Lately, the beeps in my '23 Lightning have sounded different... why?

[TaxmanHog]

Could just be down to a quirk of the 12v system in the truck, btw anyone ever plug in a battery maintainer to the pro power in the frunk? Would it even make a difference? I figure it likely would shut off with the truck but I've never actually used any of the outlets since I only have the 120s. I have a use for the 7.2 but I wrongly assumed the truck came with it....live and learn.

You have the '25 Lightning so you might be able to operate the PPOB in non-run / passive mode, but as soon as your trickle charger got the LVB up to par, it would go into float mode and likely your PPOB session would suspend.

Us folks with older Lightnings (not having passive PPOB functionality) would need to leave the truck "running" and shut off the 30 minute shutdown timer to activate PPOB, now with it running the DC/DC converter is going to serve primary duty keeping the LVB up to snuff negating the need for the trickle charger.

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[chriserx]

You have the '25 Lightning so you might be able to operate the PPOB in non-run / passive mode, but as soon as your trickle charger got the LVB up to par, it would go into float mode and likely your PPOB session would suspend.

Us folks with older Lightnings (not having passive PPOB functionality) would need to leave the truck "running" and shut off the 30 minute shutdown timer to activate PPOB, now with it running the DC/DC converter is going to serve primary duty keeping the LVB up to snuff negating the need for the trickle charger.

I guess it could be beneficial then, keeping the battery at least in the higher percentages, guess it wouldn't hurt to try it out. Every 2-3 weeks my truck goes into deep sleep, I just chalk it up to never removing my comma and OBD scanner.

 

[Ekiehn]

Read the note about the 10 second test.. Really not a sufficient test. Bottom line is you are experiencing a degraded 12v - Replace it and save headaches.

 

[chl]

Could just be down to a quirk of the 12v system in the truck, btw anyone ever plug in a battery maintainer to the pro power in the frunk? Would it even make a difference? I figure it likely would shut off with the truck but I've never actually used any of the outlets since I only have the 120s. I have a use for the 7.2 but I wrongly assumed the truck came with it....live and learn.

I think the truck has to be on (if it's a 2023 or 2024) for the funk 120v outlets to be powered unless you have tweaked with FORscan.

 

[chl]

You have the '25 Lightning so you might be able to operate the PPOB in non-run / passive mode, but as soon as your trickle charger got the LVB up to par, it would go into float mode and likely your PPOB session would suspend.

Us folks with older Lightnings (not having passive PPOB functionality) would need to leave the truck "running" and shut off the 30 minute shutdown timer to activate PPOB, now with it running the DC/DC converter is going to serve primary duty keeping the LVB up to snuff negating the need for the trickle charger.

When running the PPOB, even with the truck "OFF" the HVB contactors have to be closed to power the inverter, so it could be that the DC-DC converter is also powered? If so, the DC-DC converter itself would be charging the 12v battery. But I don't know if that is the case.

Also I don't know if the trickle maintainer even when charging would draw enough to keep the PPOB on. It is a very small current on mine around 1.5A @ 14v = 21 watts would that keep it on?

 

[chl]

Anyway, the bottom line is all 12v lead acid (AGM's are lead acid) batteries prefer 100% charge for longevity, so it is always a good idea to put them on a maintainer if you can.

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

So I took my truck to a local battery shop and they tested my OEM 12v in (literally) 10 seconds (for free, of course, since it took 10 seconds). They said the battery health was looking very good for its age, and that I could expect a few more years out of it.

So, I am unsure what could be causing my truck to revert to the basic sounds that I am hearing.

1. Canada, Winter, Cold, sitting on plug? not on plug?
2. Three year old LA battery, and we already know the Lightning doesn't keep these sitting at high SOC, so they take a beating.
3. As others pointed out - that 'battery test' was after you just drove to their shop, so not going to tell you anything. Better to let it sit all night, ie the conditions where you have heard the difference in the tone, and test that battery under a load.
4. I agree with others - just get a replacement battery. Don't take a chance on getting stranded, or worse, you can't open the door or the frunk due to the battery being too weak one day.

 

[chriserx]

When running the PPOB, even with the truck "OFF" the HVB contactors have to be closed to power the inverter, so it could be that the DC-DC converter is also powered? If so, the DC-DC converter itself would be charging the 12v battery. But I don't know if that is the case.

Also I don't know if the trickle maintainer even when charging would draw enough to keep the PPOB on. It is a very small current on mine around 1.5A @ 14v = 21 watts would that keep it on?

It certainly seems like this is the case, I'm at work, set up the charger, had to manually turn on the ppob, I don't know what the state of the battery was before setting it up as I didn't have time to check but upon starting ppob, it effectively went straight into float making me think the DCDC is still active. Curiously, at least through the app it shows as still being powered.

Edit: I was gonna wait till I did some more testing before I posted that but I figured since ya brought it up....

 

[Zprime29]

Does this also apply to the parking sensors? Sometimes those are different as we pull into our garage. Never can find a trigger to make it repeatable for a dealership visit.

Yes, when it happens to me both chimes and parking sensor alerts come through the back up speaker.

 

[Basis0439]

My dealer is so frustrating to deal with when it comes to intermittent issues. I've taken videos of issues I have experienced with my truck. They do not care about the videos. Always telling me that they'll need the truck for some ridiculous length of time for a tech to observe the issue.

It seems like they do as much as they can at the front-end to deter any warranty claims.

My other dealers (not Ford) have basically welcomed warranty claims, happily taking my vehicle and performing re and re's for anything related to the issue (after some checking, of course).

Must be misaligned incentives with Ford.

 

[PreservedSwine]

Update:

My local Ford dealer told me that to test my battery and assess my truck, they would need it in the shop for at least one full day and that I would be on the hook for the 12v battery test should this not be the source of the issue.

So I took my truck to a local battery shop and they tested my OEM 12v in (literally) 10 seconds (for free, of course, since it took 10 seconds). They said the battery health was looking very good for its age, and that I could expect a few more years out of it.

So, I am unsure what could be causing my truck to revert to the basic sounds that I am hearing.

Ford told me the same thing. Then they replaced the 12v battery after nothing else worked, and the problems vanished. Beeps back through Audi system....

 

[Basis0439]

My local battery shop ("Edmonds") is receiving some batteries next week that are compatible with my Lightning.

Specifically, they have a 12v AGM. Runs $240 CAD though. Any Canadians that can comment on this?

 

[Deleted member 19221]

This has been happening to me as well, and my 12V is only two month old. It's an Ohmmu that wasn't exactly cheap.

 

[Basis0439]

This has been happening to me as well, and my 12V is only two month old. It's an Ohmmu that wasn't exactly cheap.

While I respect the opinions of the folks here telling me my battery is fried, I am also not convinced that this issue is related to 12v battery health in all cases.

I did not mention that after I drove to the battery shop and they tested my battery (reporting that it was all good), on the way OUT of the battery shop, the beeps started again. I even got a video of it.

So to recap, I drove to the battery shop, the shop quickly put cables on my battery (did not remove it) and tested it. They said the charge looked good and predicted another 2-3 years of health.

As I was pulling out, the beeps reverted to the old-school sound.

 

[Deleted member 19221]

Chalk it up to gremlins

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