3kushn

Early on in this thread someone suggested when the battery drops to a certain level the alternator stops charging. I'm starting to think this could happen at any time.


Last week I planned a 7.5 hour trip for my first stop. The night before I put on the charger, leaving it on for the night. This was a dead head trip, so I drove minimum 150 miles between pit stops. That day I drove approx. 650 miles starting at 4am and ending at 6pm. Next day I drove home, about 400 miles. The following day I run a couple errands of maybe 5 miles between stops. 3rd stop the message comes on.


Another curious thing is the nav, radio,.... doesn't Always hold its last setting. I get in the truck and have to program everything nearly every time. But sometimes all is good. So much for hands free. I mention this thinking there's some relationship. The CPU has a mind of its own. I've looked for the "Surprise Me" setting within Settings but can't find that option so I could turn it off.

Midnight2012

I haven't posted for quite some time and I've been pretty lucky with my 2012 EB (knock on wood), but last week the battery saver message showed up on my radio after I turned the truck off (10 minute drive to work). When I turned the acc back on I got a battery warning on the display in the instrument cluster.

Took the truck to Ford and their fix was (this is right off the service record) "Reflashed radio to the latest update". There's no mention of anything about a SSM or TSB. I asked about the BCM, but they didn't touch it. I was getting the warning consistently every morning and typically midday as well. I haven't seen it since, but it's only been a day and a half.

The battery tested at 725 CCA per the vehicle health report. My service rep told me the charging system tested fine as well, but there's nothing on the service record about the charging system. Truck is 2 and a half years old with 20k miles. I'll post again if it comes back.

HCFX2013

Had this issue, unplugged battery monitor, taped up the harness and tucked it away. Issue resolved!

Husker991

HCFX2013, where do we find the battery monitor? I have no qualms with doing that same thing.
Thanks in advance!

HCFX2013

If you pop open the hood and take a look at the negative battery cable you'll see a plastic housing with a ring wrapping around the cable, there's a plug there as well. Simply unplug it, seal it and tuck it away! I'll snap a pic in a little bit when I'm back at my truck.

conger

This has been talked about a year ago. Look back in my posts. Don't unplug. Simply remove the cable from inside the ring. The idea is you want the BMS to read the current via the ring. You want to trick the system into reading little to no current draw. Unplugging removes the sensor from the circuit and may or may not cause another error.
Downside is. If you have a parasitic current draw like many of us do. You still have the problem but the system will now ignore it.

Automike45

Ok, aside from relocating the sensor on the battery cable, has anybody actually had this issue successfully repaired correctly, and permanently? Mine is scheduled to go back to the dealer for the third time for this issue. My base warranty is up in March, so this is about my last chance to have this fixed on ford's dime. I'm not real optimistic. I guess this is one of the things I am just going to have to live with forever, along with the stinky A/C! 😡 THANKS FORD!!!

Husker991

Thank you HCFX2013 and conger. I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

conger

I'm afraid there isn't a permanent fix yet. The thing that bugs me is, even after escalating the issue and getting a file number on a case. When I check back, I have to explain it like it's the first time all over.
After a year and a half, I still can't leave the truck without running it at least even five days or I have a dead battery. The first year I had the truck it was in the shop multiple times to look for the short. No joy. There one time they had the truck for 2 weeks. They would see the battery being drained but could never track it down because it would disappear.
Now I just keep a "Battery Tender" charger maintainer connected so all I have to do is plug it in like a block heater if I have to park the truck for a while.
Not happy about it, it's just the way it is.

Tractive55LS

It's a stupid engineering disaster. There's just too much unproven computerized BS being put into vehicles these days. Having these kind of issues in a vehicle costing 30-60k is inexcusable especially with the monthly payments most people make. Dependability is the least we can expect from any vehicle manufacturer!