[mascrappo]

Hi all.

I have a technical question regarding my 2018 battery. I park it the same place every time, hence the tires settle into their respective places. I drove the truck last Saturday without issue. I went to drive last night and no electrical power, at all, absolutely nothing. Living in the rural sticks I feared rat chewing wire damage. I decided to take the battery to my local NAPA and it tested 4V. Bought new battery, being the original is now 4-5 years old, depending on when it was made. Installed, everything back to normal, except message on display said transmission not in park and it wasn't.

Strange question for techs, could me leaving it in neutral have killed the battery? Of course I turned engine off last Saturday, but didn't put it in park. I realize it was probably due a new battery, due to age, but any of you have thoughts on my neutral transmission question?

 

[Dunrollin]

Any stored codes or a malfunction light? I doubt the neutral did it but to leave it in neutral (with a key ignition) you can't remove the key, but yours is a push button start, isn't it?

I know low batteries cause strange gremlins to happen. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along to assist.

 

[mascrappo]

Any stored codes or a malfunction light? I doubt the neutral did it but to leave it in neutral (with a key ignition) you can't remove the key, but yours is a push button start, isn't it?

I know low batteries cause strange gremlins to happen. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along to assist.

No codes etc and yes, it is push button. I am just curious if computer needs the shift lever to be in park to shut down completely? To have a battery die so quickly and completely it was like something was left "on".

 

[Dijit]

I doubt this caused your issue. I’ve worked with batteries when I worked at the FAA and they are a mystery at times. 4 to 5 years is a win win. I’ve seen newly installed batteries quit. That’s why the FAA had battery monitors developed to give techs a heads up on weak batteries. I have a 2018 as well and my battery quit after a year. After struggling with it for a few weeks, it measured 9 volts so I had a cell or two that checked out early. It was under warranty so I got a new one free. Unless your truck was making all kinds of noise and appeared to NOT shut off, don’t think that’s the reason for the failure.

 

[mascrappo]

I doubt this caused your issue. I’ve worked with batteries when I worked at the FAA and they are a mystery at times. 4 to 5 years is a win win. I’ve seen newly installed batteries quit. That’s why the FAA had battery monitors developed to give techs a heads up on weak batteries. I have a 2018 as well and my battery quit after a year. After struggling with it for a few weeks, it measured 9 volts so I had a cell or two that checked out early. It was under warranty so I got a new one free. Unless your truck was making all kinds of noise and appeared to NOT shut off, don’t think that’s the reason for the failure.

Thanks, I was mainly curious and I will chalk it up to just a coincidence. The most expensive battery I've ever bought, ouch!

 

[Dijit]

@mascrappo, these batteries are a diff animal. I worked at an auto parts store when I was going to college and the max cold cranking amps in our store was around 400. These are like two in one. It says a lot that my degraded battery could still start my 3.0 diesel.

 

[PeteK]

Did you try to recharge the battery? If you did, and it still only showed 4V, then the battery failed. 4-5 years is about the life of a battery. So you didn’t lose any money by replacing it now.

The computers may have “remembered” that you last left it in neutral when shutting off. Try turning it off when in neutral again. Then restart it, put it in Park and turn it off. Try several more start/stop cycles and see if the message clears itself.

 

[beaker]

Presumably to leave the vehicle in neutral, the key has to be in the ignition. Per the owner's manual:

0 (off) - The ignition is off.
Note:When you switch the ignition off and
leave your vehicle, do not leave your key in
the ignition. This could cause your vehicle
battery to lose charge.
I (accessory) - Allows the electrical
accessories, such as the radio, to operate
while the engine is not running.
Note: Do not leave the ignition key in this
position for too long. This could cause your
vehicle battery to lose charge.
II (on) - All electrical circuits are
operational and the warning lamps and
indicators illuminate.
III (start) - Cranks the engine.

 

[mascrappo]

My truck was made in 2017, sold as an 18 of course, so battery was at end of 5 year life anyways. But as beaker wrote, despite mine being keyless, and I did push the stop button, if somehow the computer knows it's not in park and doesn't quite fully shutdown. That was my question, and will likely remain a mystery. Coincidence or not, I will make sure it's in park from now on!

P. S. When I installed the new battery I put it in park and neutral message cleared, but I had to reconfigure my gauges (they went to factory default) and reset the radio settings as it went to default settings as well, strange indeed.

 

[cheetah4570]

Thinking about replacing my 2018 battery now. Did you remove yours and let the truck go dead, or did you try to keep 12 volts on the cables? I did this with a battery charger when I changed the batter on my 2017 VW Golf, and it worked. No problems.

 

[mascrappo]

Thinking about replacing my 2018 battery now. Did you remove yours and let the truck go dead, or did you try to keep 12 volts on the cables? I did this with a battery charger when I changed the batter on my 2017 VW Golf, and it worked. No problems.

I think it was time to replace. As fast as it went down, I know now I'm glad it happened in the carport. I use the truck mainly on 200 mile+ trips and am thankful it didn't happen on one of them. Answer to your question, I think it would last for several hours without a battery. Mine was a week dead, I assume, hence the reset on some of the systems. Your VW way sounds like a good thing, but I don't think it's warranted if you decide to replace the battery (before it unknowningly dies suddenly).

 

[cheetah4570]

I think it was time to replace. As fast as it went down, I know now I'm glad it happened in the carport. I use the truck mainly on 200 mile+ trips and am thankful it didn't happen on one of them. Answer to your question, I think it would last for several hours without a battery. Mine was a week dead, I assume, hence the reset on some of the systems. Your VW way sounds like a good thing, but I don't think it's warranted if you decide to replace the battery (before it unknowningly dies suddenly).

Good scoop, thanks! VW dealer said car would need to be reprogrammed after battery change. Stealerships.

 

[beaker]

Reprogramming a chargine system after battery replacement varies by manufacturer. Again, out of the owner's manual for a 2019 F-150:

After battery replacement, or in some
cases after charging the battery with an
external charger, the battery management
system requires eight hours of vehicle sleep
time to relearn the battery state of charge.
During this time your vehicle must remain
fully locked with the ignition switched off.
Note: Prior to relearning the battery state
of charge, the battery management system
may temporarily disable some electrical
systems.

You can "reset" the battery management system (BMS) with Forscan (or without Forscan using certain sequences of light flashing and accelerator pedal pumps), but my understanding is that Ford programmed it so that if you do not reset, the BMS will eventually figure it out after around 3 weeks of operation with a new battery. If you change battery type (flooded -> AGM, or different size), you may have to code that in. If you want to get into the weeds, there is a guy that goes by stormsearch on the f150forum that seems to be an engineer involved with F-150 charging systems.

This is not a VW site so I don't want to go too far iinto the weeds, but that Volkswagen dealer was correct and the a new battery should be reprogrammed. Here is a video for an Audi (glorified Volkswagen) on a battery change. If it's too long, you can skip to the last 60 seconds regarding why reprogramming might be useful in a Volkswagen/Audi. Their BMS may have adaptive learning like Ford, but that would be for another forum / time.

 

[Dijit]

Thinking about replacing my 2018 battery now. Did you remove yours and let the truck go dead, or did you try to keep 12 volts on the cables? I did this with a battery charger when I changed the batter on my 2017 VW Golf, and it worked. No problems.

This is just my opinion, I’d suggest taking the battery as far as it can go within reason. I’ve had a battery last 6 years and I’ve had at least 3 last 2 years. At the end, they all exhibited strange behavior, ie, hard start, loss of radio memory to name a few. But if you’re taking a trip or have a long commute, it may be smart to change it out. And don’t forget to try gently/firmly hitting the terminals if you can’t get your truck started and you’re “out” somewhere (the flashlight trick!). This worked for me on one of my dying batteries.

 

[PeteK]

If you can get a vehicle to start by tapping firmly on the battery terminals, that suggests you have a bad connection at the terminal, probably due to corrosion. You should listen the terminal bolt, twist/wiggle the connection, then tighten it back up. I can’t guarantee that will fix your battery issue, but it’s a good bet.

 

[Dijit]

If you can get a vehicle to start by tapping firmly on the battery terminals, that suggests you have a bad connection at the terminal, probably due to corrosion. You should listen the terminal bolt, twist/wiggle the connection, then tighten it back up. I can’t guarantee that will fix your battery issue, but it’s a good bet.

Good guess @PeteK but my terminals were dry and tight. No corrosion. Being an electrical Engineer, we covered this in a class a long long long long time ago. You could also hit the body of the battery but you run the risk of cracking it. Try it the next time you have any battery that’s about toast. What do you have to lose? This could really help you out in a pinch. I will say that this worked on 1 of my bad batteries. Tried it on another and it did not work.