Hi All,
I appreciate all the ideas. I live in the north-east and the vehicle is garaged most of the time when not in use. I have no add on equipment, so hopefully I should not be over taxing the battery. I will check for clean connections on the battery. I do have a multimeter so will go out this weekend and see if I can find any source of drain. If I have to take it to Ford, I think it best to go with serious clues. As much as I like the vehicle, I don't want to unnecessarily participate in their bailout.
Thank you,
Richard
PS: My driving voltage is more like 14+ not 13+

 

The DC/DC converter is set to step ~330v to ~14.4v.

In the service manuals, they actually call the headlamps and "low voltage" side of things the "14 volt system".

The 14.4v has been a bit much for a few iPod type devices I've heard.

( most electronics have their own voltage regulator on the cigarette plug... since most run on a voltage lower than 12v. but a few, that "run" on 12v don't. The full voltage simply passes through )

 

You might simply have a bad battery. A bad cell in the battery will bring voltage down to 10-10.5v.... add in normal battery draw, and it's not inconceivable to see it at 8-8.5v after sitting a bit.

What you need to do is fully charge the battery, then remove the charger and turn the headlights on for about 30 seconds... then check the voltage. If battery voltage is below 12.4 volts at that point, then it is bad. You have to put a bit of a load on it after the charge to remove the extra surface charge the charge puts on it... or else even a bad battery can test bad.

Either this, or load-testing the battery.. but most people don't have the equipment to do this.. (you could remove it and take it to a parts store and they'll usually load test it for free)...

(I should add that the button on the left side of the floor is only to charge the HIGH VOLTAGE battery from the LOW VOLTAGE battery... and you only get two tries before the low volt is depleted.. but this typically isn't necessary. It cannot be used to charge the low volt with the high volt.)

 

That should be at least close to the "typical" voltage on a non-hybrid when it is running. The lead acid battery is 12V... in order to charge it you have to give it enough of a voltage over 12V to push current into it. Usually thats about 2V or so for most charging systems. So even an alternator system would probably put out 14V or so to top off the battery. All your automotive electronics have to accomdate that fluctuation in voltage (that and the fact that the power is about as DIRTY as you can get with spikes and lord knows what else).

An i-pod is a different matter however... Whatever adaptor you are using had better clean up the power some no matter what vehicle you are in.

 

Hi All,
I had a few minutes today and tried the engine off, lights on for 30 sec test. I drive home from work, 20 mi turned off the car and left the lights on for 30 sec. The voltage sank to 11.4 in that time. When I turned the lights off it went back only to 11.8. Time to replace??
Thank you

 

If you are getting over 14 volts with the car on, sounds like the car is fine.
If you get lower than 11.8 volts in 30 seconds with the car off, sounds like the 12v battery is on the way out.

My #1 suggestion would be to get a new 12v battery and make sure the connection cables are in good condition and are clean.

99% sure this is what you need.

HTH,
-John

 

Definitely time to replace. Your voltage should have been well over 12V, 12.4 to 12.6 is typical for a fully charged 12V battery. 11.4 indicates a very weak or bad cell.

 

Are you guys sure the battery isn't simply bad? A bad cell in the 12v battery will bring voltage levels down like this.

Here's what you do... Fully charge the battery. Next, turn the headlights on for 30-60 seconds to remove any excessive surface charge from the battery.

Next, disconnect the battery cables (to isolate the vehicle's systems from the battery) and then check the voltage level of the battery. If it is below 11.8v, then you have a bad battery. If it is 11.8v or above, then you'll want to have a proper load test done (with an actual battery load applied by the test equipment, not those little hand-held electronic jobbers which fail brand new batteries 30% of the time).

The batteries on these are harder to judge than on normal vehicles... usually the starter is a good 'load test' in itself for the battery... if it cranks over slowly there's a good chance the battery is going bad.... but on these, since no real load is applied it can be a bit tougher to determine.. you can easily be fooled into thinking that battery is o.k. when it's not.

 

I can't speak for everyone but I think thats the most likely explaination.

The confusion is from the description which some interpreted as the engine cranking for a long time, rather than just not rolling over at all. Normal cars will have the long cranking time... this thing just shouldn't do much at all if the 12V battery is gone. There is no cranking.

 

I could find no drain on the battery this weekend. It looks like I will be looking for a new battery over the next few weeks. Is it true, if I can get the battery leads changed in five minutes, my driving settings will be maintained?