Did the early Escapes come with insulation around the battery to keep the engine heat from ruining the battery casing?
I just replaced the battery on mine, it was leaking from the seam at the top. This is typically caused by heat.

 

The insulation is there to help retain heat for better cold-weather starts.

Can't say I've ever seen a battery seam leak during normal usage, regardless of how hot it got. I've seen batteries accidently left on a fast charge overnight that completely boiled all of the electrolyte out and nothing ever happened to the seam.

What did you do that got the battery so hot it damaged the seam and leaked?

 

I live in FL where summer temperatures and humidity reaches 98+ degrees easily and traffic sucks. It gets extremely hot under the hood when you are stuck in traffic for over an hour every day. Have lived down here for over 30 years and believe me, heat will do it. Had this happen to several batteries without insulation over the years. My batteries seldom last over 2 years.
I was wondering if it came with insulation so I can order the part.

 

I don't believe the early Escapes came with, but Ford does sell the part for around $30 to $40 if you can match the battery size.

Check Google or Amazon as aftermarket kits are available all over.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Well, I'd look at it this way. If FoMoCo decided to spend a few bucks {SWAG} to add the insulation to the battery, they had a reason. I do not think it will keep a battery warm in winter, as the top and bottom are exposed, more the top, to ambient. It should protect the battery from some of the temperature swings, for a while, encountered in slow traffic, as it would take a while for the heat to penetrate, and air flow might improve before that happens.
I would check for a boneyard part, but that is always my first thought for OEM parts that are not cosmetic. You could use an insulator from a lot of vehicles. Check 1997 T-birds as they had the insulation also. I would suspect that many of the insulators have been tossed to the trash at service locations as the 'engineers' that install replacement batteries know better than the factory that spends millions in engineering annually. "It is just so much extra work to put that pad around the battery, and it looks so tattered... they don't need that..."
Maybe yours got 86'd with the 1st replacement battery?
tom

 

I suppose you can give it a try, but the insulation IS there to assist in heat retention, per Ford engineering as well as multiple new-model training courses over the years. It's not a guess on my part, it's from the people that built it.

I still fail to see how the seam is failing on the battery due to heat. The seams are sonically welded, and after working on these vehicles for over 20 years I have never seen a failed seam in a factory battery, or aftermarket for that matter, regardless of cause. I find the seam failure highly unusual, and would think that something very strange would have to be taking place to have multiple seam failures in a particular vehicle.

 

FireMe, All I can say is that insulation slows down heat transfer. In or out. If you park a vehicle overnight, the best insulation in the world {currently not available except in trade for gold} will not keep a battery warm. Ain't gonna happen. The heat will leak out, and the battery will be at ambient temperature before the sun comes up. Likely, with the R-factor of the battery 'blanket', the temperature will be at ambient within a couple hours of shutting down the engine. If your engineers believe different, I'd love to see some tests to back up their claim.
I still think that it is used to protect the battery from 'surges' of heat, such as in heavy stop and go traffic where the underhood temperature can skyrocket. In that case, it would slow down the heat cooking the battery, and maybe, just maybe would keep the battery from reaching damaging temperatures for a while. Not forever.
As long as I have seen these covers, I have thought it worthless for over night protection. If you live in a cold climate, you know that R-19 in the walls, and R-36 over the ceiling, double paned windows, and well sealed doors will NOT keep a home warm overnight when it is in the teens. By morning, the house that was 70F at sundown will be a lot cooler. With insulation that far exceeds what you can fit under the hood around your battery.
Please point to some documentation that contradicts actual experience.
By The Way, most battery failures occur in the summer months. Heat is the enemy as well as cold.
Thanks
tom

 

Do a quick search on "heat damaging car battery seam"...enough reading material to last a couple of weeks. It may not be the case up north, but I know it is in FL.