Replaced my battery with an H8. My observations:

[MetalCord]

I daily drive mine and it’s our primary going somewhere together vehicle. 14k miles the first year and so far not a single issue with the battery or anything else for that matter. I would put a brand new NAPA battery in there and see how it goes.

I never got a chance to get to that dealer. My wife and I were using the dealership trip as an excuse to do some shopping. However, the dealership insisted that they would need the truck a minimum of one day to test the battery. We live 2.5 hours away. The first person I spoke to before they transferred me to the maintenance department assured me that this was a known issue (this would have been a first for me if true and of course, it wasn't). They also said that my troubleshooting was enough to warrant swapping out the battery since they still wanted me to give them a shiny 5 star rating. Since that's not an option, I'll just go to my LOCAL incompetent dealer, let THEM tell me my battery is fine and just replace it so I can hopefully be done with the nonsense and treat my truck like the tool it is.

On another note, I did finally pay attention to the battery when I last hooked it up to my NOCO genius5. It IS an AGM *phew* and it's actually an H7, not an H6. It looks like it's shoehorned in there so I'm going to say an H8 is not going to fit. I'm not convinced a larger battery is necessary... I've read this entire thread and was under the impression that only folks with H6 batteries were having issues. My experience, while anecdotal, suggests otherwise. The local dealer couldn't get me in until the 30th so I'll follow-up then and hopefully have something useful to contribute to this excellent discussion with you excellent people.

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[nomarhits400]

Now that is interesting.

Do you see other voltage drops in your history? Is this the first one that went this low?

I've never gotten a Ford pass notification for low battery, but I get these kind of drops and spikes back up (drop to 12.1 from 12.5- return to 12.55 and level out)- sometimes exceeding voltage before the dip. In fact, when I park the truck after arriving at work, I can almost always find a spike like this 60-75 minutes after I've parked the truck. I have the same battery monitor as above.

'23 PB with a factory H7 battery.....

 

[Blue22]

To follow up on my previous post, I checked my battery monitor this morning and surprisingly the voltage has stayed the same as it was yesterday after 24 hours of sitting idle and unplugged. Prior to receiving the Ford Pass notification, the voltage was slowly declining everyday but now it appears that it is holding at 12.33 volts and I can't explain how or why.

One easy explanation is that maybe the battery monitor is to blame. Or perhaps after the truck sits for several days without activity it truly shuts down and is able to maintain a constant voltage so it has enough juice to start. I don't think it's a coincidence that after I received the low battery notification that the voltage actually increased a little and has remained at that level for over a day, which may be part of the BMS design. Who knows for sure, I'm just sharing my findings.

 

[Dadofjax]

Replaced mine with an 800cce (part guy wasnt sure about h7/h8).
Zone lighting works
Auto start/stop works
Interior light work
Tailgate works
Doesn't go into sleep mode
And I went from 18.9mpg to 22.2 lol

Glad this forum is here it has saved me countless miserable wastellfull trips to the dealers.

Anyone think the battery issue could be tied to us having to do Fords work and update our own truck cause they are too incompetent? I mean sitting on a charger for 20 hours can't be good for the battery right?

 

[MetalCord]

Rant incoming, I apologize in advance. Has anyone else noticed increased intervals between "power-saver battery states" once you start putting your battery on a tender? When I started getting the battery saver warnings, I picked up a NOCO Genius5 and started charging my battery overnight anytime I'd get the warning. I went from using all the "tricks" and not lasting an entire day before getting the message again, to now lasting 3 days and I still have not gotten another warning. I'm being stubborn about using all that crap I paid for in the truck, including the greeting lights, auto climate control (aka not using fan speed 5+), cranking the stereo, remote starting with the app... It seems like my battery might be getting "repaired" by the time connected to the Genius5.

I'm sure saying something about how it's working will now result in Murphy's Law punching me in the nuts. Still, I thought it was an observation worth sharing since so many folks seem to be affected by this. Depending on the route I use for my daily commute, It's between 6.5 and 7.7 miles and roughly 11 minutes regardless of route. One route has a few miles of interstate, and the other is vastly more economical with more opportunities for full electric mode. Also depending on the route, I can get a computer estimated fuel economy of 18 mpg or.. at times 31 mpg if I really play the hybrid game. Before I leave my house or the office, I usually remote start and let the truck idle for a minute or two before I drive off. Please feel free to offer your opinions about whether that procedure/drive should be enough to keep the battery charged.

Interestingly, trying to "get good" at saving gas in the truck has lead to next level savings on our '21 Escape hybrid. If I drive that to work (BTW, it has NEVER had a battery issue at all), the computer tells me I'm getting over 40 MPG. My calculated economy in the Escape when my wife does not drive it is about 39 + or - .5 MPG. Does anyone else have a wife that drives like its her mission to personally ensure every gas station in the area has fresh gas for everyone to use? I understand that sometimes you just need to let your hair fly back and that was the primary function of my Mustang. But the Escape's brakes do not inspire confidence and compel me to drive it very conservatively. At full tilt, I can barely cause the meniscus of my coffee to budge! The acceleration is just barely adequate. Sorry for the off-topic tangent!

 

[Gros Ventre]

Voltage readings before & after a current draw. What goes on in the battery is the chemistry responds to the current draw but the chemical reaction is not uniform throughout the battery. Once the draw is completed and the battery returns to a rest state, the chemicals diffuse throughout the battery to a uniform chemistry. This results in a seeming rise in voltage. For example a lead acid battery, if sustaining a very high current draw the battery can only produce maybe 60% of rated capacity. In contrast, if the draw is low the battery can produce as much as 110-115% of rated capacity. So the "rebound" you see is a result of this diffusing of chemicals following the draw. Example: A submarine battery at its 1/2 hr rate (8,000 amps) can only produce 60% of rated. In contrast at its 48 hour rate (~300 amps) it'll give you that 115%... So not a big deal, you're seeing normal battery performance with that rebound of voltage.

 

[Blue22]

Voltage readings before & after a current draw. What goes on in the battery is the chemistry responds to the current draw but the chemical reaction is not uniform throughout the battery. Once the draw is completed and the battery returns to a rest state, the chemicals diffuse throughout the battery to a uniform chemistry. This results in a seeming rise in voltage. For example a lead acid battery, if sustaining a very high current draw the battery can only produce maybe 60% of rated capacity. In contrast, if the draw is low the battery can produce as much as 110-115% of rated capacity. So the "rebound" you see is a result of this diffusing of chemicals following the draw. Example: A submarine battery at its 1/2 hr rate (8,000 amps) can only produce 60% of rated. In contrast at its 48 hour rate (~300 amps) it'll give you that 115%... So not a big deal, you're seeing normal battery performance with that rebound of voltage.

Thanks for the explanation. I never knew a battery was capable of that and it explains how my battery rebounded with more voltage than it had before the slight voltage demand of the Ford Pass notification. What's odd to me is that I just checked the voltage of the battery and it is still holding at a constant 12.33 volts over the last 2-1/2 days. It hasn't dropped at all, while prior to the notification it dropped .4 volts over the course of 2 days. It seems that maybe the BMS is somehow capable of keeping the battery at 12.33 volts so it has enough juice to crank the engine.

I'm tempted to go and wake my truck to see how the battery responds but I think I am going to let it go for another day or two to see if the voltage stays at a constant 12.33 volts.

 

[Gros Ventre]

I'm rather old school... My cars up thru a 92 Suburban (OBD I) were standard, good ole, Kettering ignition systems. And now here I am in the world of detailed computer controlled trucks... Having observed the tales of woe on batteries, I've concluded Ford somehow took delivery of a batch of bad batteries, I think with a poorly made Pb alloy. That said, I think the draw on some trucks may appear to be zero, and others a bit higher. Recall that the truck is "always on," just sitting there waiting for you. ...And don't forget that there is a "self-discharge" in lead acid batteries. But over a few days no drop in voltage fits what I see on my truck. Along the way I installed a separate voltmeter, and I am having a real problem figuring out the logic behind Ford's programming of system voltage. One aspect is that AGM batteries have an ability to recombine oxygen & hydrogen produced during charging, hence the "sealed" feature of an AGM battery. So I suppose Ford's programming presumes that as part of their strategy.

 

[Gros Ventre]

It's been brought up that Ford says less than 1/2 amp is acceptable... Keep in mind that 1/2 amp is 12 Amp hours in a 24 hour day. My NAPA replacement battery, catalog off the shelf drop in, is rated at 80 Amp hours. So that's about what all specified batteries will be rated. From this 1/2 amp draw is then 15% of rated in one day (or nearly half rated amphours in three days). I offer that that is still way, way too high. If your at rest draw isn't measured in milliamps, I submit you have a problem.

 

[Gros Ventre]

More thoughts on Amp-Hours... I've observed that when I stimulate the truck, walk by with key FOB in pocket, open doors via key pad & etc, The battery drain jumps up. Apparently this is on the order of at least half an amp or more and stays on for about an hour. This morning when I went out to read battery voltage I unthinkingly opened the doors via the keypad. The voltage dropped to 12.16VDC. About 2 hours later I, more carefully, read voltage (hood was left unlatched so no trigger) it was 12.54VDC. My thinking is that every time you trigger the truck, you drain at least half an amp-hour. So suppose you leave your truck in the garage for two weeks and trigger it twice a day. That amounts to one or two amp hours per day times 14 days... That's about 15-30% of capacity, just sitting there... Not good. So leave your key FOB far away or in a Faraday cage.

 

[Spidergears]

Rant incoming, I apologize in advance. Has anyone else noticed increased intervals between "power-saver battery states" once you start putting your battery on a tender? When I started getting the battery saver warnings, I picked up a NOCO Genius5 and started charging my battery overnight anytime I'd get the warning. I went from using all the "tricks" and not lasting an entire day before getting the message again, to now lasting 3 days and I still have not gotten another warning. I'm being stubborn about using all that crap I paid for in the truck, including the greeting lights, auto climate control (aka not using fan speed 5+), cranking the stereo, remote starting with the app... It seems like my battery might be getting "repaired" by the time connected to the Genius5.

I'm sure saying something about how it's working will now result in Murphy's Law punching me in the nuts. Still, I thought it was an observation worth sharing since so many folks seem to be affected by this. Depending on the route I use for my daily commute, It's between 6.5 and 7.7 miles and roughly 11 minutes regardless of route. One route has a few miles of interstate, and the other is vastly more economical with more opportunities for full electric mode. Also depending on the route, I can get a computer estimated fuel economy of 18 mpg or.. at times 31 mpg if I really play the hybrid game. Before I leave my house or the office, I usually remote start and let the truck idle for a minute or two before I drive off. Please feel free to offer your opinions about whether that procedure/drive should be enough to keep the battery charged.

Interestingly, trying to "get good" at saving gas in the truck has lead to next level savings on our '21 Escape hybrid. If I drive that to work (BTW, it has NEVER had a battery issue at all), the computer tells me I'm getting over 40 MPG. My calculated economy in the Escape when my wife does not drive it is about 39 + or - .5 MPG. Does anyone else have a wife that drives like its her mission to personally ensure every gas station in the area has fresh gas for everyone to use? I understand that sometimes you just need to let your hair fly back and that was the primary function of my Mustang. But the Escape's brakes do not inspire confidence and compel me to drive it very conservatively. At full tilt, I can barely cause the meniscus of my coffee to budge! The acceleration is just barely adequate. Sorry for the off-topic tangent!

silly question, but you’re charging THRU the bms, right?

 

[MetalCord]

silly question, but your charging THRU the bms, right?

THANKFULLY, your question is silly, yes. For the record, the tender is connected with the positive lead to red terminal on the battery, I connect the black lead to the ground location on the frame that runs to the BMS sensor. The truck definitely recognizes the charge because full functionality returns to the truck before it goes back into battery saver mode. Doing it wrong definitely sounds like something I would do but I paid attention to the BMS info shared by everyone

 

[Granch]

21 plat new costco h8 installed today fingers crossed.

dreaded shut down issues and battery sometimes was dead, but would mostly turn over.

send me some ota please

 

[MetalCord]

Has anyone else noticed increased intervals between "power-saver battery states" once you start putting your battery on a tender? When I started getting the battery saver warnings, I picked up a NOCO Genius5 and started charging my battery overnight anytime I'd get the warning. I went from using all the "tricks" and not lasting an entire day before getting the message again, to now lasting 3 days and I still have not gotten another warning. I'm being stubborn about using all that crap I paid for in the truck, including the greeting lights, auto climate control (aka not using fan speed 5+), cranking the stereo, remote starting with the app... It seems like my battery might be getting "repaired" by the time connected to the Genius5.

I did make it to the dealer and they did not find any issues with the battery. They did fix my auto up window with a "switch re-learn"... didn't know that was a thing. Since the week before my visit to the dealer (which I quoted above), the truck has been functioning 100%. This is after leaving a NOCO Genius5 on the battery for long enough to reach the "float" level and then performing a BMS reset with the high beams and brake presses. I've got all of the goodies enabled and I'm now driving the truck with zero respect for what should keep the battery charged (how you'd normally drive it). I don't know if this information will help anyone else but this is my contribution to the anecdotal solutions to a common but wildly varied issue.

 

[dmac]

A big pet peeve of mine on the 21+ 150 was the fact that I have to wait 1-2 seconds after closing the door for the soft touch lock button to work on the door handle. This goes for 3 different 21+ trucks Ive spent lots of hours with

Happy to say that this delay is much less after installing the H8 in my truck. Now I can almost immediately lock the door after closing like my 15.

Its also nice to not have Trailer and ADAS warnings every time I start the truck.

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