Has anyone compiled a list of items to disable for the purpose of reducing discharge/recharge cycles on the chassis battery?

[MattMacMan]

I really appreciate your advice and it is right on. For the record, my battery issues are behind me. I am up to date on OTA (except hybrid warning sound). My point is this should have benefited sooner. Ford is way to slow in fixing things.
I am suffering form a few lingering issues that also should not take almost 2 years to fix.

- front rotor noise
- rear shock noise (which they will not address)
- Infotainment glitches that don't seem to be on Ford's radar.

not the definition of a quality car.

I agree with your statements. I wish there was something we could do to make things right, and faster. Unfortunately on our end its just a swap of one part with another, and unfortunately its usually the same part number, so while it might fix the issue for now, itll likely come back. As a Service Advisor, we get the parts we get given, and instructions on what to do, we sadly dont have any control over the big guys. We report back our findings, but until it becomes a huge deal, they may or may not do something about it...

 

[swindler]

24MY and newer. We have had several bad batches of batteries this year. I agree that it shouldnt be so random...but Ford doesnt actually manufacture these batteries. They buy them from several manufacturers, they get what is most available at the time. But while they are made for Ford, when you see as many batteries as we do every month, you can see slight variations in the casing of these batteries even if they are of the same size and capacity. Im guessing Ford uses several manufacturers to keep supplies stocked so production lines dont get interrupted.

Not to mention, these vehicles are shipped from China via a ship. This takes ALOT longer to process at the port in China, then the ship takes weeks to cross the Pacific Ocean, then they need processed through customs when they get to the port in the US, then they get transported to a rail yard, to be loaded on a train, then finally get to the destination rail yard where it is loaded onto a transport truck and taken to the dealership. These vehicles sit for well over a month while being in transit to their destination as well. People often don't see the full picture. They arent built at the dealership.

FYI, when the first couple of batches of the '24 Nautili were coming out, we pre-orders were scouring the container and vehicle ship tracking info coming out of Shanghai. At that time anyway, a typical factory-to-dealer shipment took about 8-10 weeks. Mine took 11 weeks.

 

[MattMacMan]

FYI, when the first couple of batches of the '24 Nautili were coming out, we pre-orders were scouring the container and vehicle ship tracking info coming out of Shanghai. At that time anyway, a typical factory-to-dealer shipment took about 8-10 weeks. Mine took 11 weeks.

Yeah, so tons of time for a battery to drain. Not surprised they are weak, probably from sitting dead too long.

 

[angore]

Ford does not make many of the parts as they come from contractors that specialize in the various subsystems but they should be involved in quality control and remove suppliers that cannot product consistent quality. I agree the transit from China does not help with sitting in various places waiting for the next segment in the journey.

I have a 24 with the original battery and feel it is living on borrowed time. With my build date, the battery likely 2 years old and these OEM versions only come with a 4 year warranty.

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[MattMacMan]

Ford does not make many of the parts as they come from contractors that specialize in the various subsystems but they should be involved in quality control and remove suppliers that cannot product consistent quality. I agree the transit from China does not help with sitting in various places waiting for the next segment in the journey.

I have a 24 with the original battery and feel it is living on borrowed time. With my build date, the battery likely 2 years old and these OEM versions only come with a 4 year warranty.

Why not bring it in and have it replaced?

 

[markfm]

Why not bring it in and have it replaced?

I got the pedestrian alert recall done at our local dealer yesterday, first visit (our selling dealer is over 100 miles away). Quick, easy, they made sure to ask if we wanted the complimentary car wash (no - I had recently completed two rounds of wash and then "wax" with Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Spray Coating on all 3 of our cars - I really like how that stuff applies, the shine it gives).

While there I gave the SA a list of items to note for work in the future (get a TAC going to fix the car-usb-handler for USB music, notify us when the hybrid front brake fix parts come out,...), including sharing BM300 data and the 6-pack of alerts I received one day that indicate too-low-voltage. He could see how the voltage/SOC were dropping a lot/quickly, agreed that is not good, and said he had seen multiple battery-related items when they connected the tool they use for the firmware update. Unfortunately they can't do a warranty replacement of the battery until it gets to a hard "Fail" when they run the official Lincoln battery tester; this is consistent with what the selling dealer had told me in July.

(BM300 showed the voltage dropped to about 11.6V when they had done the firmware update. The drive to the dealer had brought the voltage and nominal/indicated SOC up to a "good" state, but loss of capacity means that it really doesn't have the Ah of capacity that it should.)

Guess I can simply skip the extra TLC I've been giving it, let the battery get to the the hard failure point, have it towed to them by Lincoln so they'll replace it. The SA seems to understand this, but has to follow the official policy.

 

[angore]

I got the pedestrian alert recall done at our local dealer yesterday, first visit (our selling dealer is over 100 miles away). Quick, easy, they made sure to ask if we wanted the complimentary car wash (no - I had recently completed two rounds of wash and then "wax" with Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Spray Coating on all 3 of our cars - I really like how that stuff applies, the shine it gives).

While there I gave the SA a list of items to note for work in the future (get a TAC going to fix the car-usb-handler for USB music, notify us when the hybrid front brake fix parts come out,...), including sharing BM300 data and the 6-pack of alerts I received one day that indicate too-low-voltage. He could see how the voltage/SOC were dropping a lot/quickly, agreed that is not good, and said he had seen multiple battery-related items when they connected the tool they use for the firmware update. Unfortunately they can't do a warranty replacement of the battery until it gets to a hard "Fail" when they run the official Lincoln battery tester; this is consistent with what the selling dealer had told me in July.

(BM300 showed the voltage dropped to about 11.6V when they had done the firmware update. The drive to the dealer had brought the voltage and nominal/indicated SOC up to a "good" state, but loss of capacity means that it really doesn't have the Ah of capacity that it should.)

Guess I can simply skip the extra TLC I've been giving it, let the battery get to the the hard failure point, have it towed to them by Lincoln so they'll replace it. The SA seems to understand this, but has to follow the official policy.

My dealernisnby the book too. If voltage is dropping that much tgat could explain failed updates. When I had one mobile tech do it, he left it running so engine would start occasionally.

 

[MattMacMan]

My dealernisnby the book too. If voltage is dropping that much tgat could explain failed updates. When I had one mobile tech do it, he left it running so engine would start occasionally.

Unfortunately we all have to be. Im a SA myself, and if we don't follow the book its our @$$. The only way to get around it is if the Auto Group that owns the franchise dealer, agrees to eat the cost/write it off for taxes etc. We do it for our family members, and neighbors. But we cant do it for all, it would get too costly, (definitely dont want to piss off the owner lol). So we always route it up the chain. If you have a dead Motorcraft Battery laying around that is the same size/capacity, you can always bring it in, and we can warranty it that way, thats what I tell customers. If you have another Ford/Lincoln vehicle with the same size battery, I tell them (under the table) just kill it, and use your other vehicle to bring it up here and since theres already a paper trail on the vehicle we can just test it (itll fail easily now) and hand you a new one and we can handle the warranty part on our end. Its alot quicker for us too, no need to set appointments, or diagnose the vehicle (there has to be ongoing WO for this though to show its been an issue) and then you bring it in drained, no need to tow it, just need the battery, and out you go with a new one. We can write the ticket as battery tested bad, and send it in like that. I know alot of SA don't feel like doing this at times, but I like to make the customers come back to me, and if it requires just a wee bit of extra effort on my end and the customer is willing to understand our limitations but willing to meet the requirements for a warranty claim, all I have to do is drum up the WO and they bring the prize in the door to send back. Everybody is happy.

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[angore]

I would never do something like that. I will wait until it dies and ideally before warranty runs out.

 

[MattMacMan]

I would never do something like that. I will wait until it dies and ideally before warranty runs out.

To each their own, no judgement, I just try to avoid being cussed out by customers over something I can't control. lol. I try to help as much as I can within reason, as long as I have a qualifying part to send in (if its a consumable like a battery, not talking about major engine work, transmission work etc) and it keeps them happy, and theres a history on the vehicle already, which makes my job easier, no harm no foul. Everyone is happy, it gets done swiftly, doesnt take up a mechanics time or require an appointment, its more convenient to the customer since they can do it where it fits in their schedule, and as a SA Ive physically swapped a battery in the Service Drive for customers, since it takes all of 5 minutes, plus I have the laptop in my desk I can use to clear any codes and reset the BMS with. Customers are very satisfied with it.

Back to the getting cussed out portion.....you wouldnt believe how some customers come in here demanding warranty work, and even if its something theyve caused! Oh the entitlement is comical sometimes. Ma'am spilling your starbucks latte on your ventilated seats and now they dont work is NOT a warranty claim. You will have to pay for the repair, thats not how warranty works. LOL

 

[markfm]

The SA at our local Lincoln dealer seemed quite reasonable, did capture my punch-list items, showed me the record copy of notes they are keeping for future reference, and agreed that the data he had seen (when they connected to do the firmware update) plus the BM300 outputs indicated things were not good (though unlikely to formally Fail as of then if hooked to the tester).

He was good about explaining the policy, and on my side I know that all I need to do is let it sit for multiple days (not cheating, not opening the doors or running by with the key a bunch of times to purposely activate the onboard systems, but also not bothering to trickle charge or put it in Ready state). When (not if) it dies I'll call Lincoln to formally get it jumped, rinse/repeat, and the battery will likely quickly reach the point where it will Fail on the battery tester.

The long trip from China, multiple months on the dealer lot, plus possibly a marginal batch of batteries (luck of the draw).

I will credit Lincoln for coming out with a shipping mode for the long initial transit, which should reduce/eliminate the issues from the initial multi-month evolution getting the vehicles to the US. That should help for the vehicles produced later in '25.