2017 FFE Normal battery degradation?

[Brocktoon]

It's through the dealership and you don't really have the option to initiate a warranty buy back - if the vehicle has a failure in a warrantied component, the dealership engages Ford. Ford themselves may CHOOSE to offer you a buy back, but that's entirely up to them.

I can't imagine how the compressor could fail in such a way that it would drop 50-75% of your range. It would need to consume so much energy it would catch on fire. I would see if you can get ahold of an OBD reader and run your own check in ForScan.

You may need a new compressor but I have a feeling they just stopped looking once they found an expensive problem.

Thank you. The dealership wasn’t looking for battery issues (this was when the mileage just started dropping, but I took the car in because the a/c had stopped working and that’s when they charged me $400 to diagnose that it was the compressor).

I did mention the drop in range to them then — at that point it was down to around 65 miles on a full charge — but got the standard “range drops over time are normal” line.

But only having 25 miles on a full charge weeks later is definitely not normal degradation.

It was my own guess that the compressor being out might have caused the battery to overheat and degrade. But I’m not a mechanic — I just play one on TV.

I declined to get the compressor replaced because the repair was $4000 and I knew that even if it had caused the battery degradation, it would not bring that range back.

In any event, I just contacted a different dealership and I am going to drop it off specifically for the battery issue. I’d rather get a buy back, but if they want to replace the battery well, okay — in that case I would get the compressor repaired and sell the vehicle.

I do have Forscan and an OBD device. The codes it threw were exactly the same as those Ford charged me $400 to provide two days later.

I’m not sure what else to look for in FORScan.

 

[vkdyer]

I’m not sure what else to look for in FORScan.

I don't remember exactly where it is, but somewhere you pick BECM (I think) from a dropdown and then you can pick something that shows the voltage on every cell in the battery. Bad cells will have a lower voltage than the rest.

You can also get the estimated kWh on a full charge from the sine wave button click. If you've only got 25 miles, that number should be in the 7-8 kWh range, which is way lower than it should be.

Either of those should show you're well under 80% battery threshold. Please keep us posted on how it goes.

 

[Brocktoon]

The compressor should have nothing to do with an overnight charge. It only kicks in when the battery needs it and only at level 2 and 3 charging. Use your included 110 charging cord if it doesn’t make it to at least 80 miles your battery has issues. Call Ford customer service and request a buyback. Ford dealership is stopping at you ac compressor is not working and will go no further. But if your battery isn’t charging then you have bigger issues. It should be giving you a yellow wrench? Do you know the codes? My guess would be a battery variance code… and do you have a different dealership near you? Some have better qualified ev techs then others….

Thanks for your help. My thought with the compressor was that if no cool air is blowing through my car, my battery might be overheating and being damaged. Doesn’t the same system that cools the cabin also cool the battery? That said, I haven’t received any warning lights.

As far as I know, my battery is fully charging. At least the bar on the dashboard display shows that it is completely full, but the range is only 25 miles on that full charge.

How can the dealership stop at the compressor if the battery is under warranty and I take it in to get the problems with the battery checked? In this circumstance can they get away with not even looking at the battery?

The dealership did not say the compressor was causing my degradation; that was my guess. I have not yet asked the dealership to try and figure out why I only get 25 miles on a full charge. That was my next step — I found a different dealership closer to me to take my vehicle to.

 

[Anti_Climax]

Yeah, if you set to all modules and search for "cell" you should get a list of every hybrid battery cell (I think 1-86?) which will show you their individual voltages. Likely under BECM.

 

[Anti_Climax]

It was my own guess that the compressor being out might have caused the battery to overheat and degrade. But I’m not a mechanic — I just play one on TV.

I declined to get the compressor replaced because the repair was $4000 and I knew that even if it had caused the battery degradation, it would not bring that range back.

I've had my compressor fail and, more importantly, I've had my coolant diverter fail in a way that completely prevented battery cooling until it was bypassed.

The cooling on these is INCREDIBLY conservative. They start chilling when the battery inlet temp hits 97F. I don't recall the exact numbers, but somewhere in the high 120s the car will literally refuse to run and throw a Stop Now Safely error. Between those two you'll see warnings of increasing severity and eventually a trigger of turtle mode.

So if you haven't seen those, your battery likely has not overheated. And, frankly, with the thresholds they enforce I can't see excursions to those temps causing a noticable degredation of capacity. It's not great, but they aren't THAT fragile.

As for the compressor I was quoted $2700 for the replacement part and was able to get them to give up some of their markup to get it for $2200. Not great by any means but I'm very curious to know what they are quoting in that price.