2020 odd issues. Possibly bad battery?

[Mr Big]

My wife's 2021 Expedition is having battery warnings. Auto Start/Stop stopped working, Ford pass will not connect, tells me to drive it on a trip with all accessories off. A couple other features stopped working too. This is all due to her only driving it on short trips a couple times a week. I'll take it to the wash and turn everything off, but it's still not far enough to give the battery a good charge. I'd love to hook up a solar charger, but I'm not sure if it would work.

 

[JasonH]

My wife's 2021 Expedition is having battery warnings. Auto Start/Stop stopped working, Ford pass will not connect, tells me to drive it on a trip with all accessories off. A couple other features stopped working too. This is all due to her only driving it on short trips a couple times a week. I'll take it to the wash and turn everything off, but it's still not far enough to give the battery a good charge. I'd love to hook up a solar charger, but I'm not sure if it would work.

Get the battery load tested at a auto parts store.

 

[Mr Big]

Get the battery load tested at a auto parts store.

I already did and it tests fine. The issue with these newer vehicles is if the vehicle does not get driven enough, features shut off, due to the battery showing lower amperage.

 

[JasonH]

I recently installed a Bluetooth battery monitor because I have two vehicles that are prone to 12V battery issues. You can try one of those and monitor the voltage over time.

Google Image Result for https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/MEDIAX_792452-T2/images/I/61xh5WzNFSL.jpg

 

[Going_Going_Gone]

I used a trickle charger to prolong the life of my battery through three years of light use. Whenever the A.S.S. or the intelligent access feature on any doors but the driver's door would quit, I'd hook it up for a day or two. Finally broke down and bought a new one. Even brand new, it required an overnight charge to get everything electrical working like new. Now, our two-year-old Aviator (driven every day) is having odd electrical issues like not recognizing the key fobs, not turning on the "welcome" lighting when locked, and the keyless entry pad not lighting up; however the A.S.S. still functions. Since it's still under warranty, back to the dealership again. It would not surprise me to hear that it needs a battery too.

 

[Danm355]

My wife's 2020 Expedition with about 80k miles has been having some odd issues over the last 2-3 months.

First, the display would be black when you started the vehicle occasionally. We had to hold the 2 buttons down (can't remember which two at the moment) until it rebooted. Refreshed the newest version of the firmware and that issue went away.

Second, the auto start/stop quit working. It would stop but wouldn't start back up until you put it in park and restarted it. It didn't do this every time, but enough to be annoying/dangerous. I tried charging the battery, resetting everything, etc and finally just bought a auto start stop Eliminator.

Now the brake warning light comes on, the brake system warning display pops up and the hill assist disabled warning comes on as well. After driving for a few mins, these seem to all go away.

Another thing it has recently started doing is the door chime sounds funny until driven for a little while, then it sounds normal again.

The last two are usually after not being driven for a couple days.

I'm thinking all these issues are pointing toward a battery trying to go out, but the vehicle starts just fine and the battery tests good with my tester. 12.4V if I remember correctly. The connections are clean and tight.

Before I dropped the money on a new battery, I was wondering if there could be something else going on or if the battery could be the culprit.

Replace the battery. I have a 2022 Expedition and the battery had a bad cell. The dealer replaced it under the warranty.

 

[GaryH]

Modern batteries are good for about 5,000 start cycles. With 80k+ miles, it's probably time for a new battery.

 

[Book2]

Topdon BT100 - I highly recommend this battery checker, too! I purchased $10 less expensive Topdon meter first but the results were inconsistent (checking by repeating testing, one time said Good, other times said Rplace), then returned the first one and got this one. I compared two side by side before returning the first one to Amazon, and BT100 readings were consistent, so I trust the meter. My Expedition was delivered Dec. 2018 as new, and I have never changed the battery. I fianally replaced the battery several weeks ago. When I brought the car to a local alignment service shop (due to questionalble work at a Ford dealership), since the brake lamp was on for an hour or so, the car did not start due to lower cranking power. The shop jumped started the car, running it for a while to make sure I could drive safely back home. I knew the symptoms of low battery charge, such as no response of door knob touch sensors lock / unlock (only driver's door works and other doors stop working), and auto start/stop does not work (I usually disable it by the switch, though). This time I did not see any bad signs, so I wondered what was going on. But when I got back home and checked the battery by the meter, it showed Repace. I hooked up my battery charger (CTEK MULTI US 7002), and charged it up over a night or two, and checking it by the meter before / after charge, and I did so for around a week. I found that the meter constanlty showed Replace (only once showed Good / Recharge), and it seemed the battery did not hold good charge (once it got 100% but easily got down to 30-40%, other times the charge level did not go full). The car was still running just fine, so the meter results seems deceiving but actually I did experience the car did not start at the alingment shop (first time ever on this car like that), so I trusted the meter. I used the battery for 5 years (38K miles), so it is about the time to replace it, anyway. Changed the battery at the dealership (I know they charge more than I hoped but I do not want to run into crazy electrical issues, may need reset functions, etc.), and my trusy meter of course shows Good Battery, I am happy now. I felt I was fortunate that the alignment shop incident happened to warn me the battery life is ending and therefore I did not run into the worse situation. and could decide to spend right money for a new battery.

 

[Texas]

I bought my 2020 KR Expy CPO less than a month ago, the auto start/stop has never worked, always says it’s charging. The dealer I purchased it from says they changed the battery and it looks new.

I tested it, checked out fine. Trickle charged it over night, and the start/stop still didn’t work.

This may be my last Ford, after a life time of owning various models…

 

[SyndicateZ]

I think I need a new battery. My 2019 with 68,*** miles has the original battery. Noticed that only the driver door auto unlocks when touched (not the other 3 handles sense anymore) also noticed my radio turns off about 1 minute after turning off engine (used to last about 3 minutes or so..) Also checked battery voltage after these events after driving for about 30 minutes and the battery was reading 12.33 while engine off and nothing on.

The battery lasted nearly 6 years
I bought it used in sep 2022 at 56,*** miles. I always turn off auto stop/start and im sure the 1st owner also didnt really use the auto stop/start feature which helped this battery last longer i assume.