High capacity battery? Will BMS simply ignore it?

I am considering a larger (more capacity) battery when it's time to replace the battery in my 2023 Limited SPP. However, I am a little concerned due to the Battery Management System. Since the BMS thinks it "knows" the capacity of the battery will it ignore the extra capacity?

I know we need to reset the BMS with a new battery, but there does not seem to be a place to inform it of spec changes.

Thoughts?

First thing I did to my SPP when I got it. TUrfed the H6 battery and put in an H8. I did nothing programming wise or BMS reset like it was with the 2018 models to my 24 SPP.

Just swap ‘er out and good is. Just make sure the battery is fully charged before you swap them. That’s it. I think I did supply power to the cables during the battery swap, so it wasn’t loosing anything.

I had done a little poking around on the F150 boards a while back to get a deeper insight to the Ford BMS system. First of all, the consensus with them with battery swaps of an increased capacity is to use FORScan to find and pick the closest battery size that matches. There's only a finite number of choices that can be made within the BMS system.

Another thing they do and I did too to an extent is change the SOC target %. I had noticed through various methods (lighter socket, OBD data, etc.) that the voltage of the charging system would vary quite a bit. As SOC quickly got to target, the voltage would drop off a lot (down in the low 12's at times). It would then only go up to a normal voltage amount if coasting or braking. I chalked this up as 'intelligent' or 'efficient' charging. Something I'm familiar with in my experience with BMW's (they ran into a lot of battery issues as a result 10-15 years ago. Now they charge at a constant 14.8v). This created a few electrical accessory issues for me (console fridge, stereo amplifier, etc.). I played with SOC targets until I finally settled at 100% and get better numbers now (avg. 14.4v). I have seen the F150 guys go so far as to target 110% as I'm sure this drives values up to 14.8-14.9v (this is OK). More voltage - within reason - is less amperage draw. A good thing.

Nothing to worry about changing in between Group H6, H7 and H8 batteries on a Ford as long as you stay with AGM. Some older ECUs have to be adjusted, the newer ones do not! My old F150 3L BabyStroke had an H8 fitted from factory.

DieselMonk said:

First thing I did to my SPP when I got it. TUrfed the H6 battery and put in an H8. I did nothing programming wise or BMS reset like it was with the 2018 models to my 24 SPP.

Just swap ‘er out and good is. Just make sure the battery is fully charged before you swap them. That’s it. I think I did supply power to the cables during the battery swap, so it wasn’t loosing anything.

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How was the fit jumping from h6 to h8? Physically did it just drop in?

Or did you need to do anything special? Like remove insulation etc?

Andy B said:

How was the fit jumping from h6 to h8? Physically did it just drop in?

Or did you need to do anything special? Like remove insulation etc?

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If you want the battery blanket on the H8, then you need to order one. They are cheap. Other than that, no mods, it just drops right in. No fiddling around or rerouting cables, direct fit into the battery tray.

@HILLY Had MANY good points in his post! We will cover that in a second.

Yes, you can drop an H6, H7, or H8 in the Expedition Battery Tray. Some H7's and all H8's the factory blanket will not fit like @DieselMonk said. So order a bigger one, or remove it.

Nothing HAS TO BE adjusted on the BMS, and there is also ZERO need to reset it, despite MANY comments and YouTube videos saying otherwise. After the Expedition has sat it will go through a relearn anyway, and you will be good to go.

Here are the optional things that I recommend, and one will make a big difference and Hilly mentioned it. Yes, you can tell it you have the larger capacity battery, but honestly, it makes very little difference.

The BIGGEST thing to change is setting the SOC to 85% or 90%.

AGM batteries are NOT like Lithium Ion found in your phone, EV, or Hybrid, they WANT to be at 100%. Ford generally sets the SOC WAY too low. On the PowerBoost and even some regular 150's Ford Ford released OTA Updates and TSB's to increase the SOC. You can't set the SOC to 100% via the BdyCM because the reading is not always accurate, and you have the possibility to overcharge. So 85% to 90% gets the AGM battery happier, with a margin of error to prevent overcharge. FORSCAN is your friend for this setting.

Just made the switch/warrantied to the H8 Costco Interstate. Dropped right in No Problems.

MrMcPunk said:

Just made the switch/warrantied to the H8 Costco Interstate. Dropped right in No Problems. View attachment 87403

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I'd invest in the insulating wrap if you want it to last as long as possible. The ecoboost 3.5 twin turbo throws some crazy heat under load.

Andy B said:

I'd invest in the insulating wrap if you want it to last as long as possible. The ecoboost 3.5 twin turbo throws some crazy heat under load.

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That’s what I did. Went to Ford and ordered that battery blanket for like CAD $30. It was cheap enough.

I didn’t mess around with SOC yet. Didn’t see a need for it. My 24 SPP is way different in keeping the battery charged than my old 18 F-150 with the 3L Diesel.
However I do charge my batteries in the vehicles with a charger full about 2 times a year.

Andy B said:

I'd invest in the insulating wrap if you want it to last as long as possible. The ecoboost 3.5 twin turbo throws some crazy heat under load.

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Unfortunately I live in Phoenix AZ. We normally change out our batteries about every 2 years as it is. Doesn't matter what brand or insolation you got. Them 120 degree summers wreck your battery. Gonna test the waters and see how the Bigger H8 holds up.