Starter Battery Issue

[popotla]

On Friday I tried to start the wagon (Ford Ranger cabin) but the battery was dead. The rescue service (ADAC, Germany) came; the man told me (and his printed-out report says so too) that the voltage was 10.0.

Yesterday when I left the van, having run it on Friday but then not having moved it for more than 24 hours, the reading was 12.5-12.6 (fluctuating). By this evening, 27 hours later and with the air temperature at 3 degrees C, the reading had dropped to 12.2.

The vehicle is 15 months old, has done 11,500 km. Does this sound like a defective battery? Ford are having a look tomorrow morning.

 

[Camping Gaza]

If you have a less than healthy or old battery a cold snap can kill it overnight

 

[pappajohn]

Yesterday when I left the van, having run it on Friday but then not having moved it for more than 24 hours, the reading was 12.5-12.6 (fluctuating). By this evening, 27 hours later and with the air temperature at 3 degrees C, the reading had dropped to 12.2.

The vehicle is 15 months old, has done 11,500 km. Does this sound like a defective battery?

I would say yes and have a look in your service book, the battery will most probably only have a 12 month warranty regardless of what's on the battery label.
Most vehicle manufacturers class batteries as consumables.

 

[autorouter]

The vehicle is 15 months old, has done 11,500 km. Does this sound like a defective battery? Ford are having a look tomorrow morning.

Yes, it could be a defective battery, but it's by no means a foregone conclusion that it's the whole story. It could be for example a defective electronic control unit not switching off when the ignition goes off. It could be defective diodes in the alternator, or quite a few other possibilities. If you get a new battery, keep a close eye on its voltage, so it doesn't get ruined by the same fault. A good auto electrician can check all that out.

 

[popotla]

I took the van to Ford early on Monday morning. Investigation and remedy under guarantee was promised. Now Wednesday morning, no word from them but I'm about to go over there.

A good auto electrician can check all that out.

I assume Ford has at least one!

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[PhilandMena]

You don't say how long the vehicle was not in use prior to you finding it flat on Friday ? 24 hrs after running the van you find you have 12.5-12.6 V. This indicates to me your alternator is fine and has recharged your battery and your battery is possibly fine too and showing a small drain 0.1-0.2 V which could be from a radio/alarm. It's never good allowing a battery to go flat but many can be recovered if charged quickly enough. I would not be so quick to write it off yet and look forward to reading the conclusion of this investigation.

 

[popotla]

You don't say how long the vehicle was not in use prior to you finding it flat on Friday.

A few days, six at the most. We have no alarm (have other security measures) but do have a radio.

I will let you know.

 

[popotla]

I would not be so quick to write it off yet and look forward to reading the conclusion of this investigation.

Ford told me they checked the battery system and found that leakage was 0.02 amps [per hour, I think that is (is it?)]. There appears to be nothing wrong. It was suggested to me that the automatatic cut-off (that is supposed to happen via the Votronic system) might have failed, meaning (if this in fact happened) that the leisure batteries continued to receive charge from the starter battery after the engine was switched off. Since this is not at present happening, the possibility cannot be checked (I am told).

Actually, since September 30th, the van has not had any good runs but has been used locally with quite a lot of stop-starts, including from the "cut off when stationary at a traffic light etc." device. (I now know how to disable this.)

Anyway, at the weekend we expect to be on EHU and next week to be heading to Spain. Thus all batteries will, we hope, be OK. If not, we will sort it out.

 

[autorouter]

Ford told me they checked the battery system and found that leakage was 0.02 amps [per hour, I think that is (is it?)].

0.02 amps, definitely not 0.02 amps per hour. Amps per hour makes no sense. If you really want to, you could say 0.02 amp-hours per hour, but that's the same as just saying 0.02 amps.

0.02 amps is 20 milliamps. That's a very small current, and if it's true, there's no problem of battery drain from any connected devices.