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2012 SEL - Dead Battery!


doug3940

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The battery and alternator both tested perfect. The ford dealer told me they would replace the battery if they could find a problem but they couldn't. Just to be safe, I also took it to auto-zone to get it tested and they said they were both fine as well......

 

I can't count the number of times that people had a problem, the battery tested ok but as soon as they replaced the battery all the problems went away. Battery testing is not perfect. Look at it this way - if nothing else you just bought peace of mind on the battery for at least 3 years and you ruled out the battery as a problem - for $100 and 15 minutes.

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I can't count the number of times that people had a problem, the battery tested ok but as soon as they replaced the battery all the problems went away. Battery testing is not perfect. Look at it this way - if nothing else you just bought peace of mind on the battery for at least 3 years and you ruled out the battery as a problem - for $100 and 15 minutes.

 

I agree, a new battery could never hurt, and this is exactly what I will likely end up doing if this problem persists. My hesitation is that my Edge is show some of the same behaviors as others who posted in this topic indicating that replacing the battery didn't help. For instance, I have noticed on one occasion that the radio stayed on after I turned the car off and locked the doors, on another occasion the two screens in the dash stay lit after leaving and locking the car (waiting 2 minutes and they were still on, started the car again, turned it off, locked the door, and they went off), my seat, air, and radio all loose their last position every time I turn off the car, along with getting an odd message when I turn the car off (Please turn ignition off or start engine). Also, the battery is only drained after being left for a long period of time. If I stop for 20-30 minutes and get back in and start the car, it starts just fine. This tells me the battery is holding a charge. I am not dismissing the fact that it could be the battery, but everything that I'm seeing is pointing towards something else. Does that make sense?

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I am the owner of a 2012 Edge Limited with 32,000 miles. For the last several months, since approximately 18,000 miles or earlier, I have become increasingly frustrated with the vehicle that I once loved. On at least 6 occasions I have taken the vehicle in due to Sync going black for no apparent reason. Each time I am told they cannot duplicate the issue and all tests show everything is fine (please note it has happened far more times than that but I get tired of it not being fixed at the dealer and simply wait for it to come back). I have asked them to keep it until it repeats but this never happens...I am taking this up with the dealer. This issue continues and happened just this past week again, it was off for 2 days. Recently the sunroof, my favorite feature, started getting stuck open and will not respond when the button is pressed to close it. After several attempts pushing both available buttons, it finally closes. This was supposedly fixed on my last trip to the dealership when they greased the track, however it happened again. This morning is the last straw! I went to take my kids to school, pushed the brake, pushed the start button and heard a click then the vehicle went black. It is dead in my driveway, waiting for Roadside Assistance to come pick it up. I am so frustrated with the vehicle and really feel like I have gotten nowhere with the service department as they keep addressing each individual issue and there is nothing ever resolved. I realize they are only as good as the information that Ford provides them but I can't help but think that this is their only job, to fix Ford vehicles, they should be able to get it resolved.

 

Other quirky things to note that have happened:

- When I still had Sirius in the vehicle, I would start the vehicle only to find the radio was on rather than the Sirius channel I left on and I was the only person who had driven the vehicle.

- A few times when Sync would go down, it would come back with just the radio on and the screen would be black for quite a while.

- This past week the screen was not black but the colors for the different choices would appear, no words, but I could touch the screen and activate things randomly. - I have Sync go down very often showing it is updating, more often than should be happening in my opinion.

- In the last week, I have had the vehicle tell me on multiple occasions that the key is not detected despite the fact it is in my lap when I am sitting in the drivers seat.

- On several occasions I have turned the car off and gotten out yet the radio is still going. I have to get back in the car, restart it, then turn it off again to get the radio to shut off.

- When Sync is down, I cannot use the USB ports to charge my phone, they are dead as well.

 

I have read on other posts that it could possibly be that something is not shutting down completely when the car is turned off. This makes perfect sense to me especially with my dead battery on a two year old vehicle. I am completely frustrated at this point and would appreciate any information available.

 

Thank you.

Edited by sm1duncan
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Have they replaced the battery? A bad battery can cause all sorts of strange issues. My daughter's 2012 Focus was having TCM flakiness and a no start condition that was fixed with a new battery yesterday morning. If the dealer won't replace the battery do it yourself and see if that helps. I assume you've already upgraded MFT to the latest version? That fixes a lot of earlier problems.

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The battery has not been changed but oddly enough, when the tow truck arrived to take it to the dealer, the connection was loose. The driver set it up so I could drive it to the dealer but the dealer was not accepting that they were the ones who loosened it despite the fact we have never touched the battery, in fact, I think that is the first time we have had the hood open.

 

Despite the loose battery tightened, we still have Sync issues and my Traction Control is still showing it needs service even though it was recently serviced.

 

Finally put a call in to Ford Customer Service. Still frustrated.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just bought a pre owned '12 edge sport with 36000 miles 2 weeks ago. Experiencing similar problems. Went to go to work Tuesday morning and the car was dead in the garage. Jumped the car and everything was working fine. Let it run and took it for a spin to charge the battery a little bit. Came back 1 hour later to check and it wouldn't turn over. Couldn't even get into the car without using the actual key. Lights worked stereo worked but the engine was clicking and could not turn over. Hoping the battery is still under warranty but I'm not convinced that is the root of the problem. This is ridiculous. Not to mention the brake booster I just had to get replaced on Monday.

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Welcome & sorry to hear about the brake/battery problems. You are right, it COULD be the BCM (body control module) draining power from the battery. It could also be an alternator not charging the battery properly. But, chances are that it IS the battery, as it may be 3 or more years old already. If you bought it from a dealer, you may be able to get coverage for it. Sure nothing's left plugged in & on?

 

You can check the battery voltage across the terminals with a voltmeter, or get an approximate idea with a voltage checker that can be plugged into an accessory outlet. You are looking for 12.5V or better with engine/car completely turned off (no key in ignition etc), and 13.5V or more (ideally in 14+ range) with engine running and all accessories off (no AC, no stereo, nothing in the power ports, etc). Videos on youtube will help if you have never used a VM before, or this will.

 

Did you have to pay for the brake booster? What was wrong with it?

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  • 2 months later...

Please help!!!!!!!

My wife and I have a 2012 Edge with about 24k miles. For the past two months or so we have been dealing with a dead battery issue. My wife is the primary driver of the vehicle and takes it to work and back every day. About two months ago, my wife went to start the car to go to work and the battery was dead. We jump started her car and she was able to drive the car to work with no issues. We could not find any lights left on in the car and no explanation why the battery was dead. A few days later, the battery was dead again when she went to start the car in the morning to go to work. I let my wife take my truck to work and I took the car to our local Ford dealer. I explained to them that the battery was dead and that we were not leaving anything on that would drain the battery. The Ford dealer did a battery load test and charging system check and found everything to be O.K. They also did a battery draw test and found nothing draining the battery. The car is still under the 36k mile warranty coverage and we also have the service contract on our lease. The Ford dealer charged us for testing the vehicle and said that they could not find anything wrong so they were not able to charge Ford for the tests. The car died again about 1 week later. We took the car back to the local dealer and they did the same tests again and said they could not find anything wrong with the charging system or battery. This time they did not charge us for any tests and told us to contact them again if the battery died again. About two or three days later the battery was dead again. I called the Ford dealer and they advised us not to jump start the car and to have the car towed to the dealership so they could inspect the car while the battery was dead. They did the same tests again and found nothing wrong. This time they did replace the battery and said that the battery must be the cause of the issues. We picked the car up and it worked great for about 1 week and the battery was dead again. We called the Ford dealer and they said that they would need to keep the car for however long it would take in order to get the battery to die for them. I told the Ford dealer that we would need a loaner car if we had to leave it for any length of time. They told me that their loaner cars are booked for about 2 weeks and that they would call me when one came available and we could schedule our car to be inspected again. After jump starting the car three or four times during the past two weeks waiting for the Ford dealer to call us, the car was dead in the morning when my wife went to start it for work, we jump started the car to get her to work, she then had to jump start the car to get home from work (about 8 hours later) and then the car was dead again the next morning. We had the car towed to Ford again on Christmas eve. The Ford dealer called us the day after Christmas and said that they could not find anything wrong with the car again. I told them to keep the car until it died for them.

 

We make sure that we never leave any lights on, we always turn the heat and radio off before we get out of the car. We do not have anything plugged into the accessory plugs. The car usually works fine for several days or even up to one week after we either charge the battery or jump start it.

 

The day we bought the car we had electrical problems with it. As we were inside filling out the paper work at the Ford dealer when we bought it new, the sales man was prepping the car in the dealer parking lot and as he was cleaning off the dash he hit the hazard light button and could not get the lights to go back off. He disconnected the battery to try and reset the system but the hazard lights would not go off. We left had to leave the car at the dealership and wait a little over a week for a new computer system to come in and be installed (maybe the car gods were trying to tell us something) After we finally got the car it worked great for about the first year and we had issues again. While on a trip from Colorado to Texas, the entire display screen went out and we had no navigation or radio (not fun when you are in another state and one of the main reasons we bought the car was because it had the navigation screen for this trip). The screen, radio, and navigation finally came back on one day later. We took the car to the Ford dealer when we got back from the trip and they replaced the entire center console assembly.

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Sorry that you have had to go through this! I personally don't think you should have had to pay for battery to be tested, but not sure what Ford's policy is on this. If they couldn't find a parasitic draw, and the battery is testing OK, they should have at least tested the BCM. A faulty BCM (Body Control Module) can cause a dead battery at times. Did they pull codes to see if any had been set? Haven't really seen alternator or starter involvement so early in the vehicle's life, but that's possible. Also possible is bad cabling from the battery, bad ground(s), corrosion on battery terminals, etc. Since your Edge is still under warranty, the diagnostics should be/have been covered.

 

If you can, go to another dealer, or if that's not possible, if there is a Lincoln dealership nearby, try getting it serviced there. Try getting Ford Engineering involved (thru dealer) for a resolution. Also have the option to connect with FordService (Tricia) on here to escalate the issue directly to Ford.

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  • 1 month later...

Have exact same issue as many others have described. Car drains battery after shutting it off. Clicking sounds and flashing lights. Starts with jump, but never know when it will be dead again. 15k miles and battery is not the problem. What do I tell the Ford dealer when I take it in? I see too many have been sent on their way with a new battery or told that nothing could be found wrong.

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15k miles and battery is not the problem.

 

How do you know the battery isn't bad? Did you get it tested with a modern tester checking the cranking apps? It may not be the root cause but it may need to be replaced regardless.

 

The dealer should be able to measure the current draw when the vehicle is off and after the onboard systems have shut down. Common causes are the body module or the shifter park sensor.

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Follow up from a few days ago. Took it in to Ford dealer in Vicksburg, MI. Explained the problem and also explained that the same problem exists in many other Ford Edge's and that the problem is likely not to be a bad battery. Pointed them to this forum and 3 hours later we were called and told the battery was the problem and had been replaced under warranty. Now, 4 days later and the battery is dead again. Does Ford hide this issue from their dealers? Pretty frustrating when you have the problem half solved for them and they go ahead and do it wrong, just like all the other dealers that got it wrong.

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How is Ford preventing a dealer tech from doing a proper diagnosis? There are several components that could cause this - some common like the park detect switch or the BCM and others that are not common. If the dealer tech doesn't take the time to measure the current draw and trace it back to the offending component I'm not sure how that's Ford fault. Most dealers are simply too lazy to do the proper diagnosis.

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I am having the same issues with the battery in my 2012 Ford Edge. I walk out to my car in the morning on my way to work and it's dead inside. Just a clicking noise and will not start. Get it jumped from a neighbor and drive to work and it is fine for 2 days then it happens again. Got a new battery and once again lasted about 2 days. It is at a dealership right now and once again I have to pay for the battery to get tested as well as the alternator.. Which I have had tested before and it passed but "it's part of the package" and I'm stuck with having to pay for this again and again. Very frustrating as I have to commute to work and have two small children and it's just not safe for me at my office in the back parking lot with a dead battery at night. I don't understand why I have to keep paying for all these checks that the dealership and I both know will pass because something else is draining the battery.. I'm very afraid that I have purchased a lemon! Please help me FORD! I want to like this car.

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I agree akirby. The dealership that my vechicle is at right now - and once again "has to" charge me for testing the battery and alternator. In a real snarky voice the service guy asked me what he should check if it isn't the battery or alternator right after I had told him and had shown him the paperwork from the previous tests of the alternator. But because I'm a female I"m obviously too dumb to read and just have to pay for this once again! Once he asked me what I thought he should check I told him about this forum. Hi! FORD Manager if you are reading this! Yep! it's the lady that was in this morning that doesn't want to pay for an alternator check that we both know will come back fine! Hope you check what is really draining my battery.

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Well, I gave the dealership a copy of kirby's post that stated they are lazy for not finding the problem. Informed that one of the best technician's in the state is working on it. But, apparently they can't figure out the problem because it is intermittent. So, they need to keep the car until "the discharge event" happens again.They "checked" the brand new battery they installed last Thursday, they checked the alternator, but apparently they can't check with Ford. Ford is living up to it's reputation. Fix or repair daily....

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