I suspect that my new truck is not charging right or not staying charged. The first thing I noticed was auto stop/start not working nearly all the time. Second thing when I start the engine the Sync 3 display comes up that it turned off to conserve the battery. And the other thing I saw a battery level indicator somewhere one time that showed about 1/2 charged. Unfortunately, since I've only had the truck for a few days I can't always find the things that I have seen before and I can't find the gauge again.

 

I would try throwing it on a trickle charger overnight. I found my 2.7 had stopped doing auto stop/start after I let it sit for around ten days. The auto/stop start display will also not always give you the "engine charging" message as a reason for not operating either. Though you should check that to see if it is giving a message.

It sounds like your truck was sitting for a good while at the dealer in the Winter, so I would definitely do the charge. Maybe take a voltage reading before and after, and then take a couple of readings some days after the charge to see if you're seeing a big drop (assuming you're driving the truck every day) or if it's holding fairly steady.

The battery will of course charge while driving, but if you've just been tooling around town in short trips in the few days you've had it, you're not gonna get it up to max if it has already discharged a lot.

 

Thanks, I'll try that. Any idea where I saw the battery level indicator?

 

Don't know, I have the XLT with regular Sync, so I don't have a battery charge display option. All I see is the "vehicle charging" message in the driver information display where it gives the reasons why auto stop/start isn't engaged.

Also I just caught that you said it showed 50% charge. Auto stop/start definitely won't activate then. I did some testing after I had the question on mine, and mine will not activate when the battery is below ~11.75 volts. I actually consider that a good thing though, as it looks like the engineers wanted to ensure the battery wasn't being stressed.

 

FWIW my battery mysteriously died one morning about a month after I got my truck. I custom ordered my truck so it wasn't like it sat at the dealer for an extended period of time.

I threw it on the charger and all has been well for nearly a year now.

Josh

 

Ford tries to save on fuel economy by cutting off the alternator. I was always having low battery issues. I finally got Unleashed Tuning to write me a tune and in it he left the alternator on.

 

These trucks only have a 610 amp battery. Not much reserve. The alternator on my truck reads 13.4 to 14.4 volts when driving around acording to my Scanguage. The computer controls the charging as was posted already.

 

My battery was replaced during the first year in my '21 3.5. Sync 4. I'm told by the service advisor the Stop/Start disconnects at 80% charge and my charger bears that out. I also had the rear cross-traffic braking fail along with the driver side rear sensor. Again the battery charger said the state was near 80%. The advisor also said the alternator will not charge the battery at an idle. I'm 78 and they tell me I don't drive it enough? Where was I warned about this when I bought it? They also said I should put a battery minder in and just plug it in daily and I told them it appears to be a manufacturers defect and if Ford wants a battery minder in it, they should be responsible for doing that. If it also causes safety equipment to fail, then we're in a different ball game. If I wanted a plug-in, I would have bought a EV (never happen). BTW, my Stop/Start wasn't working and I towed the boat over 100 miles at highway speeds and the stop/start never started working until I recharged the battery so the alternator was not charging the battery enough to allow it to work again. That's ridiculous and it shouldn't be my/our problem.

 

That is a common issue with any of the newer vehicles. Very short trips, and/or not often enough is pretty tough on batteries. If you need to replace the battery, get a larger one to give yourself some reserve.

BTW - The battery on my 2015 lasted 6-1/2 years, and we do not do any "short" trips. About the shortest for me to drive to town is about an hour each way.