Hey guys,
got a 2024 F150 I bought last month. While driving on the highway (after about 120 miles), I went through the gauges and noticed it said the battery system was at 12.0 volts. I'm pretty sure that voltage when rolling down the highway should be between 13.0-14.5 volts right?
When I got home, with the truck running, I put my voltmeter across the battery and read 12.5 volts. Again, extremely low in my experience. Should I go get the alternator and battery tested at O'reilly's? I thought I read about some bad batteries in these trucks but can't find the post.
Thanks.

 

I would think you should take it to a dealer for warranty !! That is not right !

 

Perfectly normal reading for a vehicle whose battery is fully charged. The alternator's output reduces from a typical 14 plus after starting as battery is replenished.

 

Fully charged 12 volt battery is 12.8 volts. So should be reading at least that if charged fully.
12.0 volts is a dead battery

 

Ford uses the battery monitoring system to adjust the alternator output to save fuel as you drive. You probably won’t see an increase in your mpg but Ford does in their CAFE standards across a million trucks per year. Besides that fact, the readings you are seeing on that cluster gauge are fairly worthless as they only show in whole numbers (12.0 or 13.0 etc). Your situation is normal.

 

I figured the 12.0 was just a dumb "ok" reading.
what about the 12.5 volts with vehicle running on my multi meter?

 

What trim?
What engine?

 

Unless and until you are getting “system shutdown to save battery” or losing functionality like remote start inop, or lost system OTA updates, or interior lights not working when you open door, etc, then you are fine and it is normal. It isn’t the old normal from what we are all used to for decades but it’s the new computer controlled normal.

Your factory battery is an H6 AGM. Buy a trickle charger and hook it up every once in a while-that will help get the most life out of it and help to avoid issues above. When even that no longer works because you start having the above errors or similar, then replace it with an H7 if you have the Powerboost or an H8 if you have a 2.7 or 5.0 gas engine. Those will fit in the respective battery trays.

The bad battery batches you’ve heard about mostly came in vehicles that sat waiting in lots for computer chips about 2 years ago for months on end. The H6 is barely acceptable in these electrical hogging vehicles. But what you presently describe is completely normal.

 

I ran that screen on my 2024 Lariat 5.0 for a couple of days. I would estimate 90% of the time it read 12.0, 9% 13.0 and 1% 14.0. When it would read 14.0 it was never for more than a few seconds. Finally changed the screen since it was making me more paranoid than usual.

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of Ford BMS. There are at least 4 threads now running on this subject. Many more going back to the 2011 model year when it all started. Good luck.