Hello. Though I am new to this forum, I am not new to auto forums. My wife's Sequoia (now relegated to towing duties) had a decent forum that I contributed to about 25 times. The 1998 Mercedes E320 that I traded in for the Escape (happy wife happy life) was my baby for 9 years. 239,750 miles and literally thousands of contributions on Benzworld.org kept the relationship (with the car... not the wife!) moving in the right direction. Okay, so now that you know that I'm not some newbie who posts once and never responds, let me ask my question:

The 2014 Escape S 2.5L that I bought has been a great vehicle so far. I will do most of the non-computer maintenance involved so I plan on using this forum often. I'm reaching out to forum members for info concerning the battery on the new Escapes. I can clearly see where the cover can be popped off for viewing of the battery. Needless to say, the battery is seriously hard to get to. The exposed remote negative cable is a great idea and I hope that I never have to use it!

How in the world do I go about pulling the battery? I want to check the electrolyte levels with my hydrometer annually and in order to do that I need to pull the battery out so that I can pop the vents and do my thing. Any information would be helpful. Thanks for your time.

Looking forward to getting involved with this forum.
Scuddog

 

Lol, I had to boost my tractor with my escape this winter, for sure shook my head at the design.

Now that you mention it, I have no clue how you would get the battery out of that little cubby hole....

 

Oh and welcome to FTE

 

Thanks 2ndStroke. Appreciate the sympathy. I will pop the hood and have another look at it. YouTube and other forums are coming up blank most likely due to the fact that these vehicles are so new and battery issues are so rare. No worries. I will report back to all once I figure it out. Maybe I'll post a DIY if I can make it work.

 

It's been posted in another forum that starting with the 2013 Escape, a new battery management system is used. Under a low battery drain the alternator stops charging for improved MPG. Not only that as the battery gets older the charge is adjusted. If a dealer replaces the battery, they go in with their scan tool to RESET the parameters.

If an owner replaces the battery, you will lose "some" MPG because of the new system.

 

Interesting, had no clue there was such a feature

 

Aren't batteries generally completely sealed these days? Haven't checked electrolyte levels or specific gravity in a long time. Because you can't.

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Looked at mine again, looks like the air intake would have to come off to get the battery out

 

I looked under the hood of some 2013's at the auto show. They must really hate people now who work on things themselves!

Anyway, where is the battery? Tucked up under the cowling on the driver's side?

It looked like that overhanging cowling made access to many things miserable. After the auto show, somewhere, I read that the cowling can be removed for better access. Since I don't have a 2013/14, I don't have the applicable shop manual, so I can't tell anyone how to do it.

Batteries... It's been many years since a saw a SEALED lead-acid car battery (I'm talking regular rectangular battery, not wound cylindrical cells).
Years ago, sealed batteries suddenly became the rage, but had problems. On fast charging, the buildup of hydrogen had to be vented out a resealable safety vent to avoid swelling or bursting the case. Once out, it's gone, never to return. So the batteries lost water. Shortened life. And they were a real pain to try to determine charge life.
Standard practice was to leave your battery with the place, they would attempt to charge it for X hours, then they would discharge it via carbon pile, and time it to drop to 9.6 volts (or something like that, it's been years!)
So they switched back to "semi-sealed" which was just two banks of connected vent caps, that you could use a battery hydrometer on.
Like SCUDDOG, I want to be able to test myself.

 

Some batteries have vent caps that can be removed, many or most "maintenance free" do not. At least no obvious way. That seems to be the goal, I guess.

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Thanks gents for the discussion on the battery. First off:
1. I have purchased "sealed / maintenance free" batteries and they had a shorter overall life than traditional wet cell batteries.
2. There is a reason that sealed "maint free" batteries are cheaper to buy than standard wet cell - They are cheaper! They will not last as long because you cannot keep the lead plates covered in the long run.
3. 9 years for a traditional wet cell battery in one of my recent cars (sold) is not bad. The Hydrometer takes all of about 1 minute to learn how to use and it gives you peace of mind that a particular cell is working properly.
4. In South Florida we have high mineral content in our water so I used distilled water to fill the battery to the proper levels when needed.

There... I've said my piece. Back to the Escape... I will mosey over to Duncan Ford in the coming whenever to chat with a mechanic about this stuff. If Ford REALLY doesn't want to have customers replacing batteries, they need to give us the low-down before someone screws up and does something on their own. More to follow.

 

it is not only ford man! in almost every car now when the battery gets disconnected it causes the anti theft systems to shut down the car, and those need to be reset, something most gas station shops and owners can't do.

 

The new battery management in the 2013/14 Escape supposedly has been in other Ford products since the 2011MY.

 

Scuddog - interesting angle you have there, makes sense now for what you want to do. Is there a brand or model of conventional battery you plan to use?

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Tedster,
I do not have another brand of battery in mind because I am not in the market. I just want to be able to periodically check my Escape's battery for swelling, fluid levels and specific gravity. That's it. The fact that I may have to somehow reboot my car's computer at the dealership is frustrating to say the least. I don't have all of the facts yet, so I'm not going to jump to any conclusions. I need to get more info.

To keep the power flow going to the computer, I have a cigarette lighter 9V adapter that fools the car into thinking that there is still a power source. These things have been around for a long time. The trick is not to drain the 9V battery through the dome lights etc... be quick. This will allow me to pull the battery and check it out when the time comes.

First I need to figure out how to get the darned thing out of the housing.

When the time does come someday, I most likely will go with an Interstate battery. Two types of "Mega Tron" Interstate batteries are normally offered for the popular battery sizes. The beefier lead plates in the more expensive model tend to last longer and resist electrolysis some what better than the standard size. Others may lean towards the Die Hard Sears batteries. My electrician centric buddy told me that only the top tier Gold series Die Hard battery is worth consideration because Sears farms out the lesser brands to other manufacturers.

The quest for info continues...