Battery died

[2021Expy]

Good afternoon,
Thank you for letting me join. I have a 21 Expedition limited max. Brought her in the garage yesterday. Went to open the doors and nothing. Put my meter on the battery and reading 5.68v. Yes I know it's dead and needs to be 12.6 or close to it. The battery is 10/22. Really unsure why it would have drained it overnight. Thanks for the read.

 

[GlennSullivan]

I had a similar situation happen last summer with my 2017. The battery had been replaced less than 2 years prior, I left the truck in the garage with the radar detector on for a week and the battery discharged enough to trigger the battery management system. The remote and in-vehicle start would not work. Charged it for several hours, battery would not take a charge. Took the battery to the Ford dealer I bought it from 20 months prior and they did not believe me, performed their own charge and test routine and then handed me a new battery.

Bottom line, as a number of people on here will attest to (multiple several threads regarding same) it appears that with current batteries, if they are discharged, many times they are DONE and cannot be recharged / brought back.

2017 - No Key Detected After Dead Battery

have not driven the 2017 truck in a few weeks and inadvertently left the radar detector on. FOB battery is good, put Jump pack on truck, lights on, hatch opens and closes, but getting NO Key detected. What is the problem and how do I get around it? TIA.

www.expeditionforum.com

 

[2021Expy]

I kinda figured. Just don't understand what caused to just drain like that. Just trying to avoid spending money if this is going to be a reoccurring problem.

 

[GlennSullivan]

Did you have anything plugged into any of the vehicle ports, even if the device was not turned on?

 

[JasonH]

You can place a Bluetooth battery monitor on the replacement and it will allow you to monitor the voltage over time. My vehicle sits for long periods, so I can see the voltage dropping over the course of the week. If it drops substantially, something may be draining the battery. The new telematics systems in modern vehicles are frequently a culprit. They're known to have software issues that keep them in the wake state frequently, until the battery is toast. Usually there will be a software update. I would start there: check for a TSB for your vehicle VIN.

 

[MTB2022]

My 2022 flaked out on a trip up north in december. Drive mode and 4 wheel drive unavailable . Multiple times totally random. The little wrench appeared went away and came back. A couple of weird display issues also on 12 inch radio screen. Finally got it for service and they ended up replacing the battery. 9Kmiles when it all went down.

 

[2021Expy]

The only thing I plugged in was a baby monitor camera to the 12v up front. It has an on off switch. Not sure if it pulled enough juice while off but still plugged in.

 

[2020-MAX-Limited]

I kinda figured. Just don't understand what caused to just drain like that. Just trying to avoid spending money if this is going to be a reoccurring problem.

I turned off all wifi access and automatic update functions so the car would not be constantly connecting to wifi and ford's cloud when it was sitting in the garage. It was always going into power save mode anyway.

Alternately, you could leave the 12V battery on a trickle charger while sitting. For me, it took several trickle charge cycles to restore the battery to a good charge and now it doesn't go into power save mode unless I let it sit for almost two weeks between drives. I took it off the charger when we went away on vacation, and after 10 days, the Fordpass app finally said the car went into battery save mode.

 

[GlennSullivan]

I've mentioned before in other threads on this subject that I now have battery tenders for every vehicle we own with quick connect cables installed on the vehicle. If I'm not going to use the vehicle for a week or more, it goes on the tender.

It is not like the old days, when you left your interior lights on, the battery went dead, you jumped it or put it on the charger and all was well, like it never happened. If you discharge a battery today, no matter how new, chances are it is done. Happened to me 2x in recent years and after battery replacement there was no indication of any other issues, such as a drain or charging system problem.

 

[2021Expy]

Changed the battery in the bus amazing how things work with juice lol.

 

[20Expy]

I kept my dash cam plugged into the cigarette outlet inside the center console for 2-3 years now and my original battery seems fine with auto start/stop still working. Does anyone know if the car would still supply power to the outlet after being turned off? Because the camera usually records for another 30 mins before stopping. I'm not sure if the recording is from the car's battery or the camera's internal battery. FordPass rarely tells us that the car is in power saving mode, only when leaving on vacation for more than 2 weeks, it pops us the message.

 

[GaryH]

So, just a bad battery then?

 

[Danm355]

I've mentioned before in other threads on this subject that I now have battery tenders for every vehicle we own with quick connect cables installed on the vehicle. If I'm not going to use the vehicle for a week or more, it goes on the tender.

It is not like the old days, when you left your interior lights on, the battery went dead, you jumped it or put it on the charger and all was well, like it never happened. If you discharge a battery today, no matter how new, chances are it is done. Happened to me 2x in recent years and after battery replacement there was no indication of any other issues, such as a drain or charging system problem.

I just had my battery replaced by the dealer on my 2022 Expedition. It was just one year old. The problem with today's batteries is they are made from recycled materials and they are not as good as they used to be. There is so much electronics in these newer vehicles that runs in the background that it's constantly draining the battery so if it's not driven everyday it can drain the battery.

 

[2018ExpyPlatinum]

As I said in another thread here, my brother just had his 5 YO battery changed in his Lincoln. The dealer was amazed it lasted five years. Service advisor told him the new batteries are not as good as the old ones. Between that and all the electronics, you'll be lucky to get 3 years anymore.

 

[mwar99]

I've got 9 years in on a battery in a car, of course I don't drive it every day, but still 9 years seems pretty good to me. My wife's car went 6 years.

 

[Hellwig]

till 9 years seems pretty good to me. My wife's car went 6 years.

I kept my dash cam plugged into the cigarette outlet inside the center console for 2-3 years now and my original battery seems fine with auto start/stop still working. Does anyone know if the car would still supply power to the outlet after being turned off? Because the camera usually records for another 30 mins before stopping. I'm not sure if the recording is from the car's battery or the camera's internal battery. FordPass rarely tells us that the car is in power saving mode, only when leaving on vacation for more than 2 weeks, it pops us the message.

Expedition cuts off power to 12V outlets after shutoff. I tested.

 

[5280tunage]

My 2019 has been at the dealership for 5 weeks today, sitting, waiting for service for at least 3 of those weeks. Just a call from them saying the battery is dead and they can't work on the transmission till its replaced. Funny thing, the battery was replaced in Nov. I doubt it's bad, but what a bunch of crap. I got a message from fordpass app after 2 weeks of sitting there it was shutting down the connected systems to save power.

they want at least $275 for a battery. And $25 labor to replace it, I'm pissed!

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

My 2019 has been at the dealership for 5 weeks today, sitting, waiting for service for at least 3 of those weeks. Just a call from them saying the battery is dead and they can't work on the transmission till its replaced. Funny thing, the battery was replaced in Nov. I doubt it's bad, but what a bunch of crap. I got a message from fordpass app after 2 weeks of sitting there it was shutting down the connected systems to save power.

they want at least $275 for a battery. And $25 labor to replace it, I'm pissed!

I’m obstinate enough that I would have to have the dealer push the truck onto the lot from the service department, and then change the battery myself.

Good luck - I’d be ready to scream.

 

[Rob6805]

My 2019 has been at the dealership for 5 weeks today, sitting, waiting for service for at least 3 of those weeks. Just a call from them saying the battery is dead and they can't work on the transmission till its replaced. Funny thing, the battery was replaced in Nov. I doubt it's bad, but what a bunch of crap. I got a message from fordpass app after 2 weeks of sitting there it was shutting down the connected systems to save power.

they want at least $275 for a battery. And $25 labor to replace it, I'm pissed!

That battery has a warranty.

 

[5280tunage]

That battery has a warranty.

it does but frankly I've already replaced it under warranty and that would require me to go to the dealer, they won't let me take the battery out in the shop so we'll have to push the car out, take the battery out, go exchange it, put it back in, and get another year out of it. I don't have the time, I have work. So they offered me a brand new motorcraft battery installed for 225. I hate doing it, but at this point, I don't have the time.