Is 12V battery covered until warranty? What's a healthy voltage?

[UsernameChecksOut]

I've been gettin more 12V battery fault messages with "Plug in to maintain 12V battery" messages on FordPass. I suspect this combined with more frequent "going to sleep" modes appearing on the Sync center console indicate an unhealthy 12V battery.

Popped my hood, annoyingly removed all the cover panels and checked the voltage on a multimeter. It shows 12.15V, which typically is indicative of an unhealthy battery on an ICE/lead acid battery.

Will be setting up a service visit, but was wondering ahead of time if this is covered under warranty. My Mach-E is just 1.5 years old and has never gone had any complete battery drains or power system failures, so an early death of the 12V battery seems premature to me.

Thoughts? Thanks!

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[Mach-Lee]

Put a 4 amp or larger battery charger on the battery for a day and disable welcome lighting.

If you drive less than 20 miles per week this can happen. Cold makes it worse.

 

[UsernameChecksOut]

I drive about 20 miles a day... and plug in to my level-2 charger every night up to 85%.

 

[Mach-Lee]

I drive about 20 miles a day... and plug in to my level-2 charger every night up to 85%.

Any dashcams or things wired in that stay on?

 

[generaltso]

Did you let the car go to sleep before checking the battery voltage? If not, it won’t be accurate.

 

[BMT1071]

I've been gettin more 12V battery fault messages with "Plug in to maintain 12V battery" messages on FordPass. I suspect this combined with more frequent "going to sleep" modes appearing on the Sync center console indicate an unhealthy 12V battery.

Popped my hood, annoyingly removed all the cover panels and checked the voltage on a multimeter. It shows 12.15V, which typically is indicative of an unhealthy battery on an ICE/lead acid battery.

Will be setting up a service visit, but was wondering ahead of time if this is covered under warranty. My Mach-E is just 1.5 years old and has never gone had any complete battery drains or power system failures, so an early death of the 12V battery seems premature to me.

Thoughts? Thanks!

You could try this BMS reset prior to your next drive.
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/priority-update-23-pu0314-dcm-lat.28818/post-657201

 

[Mach-Lee]

You could try this BMS reset prior to your next drive.
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/priority-update-23-pu0314-dcm-lat.28818/post-657201

Do not reset the BMS unless the battery is verified to be mostly charged (or it’s on a battery charger that will be allowed to finish). Resetting the BMS with a low battery can cause the battery to die and the car may shut down unexpectedly.

 

[Panzer948]

I just started to get this message too after the car set a week at an airport (uncharged) the 1st week of Oct. However I do have a dash cam with parking mode which is set to cut off after dropping a certain voltage (I need to recheck amount). Anyway this has been installed for 10 of the 11 months I have owned the car so not sure why I am starting to get this now. Will follow this post for more thoughts.

 

[Triggerhappy007]

I just started to get this message too after the car set a week at an airport (uncharged) the 1st week of Oct. However I do have a dash cam with parking mode which is set to cut off after dropping a certain voltage (I need to recheck amount). Anyway this has been installed for 10 of the 11 months I have owned the car so not sure why I am starting to get this now. Will follow this post for more thoughts.

Because 12V batteries wear down over time. Since you have a device that wears on that 12V battery more than normal, your 12V battery will not last as long. I live in TX and 12V batteries don't last long for me, 1-3 years on average.

 

[Teslaeata]

Using an OBD and good App enables voltage checking without stripping out all the froot/frunk trim.

HV batter should charge 12v battery even when car is off & parked. If not doesn’t it sounds like the 12v battery needs changing if the DC/DC charger is working.

It’s a matter of going back to basics, does the car’s charging system work? are all connections good? if yes then probably battery, but a battery needs fully charging and properly testing with a bit of professional kit

As for healthy charge, mine’s 28 mths @ 68,000 miles old and the App reads……….

 

[UsernameChecksOut]

Thanks for the suggestions!! And you reminded me that I had one of these Bluetooth OBDII readers sitting around.

Here are a couple of sample readings:

When not actively charging/not plugged in and vehicle off, I get this set of readings.

When plugged in and actively charging I get this:

I suspect the first image showing 12.4v is more relevant. Is 12.4 concerning? When I search Google for healthy battery voltage it says I should be getting 12.6v from a healthy battery…

 

[Mach-Lee]

Thanks for the suggestions!! And you reminded me that I had one of these Bluetooth OBDII readers sitting around.

Here are a couple of sample readings:

When not actively charging/not plugged in and vehicle off, I get this set of readings.

When plugged in and actively charging I get this:

I suspect the first image showing 12.4v is more relevant. Is 12.4 concerning? When I search Google for healthy battery voltage it says I should be getting 12.6v from a healthy battery…

What did the 12V SoC % parameter say? You have to go by that instead of just voltage. When the car is off and you're pulling OBD data the modules are still awake and drawing power, so it's normal for the voltage to be down close to 12.0V because there's still a big load on the battery.

12V SoC is typically 70-90% in a car that is used regularly.

If you want to measure the true resting voltage, you have to shut the car off with the hood open, don't touch anything or wake it up for 30 minutes, after which you can then measure the resting voltage with a multimeter. If your key or phone is nearby it will wake up the car and that test is invalid.

 

[Panzer948]

Because 12V batteries wear down over time. Since you have a device that wears on that 12V battery more than normal, your 12V battery will not last as long. I live in TX and 12V batteries don't last long for me, 1-3 years on average.

Well, I own two other cars, another Ford (2021 Bronco) and a BMW (2015 M4) both with their original batteries with dashcam setups that draw from the battery when off to use parking mode. These are high-end dashcams that cut off the voltage once it dips down a certain level. You would think the Mach E with its robust battery system could handle a little aftermarket draw over the others. Matter of fact, the only reason I installed this dashcam in the Mach E was based on the excellent experience I have had with them in the "other" cars.

 

[generaltso]

Well, I own two other cars, another Ford (2021 Bronco) and a BMW (2015 M4) both with their original batteries with dashcam setups that draw from the battery when off to use parking mode. These are high-end dashcams that cut off the voltage once it dips down a certain level. You would think the Mach E with its robust battery system could handle a little aftermarket draw over the others. Matter of fact, the only reason I installed this dashcam in the Mach E was based on the excellent experience I have had with them in the "other" cars.

I‘d be willing to bet those ICE cars have much bigger 12V batteries.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Well, I own two other cars, another Ford (2021 Bronco) and a BMW (2015 M4) both with their original batteries with dashcam setups that draw from the battery when off to use parking mode. These are high-end dashcams that cut off the voltage once it dips down a certain level. You would think the Mach E with its robust battery system could handle a little aftermarket draw over the others. Matter of fact, the only reason I installed this dashcam in the Mach E was based on the excellent experience I have had with them in the "other" cars.

The Mach-E battery is much smaller than a regular car battery, so if you have a dascham running off it, it means it will be drained faster, spend more time at a lower state of charge, and will have to be recharged more often. These factors and extra "cycles" are what cause the battery to wear out faster. So running a dashcam off the Mach-E battery will probably cut the lifespan of the battery in half.

In short, people that run dashcams should understand they are causing accelerated aging of the 12V battery and it will probably go bad in only a couple years. And Ford may rightfully deny warranty coverage on the battery if you have an always-on dashcam wired in.

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