12V Battery FAQ

[Jerrytball]

The many times I’ve logged into my Ford account on the website not the FordPass, I thought that battery percentage was for the low level battery 12 V. But now when I look at FordPass and I look at the webpage, it’s the same level as the high voltage battery with the same estimated miles.

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[Mach-Lee]

The many times I’ve logged into my Ford account on the website not the FordPass, I thought that battery percentage was for the low level battery 12 V. But now when I look at FordPass and I look at the webpage, it’s the same level as the high voltage battery with the same estimated miles.

Nope, still reading 12V SoC for me. Probably just a coincidence they’re the same. Drive the car and check it again.

Every few months somebody posts that they think Ford changed it, but so far everyone has been wrong and weren’t understanding or testing it thoroughly. Please don’t post just because you see the percentages match one time. Only post after you’ve seen a consistent pattern over many days and drives. There is a decent statical chance the battery SoCs can actually match especially in the 80-90% region where they spend most of their time.

 

[garyd9]

I’ve never seen my LVB below 89% and I usually let my HVB max at 80%.

One thing I’ve found odd is that I’ve never seen my LVB go above 93% and that’s after leaving the car “running” with the fan turned up, AC off, lights off, etc for several hours. I’m wondering if it’s able to go above 93 at this point in its life.

 

[Jerrytball]

I’ve never seen my LVB below 89% and I usually let my HVB max at 80%.

One thing I’ve found odd is that I’ve never seen my LVB go above 93% and that’s after leaving the car “running” with the fan turned up, AC off, lights off, etc for several hours. I’m wondering if it’s able to go above 93 at this point in its life.

Like Lee was saying it just might be a coincidence but no I have seen the LVB at 98 on mine. I’ve seen it down as low as 78 sat at the dealer one time so I’ll drive it next time and see what the two percentages are two different website and FordPass app .

 

[garyd9]

I usually use a OBDII scanner to keep tabs on mine. I don’t know how often the ford.com website updates its data (or how often the car calls home to report the stat.)

 

[Mach-Lee]

I’ve never seen my LVB below 89% and I usually let my HVB max at 80%.

One thing I’ve found odd is that I’ve never seen my LVB go above 93% and that’s after leaving the car “running” with the fan turned up, AC off, lights off, etc for several hours. I’m wondering if it’s able to go above 93 at this point in its life.

It takes a really long time to go past 93% because the charge rate changes at that point to trickle top charge. You might only get 1% per hour or less. It can actually take several days to reach 100%. So that’s normal, it’s just extremely slow at the top end.

 

[Jerrytball]

I usually use a OBDII scanner to keep tabs on mine. I don’t know how often the ford.com website updates its data (or how often the car calls home to report the stat.)

I was in the car earlier. Here’s a shot of my Car Scanner.

 

[Jerrytball]

Nope, still reading 12V SoC for me. Probably just a coincidence they’re the same. Drive the car and check it again.

Every few months somebody posts that they think Ford changed it, but so far everyone has been wrong and weren’t understanding or testing it thoroughly. Please don’t post just because you see the percentages match one time. Only post after you’ve seen a consistent pattern over many days and drives. There is a decent statical chance the battery SoCs can actually match especially in the 80-90% region where they spend most of their time.

You were right it must’ve been a coincidence, today It shows 81% on the HVB and on the ford.com webpage it shows 89 for the 12 V.

 

[James III]

Hello LVB Pros,
i’ve been having some problems with my LBV and not being able to reach 100% an AGM
external charger only 98-99%. Because of that, it wouldn’t ever switch to maintenance mode, instead it would just switch off. Same with using the NoCo charger. after turning green light, It’d be 89%-92%. All times dropping quickly after disconnecting.
I recently had some door module replaced and My camera system module and front camera under warranty. When new door module was being programmed by FDRS another door module blew and had to be replaced. I had the battery checked at the same time and it was good. (pic) But shortly after I got it back, I started noticing big drops from the Ford dashboard reading going from 85% down to 55% the next day, sometimes after two days into deep sleep mode 36% (pic) less than 24hrs. I have the charging holes in the front panels, so when home II hooked up an AGM charger to bring it up to hundred percent. Behold, the same depleting continues.

I brought it into another dealer last week for my one year convenience check (renews Ford Assit) and my first MOT. I asked tech to check the battery which they said they had run it on up to 3 hour evaluation..
My 12v battery. was replaced. now it seems the new battery is doing the same thing. They’ve had it in the shop a week now because the drop continues. last night I saw it on 87% this morning it was 55%.
There’s no dash cam or anything hooked up to it. . The HVB kicks in to bring it up to 87% at some point.

Any thoughts what could be causing that battery drain when car is just sitting?

 

[Mach-Lee]

Any thoughts what could be causing that battery drain when car is just sitting?

Please see this topic for ideas on what causes 12V drains: Thread 'Troubleshooting "Electrical System Drain Service Required" Message' Complete the checklist.

A 10% drain in the 2 hours after ignition off is normal. <4% per day drain after that if the car isn't disturbed. Note: waking the car up to check 12V status takes 2% each time.

Recommend you update the PCM and BCM software which should increase the 12V recharge threshold from 35% to 45%.

FYI NOCO chargers suffer from early charge termination, I do not recommend them. If you want to reach 100% SoC you will need a 13.6V power supply that outputs constant voltage.

 

[dtbaker61]

Hello LVB Pros,
i’ve been having some problems with my LBV and not being able to reach 100% an AGM
external charger only 98-99%. Because of that, it wouldn’t ever switch to maintenance mode, instead it would just switch off. Same with using the NoCo charger. after turning green light, It’d be 89%-92%. All times dropping quickly after disconnecting.
I recently had some door module replaced and My camera system module and front camera under warranty. When new door module was being programmed by FDRS another door module blew and had to be replaced. I had the battery checked at the same time and it was good. (pic) But shortly after I got it back, I started noticing big drops from the Ford dashboard reading going from 85% down to 55% the next day, sometimes after two days into deep sleep mode 36% (pic) less than 24hrs. I have the charging holes in the front panels, so when home II hooked up an AGM charger to bring it up to hundred percent. Behold, the same depleting continues.

I brought it into another dealer last week for my one year convenience check (renews Ford Assit) and my first MOT. I asked tech to check the battery which they said they had run it on up to 3 hour evaluation..
My 12v battery. was replaced. now it seems the new battery is doing the same thing. They’ve had it in the shop a week now because the drop continues. last night I saw it on 87% this morning it was 55%.
There’s no dash cam or anything hooked up to it. . The HVB kicks in to bring it up to 87% at some point.

Any thoughts what could be causing that battery drain when car is just sitting?

Sounds to me like your vehicle may not be sleeping well. Try turning off Bluetooth on your phone and force stop Ford pass when you are home just to see if it makes a difference in overnight loss.

The easiest way I have found to charge to 100% is simply to turn your car on, disable auto off setting, and leave the car on overnight. This really only *should* be done maybe every other month or so. Most of the time the 12v battery voltage varies significantly and does not need to hit 100% every day. The LV should ask for charge if needed.... you really don't need to worry about it too much as long as it hangs out between 12.5-12.8 most of the time when sleeping.

 

[Jerrytball]

Sounds to me like your vehicle may not be sleeping well. Try turning off Bluetooth on your phone and force stop Ford pass when you are home just to see if it makes a difference in overnight loss. The easiest way I have found to charge to 100% is simply to turn your car on, disable auto off setting, and leave the car on overnight.

I was tired of AT&T bugging me so I was gonna go trade my phone in yesterday, but the guy said just wait two months for the 16 to come out. Before that I disabled phone as a key and I haven’t turned it back on even though I kept my phone because every night I’m sitting here the car just turns on and off all night long so I just keep the keys in the kitchen

 

[dtbaker61]

I was tired of AT&T bugging me so I was gonna go trade my phone in yesterday, but the guy said just wait two months for the 16 to come out. Before that I disabled phone as a key and I haven’t turned it back on even though I kept my phone because every night I’m sitting here the car just turns on and off all night long so I just keep the keys in the kitchen

How exactly did you 'disable PAAK' ?

- Did you 'force stop' the FordPass App ?
- Do you turn Bluetooth OFF on your phone when you are home ?
- How far is it from kitchen where you hang your Fob to car?

 

[James III]

Hi,
firstly, I want to say thank you to everyone for your comments and suggestions . I just got off the phone with the head ev tech at the dealer. . I’m in the UK and we don’t have PAAK,
FordPass is set up for location as only one when using the app.
I’ve not had a problem with this much drain before.
Tech confirmed the drain is high now. After I said it went from 89% last night to 41% by noon today. he got to it about 2 pm and it was sitting at 51% so something was happening. He said he was not aware of HVB topping up LBV, unless car is ON (?) But I thought there was some maintenance that happened there automatically unless they had gone into a deep sleep.
i’ve checked MLee’s brilliant checklist . I don’t have anything connected and there’s not a SRM on battery drain. He said he’s going to start checking the fuses to see what might be draining. He had already updated the PCM & BCM modules and replace the headlight switch as it’s a 21build1. So we’ll see tomorrow what happens and they asked me not to be checking the SOC. (understandable) ?

Regarding charging, I don’t use the NOCO anymore, but have a CTEK MXS 5.0 UK and use AGM mode, But haven’t on this new battery that’s just been put in at the dealer. On the previous battery when it showed full, SOC was 98%. I tried the Recond mode, & that took it to 100%. but quickly drained after disconnecting at the same rate. The battery was three years old, so I took it to the dealer, they checked it and replace it and that’s where I am now, with the same drain going on Without an explanation for it yet.

 

[Jerrytball]

How exactly did you 'disable PAAK' ?

- Did you 'force stop' the FordPass App ?
- Do you turn Bluetooth OFF on your phone when you are home ?
- How far is it from kitchen where you hang your Fob to car?

I went into the FordPass app where I guess it was the settings area and just wear phone as a key shows up and since I’m only done it one time I thought it said disable or delete, anyways I got rid of it and now that I got the keys at least 35,40 feet from the car. I don’t see it coming on at night anymore, I didn’t disable FordPass or turn off Bluetooth just moving the keys further way did it. Sorry I was not as precise as you’d like but pretty much just went into the FordPass app and got rid of phone as a key.

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