Check those OEM Batteries! Mine failed successfully

[offroadkarter]

I've long known of people having the OEM batteries in these cars die after 2 or 3 years, so when my battery suddenly crapped out a couple of weeks ago I figured it had a good 6 year run and that was it. I was in for quite a shock when I took the battery cover off.

I'm hoping my debacle will help someone in the future either avoid my fate or have a simple fix should they run into what I did.

So when I pulled the battery cover off (last time I had this off was winter of 2020), I was greeted by this

Never in my life have I had a lead-acid battery fail so spectacularly.

Now for reasons unknown to me, Ford made the negative terminal clamp swappable, but not the positive terminal clamp. The stud that the clamping hardware sits on sheared off on mine due to the corrosion, so this left me with 3 possibilities.

Fix the stud/nut assembly
Replace the clamp (As per Ford's SSM 48123 using P/N BT4Z-14450-AA (OEM to 11-15 Edge/MKX)
Replace the entire battery harness (A 200+ dollar part, P/N varies based on engine/transmission combo)

I ordered the edge/MKX clamp as per the SSM, Ford states you can un-crimp the factory clamp and crimp on this new clamp to fix the problem. Since it was taking ages to actually ship out, I started thinking if I could fix what is already on my car. Turns out, yes. This is the least labor intensive route to go, which is always my favorite.

The nut/stud assembly that actually forces the terminal clamp closed is the same on the positive and negative side clamps. So I ended up taking apart my negative terminal clamp, and swapping the stud and hardware to the positive side.

Success! The positive side was back in place and clamped down. I then went down to my local dealer and ordered a new negative side (FU5Z-14450-A) and swapped the whole new assembly to the negative cable (my original one was starting to corrode on the bottom)

I replaced the factory battery with an Odyssey AGM96R, I looked into the XSPower battery but didn't want to roll the dice if I was going to any weird fitment issues (some did, some didn't).

So keep an eye on those batteries, my car was driven a week before I noticed it was totally flat and the battery had 9.2v remaining. I also didn't expect to deal with this pile of battery acid and wasn't looking forward to prying the old clamp off or swapping the entire battery harness with its 90 plugs. My alternative idea was to cut the old clamp off, crimp an eyelet on the end and bolt a negative clamp to the positive side. Thankfully I was able to salvage what I had left.



Side note: I keep this car on a deltran battery tender every winter. I had the tender hooked directly to the battery which during this debacle I've learned is incorrect. The correct way is to hook it to the leads going into the fuse box so the battery monitoring system can see the change in voltage that the tender is providing. Example here and here. I'll be making this change.

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[Vlad Soare]

Ouch! Scary.
Some battery terminal grease will protect the terminals against corrosion when something like this happens. Also, lifting that battery cover from time to time to check if all is well is good practice.

 

[Skye]

Wow. I'm sorry that happened to you but glad you were able to fix it. . Always a good feeling, finding a solution yourself versus a repair at the dealer.

Thank You for the reminder. I'll add the check to the "list".

0. Review Ford Maintenance Schedule
- Every six months
1. Inspect all fluids
- Once a month, or, every time hood is up
2. Inspect clutch recevoir hose/tubing
- Same
3. Remove, clean, and lube (with silicone spray), radiator cap O-rings
- Once every six months
4. Inspect, clean, protect battery connections
- Once a month
5. Check for underwood leaks
- Once a month, or, every time hood is up
6. Check air pressure
- Varies (not a DD)
7. Check tread depth, wear patterns
- Every 250 miles (for now)
8. Clean out rear diffuser (rocks)
- Every oil change
9. Inspect brake/suspension components
- Every tire rotation
10. Visually inspect underside of car, wheel wells
- Once a month
11. Check oil separator
- Every 250 miles (for now)

12. ...

https://www.levittownfordparts.com/sku/w716510-s300--x4.html

Multiple sources/prices for connectors, so they are easy to find, get best price.

 

[traktrbeam]

Wow man, that's insane!

 

[Cory S]

Looks like a slow overcharge condition or the internal post seal failed. Leaking electrolyte up through the posts will cause corrosion quickly. Guess I got lucky. I just replaced my original battery from a build date of 4/2016. It was still OK, but reserve capacity was getting lower, and cranking had slowed over the past year. Battery posts were still dry and spotless thankfully.

 

[galaxy]

I use a battery tender religiously. My vehiles are plugged in any time they're pareked in the gargae, be it one week or six months.

Well, I ran across the info on where you're "supposed to" connect a battery tender a little late in ownership. Had my leads connected directly to the battery terminals and lived this way for, IDK, 3+ years and 18,000 miles before I ran across the "correct" method. In this amount of time, nare a sinlge electrical issue. Never.

i read up on the correct method and immediately swapped my leads to where they're supposed to be. Sometime after swapping my tender leads to the now "correct" connections (first or second drive after doing so), my infotainment screen just randomly driving down the road went black and locked up on no less than three separate occasions, requiring a restart (I think once I had to disconnect the battery to get it unfroze). I had one other odd electrical event, but I forgot what that one was now. Not three times in one drive. The three events were spread out over 3-5 drives in a matter of weeks.

After those events, i swapped my tender back to directly on the battery terminals. That's now been an additional 7,000 miles and almost two years, and not anohter odd issue.

 

[Cory S]

I use a battery tender religiously. My vehiles are plugged in any time they're pareked in the gargae, be it one week or six months.

Well, I ran across the info on where you're "supposed to" connect a battery tender a little late in ownership. Had my leads connected directly to the battery terminals and lived this way for, IDK, 3+ years and 18,000 miles before I ran across the "correct" method. In this amount of time, nare a sinlge electrical issue. Never.

i read up on the correct method and immediately swapped my leads to where they're supposed to be. Sometime after swapping my tender leads to the now "correct" connections (first or second drive after doing so), my infotainment screen just randomly driving down the road went black and locked up on no less than three separate occasions, requiring a restart (I think once I had to disconnect the battery to get it unfroze). I had one other odd electrical event, but I forgot what that one was now. Not three times in one drive. The three events were spread out over 3-5 drives in a matter of weeks.

After those events, i swapped my tender back to directly on the battery terminals. That's now been an additional 7,000 miles and almost two years, and not anohter odd issue.

I've put my tenders directly on the battery for the last 25 years. It works well.

 

[Strokerswild]

Yikes.

My '15 still sports the original battery, and everything still looks new. However, I noticed that it cranks over a little slower lately so I plan on replacing it over the car's winter slumber.

I always connect tenders directly to the battery without issue. I've had a battery last over 20 years (yes, really) doing so.

 

[galaxy]

I always connect tenders directly to the battery without issue. I've had a battery last over 20 years (yes, really) doing so.

I've got an Optima red top in my '02 F150 (I bought brand new) that's approaching that. Probably creeping up on 18. I'm with ya!

 

[subject617]

That makes me worry a bit about hooking up my tender in the winter...

 

[momalle1]

I've had nothing but great success with Motorcraft batteries. I had a 93 Ranger 4.0 with the BXT-65-650 and I sold with the original battery at 11 years old and 120k on it. I had two mornings at -15F just before and the battery started that truck just fine. I've had two F150s, a Fusion and an Escape since then, in addition to my family's FoMoCo products, all of those batteries exceeded their expected life. I just bought a 17 Mustang GT and found a Duracell battery in it. I'll be putting a Motorcraft in there when I take it out of storage in the Spring. You're right though, check the battery regularly, I really don't like that Ford hid these.

 

[galaxy]

That makes me worry a bit about hooking up my tender in the winter...

There is nothing that should make you concerned about leaving your car on a tender all winter. Crazy if you don't.

 

[Jason304]

Mine went out like flipping a switch. 2 years old, I had just stopped for gas 30 minutes prior. Started, no issue. Go to move it from the drive way into the garage, and it didn’t even have enough power to lower the window when I opened the door.

 

[Strokerswild]

I've had nothing but great success with Motorcraft batteries. I had a 93 Ranger 4.0 with the BXT-65-650 and I sold with the original battery at 11 years old and 120k on it. I had two mornings at -15F just before and the battery started that truck just fine. I've had two F150s, a Fusion and an Escape since then, in addition to my family's FoMoCo products, all of those batteries exceeded their expected life. I just bought a 17 Mustang GT and found a Duracell battery in it. I'll be putting a Motorcraft in there when I take it out of storage in the Spring. You're right though, check the battery regularly, I really don't like that Ford hid these.

I have as well. The battery I mentioned earlier that went 20+ years was a Motorcraft.

DieHards were a close second, but I haven't had one in a while.

 

[galaxy]

I'm rolling the dice just cause it's cool, but I will try an AntiGravity next battery for this car.

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