Battery balancing service?

[ack154]

Ford sells an EV module rebalancing kit. Looks like it's a rebadged version of this thing from Midtronics. And here's the manual for it. It explains how to balance a module, but not why to do it.

That HAS to be what they're using then. That would at least make some sense that it's an "official" piece of equipment and does have an actual purpose.

But my very first question would still be "OK, but do I actually need this and how can you tell?"... because it's definitely not part of the actual maintenance schedule.

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[elmedico27]

I never change the air in my tires based on mileage. doing it seasonally is more important - winter air is different from summer air - just like gasoline blends.

I pay for the spring mountain air shipped in via freighter from the Andes. It costs a bit more but really gives me peace of mind (and 3 extra miles of range)!

 

[Maquis]

That HAS to be what they're using then. That would at least make some sense that it's an "official" piece of equipment and does have an actual purpose.

But my very first question would still be "OK, but do I actually need this and how can you tell?"... because it's definitely not part of the actual maintenance schedule.

It should only be required if one of the battery modules were to be replaced. I don’t think that’s even possible on the Mach-E (unlike the Lightning).

 

[hedgehog99]

@Ford Motor Company knows of these issues. Some years back, they sent a letter to all dealers requesting they stop recommending services not specified in the Maintenance Schedule. I have a copy of the letter. Useless. These are independent franchisees, Ford cannot stop their behavior.

Ford provides the maintenance schedule in the manual (in vehicle, in FordPass, at owner.Ford.com), and the maintenance schedule is also in FordPass. Unfortunately, a significant number of owners never look at it and get taken by dealerships.

Do people actually service their MME at non-dealer shops? As a car noob, I usually take my new ICE cars to the dealership. I only stopped doing that for my Toyota after 10 years. Of course I never did anything for my Tesla and only learned about the tire wear at lease end. Do the dealers have a monopoly on the new EVs?

 

[RickMachE]

Do people actually service their MME at non-dealer shops? As a car noob, I usually take my new ICE cars to the dealership. I only stopped doing that for my Toyota after 10 years. Of course I never did anything for my Tesla and only learned about the tire wear at lease end. Do the dealers have a monopoly on the new EVs?

Ford dealers are independent franchisees.

 

[SpeedRacer72]

I took my car in for a check up in 2022 because I had 35,000 miles and I wanted to have them check everything before the warranty expired.
He punched the VIN into the computer and a screen popped up showing the available services.
The service advisor told me that for " a 36,000 mile service we recommend a fuel injector cleaning and a throttle body cleaning"
I told him it is an EV and it does not have fuel injectors or a throttle body.
He said "are you sure?"

I had only had the car for a year, I knew there were going to be growing pains with a new model car, but I never imagined it would be this bad.

 

[TD1273]

I just dropped off my 2021 GTPE with 27000 miles off for the charge cord recall. They recommended a battery balancing service as recommended maintenance. Can someone tell me what that is and do I need it?
Thanks

equalizing the voltages and state of charge among the cells when they are at a full charge. No two cells are identical

 

[RXDOC]

So, wait, I shouldn’t have paid for blinker light fluid replacement?

 

[azerik]

FOMOco Blinker fluid only. That Imported crap breaks down the dilithium crystals too fast and they start blinking out of sequence. It also should really only be balanced at sea level. You don't want one side of the car leaning.
The dealer that's currently sitting on my MME gave me a story of how when they went to 'balance the pack' in my FFE that's when all hell broke loose and they had to order another battery to replace the one they just replaced. Hope they don't try that with my MME.
Now don't get me started on all season air filters....

 

[Luke]

FOMOco Blinker fluid only. That Imported crap breaks down the dilithium crystals too fast and they start blinking out of sequence. It also should really only be balanced at sea level. You don't want one side of the car leaning.
The dealer that's currently sitting on my MME gave me a story of how when they went to 'balance the pack' in my FFE that's when all hell broke loose and they had to order another battery to replace the one they just replaced. Hope they don't try that with my MME.
Now don't get me started on all season air filters....

Since you are going with dilithium crystals, I can say I do prefer Kyber Crystal. Or may wait until they improve the spore drive.

 

[markboris]

In case anyone is interested in the service procedure for using the battery balancer after replacing one of the battery modules. This is from the Mach-E repair manual.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

So here’s the opposite example: I’m doing my hvbjb recall work two months ago and ask the service guy to do the 10k mile service. I only asked him not to rotate tires cause I had just installed winters recently. He says: well that’s all there is to do on this vehicle. I counter (with my best imagined Rick impersonation): no! Read the manual. There are plenty of visual checks to do. Oh, we don’t do those, we give it a “quick glance”. Ok, buddy, please have your guy do his quick glance, but fill in the checklist for me? Of course he didn’t do shit. And I got no checklist.

Fast forward two months. FordPass gives me an alert that I’m now 500 miles away from 10k and need to do maintenance. I ignore. Then the diligent woman at the same dealer calls and emails with the same info.

So you are stuck with idiot service people and well meaning auto company and clerical staff trying to do opposite things. How do you solve this dilemma?

 

[RickMachE]

So here’s the opposite example: I’m doing my hvbjb recall work two months ago and ask the service guy to do the 10k mile service. I only asked him not to rotate tires cause I had just installed winters recently. He says: well that’s all there is to do on this vehicle. I counter (with my best imagined Rick impersonation): no! Read the manual. There are plenty of visual checks to do. Oh, we don’t do those, we give it a “quick glance”. Ok, buddy, please have your guy do his quick glance, but fill in the checklist for me? Of course he didn’t do shit. And I got no checklist.

Fast forward two months. FordPass gives me an alert that I’m now 500 miles away from 10k and need to do maintenance. I ignore. Then the diligent woman at the same dealer calls and emails with the same info.

So you are stuck with idiot service people and well meaning auto company and clerical staff trying to do opposite things. How do you solve this dilemma?

Call the GM.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Ford sells an EV module rebalancing kit. Looks like it's a rebadged version of this thing from Midtronics. And here's the manual for it. It explains how to balance a module, but not why to do it.

That’s only used for battery cell module replacement. It involves dropping the pack, opening the battery, and hooking up to the new cell module on the bench. That is not a routine service, only when required by warranty to replace failed modules.

Again, this was a bogus service the dealer just made up to make more money by scamming customers. Your pack automatically balances itself, no action is required. It’s in the same category as a blinker fluid service.

 

[azerik]

I’d like the spring nitrogen for $500 please.

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