mcali6301 Posted August 11, 2014 Report Share Posted August 11, 2014 I'm at 46K bought the car cert pre owned at 19K..... Suddenly start the car this morning and it gives this very low weak start however the engine turns over just fine...before i started the car the screen had a message "System off to save Battery" with the progress bar. then when I placed my key in the ignition it said "System off to save battery, Please turn ignition off or start engine. I drove to work like normal, nothing out of the ordinary...I get to work, shut down and I get the same message and the same startup sequence..(I thought perhaps the battery would charge while on the 15 mile commute... Since day one I have had a phone charger plugged in sometimes even 2 and that never caused any power issues....I've added a USB drive in there about a month ago and no issues till this morning so hard to believe the power issue can be coming from end of things..... I'm thinking best case scenario, battery just needs to be replaced? Thoughts? Obviously I'll be calling the dealer this morning to bring it in but just wanted to get some ideas and thoughts also.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWWPerfA_ZN0W Posted August 11, 2014 Report Share Posted August 11, 2014 Agreed on battery replacement theory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 11, 2014 Report Share Posted August 11, 2014 Yep. Battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcali6301 Posted August 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2014 OK thanks for the confirmation guys! How long are these Motorcraft batteries supposed to last? Are there variables that would shorten the life span? ie. keeping chargers plugged in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 11, 2014 Report Share Posted August 11, 2014 I've never had a battery (factory or aftermarket) last more than 3 - 3.5 years. Some factors can affect that (temp, driving cycle, accessories) but you can also just get a bad cell sometimes. At this point I'd recommend getting a new one anyway just to be safe ($100 or so at most places). At least you would be able to rule that out and not worry about it for another 3-4 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWWPerfA_ZN0W Posted August 11, 2014 Report Share Posted August 11, 2014 Unfortunately Ford doesn't make a higher-capacity ToughMax for our battery size like they do for say the SHO's. But other than that, get it installed at the dealer if you want the looooooooooong warranty! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcali6301 Posted August 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2014 Battery was bad, had it replaced. Once this new battery is done and warranty is up I'll start looking for a higher end battery... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWWPerfA_ZN0W Posted August 12, 2014 Report Share Posted August 12, 2014 Problem solved. Gotta love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 12, 2014 Report Share Posted August 12, 2014 Battery was bad, had it replaced. Once this new battery is done and warranty is up I'll start looking for a higher end battery... Don't waste your money. I haven't found any difference in battery life between the cheap or expensive ones. In most cases you're just paying more for the longer warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcali6301 Posted August 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2014 Hmmm, that's pretty much the same thing I've heard re: warranty.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted August 12, 2014 Report Share Posted August 12, 2014 Think about it. I can buy the same vehicle from Ford with either a 3 yr 36K mile warranty or a 7 yr 100K mile warranty. I just have to pay about $1500 more for the longer version. The vehicle itself isn't any different. Once you get past the CCA capacity it's mostly warranty cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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