Dead.

[jonessoda]

Went to get in the car today and it was lifeless... Nothing. It is in my garage, so it was unlocked, but I am unable to get in the trunk (any idea how to do that on a dead battery?).

 

I'm pretty stumped. It was driven yesterday, and has been driven nearly every day for the last 3 weeks. I did have it in the dealer recently for a faulty canister purge valve.

 

I have been getting the Battery Saver message for months now. I actually thought that was normal because it's been happening for so long. I was planning on taking the car in for that, as well as the popping sounds I'm getting from the front axle.

 

I've had this car in the dealer for one issue or another 9 times since I bought it. At 21000 miles, that's an issue about every ~2300 miles. Not a very good track record for a brand new car.

 

Anyway, it's on a charger right now, hopefully it will be usable in the morning so I don't have to get it towed. Another thing, when I put the charger on, there was a bunch of clicking in the power module. Is that normal? I've never had to charge the LVB, and the owner's manual doesn't say anything about clicking.

[jonessoda]

Update: After having the car on a charger for 4 hours, it is still dead. No lights, nothing. I guess I'll have it towed to the dealer tomorrow. Pretty disheartening.

[murphy]

To open the trunk fold down the back seat rests and then use a flashlight and a long pole with something on the end to grab the emergency trunk release handle.

 

What is the maximum current capacity of your 12 volt battery charger? Is it an old one or one of the new "smart" ones that requires the battery to be close to 12 volts before it will start charging?

 

If the car is in park you will have to pop the right side panel off of the console to use a screw driver to release the shifter lock. It's covered in the Owner's Manual.

Edited September 2, 2014 by murphy

[jonessoda]

Murphy, thanks for the reply. I did end up getting the trunk open that way last night to get some things out of it, but I didn't see if the battery was putting out 12 volts or not.

 

I'm not sure about the charger, it's my roommate's and he's gone for the weekend. When I plugged the charger in, it would go into charging mode, then I would hear a bunch of clicking in the power module, and it would look like it was charging. Then when I came back a little later, the charger had indicated the done charging light, but still nothing from the car. The charger doesn't have any words on it, just little pictures, so I couldn't tell you exactly what each one means.

[murphy]

Do you have Intelligent Access key fobs? If you do the battery in the keyfob may have died. Open the center console and place the fob in the slot in the front left corner with the key ring up and the buttons facing the rear of the car. That will allow the car to start even if the keyfob battery is dead.

[Easy Rider]

 

I have been getting the Battery Saver message for months now.

 

Despite the fact that some dealers seem to be incompetent in fixing things like that........until they die completely......I would strongly suggest that you NOT ignore warning messages in the future. In almost all cases, they indicate a problem that needs to be fixed.

[jonessoda]

Do you have Intelligent Access key fobs? If you do the battery in the keyfob may have died. Open the center console and place the fob in the slot in the front left corner with the key ring up and the buttons facing the rear of the car. That will allow the car to start even if the keyfob battery is dead.

 

I dont have that key, and it is definitely the 12v battery. When you open the door, nothing lights up. You were right about that charger, when the tow guy showed up, he used a jumper on it and the car started. I had them tow it to the dealer anyway. Now I'll wait and find out.

 

Despite the fact that some dealers seem to be incompetent in fixing things like that........until they die completely......I would strongly suggest that you NOT ignore warning messages in the future. In almost all cases, they indicate a problem that needs to be fixed.

Definitely. The reason I didn't do a anything before this is because the description of the battery saver mode in the owner manual makes it seem like it is a normal thing. I only recently discovered the real reason it comes on by reading topics here. The dealer knows about it now. They've been good to me so far, so I don't think they were trying to avoid it.

[Barsoom]

 

I have been getting the Battery Saver message for months now. I actually thought that was normal because it's been happening for so long. I was planning on taking the car in for that, as well as the popping sounds I'm getting from the front axle.

 

 

Both of those are known problems with TSB's. Check the TSB section of the forum for details.

 

The clicking sound from the front axle is from missing spacer washers left out of the original build.

 

The battery saver messages come from several compounding problems. First, if you have an early 2013 build, you may have one of the batteries from a known bad lot. Replacing the battery is necessary.

 

Second, there are some TSB's to update the dc-to-dc conversion, especially in cold weather locations. Results of this TSB have been spotty, and my dealer refused to do it on my car because I'm not in a "cold" regioin.

 

Third, are you having issues with the keyless entry pad on the driver's door? Mine had to be replaced because of lack of response and random awakening and flashing, causing battery drain. There is no TSB for this.

[jonessoda]

 

Both of those are known problems with TSB's. Check the TSB section of the forum for details.

 

The clicking sound from the front axle is from missing spacer washers left out of the original build.

 

The battery saver messages come from several compounding problems. First, if you have an early 2013 build, you may have one of the batteries from a known bad lot. Replacing the battery is necessary.

 

Second, there are some TSB's to update the dc-to-dc conversion, especially in cold weather locations. Results of this TSB have been spotty, and my dealer refused to do it on my car because I'm not in a "cold" regioin.

 

Third, are you having issues with the keyless entry pad on the driver's door? Mine had to be replaced because of lack of response and random awakening and flashing, causing battery drain. There is no TSB for this.

 

Yeah, I have read up on both of those issues. I told the dealership about the other issues today when I had the car taken in for the dead battery.

 

I do have an early 2013 MY car, I bought mine early Dec 2012, so this could be the case. I may look into modifying the trunk to hold a larger battery. I've seen that a few others here have had success doing that, so I may look into it.

 

I live in San Diego. They don't know what cold means here.

 

I've never used the key pad. In fact, I don't even know the entry code, and I don't know where the paper is that has it. I had to go back to the dealer where I bought the car to get it, so it's not with my owner's manual. I see in the owner's manual it talks about using both keys to display the factory code, but that would mean tracking down my other key. I've moved twice since buying the car (military), so I'm still pretty disorganized.

[hermans]

Mine was also an early build like yours. There was a bad batch of batteries received by Ford made in 9/12 and are included in the TSB. Have your dealer check this out.

[lolder]

There were bad 12 vdc batteries back in 09-11 with Gen I FFH's. This is getting tiresome. If it's not poor battery quality control and due to new cars sitting too long on lots or freight cars, they need to solve that too.

[jonessoda]

Service guy told me the battery was good, and they can't replace the battery under warranty if it passes the load test. He said they also did an electrical test to see if anything was drawing, and they didn't find anything.

 

I'm pretty over this car, it's getting traded in tomorrow.

[hybridbear]

Service guy told me the battery was good, and they can't replace the battery under warranty if it passes the load test. He said they also did an electrical test to see if anything was drawing, and they didn't find anything.

 

I'm pretty over this car, it's getting traded in tomorrow.

Are you getting the Focus Electric?

[jonessoda]

Yep! Negotiated for one last night, I pick it up today.

[hybridbear]

Yep! Negotiated for one last night, I pick it up today.

Awesome! I'll look forward to seeing you on that Forum then ;)

[Easy Rider]

Yep! Negotiated for one last night, I pick it up today.

Well I hope that you don't have any service problems with your new car.

Assuming that it's the same dealer, it might be a problem.

[corncobs]

Yep! Negotiated for one last night, I pick it up today.

Congrats on your new ride! EV all the time ;)

[jonessoda]

Well I hope that you don't have any service problems with your new car.

Assuming that it's the same dealer, it might be a problem.

 

The dealer that I bought the Fusion, the dealer that I had it serviced at regularly, and the dealer that I bought the Focus at are all different. It wasn't really the service guys either, I worked with the same service writer the whole time, and each time I brought the car in, it was for a different issue. However, the dealer that I got the Focus from, although considerably further away from my house, is much larger and more equipped for handling EVs, so I will probably use them in case of service with the Focus.

 

 

Congrats on your new ride! EV all the time ;)

 

Thanks!