Recall #25S65 - 12V battery discharge may cause door lock-out (Vehicle Entrapment Allegations). Stop Sales issued by Ford

[kindofblue]

1. Yes.
2. Yes, a new battery (<3 years) helps prevent the issue.
3. The recall includes all model years (2021-2025) made before June 3rd of this year.

Thanks. Re the <3 yr old battery though if the issue affects the 2025s then it would seem to me that even the new MMEs are having this issue.

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[shutterbug]

1. Yes.
2. Yes, a new battery (<3 years) helps prevent the issue.
3. The recall includes all model years (2021-2025) made before June 3rd of this year.

For #1, couldn't you charge the battery to get you to a place where the battery ca be replaced?
For #3. Yes it does affect 2025 models, but the fix is available.

 

[shutterbug]

Thanks. Re the <3 yr old battery though if the issue affects the 2025s then it would seem to me that even the new MMEs are having this issue.

Not necessarily. While newer batteries may not be generally impacted, those batteries do die. On my 2021, I went through 4 batteries in 3 years.

 

[Mach-Lee]

For #1, couldn't you charge the battery to get you to a place where the battery ca be replaced?

You would want to jump start it, not charge the battery. A failed battery will probably not hold enough charge to start the vehicle. If the battery fails open circuit, it effectively has zero capacity and would be totally dependent on an external power source to start the car. That's why you want jumper cables or a jump pack if the 12V dies instead of a battery charger.

Not necessarily. While newer batteries may not be generally impacted, those batteries do die. On my 2021, I went through 4 batteries in 3 years.

Most likely you had some software glitches that caused the 12V battery to drain excessively and/or not be recharged soon enough. The current software is much more proactive about preventing excessive discharge. The batteries should last much longer in vehicles with updated software.

 

[shutterbug]

You would want to jump start it, not charge the battery. A failed battery will probably not hold enough charge to start the vehicle. If the battery fails open circuit, it effectively has zero capacity and would be totally dependent on an external power source to start the car. That's why you want jumper cables or a jump pack if the 12V dies instead of a battery charger.

That's what I meant to say. Jump start it. Still not bricked, but the battery needs to be replaced.

 

[Milk-e]

So just like a few others I experienced my first 12v battery issues last night. Car was not on the charger, but a Software update went through, I got a notification in the ford pass app, Alarm triggered by my car door opening. As I checked the camera inside my garage I seen the lights flickering and the doors locking and unlocking for alil over 30secs. Went down and seen the car completely drain, no access from the door keypad, key fob or app. I let it sit overnight, just thinking and hoping maybe the car is rebooting itself after an update and just needs time. I woke up today and seen the issue didn’t resolve itself. Called for ford roadside assistance only to make a case number on record, even though I have a gas vehicle I could’ve jumped the 12v battery myself. My wife called Ford Dealership, and they aren’t even aware of the Recall or Issue, they’re still talking about the seatbelt recall. This is strike 2 for me with Ford, I love my car but I also don’t love the thought of my wife and son being stranded by issues out of their control

 

[E90alex]

The "12V recall" does nothing to prevent the 12V from dying. Even if the fix was applied to your car, it wouldn't have prevented or helped you in that situation.

It seems these 12V die right around 3 years so yours was due for replacement being a 2022.

 

[Shayne]

The "12V recall" does nothing to prevent the 12V from dying. Even if the fix was applied to your car, it wouldn't have prevented or helped you in that situation.

It seems these 12V die right around 3 years so yours was due for replacement being a 2022.

Too dependent on use and geo location (temperature) to put that kind of deadline on it but I do agree the car is really hard on 12V batteries. Appears especially when it freaks out and kills itself.

 

[Mike G]

The "12V recall" does nothing to prevent the 12V from dying. Even if the fix was applied to your car, it wouldn't have prevented or helped you in that situation.

It seems these 12V die right around 3 years so yours was due for replacement being a 2022.

^^^^^
This.

Even after this recall is applied to the PCM and SOBDMC it does not permanently fix an issue where you might get locked out. That could still happen eventually. This fix causes the DCDC converter to continue to run for a brief period so that you would be able to get all occupants out of the car before later discovering that your 12V battery has now died and needs to be replaced.

So you still need to keep the install date of your 12V battery in mind, (or your production date if you're on your original 12V battery) and set some sort of calendar reminder to proactively replace it around the 3 yr mark.

 

[Mike G]

I've been known to sometimes not follow instructions....(this was stated repeatedly in the comments section of many of my grammar school report cards, so it must be true).

So sometimes when I rub two brain cells together, I end up doing things that others say I shouldn't.

Occasionally (once a year maybe?), when I see a 12V battery SOC on either my Mach-E or Lightning (same H3 battery on both) reporting that it's something like 69% SOC, but the voltage is at 14.1......I know something's not right. Cause my batteries on both of those vehicles aren't that old. (23 and 22 model respectively).

So I do what I've been told not to do....and I go out and do a BMS reset and then take the car or the truck for a drive of at least a half hour (but probably longer) into town to let the DCDC converter charge it back up to as full as it's gonna get.

Next time I check it after that drive I normally see it back up to 89% or even higher. This would ensure that if the OTA fairy does arrive to bestow sprinkles on my modules that my vehicle is prepared to receive these gifts.

Why is this something I'm not supposed to do? Well you're not supposed to do a BMS reset too often because it can cause the battery life to shorten.

But then again, when I see SOC and voltage reports that don't seem to make any sense (65% and 14.2V or something else stupid)...and then I do the BMS dance and it all goes back to normal...well sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. I'm such a rebel.

 

[Mach-Lee]

I've been known to sometimes not follow instructions....(this was stated repeatedly in the comments section of many of my grammar school report cards, so it must be true).

So sometimes when I rub two brain cells together, I end up doing things that others say I shouldn't.

Occasionally (once a year maybe?), when I see a 12V battery SOC on either my Mach-E or Lightning (same H3 battery on both) reporting that it's something like 69% SOC, but the voltage is at 14.1......I know something's not right. Cause my batteries on both of those vehicles aren't that old. (23 and 22 model respectively).

So I do what I've been told not to do....and I go out and do a BMS reset and then take the car or the truck for a drive of at least a half hour (but probably longer) into town to let the DCDC converter charge it back up to as full as it's gonna get.

Next time I check it after that drive I normally see it back up to 89% or even higher. This would ensure that if the OTA fairy does arrive to bestow sprinkles on my modules that my vehicle is prepared to receive these gifts.

Why is this something I'm not supposed to do? Well you're not supposed to do a BMS reset too often because it can cause the battery life to shorten.

But then again, when I see SOC and voltage reports that don't seem to make any sense (65% and 14.2V or something else stupid)...and then I do the BMS dance and it all goes back to normal...well sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. I'm such a rebel.

If it’s at 14.2V it means the battery is charging. It can be at 62% SoC while charging at 14.2V. Obviously the SoC will be going up in that situation with time.

 

[Mike G]

If it’s at 14.2V it means the battery is charging. It can be at 62% SoC while charging at 14.2V. Obviously the SoC will be going up in that situation with time.

I realize that was probably the case...but this is after checking a day later and double-checking again even later.....and then finally doing the BMS reset and things go back to normal. I honestly think that the learned values do get out of whack sometimes....I don't pretend to understand why that would happen, but it seems that they do.

 

[Mach-Lee]

I realize that was probably the case...but this is after checking a day later and double-checking again even later.....and then finally doing the BMS reset and things go back to normal. I honestly think that the learned values do get out of whack sometimes....I don't pretend to understand why that would happen, but it seems that they do.

They should be pretty accurate unless you had some current flow bypassing the BMS sensor or the car can’t sleep without interruption. Occasionally I see them messed up (I figure a dealer hooked up a power supply or charger wrong in the past), but you really should only have to reset it once for quite a long time.

 

[Mike G]

They should be pretty accurate unless you had some current flow bypassing the BMS sensor or the car can’t sleep without interruption. Occasionally I see them messed up (I figure a dealer hooked up a power supply or charger wrong in the past), but you really should only have to reset it once for quite a long time.

Well that's why I said...once a year.......If it's reading low more often than it's not, then it's time for a new battery. But if it jumps right back up to the 80+% SOC after doing this every six months or so...I figure it's not gonna be an issue. But so far...it's always bounced back up and stayed there for months.

 

[RonOinAZ]

I posted this elsewhere but I'll add it here too...
The 3-year coverage on my 2022 Mach-E expires in two weeks. I haven't had any problems with it but nevertheless, I took car to the dealer's "Quick Lane" this last week to have the 12v battery tested. Sure enough, it failed the test, so they replaced it under warranty. I've added a reminder in my calendar to replace it again in 3 years, assuming I'll still have the car. The replacement battery is only warranted for 1 year, maybe because it is a warranty-replacement battery.

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