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Battery Issues?


Rick65inlosangeles

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  • 4 weeks later...

Last Monday after the vehicle had been parked for two days, the battery was DEAD!

 

Called Lincoln Roadside Assistance and within thirty minutes AAA was out and testing the battery.  4.2 volts.  They jumped started the vehicle and the charging system  checked ok. Gave me the report.  Drove the vehicle directly to Star Lincoln for system checking and they replaced the battery.  Only problem was waiting for three hours as they didn't have the battery in stock.

 

Anyone else have any problems?

 

As of this morning, I'm now a member of the dead battery club.  Car only sat for 30 hours.  First time this has happened in the 14 months since purchased new.  I'm waiting for the dealer to open to make the call....

Edited by VisionPilot
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It would be interesting to know if the battery failure rate is the same in all current MKX models, i.e. are Reserve models with all the optional electronic features more likely to suffer a battery failure than a less-endowed Premier/Select model. Perhaps there are too many variables involving e.g. climate & usage patterns of various features to determine a nexus with battery failure.

 

My early 2016 has often sat unused for periods of 2-3 weeks while gone on vacation with no battery issues. On the other hand, I have seldom used any electronic features, even the radio, since purchase two years ago. I wonder if the replacement batteries owners are receiving are hardier than the OEM units.

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Here's a good write-up on how batteries die prematurely. (Spoiler, about 50% run low on water due to evaporation, and are never checked nor topped off with additional distilled water).

https://www.batterystuff.com/kb/articles/battery-articles/how-do-batteries-die.html

 

Been talked about before, but this is the BEST battery tester you can buy (within reason). This tester will tell you the real state of tbe battety and charging system. This a better tester than they use at your dealer's.

SOLAR BA7 100-1200 CCA Electronic Battery and System Tester https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015PI7A4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Kd73zbDY6WCY4

Edited by enigma-2
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  • 3 months later...

Battery on my 2016 was dead this morning.  Had issues yesterday with the battery starting on Friday morning.  Got in the car and on the sync screen is was giving me some type of timeout warning, like some lights were left on.  Thought it was weird, but the car started fine.  Saturday morning get in and the battery was dead.  Hooked up a 75A batter starter/charger and the car started and was fine.  Got home later and test the battery ad noticed it was losign voltage.  This morning the battery was dead again.  Hooked up the 75a starter charger device again, but couldn't get it started.  Check the battery and it was around 4.6V .  I had to go and borrow a friends car.  Hooked it up again to the charger and checked it out later and the battery was up to around 12.6, but it starts losing voltage immediately after removing it from the charger.  I am going to have to bring it to the dealership Monday morning and hopefully get the battery replaced.  I am heading on vacation on Saturday to Florida and driving down there, so I need this car working 100%.

 

I see a sticker on the side of the battery stating 2/17.  Do you think that is the manufacturing date of the battery?  Cause if it is, then this is not the original battery.  I bought it as a CPO last October with just 22000 KMs on it.

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What is the date on a battery?

When a battery is expired, it means that the battery's manufacturer can no longer guarantee that the battery has a full life or charge. More specifically batteryexpiration dates are based upon when the batteries total self discharge will exceed 20%.
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Sounds like it ran low on charge and may have froze. If so, it's shot. Unusual to lose a battery with only a year on it.

 

Could always see if yout dealer will prorate it.

 

Ford currently has a $40 rebate on batterys (if you put it on the Ford Credit Card, or $20 without credit. You can sign up for Ford Credit Card right at service desk).

Edited by enigma-2
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  • 1 month later...

Last Monday after the vehicle had been parked for two days, the battery was DEAD!

 

Called Lincoln Roadside Assistance and within thirty minutes AAA was out and testing the battery.  4.2 volts.  They jumped started the vehicle and the charging system  checked ok. Gave me the report.  Drove the vehicle directly to Star Lincoln for system checking and they replaced the battery.  Only problem was waiting for three hours as they didn't have the battery in stock.

 

Anyone else have any problems?

Sigh.  Just had the same event.  1 3/4 into ownership and the battery is dead as a doornail.

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Update: Took it to the dealer.  Service Rep: "If you have a Lincoln MKX, battery WILL fail within first few years."  He said that most of the 2016s had already come back for battery replacements and said that the problem was impacting a  few of the other Ford/Lincoln models in that time frame.

The main problem being that the new cars are packed with electronics and the batteries can't handle the drain.

 

The upside is that dealer and Lincoln emergency service were both quite responsive.

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If I remember correctly, I have had my battery replace 3 times so far by lincoln. But I think they also did some reprogramming so what was draining the battery would no long cause an issue. It's been over a year since they replaced the most current one.

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There was a batch of bad batteries at some point a year or two ago. There have also been various problems with different components causing a battery drain. Otherwise the factory battery should last at least 3 years.

 

It is true they don’t last much more than 3 years in most cases because of the added drain of all the electronics.

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Personally I don't think it's the electronics drain themselves, rather it's short trips not allowing the battery to recover completely. (Coupled with the high drain of all the electronics making it take longer to fully recover).

 

If a battery doesn't fully recover, little by little crystals start to build up choking the battery.

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Agreed. It’s a slow death. And it doesn’t show up as a voltage drop so a lot of older testers say the battery is ok, but the cranking amps might be cut in half.

 

That’s why I bought a Solar BA7 tester and a Ctek charger/conditioner.

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The thing to remember, akirby, is that your not the target audience for Ford or Lincoln.  What i mean by that is that you are way more sophisticated than most owners.  

 

The vehicles need to be built in such a way that an average owner will not encounter problems assuming reasonable maintenance and allowing for usual wear and tear and lifetime of parts.

the service guy basically telling me he expected my battery to fail is not a good sign.

 

I still say this vehicle is reasonably reliable, but that's another issue. 

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Perhaps the proliferation of automotive electric & electronic systems are approaching the necessity of being built to military/aviation standards...or the need to carry a spare battery. I would be willing to bet that my Select Plus routinely makes a much smaller demand on the battery system of my MKX than many of my neighbor's option-loaded vehicles.

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The thing to remember, akirby, is that your not the target audience for Ford or Lincoln.  What i mean by that is that you are way more sophisticated than most owners.  

 

The vehicles need to be built in such a way that an average owner will not encounter problems assuming reasonable maintenance and allowing for usual wear and tear and lifetime of parts.

 

the service guy basically telling me he expected my battery to fail is not a good sign.

 

I still say this vehicle is reasonably reliable, but that's another issue.

 

I agree with that. But I don’t think it’s unique to Ford or Lincoln.

 

I really think they may need to go to a 48V system which was being considered by several mfrs but I think only one has implemented it so far. It would solve a lot of the current problems (and probably create a couple of new ones).

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That’s why I bought a Solar BA7 tester and a Ctek charger/conditioner.

I have both as well. Interestingly enough, the Ctek charger failed to rejuvenate my battery. It jumps over this stage. I wrote Ctek and they wrote back stating it was never designed to do that! The solar tester says my new battery is defective, but the battey starts and runs just fine. Sooooooooooo suffering sucatash.

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I agree with that. But I don’t think it’s unique to Ford or Lincoln.

 

I really think they may need to go to a 48V system which was being considered by several mfrs but I think only one has implemented it so far. It would solve a lot of the current problems (and probably create a couple of new ones).

 

 

https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/247889-cars-moving-48-volt-electrical-systems

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