2020 odd issues. Possibly bad battery?

[fishingsetx]

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.

 

[LokiWolf]

Replace the battery. No doubt.

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

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.

A battery with a bad cell can still start a vehicle’s engine.

 

[fishingsetx]

A battery with a bad cell can still start a vehicle’s engine.

But it should show low voltage or test bad on a load test correct? Its one of the older analog load testers which just says good/bad. Thats what has me so confused. It tests good on both voltage and load test.

Ill probably just pick up a new battery on my way home tomorrow jist to be safe.

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

But it should show low voltage or test bad on a load test correct? Its one of the older analog load testers which just says good/bad. Thats what has me so confused. It tests good on both voltage and load test.

Ill probably just pick up a new battery on my way home tomorrow jist to be safe.

When a modern battery begins to fail (such as a bad cell, leaking internal plate separator, improper acid level, internal short causing case swelling etc.) it can still start the car - but can cause all sorts of weird electrical events.

Modern vehicle are crammed full of computers and their modules, and have many electronic features unheard of 20-30 years ago. The systems are very sensitive to the battery output with the engine running.

I’ve been driving and owning cars for more than 50 years, and working on my own vehicles since I began working in a gas station at age 15.

In the past 10 years or so - I have seen (or heard of) numerous issues with modern vehicles and their batteries, and experienced several crazy issues with my OEM batteries.

Throw in some aftermarket electronic equipment or swap in LED bulbs in place of OEM incandescent, and problems start showing up.

I don’t have a scientific explanation - other that I’d bet the issues are caused by the battery (unless there is a loose or corroded cable or connector, or bad cable ground - but you’ve seem to have ruled that out).

I have seen OEM batteries (under warranty) start the engine, then the next start time the battery is dead. I’ve also seen unusual electrical issues with the vehicle’s features that were solved by a new, fresh battery.

Let us know how things turn out.

 

[LokiWolf]

When a modern battery begins to fail (such as a bad cell, leaking internal plate separator, improper acid level, internal short causing case swelling etc.) it can still start the car - but can cause all sorts of weird electrical events.

Modern vehicle are crammed full of computers and their modules, and have many electronic features unheard of 20-30 years ago. The systems are very sensitive to the battery output with the engine running.

I’ve been driving and owning cars for more than 50 years, and working on my own vehicles since I began working in a gas station at age 15.

In the past 10 years or so - I have seen (or heard of) numerous issues with modern vehicles and their batteries, and experienced several crazy issues with my OEM batteries.

Throw in some aftermarket electronic equipment or swap in LED bulbs in place of OEM incandescent, and problems start showing up.

I don’t have a scientific explanation - other that I’d bet the issues are caused by the battery (unless there is a loose or corroded cable or connector, or bad cable ground - but you’ve seem to have ruled that out).

I have seen OEM batteries (under warranty) start the engine, then the next start time the battery is dead. I’ve also seen unusual electrical issues with the vehicle’s features that were solved by a new, fresh battery.

Let us know how things turn out.

This. All of your symptoms are 100% a failing battery.

 

[tex599]

Like others said failing battery. But if your screen continues to go black and you have to do hard reset, try updating the firmware. I was having this issue over the summer and Ford had a software code issue that was causing this. Go to the website, download the update to a thumb drive and install. Haven’t had an issue with mine now since July. I see a lot people think the APIM is bad, but I think it’s more likely a software issue.

 

[2020-MAX-Limited]

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.

Before dropping $ on a new battery, have it tested! I have this Topdon BT100 and use it all the time. When I bought my used 2020 just over a year ago, my battery must have been sitting on the lot for quite a while and had a low enough voltage the computer would go into low power mode and AS/S never kicked in because of battery charging. The Topdon showed marginal capacity left. I started putting the battery on a trickle charger and gradually it regained full capacity. AS/S started working again out of the blue.

 

[2018ExpyPlatinum]

My brother just replaced his 5 year old, OEM battery in his Lincoln yesterday. Dealer was surprised it lasted 5 years. Service manage told him not to expect more than 3 years with any new battery. Says they just don't make them to last anymore, plus all the electronics in the cars today kill batteries.

 

[SyndicateZ]

I hate how things just randomly stop working due to a bad battery. You would think battery warning light would just pop on letting you know...instead of giving u clues elsewhere making things not work and wasting money at the dealer trying to figure out why certain features aren't working before spening $2846393 on diagnostics before finding out it was just the battery. Dumb. Just another shady way vehicle manufacturers get more money