12-volt battery died; Ford "working on a patch"

[JTCalif]

Leaving my Focus connected to 240 v. charger for 2 days (fully charged) did Not bother it.
(Still have original 3.1.3 software. Nothing has been modified.)
It appears that relays (in the spx charger and in the car?) disconnect the power when it's full.
Any drain on the system (like turning a light on) restarts the charger.

"12V" outlet in center console turns off after a little while (few minutes?) after car is shut off,
and it comes back on if I do anything, like open a door.
I guess the USB outlets go off / on at the same times.

 

[JFS]

Mine is dying again--third time, or maybe 4th--and Ford is unable to send a tow truck to jump me, despite the fact that it's a 12 volt battery problem, because the system insists that any Focus Electric needing a "jump" instead by towed to the dealership.

It's 11:30 PM. I have an 8 AM appointment tomorrow morning, across town.

I will end up having to take a taxi (or 2 hours worth of buses), and get the car towed in at some later date, even though it isn't even fully dead yet--just sluggish (like every other time the 12 Volt died) and giving warning signals to my phone about "poor battery performance."

Alternatively, I can take it on the freeway, and see whether "stop safely now" happens while I'm on the freeway, and if so, sue the pants off Ford. If I didn't also have to put my safety and the safety of others on the line, I'd be tempted.

Or, having wasted half an hour with Ford service, I can now start waiting for AAA (at least I didn't give up my AAA membership, under the misguided assumption that Ford service would actually, y'know, provide the needed service.)

What a cluster. Sorry, but with less than 5000 miles and less than a year on the car (a 2013), I've had it in the shop for about a month total, following multiple "stop safely now" incidents and dead 12 volt batteries. My dealership is lovely, as was the one where I bought the car (Day Ford Monroeville PA and Parma Heights OH, respectively, and a shout out to both of you for the good care). The big battery and the drive train itself, I still really love. But I am past the limit with all the Microsoftery and malfunctions in what should be the basic, non-exciting part of the electrical system. This is way worse than my lemon of a Kia Sephia from the 90's, at three times the price.

But reading this thread... wait... you mean maybe all of this is because of the thumb drive with my music on it? I leave the datastick plugged in because it took the system about 40 tries, and 3 weeks, to catalog my songs, instead of giving me error messages. If I lose my tunes, I might get an actual, functional car? Worth a try...

 

[unplugged]

you mean maybe all of this is because of the thumb drive with my music on it? I leave the datastick plugged in because it took the system about 40 tries, and 3 weeks, to catalog my songs, instead of giving me error messages. If I lose my tunes, I might get an actual, functional car? Worth a try...

Where did you get the idea that a thumb drive/USB stick sucks any power, let alone has any effect on the battery? I think it has been pretty well dismissed that leaving any accessory plugged in to the USB port will drain the battery enough because the drain is shut off 10 minutes or so after the car shuts down. But that is for a cell phone or music player, not a thumb drive. It that were the case, we would have a lot more people with drained batteries.

Even if a cell phone could affect the battery, a USB stick uses zero power (or at least it is so negligible as to be impossible to measure). It is just a embedded memory device.

 

[WattsUp]

a USB stick uses zero power (or at least it is so negligible as to be impossible to measure). It is just a embedded memory device.

I've had a USB stick plugged in at all times since day one, no 12v troubles. And I too can verify that the USB ports power-down shortly after the car is turned off and closed up. However, they come back on as soon as you open any doors (and go back off shortly after closing up again).

 

[EVA]

JFS - Can't say you are having the exact same problem I did. On the surface there is a similarity - the 12V battery in my car died twice. It happened when I had the car plugged into 110V for two days fully charged. There was something wrong with the programming. My dealer applied a TSB 13-9-19 - discussed in this thread:
http://www.myfocuselectric.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1421&p=6922#p6922
I printed a copy of the bulletin for my dealer on the second trip in. The car is fine now. The first time they got the car, they checked the battery after jumping it, left the car in the lot for 2 days (unplugged) and the car started fine. Logically and normal, they figured I left something on in the car and everything was fine with the car. I got it home, plugged it in, and didn't drive it for 2 days, the 12V battery was dead. That's when I took in the TSB.

Ford Roadside Assistance - I had a major problem with the first towing company. I complained loudly to Ford Customer service by email, and then on the phone. They were super responsive and said that the first service is not what I should expect from Ford. The second service was stellar. In fact, I think I've gotten three or four phone calls about that first service.

I would recommend that you either call Ford Roadside and ask for a supervisor to describe what happened, or write them an email.

By the way, at least in the Chicago area, Ford uses the same pool of tow services as AAA.

 

[laguna_b]

I had the 12V problem when the car was left OFF charger while parked for a week.....now my problem is that I can never get the charge scheduler to operate correctly. It charges when IT wants which may be when I want or when I don't want. Ford has failed to get back to me from engineering for over 2 months in spite or repeated calls to them for help.

 

[TonySpice]

I had the 12V problem when the car was left OFF charger while parked for a week.....now my problem is that I can never get the charge scheduler to operate correctly. It charges when IT wants which may be when I want or when I don't want. Ford has failed to get back to me from engineering for over 2 months in spite or repeated calls to them for help.

Dealers were bemused by my car when I took it in for exact same problem. I asked him how a new fully charged battery goes flat in 24 hours ... he had no idea, I asked him to explain how it actually charges and he had no idea. I suspect the only training the dealers get on FFE is how to plug it into the L2 charger.

 

[Nal67]

Just went out to my car and it is dead, dead, dead. I was last used 1.5 days before, was fully charged and plugged in. I have left it plugged for several weeks while on vacation with no issues prior. No emails about dead batteries so not sure this is the issue but sounds likely. I've had ongoing problems with my car since January 2013 so this is just par for the course. I'm hoping Ford will buy back the car. I love the car but I have so many problems with it I can only assume it is a lemon. Been in the shop more than 30 days. Most pressing issues related to unreliable charging and now this just adds insult to injury.

 

[laguna_b]

Just went out to my car and it is dead, dead, dead. I was last used 1.5 days before, was fully charged and plugged in. I have left it plugged for several weeks while on vacation with no issues prior. No emails about dead batteries so not sure this is the issue but sounds likely. I've had ongoing problems with my car since January 2013 so this is just par for the course. I'm hoping Ford will buy back the car. I love the car but I have so many problems with it I can only assume it is a lemon. Been in the shop more than 30 days. Most pressing issues related to unreliable charging and now this just adds insult to injury.

I just got off the phone with Ford MySync over the issue of the charger not going on or off in the Value Charge profile. This has been a problem for a year and no resolution. I have had no other problems with the car other than charge related ones. I am curious what problems you have had that you mentioned. Like you I otherwise love the car.

 

[blownb310]

How about an update from everyone in this thread that has/had a problem? Did the car eventually get fixed or did Ford buy it back from you?

 

[blownb310]

I've got a Focus EV owner in my EV group with this problem and the dealer can't find the problem.

Can any one of you that got this issue solved, please tell us what it was?

 

[EVA]

I've got a Focus EV owner in my EV group with this problem and the dealer can't find the problem.

Can any one of you that got this issue solved, please tell us what it was?

I think there were multiple problems described in this thread - so not sure which one you are looking to answer.

I'll paste what I said a few posts up - my car has been fine since they applied the fix (have them print out the TSB when they go to the dealer - don't just give them the number):
JFS - Can't say you are having the exact same problem I did. On the surface there is a similarity - the 12V battery in my car died twice. It happened when I had the car plugged into 110V for two days fully charged. There was something wrong with the programming. My dealer applied a TSB 13-9-19 - discussed in this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1421&p=6922#p6922

 

[blownb310]

Thanks EVA. I'll suggest he joins this forum, but here's what he posted on our Facebook group page:

"Dead 2013 Ford Focus Electric: It's really disappointing to have to say that the Ford Focus Electric experience is turning south. The car was in the shop for 4 days last week and the dealer couldn't figure out why the 12V accessory battery was discharging, leaving the car un-drivable. Four days after getting the car back, the car is again un-drivable. Testing the battery yields 4.4V, which usually means irrecoverable. Previous time the car went in for this, they replaced the 12V battery. Ford techs can't find the problem and can't reproduce when the car's in the shop. I spoke to Ford Customer Relationship department and they have so far not been of any help."

 

[hybridbear]

Thanks EVA. I'll suggest he joins this forum, but here's what he posted on our Facebook group page:

"Dead 2013 Ford Focus Electric: It's really disappointing to have to say that the Ford Focus Electric experience is turning south. The car was in the shop for 4 days last week and the dealer couldn't figure out why the 12V accessory battery was discharging, leaving the car un-drivable. Four days after getting the car back, the car is again un-drivable. Testing the battery yields 4.4V, which usually means irrecoverable. Previous time the car went in for this, they replaced the 12V battery. Ford techs can't find the problem and can't reproduce when the car's in the shop. I spoke to Ford Customer Relationship department and they have so far not been of any help."

Is he leaving the car plugged in fully charged for days without driving it? Fusion/C-Max Energi owners have found that their cars charge the 12V battery while plugged in. However, once the HVB finishes charging the 12V battery also stops charging and it will not begin to charge again even if the car stays plugged in. The 12V battery could get so low to the point of being dead during this time but the car will not charge the 12V battery again until you unplug the EVSE and connect it again. Once that happens the car will charge the 12V again even if the HVB is full.

Unfortunately OBD scanners and apps like Torque don't seem to work with the FFE, but I imagine that it behaves similarly since Ford developed all these cars around the same time.

 

[NightHawk]

How about an update from everyone in this thread that has/had a problem? Did the car eventually get fixed or did Ford buy it back from you?

Yes please an update for us new owners like me that seem to have this same problem right now!

 

[Hocus Focus]

This happened to me on Thurs. Roadside assistance fixed it up.

 

[blownb310]

This happened to me on Thurs. Roadside assistance fixed it up.

Did they say what the root problem was or simply give you a jump?

 

[Hocus Focus]

Not sure of cause. It happened while I was out of town for a few days, but wife tells me it was driven a few times. She thought maybe she left something on that drained the batt, but after Ford roadside jumped it she checked and didn't find anything. I did receive a four alerts from the MFM about it spanning an hour. Wife shiwed me a pic of the touchscreen that said it was shutting down to preserve battery when it was discovered but no idea what happened. Last service was in May so not sure if it needs an update. This is the first "problem" I've had other than known software limitations wrt the charging times.

 

[NightHawk]

Did you ever get the TSB-13-9-19 performed at a Ford dealer?
That TSB may resolve that issue, since it notes one of the things its for is:
"LOW STATE OF CHARGE OF 12V battery"

 

[NightHawk]

OK I've been doing some testing for the past month on the 12v battery in my FFE since I experienced a mysterious drain that left the 12v battery low after the first week I owned my 2014 FFE. I might have left the car plugged into the L1 EVSE the night before.
After charging the 12v battery fully with an external Sears 12v battery charger, it held the charge fine without the plugin
HV battery charge cable plugged in for nearly a week without driving the car.

Its been fine since that time for nearly a month, but today after the car had been left plugged in overnight to my L2 EVSE for about 12 hours with the HV battery already near 100%, the 12v battery had been drained again to well under 11V.
My Sears external 12v battery charger read "0%" for its state of charge at that point.
I'm charging it fully again with the Sears charger right now.

On other occasions I could leave the car plugged into the L2 EVSE overnight without any 12v battery discharge if the car was initially needing a charge (initially <50% SOC on the HV battery) and I had a charge time set for 12am-4am: the car would charge up to 100% during that time and then go to sleep the rest of the night and even 12 hours later the 12V battery voltage was fine.

So far for me it appears the case of rapid discharge of the 12v battery happens only with the L1 or L2 EVSE plugged in overnight if the HV battery is already initially at or near 100% full charge. Last night I had left it plugged in so it would be ready for a scheduled GO time later today, but now I won't do that anymore if the HV battery is already fully charged.

Maybe getting the TSB-13-9-19 might fix this issue? Though I would have thought my 2014 FFE would have had all the previous TSBs in 2013 and earlier already performed, but maybe that one wasn't? Is there a way for the Ford Dealer to verify what previous TSBs have been done on the car at the factory and/or the dealer before?

I could try to get the dealer to swap the 12v battery for a new one, but that wouldn't stop whatever caused the discharge when the EVSE is left plugged in overnight with an already fully charged HV battery.