlier this year. I have a volt meter I put into my 12v socket but I don't really use it much any more. It was not useful when I was getting the problems. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hot-New-Car-LCD-Battery-Volt-Voltmeter-Voltage-Meter-Monitor-LCD-Digital-Display-/151876688890?hash=item235c8e5bfa:g:n1MAAOSwu-BWPAp5 Edited December 21, 2015 by obob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-N Posted December 22, 2015 Report Share Posted December 22, 2015 I have a volt meter I put into my 12v socket but I don't really use it much any more. It was not useful when I was getting the problems. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hot-New-Car-LCD-Battery-Volt-Voltmeter-Voltage-Meter-Monitor-LCD-Digital-Display-/151876688890?hash=item235c8e5bfa:g:n1MAAOSwu-BWPAp5 I have a voltmeter like the one mentioned and just leave it plugged in to the console outlet. It's simply a fun, peace-of-mind placebo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WNY Posted December 22, 2015 Report Share Posted December 22, 2015 @retiredtravelerWe assume you have had all the latest updates done to the car? no outstanding recalls or anything?you didn't leave anything plugged in the accessory ports or anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottwood2 Posted December 22, 2015 Report Share Posted December 22, 2015 You guys have me frightened now. I have the 2013 SE and got my first dead battery after 23000 miles. It started instantly, I backed the car out of garage to the house, let the car sit for 5 minutes, then absolutely dead. Couldn't even get the door locks to click.Sorry to hear about the issue. One thing to keep in mind is that the system shuts down at some voltage. Once the voltage drops to this level the system shuts down so that the battery does not go completely dead. It is still a problem but a jump pack can easily get it going again. I had this issue once. It was shut down completely like you said but just sitting for a while was enough to make the battery come alive again and it started right up. The good thing here is that it looks like the problem is there and can be found. The intermittent issues are the ones that are hard to fix. Good luck. Let us know what the fix is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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