12 V (normal) battery issues

[Not2Lucky]

I had a hell of a few months. I have 56K miles on a 3 year old Fusion Hybrid.

 

4 months ago my computer started "resetting" itself. every so often, I would get in the car, turn the key and .. nothing. I would turn the key again, and the car starts. The A/C would be off, clock would be at 12:00, radio was on AM but it would go. This got to be around once a week, so I bring it to the dealer. They replace the My Sync computer (the warranty on that was extended to 5 years FYI) and it works great.. for 4 days, Same reset,

 

I call the dealer ask to talk to someone, leave a voicemail, no one calls. Next day, car is dead in my driveway, no starting back up. Call the dealer, again.. left a voicemail. I recall back to the time that I had a normal engine, and think "What would I do if this was not a Hybrid", and I think.. I would jump it, but I am careful and decide to hook up the trickle charger (I have time, and I have no idea if a jump would screw with the Hybrid). I find out that the trunk CAN NOT BE OPENED if the car has no power.. fun Fact! So I find the terminals under the hood. hook up the trickle charger, figure I have 2 hours to wait, realize my phone is in the car, open the door and everything is working. The charger was on for maybe 60 seconds,

 

I call my local garage, talk to Bob (no voicemail there), ask him to get a battery to fit (it is a really small battery) put it in that afternoon.. its been 2 weeks all is good.

 

Now going though a battery in 3 years is tough. (batteries are covered in the Bumper to bumper warranty, and are unprotected after 36K miles), butI have a theory.....

 

I have about 1 mile from the highway to my house that that is all suburban streets, only one stop sign. I would go in on battery power every day. I do not think (correct me if I am wrong here) that the alternator is NOT turning when the gas engine is off.. so for most of the 3 years, I was running that 12V battery, by running the radio, and the A/C and lights for that last mile on my way home and that stress killed the battery.

 

Anyone else have issues with the 12V battery?

Anyone know if the atinator charges the battery when on EV mode?

 

Thanks in Advance

N2L

[akirby]

I've never had a battery last more than 3.5 years.

[drolds1]

The FFH doesn't have a conventional alternator.

[lolder]

The 12 vdc battery is the weakest part of all the Ford Fusion hybrids. It is the most common cause of strange glitches and on the road failures. They are too small and of the wrong type and are frequently damaged in even new cars by sitting on lots. Ford is the only source for them. Many of us recommend replacing it as the first step to remedy strange car behavior even before an out-of-warranty dealer visit. They are about $120. A "good" battery test by Ford or anyone else does not insure that it is not the problem. Replacement batteries from Ford have been less a problem. If I owned a FFH in a remote area or third world country, I would carry a frequently checked spare 12 v in the trunk and know how to change it.

Edited September 29, 2016 by lolder

[akirby]

It's also the cause of strange issues and glitches in non hybrids. I think today's vehicles are straining current battery designs in general.

[lolder]

It's due mostly to residual electrical loads when the car is supposedly "off". They're never completely "off". Over the years, the engineer of each new car gadget has said, "let me use a few milliamps of current ( 1/1000 th of an ampere ) to keep my application alive" ( such as remote start and keyless entry ). The "straws" are now breaking the camel's back. Early Tesla's were using a several kilowatt hours a day which has since been reduced. A Tesla can go about 3 miles on a kilowatt-hr. so people that didn't use their cars for a few days might see their range reduced by twenty miles.

Edited September 29, 2016 by lolder

[drolds1]

There seems to be ongoing issues with the 12V batteries in Ford Hybrids a well as in Energi models. A member of the MKZ forum has already had his 2017 MKZ Hybrid replaced for this issue and the replacement car is doing the same thing!

 

You might be better served by going to the FFH forum. For example, here's one thread.

[akirby]

There was a flood in a battery plant that's causing a lot of premature failures (< 6 months). I think that's relatively new and different than the normal battery issues we've been seeing.

[wolfm30]

3 yrs is about normal for a car battery, especially the smallish/low capacity one they use in the Fusion Hybrid. If you aren't having further issues after having replaced the battery, I'd say that was your culprit. When mine was failing this past summer, I had the same symptoms--dead after sitting overnight, A/C acting wonky, eventually the strong smell of sulphur when driving, which was my indicator that it was the battery dying. Auto Zone sells a replacement that fits perfectly (exact flanges/design/fitment) for the car. Best of luck!

[VonoreTn]

My 12 volt battery finally went out in June 2015 at 111,700 miles, after almost 6 years. The car would not start, so I started it by putting a 20 amp charger on the 12 volt battery for 20 minutes, then drove it 20 miles to my dealer, where they installed a new Hybrid battery for $146. I did have to add distilled water to it at around 60K miles previously. I count that as normal maintenance. So far I have only spent $77 on an O2 sensor which I installed myself, for non-maintenance expenses, . Still at 130K miles, it is the most reliable car I have ever owned. It still gets 40 mpg consistently.

Edited December 4, 2016 by VonoreTn

[lolder]

You are not supporting the economy enough. Shame !

[mmtphoto]

I did the LV battery upgrade someone else posted on here the day after I got my 2010 Hybrid (Jan 19, 2017)-it had what appeared to be the original battery (390 cca Motorcraft). I got a 96R battery at Advance Auto for $100, plugged a power pack into the power port to maintain all the computer/radio settings, and removed the battery and battery tray, easy to do. Then I used a bench grinder to remove the parts of the tray so that the slightly larger 96R would sit properly in the tray, and used two large, heavy duty zip ties to secure it to the bolted down battery tray. The new battery is 590 CCA, and since it is new it consistently tests out at 750+CCA using my Harbor Freight digital battery load tester. This is an easy upgrade that takes no more than 30 to 40 minutes to do. I was surprised when I saw this car came with a 390 CCA battery since you have to consider there are a lot of electrical loads on this car-lots of interior lights and head lights that have delay functions alone make a 390 CCA battery strain over years of use. I have battery packs that are close to 400 CCA's so it makes sense to do whatever you can to improve it just for dependability.

[lolder]

Disregard my post in the other thread. CCA's are not important in hybrids as they don't crank an engine but a higher CCA does mean a bigger battery usually.

[DiscoverySL]

The 12V battery is recharged by the inverter of the HVB. When the car is on, with the engine running the generator in transmission axle sends electrical current to the inverter, which recharges the HVB and the 12V battery, sending a current with a 14.9 of voltage.

Nevertheless, the 12V battery is necessary to keep the systems of the car going on, like alarms, electrical locks, windows, retractable mirrors. If you leave the FFH off for, at least 20 days, despite the fact the HVB keeps a good charge, you will not be able to unlock the doors, trunk or turn on the system that manages the engine. So, the car will not move. You´ll have to use the key in the emergency slot (door handle), fold the rear seats and pull the green handle in the inner side of the trunk.

But you can use the conectors in the engine compartment to start the engine. Use a spare battery or a jumpstarter there, wait for at least 30 seconds for the system to read out the charge and then, press the Start/Stop button. This will make que car to activate the HVB or the engine. Then, the current will flow from the HVB to the inverter and then to the 12v battery, recharging it.

[Dmark67]

Help! I have a 2013 FFH SE with the same battery problems posted on the forum. Questions:

I read somewhere that after the battery is changed, the car needs some reprogramming?

 

I see that some companies like Oddessy are making batteries to fit my fusion without any tray modifications. I live in Colorado and it gets cold, I need high CCA. Thoughts?

 

I also read somewhere that the car should be programmed for cold weather climates?

 

Thanks!

[eGuru]

Help! I have a 2013 FFH SE with the same battery problems posted on the forum. Questions:

I read somewhere that after the battery is changed, the car needs some reprogramming?

 

I see that some companies like Oddessy are making batteries to fit my fusion without any tray modifications. I live in Colorado and it gets cold, I need high CCA. Thoughts?

 

I also read somewhere that the car should be programmed for cold weather climates?

 

Thanks!

 

Changing the 12 volt battery does not require a visit to the dealer for reprogramming. The car will automatically run its internal recalibration routine when the new battery is connected.

There is no programming required for cold weather climates.

[lolder]

You don't need high CCAs. The 12 vdc battery does not start the engine.

[Dmark67]

I'm not an electrical engineer, so probably a dumb question, but if the 12v doesn't start the engine, then why would a low battery prevent the car from starting? I can literally hook up the battery charger and get right in and start it, no wait.

[lolder]

I'm an EE. The 12 vdc pulls in a big relay that applies the HV to the car. The HVB is protected against complete discharge by the relay which is automatically opened if the HVB charge gets too low. The HV turns a big 3 phase motor to start the engine in 0.4 seconds.. The HVB also powers a DC to DC converter which charges the 12 vdc battery. There is no alternator. The 12 vdc battery is the weak point of the car. Since it doesn't start the ICE, you don't notice it as it gets weak by slow cranking. Even when they test OK, they may cause problems in the computers which give weird alarms. Replacing the 12 vdc when there are strange and inconsistent faults is always the cheapest first remedy. Before these cars, I would never have said that.

[Dmark67]

Thanks! Do you have any battery recommendations other than the motorcraft 590?

[lolder]

I have a 2010 with the battery in the engine compartment where I believe the 2013 is in the trunk. If it's vented you might have the Ford battery as the only choice.

[berj88]

Hey all - I have a 2019 Ford Fusion Hybrid Titanium with about 51k miles on it. I've been through four 12v batteries in the past two years and the fix I finally figured out on my own was to fully turn off everything FordPass related. In the infotainment screen in your Fusion (aka Sync3), go into the settings and turn off FordPass. I also deleted the app and removed my car from the app as well. Since I did that, no more issues. One other thing last year was that my glovebox light wasn't turning off even if the glovebox was properly closed so I manually disconnected that as well.

[crashlovan]

Hi ,

 

I have a 2016 fusion energi. The 12 volt battery died. I replaced it and a week or two later the battery light will come on sometimes. when it does the 12v battery is not charging, but after a bit the light will go out and the 12v battery is charging again. I can usually drive to work in the morning no problem (28 miles 5:30AM). on the way home about 3/4 of the way home the light will come on. It doesn't mater if I use air or not. the light will come on  after about 3-5 mils the light will go out and the 12v battery is charging again and after 10 or so miles it will come back on. and the cycle will go over and over until  I make it home.  Does anyone have direction for me.