Coming up on 3 years - replace 12V?

[Mach-Lee]

I don’t mean to hijack OPs thread but I have a related question with the 12V age. If you bought the 23’ MME new but it was sitting on the dealers lot for 7 months should we take that age into account or just from purchase date? This might be a “nothing burger” question but I was just curious.

Yes I would include that time. The manufacture month and year is on the VIN sticker. Your battery would still be under warranty however until three years from purchase (or 36k), so up to you whether you want to wait until the warranty is expired. I will be waiting for my warranty to expire before I replace mine.

I just received my battery from Rock Auto yesterday and I'm planning on swapping it out this weekend. Interestingly enough they didn't include a return shipping label for the core. I'm going to assume it'll cost more than $18 to ship it back to them, so I may just recycle my old one and eat the core charge. I'm curious if anyone else has had any experience returning their battery core.

You can return batteries locally for a core charge refund (e.g. bring it to an auto parts store or recycling center).

One thing I forgot to mention - for various reasons I have only 10,700 miles on the car even though I am approaching three years. So, with such low miles, should I still replace the battery at 3 years?

Yes.

Sponsored

 

[MacherAWD]

I get what you’re saying but from my experience it was fine one day and the next day my car was a brick. Had to jump the frunk and test battery which confirmed it’s faulty status. Luckily my dealership does mobile service as trying to get it out of garage wasn’t something I was thrilled about. My 02 cents is we save so much money on overall maintenance of these cars that $250 every 3 years is a bargain

After reading your post that you paid $220 for Ford mobile to do it, I am calling my dealer, if I can get similar I will and agreed. On my Leaf it was the only maintence I ever did, I proactively replaced it at 5 years, although with the Leaf the guy at advance auto just came out to the parking lot and swapped it no charge.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

One thing I forgot to mention - for various reasons I have only 10,700 miles on the car even though I am approaching three years. So, with such low miles, should I still replace the battery at 3 years?

That’s more reason to dump the battery.

 

[Maquis]

One thing I forgot to mention - for various reasons I have only 10,700 miles on the car even though I am approaching three years. So, with such low miles, should I still replace the battery at 3 years?

Yes. Unless you are willing to to deal with the consequences of a sudden failure.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

2022 Mach-e Premium coming up in February at 3 years - should I replace LVB?

Parts department cost is $138 My dealer says $675 installed. Nearby Ford dealer says $138 plus $90 to install.
Or, should I install it myself - not very good on this?

I would recommend that you replace it and buy peace of mind. The difference if you do it now or in 5 years is negligible vs the pain and suffering of getting stranded somewhere.

I would install it if you have the tools to do so and retorque the cross bar reinforcement. I wouldn’t let a couple pieces of plastic scare me. Be brave! You’ll get a sense of satisfaction doing it yourself and well worth a chipped nail or two ?

 

[ipca204]

The only thing I will add is that if you are doing it yourself, be very very careful removing the plastic cladding, especially if you are in a colder climate. IT is not very strong plastic and the cold makes it more brittle..

 

[MoonRiver]

I just received my battery from Rock Auto yesterday and I'm planning on swapping it out this weekend. Interestingly enough they didn't include a return shipping label for the core. I'm going to assume it'll cost more than $18 to ship it back to them, so I may just recycle my old one and eat the core charge. I'm curious if anyone else has had any experience returning their battery core.

How much was the shipping from them to you? I would imagine that’ll would be how much you’ll spend to send the core to them.

 

[MoonRiver]

[QUOTE="GreaseMonkey, post: 903738, membe

I would install it if you have the tools to do so and retorque the cross bar reinforcement. I wouldn’t let a couple pieces of plastic scare me. Be brave! You’ll get a sense of satisfaction doing it yourself and well worth a chipped nail or two ?
[/QUOTE]
Mine is 32 months old. I started charging it a couple of times every week with a batter tender hoping it lives beyond three years. I have prepared myself with mache-Lee’s string trick. When it dies on me I just have to call for jump start. It shouldn’t be too hard unless it’s in middle of nowhere. If I need to go to remote places in the near future I would replace it before the trip. It looks relatively easy to swap out with the cross bar removed. The bolt down nuts tighten torque is 66 ftlb. BTW.

 

[MoonRiver]

You can return batteries locally for a core charge refund (e.g. bring it to an auto parts store or recycling center).



Yes.

Great info!

 

[Mark Hassa]

I had my car in for a final check by the dealership before my warranty expired. I told them to check the 12v battery and said they tend to fail around the 3 year mark. The dealer replaced the battery under warranty and told me the battery has its own 3 year warranty as well. I would encourage everyone to see their dealer for service and have theirs checked while still covered.

 

[Zardoz]

I just received my battery from Rock Auto yesterday and I'm planning on swapping it out this weekend. Interestingly enough they didn't include a return shipping label for the core. I'm going to assume it'll cost more than $18 to ship it back to them, so I may just recycle my old one and eat the core charge. I'm curious if anyone else has had any experience returning their battery core.

Maybe some would call this common knowledge, but I would suggest some of this stuff: https://www.amazon.com/CRC-05046-Battery-Terminal-Protector/dp/B000CIPUNC I had to find battery terminal protector on my own after battling terminal corrosion on a Subaru. Maybe the Mach E battery is different and doesn't need it, maybe someone here knows for sure.

Edit: The CRC brand has a battery terminal cleaner as well.

Edit 2: AGM batteries likely do not need terminal protector. https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/coming-up-on-3-years-replace-12v.41954/post-903824

 

[DennisD]

I had my car in for a final check by the dealership before my warranty expired. I told them to check the 12v battery and said they tend to fail around the 3 year mark. The dealer replaced the battery under warranty and told me the battery has its own 3 year warranty as well. I would encourage everyone to see their dealer for service and have theirs checked while still covered.

My car was in the shop recently and it has around 13k on it. I purchased it in Sept. of 22. The battery was bad and it was replaced under warranty at no charge. Lucky for me, I was entertaining replacing it before the 3 year mark anyway.

I suspect when it was shipped from Mexico, because it sat for a length of time w/o a recharge, that shortened the life of the battery. Just a guess but it really should have lasted much longer than it did.

If I still have the car 3 years from now (which is unlikely), I am going to replace it for peace of mind before the 3 year date.

 

[Tomatoboy]

One thing I forgot to mention - for various reasons I have only 10,700 miles on the car even though I am approaching three years. So, with such low miles, should I still replace the battery at 3 years?

I’d actually replace it *sooner* if you’re a fairly low mileage driver, as your battery has spent more time than usual being discharged.

 

[phil]

I wouldn’t let a couple pieces of plastic scare me. Be brave!

Easy to say when you're a grease monkey... Oh, alright, I'll give it a try.

My three years is almost up. I'm thinking my battery should last four years, due to the very mild climate, but I don't want to wait too long.

 

[silverelan]

Ford dealer mobile service replaced mine for $300. After seeing all the stories of stranded 2021s with batteries that are just MOSTLY dead (but not all dead!), I didn’t want to mess around with it.

Sponsored