3kushn

Removing the ring from the system only eliminates the message. I have a leak somewhere so its nice to know when there's a drop. I use the message as a reminder to put the charger on. Wonderful huh?


I think the battery only charges at idle. I just got the message then went to pick up my boy and sat for 10 minutes idling got back and battery is 100% from 80% when I left. 10 mile round trip. If the message is coming on and I leave town it will come on the entire trip. 1000 miles. if I do sit for 5 minutes idling during that trip the message leaves for a little while. Driving 150 or 200 miles without stopping does nothing to eliminate the message.

K9-Ex

I only want to eliminate the message, I know there is no issue with my battery or charging system.
I've owned a lot of vehicles without this sensor ring on the battery, I don't need this one to tell me there is something wrong when there isn't and shutting stuff down. Why can't they leave well enough alone?

conger

3kushn is right. It only masks the symptoms by fooling the system into thinking there is no problem. My truck has a current drain, but I just got sick of seeing the stupid message so I just learned to live with it. I do think my battery charges quicker when the engine is running with the sensor moved. But I hadn't noticed any change in mileage. Also have to run it every 4 or 5 days or I have a dead battery.
I think at this point the folks at Ford are grasping at straws. I just gave up taking to the dealer so they could tell me they can't figure it out.

mattbrim460

i would have to do some digging, i found in my emails that it took from 2/19/14 till 4/9/14 for Ford to do everything, its been almost a year now since i finished up everything with that headache, and i had about 4-5 trips to the dealer before it was a year old. it was actually almost exactly a year old to the day when they bought it back. and it spent more that 30 days in the dealership as well which was also one of the requirements. i know that it has to have been at the dealership at least 3 times for the same issue before its considered a lemon (which i know 99% of the people on this page have) also they have told me that it doesn't matter if its even under warranty anymore as long as it has been in for that issue before while it was under warranty, but then again i have caught them (the dealership) in a lie before so im not exactly sure what to believe. all i can tell you is that my truck has been dead countless number of times and no amount of driving would prove to have charged it, as the low battery warning would come on after 30 min to an hour of driving on the highway or short trips, but then again i could start and shut it off multiple times in a short period of time without even driving it. it could sit for a week and start right up, but then again i could shut it off after an hour long trip leave it sit for 30 min and it would be dead as a hammer with no warning. the electrical system on that thing was completely sporadic. i am convinced it was a bad ground, but im just a dumb consumer.... they said they checked all grounds, the whole ignition system, and some other crap, new batteries including an optima red top. funny thing was that i could pick it up from them and it would die in 3 days so they would come and get it and keep it for 22 days straight and couldnt get it to mess up once. thats when the paperwork started.

mattbrim460

here is an exact copy of what i sent to ford to get the ball rolling and basically my whole story...


To whom it may concern,

I purchased my 2013 Ford F-150 (V.I.N. "...1234.....") on March 2, 2013. I purchased the truck mainly for the reasoning that I needed a safe, reliable vehicle with appropriate space to transport my family, due to the reasoning of having a baby in February 2014. Since purchasing the truck I have had numerous issues with it leaving me stranded in the early hours of the morning, causing me to be late for work. I understand that this truck comes with a roadside assistance program for such issues but I do not have time to wait 45 minutes to and hour for someone to wake up out of bed and come jump-start my truck, so I called my mother who thankfully lives within a mile from me and can be there in a very short amount of time. The truck will charge the battery, run and start fine for any period of time between 8 hours to weeks before the problem persists. Upon taking the truck to my local dealership, "local" Ford Lincoln, I was informed that I had a bad battery and there was a possibility that Ford had manufactured a bad batch of them and I had happened to receive one. The truck had 5,740 miles on it at this time on November 12, 2013.

The truck ran and started great for a few weeks and then with no warning it was completely dead again without having enough power to unlock the power door locks or light up the dome light. Once again this happened in the early hours of the morning and again I had to have my mother come out and jumpstart my truck. This happened on November 30, 2013. Upon leaving my job that same evening I had to be jumpstarted to make it home by a coworker. This time I took the truck to the dealership in which I had originally purchased it from, "purchasing dealership" in ".........", Pa, on November 30,2013. "purchasing dealership" performed a draw test and battery test on the truck and the battery once again failed, so they replaced it and found nothing else wrong with the truck. There were 6,217 miles at this time.

The truck ran/started great for weeks and I was convinced that the problem had been resolved, until January 30,2014. I needed to be jumpstarted twice more that day, morning and night. I called "purchasing dealership" and expressed my disappointment in the truck so I drove it down again on February 1,2014 to pick up a loaner vehicle. They then tested the truck overnight for a draw on the battery and found nothing. They kept the truck and started it twice a day for a week and could not find any issues. There were 8,033 miles at this time.

I then came down to pick up my truck on February 8. 2014 and upon getting in my truck for the first time before leaving the dealer lot the truck did start but the low battery light came on. I went back inside and asked and they told me to drive it for a little bit to see if it would go back out. It did not so I returned to the dealership for the loaner car once again. There were 8,087 miles on the truck at this time.

The following Monday, February 10, 2014 , the service department called me and said they found no issues with the truck. I explained to them my concerns and upon more tests they found that, once again, the battery was another “bad one”. I then got in contact with the regional customer care representative and explained the situation to her and she agreed to have an aftermarket battery installed as the issue was “bad motocraft batteries”. There were 8,098 miles on it at this time.

"purchasing dealership" drove my truck back to me to swap out for the loaner vehicle I was given. This happened on February 11. 2014. I drove the truck to work and back as usual until the following Saturday February 15, 2014 when the battery had completely died once again. As you can imagine my disappointment and frustration with the truck at this time I waited until Monday February 17, 2014, due to service department being closed on weekends, to call and speak with the service department about the issue ONCE AGAIN. They agreed to come pickup my truck and replace it for a loaner car ONCE AGAIN. I unplugged the battery and left it that way until the serviceman could come get the truck so that it did not damage any electrical devices until the time of pickup. The serviceman came to my house on February 20, 2014 to pickup my truck. He did a short field test in my driveway and found nothing wrong with it ONCE AGAIN. He jumpstarted it and took it back to the dealership to await a Ford technician to come diagnose the truck. The mileage is approximately 8,200 at this time.

The following morning I was headed to work in the loaner in which I was provided when it started making a horrible scraping and thumping sound. The vehicle then started bucking and carrying on and the back end swerved back and fourth as if the rear wheels were doing the steering, so I pulled over to the first safe place there was at 530 am along a busy, dark highway and discovered that the drivers side rear CV axle was broken. I then called my boss to ask if he could come pick me up so I could make it to work. Lucky for me my 9 month pregnant wife wasn’t driving or riding with me at a higher rate of speed or I’m sure the results could have been much worse! Lucky for me, my boss is understanding and I did not get penalized for being late because of my vehicle malfunctions FOR THE FIFTH TIME IN LESS THAN 4 MONTHS!

Of course I called "purchasing dealership" and they were very speedy to bring me yet another loaner car so that I could hopefully make it safely back and fourth to work, and to be able to afford the truck payment on a vehicle which I cannot even drive. Makes a lot of sense doesn’t it? I’m sure anyone who reads and understands this story could sympathize with me on the frustration and ridiculousness of this whole situation considering I traded in two very reliable, very safe vehicles on a brand new unreliable vehicle that is still less than a year old and is in the garage once again for the fifth time in less than a year.

The whole purpose of this letter is that I am absolutely disgusted in the brand Ford in this situation and I am demanding a replacement vehicle or a full refund of the purchase price of my truck, as stated in the warranty guide that came with the truck. There is a 3 step process involved as also stated in the manual:

Step 1: contact your sales representative or service advisor at your selling/servicing dealership
(which I have done)
Step 2: if your inquiry or concern remains unresolved, contact the sales manager or customer relations manager. (which I have done)
Step 3: if you require assistance or clarification on ford motor company policies or procedures, please contact the ford customer relationship center. (which I have also done, multiple times.)

I am I die hard Ford truck customer. This is my third brand new ford purchase in the last few years and I have bought many used ford vehicles before that. If this issue is left unresolved you can guarantee that ford motor company loyalty will go right out the window with my next purchase. If there are any questions on the above facts, I have all documentation and receipts to back up anything that is stated above. I can also provide phone numbers to witnesses that have been involved in this complaint.

PLEASE CALL ME ASAP
i will be available on Monday 2/24/14 from the hours of 6 am until approximately 7:15 am and then again from 11 am throughout the rest of the day.

THANK YOU- "mattbrim460"


of coarse names etc were changed due to privacy blah blah blah

isthatahemi

Hmm. Mine does this too, really not high on my list of things to get wound up over, as it only happens in cold weather, and usually when the heated seats and lights are still on.

mchierepko

Having same problem, Ford Dealer replaced battery about three weeks ago and everything was OK. Today the message came back.

gsxr1216

thanks for the info! reading your posts mine has been dead a lot more times and its had a whole lot of other issues also so I'm not sure why they are giving me such a hard time on replacing this truck. must be your letter was better than mine!!!

AlgerHiss

Several months ago, after receiving the low battery message (which annoyingly disabled the function of the "accessory" position in the ignition switch), I left the sensor ring (BT4Z-14B357-C) in place, but disconnected the harness connector from it.


I've never had the message again, and everything works perfectly.

Tractive55LS

It'll take a Ford electrical engineer to figure this one out. The guys that designed that part of the electrical system. The mechanics sure can't find it so far. I wonder if they could attach some kind of a computer device to monitor and record these symptoms while they're sitting or running. At this point I would forward your letters to the NTHSA or what ever it's called so they can prompt an investigation and recall. Ford may be worried about this potential recall affecting sales of their newly invested Aluminum models. http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/problems/