CMAX HYBRID completely dead

5868 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Larry J, 3 mo ago

Bill Wombacher

Discussion Starter · Jul 28, 2020

Hi guys, new member here. My 2013 Hybrid SEL is completely dead. No bells, lights, dingers, nothing.
My computerized Optima charger can't see the battery, so that matches. But even with the charger connected, nothing. The car is push button start, powered liftgate, nav, everything but the sunroof.
Called the dealer. He said it sounded like a 12V problem. So I ask the dealer, how do I get to the battery to replace it - since the liftgate is powered and all power is dead? BTW I just paid that dealer to preemptively install a new battery 7 months ago. He says, just a minute while I look that up. He says, "I don't know." Then he says, "But you better have the car towed in here so we can take a look at it".
I said, "But HOW are you going to get to the battery?"
Has anyone been thru this? Any ideas?

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Bill Wombacher

Discussion Starter · #2 · Jul 29, 2020

Update (in case it helps someone else someday): I was thinking about my new battery charger. I figured it probably tested the battery and when it failed to recognize the battery it ceased putting out any juice. So I connected jumper cables from my '95 pickup and voila, everything came to life.
So I immediately started the car, disconnected the jumpers and backed the car into the spare parking spot.
After shutting it off, I restarted it out of curiosity. That worked like normal. I did not drive it to work from fear of a recurrence.
The good news is that it is likely a 12V issue and not a high voltage issue or a computer issue.

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chrisgatti

· #3 · Jan 22, 2021

Bill Wombacher said:
Update (in case it helps someone else someday): I was thinking about my new battery charger. I figured it probably tested the battery and when it failed to recognize the battery it ceased putting out any juice. So I connected jumper cables from my '95 pickup and voila, everything came to life.
So I immediately started the car, disconnected the jumpers and backed the car into the spare parking spot.
After shutting it off, I restarted it out of curiosity. That worked like normal. I did not drive it to work from fear of a recurrence.
The good news is that it is likely a 12V issue and not a high voltage issue or a computer issue.

i got the same year and problem in the last year replaced battery 3 times.dealers are cluless but love to bill you service calls.i find that if you start car every day in the winter dont let it sit for more than 3 days.i bought a battery jumper the size of a ciggarette package off amazon for 40 bucks lift front hood attach to car ground and red cap battery post and juice it it starts easily another thing shut all radio heated seats and heat and air fans off.some module is staying on and drains the 12 volt normal battery.

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chrisgatti

· #4 · Jan 22, 2021 (Edited)

ive owned my 2013 c-max-sel with 80km on it now for 3 years other than the normal 12 volt battery draining from time to time when sitting still for 3 days or better i get great gas milage love the pickup and go, the build quality and its got all the bells and toys.but dont understand why FORD has not figured out the battery 12 volt drain issues.man just punch it in the net is full of complaints which doesnt help the image of ford.to be honest iam really leery of buying another electric vehicle from the company in the future but will go with one of the builds from japan. and i hate saying this for iam true blue but no fun getting stuck with service bills and the same thing happens down the road over and over....

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LSKeller

· #5 · 9 mo ago

I'm thankful to find this thread. Came home from vacation and my 2016 C-Max energy is completely dead. I unplugged it before we left town. Nothing happens when I plug in the high voltage charger. We'll check the low voltage battery and see what happens.

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Larry J

· #6 · 3 mo ago (Edited)

My 2017 C-Max Energi was completely DEAD (no LED of any sort lit-up) when we returned from a months-long trip to Arizona. The car was stored in our attached garage with the 110v OEM Ford charging cable plugged-in, as recommended in the Owner's Manual, 2017 C-Max, Page 253, as follows:

"12V Battery... We recommend the following options for your plug-in vehicle:
OPTION #1:
Leave your vehicle plugged in. The 12V battery maintains power if left plugged in. However, this periodically uses electricity from the household outlet."

This is exactly what I did. They lied. The 110v charging cable did NOT 'maintain' the 12V battery in any way. Consequently, the 12V battery was dead upon our return, and there was no response from the car. It was dead, dead, dead. Full stop.

When I connected my Schumacher digital battery charger to the posts (as identified and described in the Owner's Manual, page 199) the weirdest thing happened: A pair of 'relays' in the fuse box began making 'popcorn' sounds. They were really 'popping' loudly and continuously. I used a metal rod between the relays and my ear to identify WHICH relays were making the sounds. They are (according to the Owner's Manual, page 210) relays numbered as "R12" and "R14", which are identified as "Power Relay Cooling Fan" and "Engine Control Relay", respectively. I tried this three times, with the same result each time. Occasionally during this process various LED lights in the C-Max flashed and flickered, but there was no consistency to it. The 12V battery failed to charge, so I discontinued the experiment.

The Ford dealer, of course, said to "tow it in" and "we'll take a look at it" around the middle of next week. Uh huh.

I decided to follow the "jump start" procedure described in the Owner's Manual (page 198) using my F-150 as the power source. The C-Max 'started' immediately, as if there had never been a problem, It 'ran' as an EV (the ICE didn't start immediately), showing "100%" on the dashboard battery meter. Apparently, having the car plugged-in to household current for four months kept the high-voltage battery fully-charged (as expected), BUT contrary to what the Owner's Manual says, it did NOT 'maintain' the charge in the 12V battery.

I fear that the 12V battery may be damaged ("sulfated") because it was drawn-down to 0%. Time will tell. As things stand, I test-drove the C-Max for a dozen miles (enough to run-down the high-V battery) and the ICE engaged correctly. The C-Max is now sitting in the driveway with the Ford 110v charger plugged-in, and I'll check it later tonight to see if the car acts normally, or not. At the moment, I don't trust it.

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