[Jgleadle]

i recently (2019-07-15) purchased a 2018 Lariat, i have done some Forscan mods and installed a Blackvue dash cam.. during both these endeavours i have run into battery cutoff's which resulted in my having to throw a smart charger on the truck.

The camera monitors while parked and has a battery minder which turns off the system at 12.2v which is 40% charged. After charging the battery to 12.68v which os roughly 100% i can get a day before it depletes the battery to 12.2v and this thing pulls no amperage at all.

I think my battery probably froze on the lot as here in Alberta it gets dam cold, it sat for 12 months before i purchased it.. ( 12 months and here it gets to -40C for weeks at a time) I think it is in need of a replacement.

does anyone have experience getting a battery replaced ?

 

[wreedsvt]

Another member in the 3.0 facebook group just had his done, Ford tested it, showed bad, he was in and out in 30 minutes.

 

[Dijit]

Jgleadle, I don’t think the stuff you installed has anything to do with your issues. I’ve got a 2018 with no problems until about 2 months ago. I haven’t change one thing. It never went into save batt mode and I have trickle charged it many times. Just took it in and the dealership called and said they couldn’t find anything wrong with the charging system. Don’t think they looked for a parasite. They’re keeping it over nite to see how it acts in the morning. I’ve done some research and this battery appears to be new and there’s other complaints. I noticed right before they called, my app said that my truck went into save batt mode. It’s only supposed to do that after you’ve parked for a couple of weeks. I AM NOT taking it home until they change something. I have found a way to get it to crank if you’re in a bind (I was at the airport). Tap each battery post with a wrench (hard enough that you don’t cause damage). I’ve used this method twice. The battery does take a charge and it lasts about a week and then I have to do it again.

 

[Dijit]

Just called and my battery has one bad cell. These batteries must be moonrocks because they’re waiting on one.

 

[Dunrollin]

I looked at my battery and they are big monsters. They seem to retail for about $200 at the parts stores. I guess this is a compromise between one large battery and two smaller ones

 

[wreedsvt]

Its also huge to support the auto stop start system.

 

[Kingford]

I had an interesting thing happen to me yesterday evening that brought me to this thread. I had parked my truck for about a week, which is somewhat common for me. Jumped in, tried to start it and *thunk* the starter barely moved and the dash went blank. Umm, ok, tried again and *thunk thunk* got a little more life out of the starter but same result. Foot off the pedal I tried just turning on the accessories and the dash lit up with tons of warnings, clearly there were many systems not getting the power they needed to function. Not sure what to do I put my foot on the brake and tried starting again *thunk thunk thunk* then blank. each successive attempt got a little more oomph from the motor and on the 6th or so attempt the battery had "woken up" enough for my truck to start. I drove it 2 hours that night as planned and no issues. The first 1.5 hours were highway and after that I stopped and started the vehicle twice without issue.

Anyone else had this happen to them? I haven't put my multimeter to the battery yet but everything feels like a bad battery which is discouraging given that I've had my truck for ~3200 miles and 3 months. A few details to mention: I have gotten around 30 "deep sleep activated" messages on my ford pass app since taking ownership of the truck. I had assumed that was normal, but after a search I don't believe it is normal at all. It is a 2018 so this truck sat on a lot in Atlanta for almost a year before I bought it and accumulated ~350 miles and 15 hours of idling time in the dealer's hands. An internet search didn't bring up anyone with these exact symptoms but others that have had many "deep sleep" app messages reported a bad battery. I did find one forum post where a dude mentioned his truck sat for a while before he bought and that killed a cell in his battery. Not sure if that is the case here. Oh, and the running boards haven't extended since the issue and other small things were off .. settings lost I guess?

I'll be calling my dealer soon and discussing with them but I'm a little discouraged. Hopefully it's just the battery and a quick warranty issue but still, never fun to get in your brand new truck and it not start on you. I'm shocked it started at all though, if it were a bad battery why would it "wake up" and start after a little prodding? I'll keep the forum updated when I learn more.

 

[Dunrollin]

Hope you get it resolved soon. I have had zero electric issues so nothing of value to contribute.

 

[jmperlik]

@Kingford - I'm going to guess that you have one or more bad cells in your battery due to the truck sitting for more than a year before you purchased it, and now your light usage. I know that the truck will send you the "deep sleep" warnings, but the number of warnings you are getting is excessive and indicative of a larger issue. This is the time of year when the overnight temps start to drop and a weak battery starts to rear its weaknesses and fail.

I would bring it into your dealer and ask for a battery test = I bet they find a dead cell. I would push for a new battery under warranty based on what you have explained.

 

[jamanrr]

I had a strahgevthing happen a few weeks ago when it got into the jid tomlow 30s overnight. The entertainment system screen wentbblack and stayed off for a while and then through 2 or 3 start cycles it mystersly started working again.

 

[Kingford]

Just got back from the dealer. It was I ndeed a bad battery. It took too long for the dealer to go through the process but I was happy to be patient and all was handled without issue. One detail to mention: our 3.0 diesels take a different battery than the other F150s. Not exactly sure how it’s different but it is. Not surprising as I imagine the starter needs more umph to get going. I also asked the service rep if sitting on the lot was the culprit and he said it was likely although in his experience that’s not common. Apparently sales reps will go out on the lot and start cars once a week and let them idle to keep the battery in check. Anyways, glad it was an easy fix and happy to have it done and behind me.

 

[jmperlik]

@Kingford - glad to hear your dealer got this problem resolved easily for you.

I know from all the diesel tractors I own, that diesel engines require a larger battery (compared to gas engine) with higher CCA (Cold Cracking Amps) to
a.) Heat the glow plugs and
b.) Turn over an engine that has a significantly higher compression ratio (compared to a gas engine)

Diesel engines have no spark plugs and depend up heat and the higher compression to ignite/combust the fuel within the cylinder.
As @wreedsvt also mentioned, I would not be surprised if the battery was even more oversized due the beloved Auto Start-Stop feature (which I have disabled via FORSCAN)

A good dealership will start the cars once a week to keep the batteries charged, but I see a lot of battery jumping boxes near the entrances to the car dealerships around here to jump those cars who aren't getting that type of tendering....

Thanks for the follow-up here on the forums, as this info (especially at this time of year) will be helpful to other new F150 PS Diesel owners.

 

[Dijit]

@Kingford. Sounds familiar. Mine was acting the same way. I could hit the battery with a tool and it would start. Mine had a bad cell, free replacement.

 

[Kingford]

Thanks for all the helpful info @Dijit and @jmperlik. In hindsight my battery was "bad" basically from the dealer and there were other signs I should have paid more attention to. I now realize my auto stop-start would rarely kick on with a bad battery and if left in ACC mode (electrics on, engine off) for more than 5 minutes, it wanted to shut off everything off. Once while messing with forscan in the driveway I had to start and run the truck for a while to charge it back up when everything shut off! Hindsight is always 20/20 I guess ..

Anyways, glad Ford was easy to deal with and the replacement process involved nothing more than waiting on my part!