Bad Battery?

[MotoMike]

My '21 GT Premium is coming up on 3 yrs in service in January. Tonight, checked the battery and my Foxwell analyzer comes up "Replace Battery" and shows 232cca against 590 rated and 12.2v. Sounds like a dead battery but I've had no issues at all with the electrical system, just drove the car yesterday.

I had the brake master cylinder monitoring recall done a month ago and their check then showed "Good" for the battery.

Questions: 1) I've got a NOCO Genius 5, is it safe to charge the battery with it still in car connected? Just don't want to have the car have to relearn a bunch of functions by disconnecting it if I don't have to? I figure I'll attempt to fully charge the battery and then check it again with the Foxwell. 2) How good is Ford about replacing a bad battery under the 3/36 warranty?

Thanks for any advice!

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[ORRadtech]

You're fine connecting your charger with the battery connected in the car.
Sorry, can't answer your warranty question though several people have reported getting new batteries under warranty with no problems.

 

[Farkel]

You certainly can and should use the Noco with the battery installed. Just connect the positive lead to the positive terminal on the battery, or leave the battery covered and connect to one of the positive connections next to the fuse box. Connect the negative lead to the ground bolt on the strut tower, not the negative terminal on the battery so you don't confuse the battery management system. Your battery might have lasted longer with regular use of the maintainer, but it is what it is.

Lots of threads on the forum about replacement batteries, but if you want another (free) Motorcraft, call your dealer and ask about the warranty.

When you get a new battery, do the easy BMS reset:
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/bms-reset-no-tools-required.151602/

 

[Buldawg76]

Connect as @Farkel explained above and allow the Noco to fully charges the battery till the green led stays lit continuously and then switch it to the desulfation mode and allow that to complete. It will revive your battery quite a bit, I have the same Noco 5 and my battery was getting weak at around the 3 year mark as well and used the Noco to charge and desulfate and mine is still going strong after over a year later. Just read the instruction on how to use the Noco, you likely will need to download them from the website like I did to understand completely.

As for warranty the battery is covered 100% for the 3/36 time frame only but is not prorated after that if I remember correctly. So, if dealer test it and it fails the tests they will replace it free but if it still passes then they will not replace it.

BD

 

[ice445]

Test the battery again with the connections to the car removed and see if it's the same. If it is its just a warning it's about time to replace it

 

[WayneK]

You certainly can and should use the Noco with the battery installed. Just connect the positive lead to the positive terminal on the battery, or leave the battery covered and connect to one of the positive connections next to the fuse box. Connect the negative lead to the ground bolt on the strut tower, not the negative terminal on the battery so you don't confuse the battery management system. Your battery might have lasted longer with regular use of the maintainer, but it is what it is.

Lots of threads on the forum about replacement batteries, but if you want another (free) Motorcraft, call your dealer and ask about the warranty.

When you get a new battery, do the easy BMS reset:
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/bms-reset-no-tools-required.151602/

My tender is connected to the + and - terminals of the battery. Is this confusing the BMS. I always do the BMS reset as suggested in your link after unplugging the tender.

 

[ORRadtech]

My tender is connected to the + and - terminals of the battery. Is this confusing the BMS. I always do the BMS reset as suggested in your link after unplugging the tender.

In the past there's been a big debate on this subject.
Some people have reported issues with charging when a tender is connected through the BMS, others not.
Personally, I always charge by connecting directly to the battery whether I'm charging a dead battery or connecting a maintainer.
I have never experienced any problems at all doing it directly.

Edit:
Apparently connecting directly is incorrect. Not sure if you like this guys channel but he does explain and demonstrate why.

 

[Farkel]

My tender is connected to the + and - terminals of the battery. Is this confusing the BMS. I always do the BMS reset as suggested in your link after unplugging the tender.

From The 2020 Mustang Service Manual

Battery Charging
When charging the vehicle battery by connecting the charger to engine or chassis ground, the negative charger clamp must be connected to an unpainted chassis surface or a solid engine component such as a generator mount or engine lifting eye. In this instance, after charging, the BMS Reset is not required. Through this method of charging the BCM updates the battery state of charge during the charging process.

When charging the vehicle battery by connecting the charger to the negative battery terminal is necessary, such as when using a combination battery charger and battery tester/analyzer, like the GR 1 190 V3.0 Intelligent Diagnostic Charger, the BCM does not immediately update the battery state of charge. In this instance, the BMS Reset must be carried out using a diagnostic scan tool. This reset is needed for proper engine off load shedding and to prevent invoking of engine off load shedding earlier than normal.

If the reset is not carried out, when the battery is charged by connecting the charger to the negative battery terminal, it takes approximately 8 hours for the BCM to learn the new battery state of charge.

During this 8 hour period, the vehicle must be undisturbed, with no doors opened or keyless entry button presses. If the vehicle is used before the BCM is allowed to learn the new battery state of charge, engine off load shedding can still occur and a message may be displayed.

 

[WayneK]

Thank you for that info.

 

[MotoMike]

Update: Charged the battery in car connected with the NOCO 5. Tested it again when the charge was complete and showed 12.7v but a drop in CCA to 187 from 242. Made an appt. with dealer to check it out.

The car never failed to start and the starter spun pretty quick considering how cold it is here now. Service advisor at dealer explained the process would involve using their machine to check each cell, which takes 30 minutes per cell so could take 2-3 hrs to completely check battery. Test would be suspended should the machine detect a bad cell along the way.

After about an hour in shop, they returned the car with a new battery. Covered under 3/36 warranty.

Bottom line: I'm glad I now make it a habit to check all my batteries before winter hits.

Thanks to Allan Vigil Ford, Morrow, GA for taking care of me and thank you all for your helpful advice here.

 

[Buldawg76]

Glad you got it replaced.

BD

 

[HKusp]

"What is engine off load shedding?"

 

[Farkel]

"What is engine off load shedding?"

Just guessing here. Maybe the way the system shuts down certain features with the engine off to protect the battery? Like "shedding" the parasitic draw?

edit: more info here -
https://www.expeditionforum.com/thr...ts-whats-new-item-on-battery-load-shed.54760/

 

[ORRadtech]

So, our recent cold snap seems to have done in the battery in my Edge. The Edge is my 3rd car and I've, admittedly, treated the battery badly. It regularly sits unused for 2-3 months at a stretch. When it goes flat, which it has several times, I just recharge it and repeat the process.
All that to note that it's an inexpensive, basic Walmart Everstart that has lasted 5 years and 6 months of abuse at this point. It's currently on a charger and I'll test it later today to see if it gets replaced or hangs on for a bit longer.

 

[Excelerater]

batteries live 3 years....end of story

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