I went to start my truck and the battery was dead. It’s been only a week, maybe a couple days over since I last drove it. Should the battery be dead so fast? Hubby tried to hook up the battery charger and the charger kept shutting off. We can’t jump it because it’s head first in the garage. Help!!

 

Unfortunately these newer AGM batteries usually can not be recharged once they are fully recharged. The battery life monitor should have shut down any draw on the factory system. Have you had any work done where there was power tapped? How long did the truck sit on the lot before you bought it?

 

We haven’t done any extra work. The truck was a special order. We picked it up pretty quick once it arrived.
Before we picked up the truck, the dealer had the camper shell installed but I think that’s it. We don’t drive it much because of Covid, we stay home. I usually start it once a week and it’s been fine. First time, it’s not.

 

have the dealer come out and replace it under warranty.

wonder if the shell install has a short or something (assuming you have lights hooked up) that drained it (or someone left lights on)

as an aside, this is why i like to carry a battery jump box with me - in case nobody is around to give me a jump or you can’t get jumper cables on it.

 

I called Fords roadside assistance. We have a jumper box but it drained it when we tried to start the truck. Hubby trying a battery charger but it’s only at 4 volts.

 

You need to take that truck out on a highway run of 25-30 miles at least every other week, preferably on e a week, to keep the battery charged. Starting it, or driving it for 5 minutes wont work. Also, just starting it for a few minutes, then shutting it down is a good way to contaminate the oil with condensation, which causes sludge.

 

The tow truck was just here and tried to jump it. It will not jump. We called for a flat bed to be towed to the dealer. This is our only vehicle and we are first Responders. The WORST time. Our dealer is over an hour away too. 😭

 

How are you a first responder and never drive it? I am and I have to go to work everyday.

After they put a new battery in, take it for a good, spirited long drive.

 

We have an ambulance parked at the house we use to respond because we are water rescue and rope rescue. The truck has been sitting. Sometimes hubbies goes on calls and I don’t, but I have the truck in case I have a different call.

 

Sitting is bad. Put it to some use and don’t baby it. That doesn’t mean abuse it, just work it at least once a week.

 

Definitely!! Thanks!!!

 

The AGM battery issues continue. This should have been solved a long time ago. It cost us so much downtime at work that we now have a direct battery vendor ( Batteries + Bulbs ). All the 2015+ F150 trucks get the Northstar X2 94R and we install them when the trucks come to us from the upfitter. So far 2 years in and out of several hundred batteries we have less than 10 failed batteries fleetwide.

From 2016 to 2018 we actually had well over a hundred battery failures which costs huge downtime ($350.00 hr with two employees and a truck on average) and resulted in so many unneeded expensive third party service calls for battery replacement. Ford knew about the failures because they openly exchanged the defective batteries. However this continued and we went for our own solution and that has offset the cost of the Northstar batteries completely. I won't even get into the non stop issues the SuperDuty trucks have puking acid before the first oil change.


https://www.batteriesplus.com/produc...er/sli94ragmdp

 

Does my truck need the AGM battery? What’s the fix? Yes, drive it more..... AGM battery tender?

 

Your truck has a AGM already in it, its also the cheapest battery Ford could procured. The fix is replacing it with a battery that isn't from Ford. If you depend on the truck or make your living with it don't rely on the stock battery. I was one of the ones that had the oem and 2 replacements fail on my personal truck in less than 10k on my 2018.

 

i put Northstar AGM’s in my trucks about three years ago. Excellent batteries. I drive my dedicated plow truck at least once a week during the summer just to run it; always starts fine. Subzero temps never a problem. Pricey, but worth it.


I also got Noco Genius GB150 jump chargers a few years ago. Highly recommend them. They can jump diesels, can fo many jumps on one charge, and lose very little charge when just sitting. I put them on a charger about every six months just to make sure they are ready, and they’re always still close to 100%.

So....in your line of work, get Northstar AGM batteries and carry NoCo Genius jump packs to carry with you.