Word of advise: it will be difficult to fit a non-Ford Motorcraft 12V battery in place. I actually tried it at Autozone this past May and was lucky enough not be to be charged for "trying out two". You vehicle is a 2007 model? Two years since the built date? It should be under warranty. However, I also went to my local Ford dealer asking for a new 12V battery under warranty and was told they have to confirm it needs to be replaced. It tested out ok and I was denied a free replacement. I use a trickle charger at night and haven't had any recent issues. Going to be below 10 F tonight and in the teens on Monday at work. Will get a chance to "stress" test my 12V on Monday.

 

Did I double post in this thread? Strange... oh well.

It's funny, I think this uses the same battery the old beetles used. I've also seen this battery in the older Contours...

If you look at the positive terminal, you'll see the corner is 'cut out' and there are two small holes on the top, next to the terminal. This is where the plastic 'shield' used to install, to cover up the positive terminal so the metal springs of the rear seat (of the Beetle) wouldn't short out against the battery.

It's also only a 500CA battery... quite low for today's standards... but then again this battery doesn't require the same load capacity as normal vehicles.

 

Hope this works out for you. If your driving voltage is 13.6 to 13.8 V then the DC-DC converter (and charging) is fine. I agree with the others the battery might be bad, or close to its end of life. But, I couldn't help notice you mentioned a scangauge in the first post, and also that the car sometimes is not used for a longer time. The battery might be ruined when discharged deeply, and especially if staying discharged for a longer time. For example if you use the scangauge all units will be fired up and take a lot of current. An hour or two of scangauge use will be enough to put the battery in the danger zone, and short trips now and then will not be enough to get it charged. Also, the control units might not go to standby as they should after scangauge use (they should, but might not). So try to avoid using the scangauge before a longer storage of the car. One unit not powered down is enough to drain the battery in a few days. If using the scangauge frequently, you should really connect a charger to make sure the battery gets back to 100%. To keep you from battery woes in the future.

 

 

Hummm - The scan gauge II. I have had the thing plugged in almost since I got the car. I have found it on several times on returning to the car - time???. I thought it would be a pretty low drain, maybe not. It has really helped me learn to drive. Maybe I will unplug when I am not in the car and for those short, two to three mile trips. Right now I still have the old battery and I am watching the starting voltage. Thanks for the idea.

 

There is very little drain on the battery by the SGII so don't unplug it. Ron Delong the inventor of the SGII used a small 9V battery demonstrating the SGII for days at Hybridfest. I have two SGII's daisy chained together and they stay plugged-in since I installed them and can go for weeks without starting the vehicle with no problems.

GaryG

 

I posted on this in another thread a while ago, and amazingly its still true. There is an Enersys/Hawker Odyssey PC1200 AGM battery that is smaller than the Motorcraft 96R OEM battery. It has 550 CCAs and a 78 minute reserve. However, it costs over $200. odysseyfactory.com

I did notice on the Motorcraft website that they stock three different types of 96R batteries for hybrids, a 60 month, 84 month (Tough Plus), and 100 month (Tough Max). Interestingly, the 84 month battery (part BXL96R) has higher specs (590 CCA, 95 reserve mins) than the others.

 

Techra, I'm puzzled by your original statement that it "has trouble starting". TeeSter & MyPart are right in that the 12v battery does NOT start the car. The starter is ultimately connected to the 330v hybrid battery (although there is a coupler). When the car is "off" the coupler disengages so that none of the orange 330v power cables are live. When you start the car, the 12v battery is used to power the coupler which engages the 330v battery, but the 330v battery is what cranks the engine to life. The 12v battery only needs enough power to engage the coupler.

As it is now quite cold outside in the northeast, I'm wondering if you might be slowly depleting power in your 330v battery if you only take the car on short trips -- i.e. if it isn't running long enough for the battery to fully warm up such that it gets enough charging.

As for the 12v battery... lead acid technology loves to be kept topped-off. It should never be allowed to drain more than 20% of it's power (i.e. should be at least 80% full). If it never dips below that, you should get a long life out of them. Dipping below 80% will start to degrade the life expectancy (the more often or lower it drains the more noticeable the impact to shortening its life.)

 

Does the 12V battery need sufficient charge for the Escape to start? Take a look:


My hybrid battery had normal state of charge. My 12V battery had less than 9 amps.

 

I attach this to the car battery up front and plug it in while its in the garage if the temps get close to zero. I've used this on my other vehicles. It is small and works off a standard outlet. Click photo for web site.





Keeps 12 volt batteries charged. Fully automatic. Turns on and off as needed. Allows safe charging of RV, deep-cycle or most batteries that may have a long storage period. “On-Board” feature allows mounting of charger next to battery on collectibles, street rods and other infrequently used vehicles. Hardware and mounting brackets are included.