Do these 12v battery issues exist in the 2025 model?

[jkane101]

Do the same issues exist in the 2025 models? Dying early etc?

Yep, just had mine changed under warranty, it had a dead cell.

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[chl]

I don't get the battery swelling part - or freezing - maybe its swelling we are getting and I'm assuming it's freezing.

Gone thru 8 batteries so far across three trucks - Ford replaced 1st one under warranty then said "no warranty" on a warranty battery and made us buy the thirds (two different trucks).

Best part the last one the 12v died outside the dealership waiting for service.

There is a serious issue either undersized or design wise - been tempted to upsize there was a thread years ago on Mach-E where the holes match for larger battery.

The issue is not really the size - it's the way the 12v BMS mismanages the battery.

The swelling is from heat due to very high charging currents - happens when the battery has gotten very discharged and then the truck charges it back up apparently.

Lots of threads about using a battery maintainer and how to add a charging wire to make life easier.

If you use a maintainer daily, the battery could last a really long time.
I have a battery on a maintainer since 2012, and it still measures a SOH of 80% - the threshold I wouldn't want to go much below though - 14 years.

 

[joshtb86]

The issue is not really the size - it's the way the 12v BMS mismanages the battery.

The swelling is from heat due to very high charging currents - happens when the battery has gotten very discharged and then the truck charges it back up apparently.

Lots of threads about using a battery maintainer and how to add a charging wire to make life easier.

If you use a maintainer daily, the battery could last a really long time.
I have a battery on a maintainer since 2012, and it still measures a SOH of 80% - the threshold I wouldn't want to go much below though - 14 years.

What battery?

Do you run the maintenance 247 when not driving

 

[chl]

So answer me this: After I ran the repair procedure with the Noco 5 my battery measured 12.98 volts, yet the software update aborted due to inadequate battery charge.

The terminal voltage I presume unloaded.
That voltage should put it at 90%+ SOC... but...
once a load is applied, a bad battery will crap out quickly - just can provide energy when the plates are too sulfated..

That's why the terminal voltage can be misleading - a battery tester would put it under a load and give a better reading on battery health.

Sorry the repair didn't work, must have been the battery was too far gone, worth a try, but such is life with the Ford F-150 Lightning 12v battery it seems.

 

[chl]

What battery?

Do you run the maintenance 247 when not driving

Yes.

It's the flooded battery that came with my 2012 Nissan Leaf bought in Dec 2011.
I had the battery drain when I went on a vacation in early 2012 and ever since then, it has been on a maintainer.

It is a bit larger, 45Ah vs 35Ah Lightning, and it is a flooded battery not an AGM - AGMs are supposed to last longer.

These are the battery details:

The OEM 12V auxiliary battery for the 2012 Nissan Leaf is a Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) type, commonly specified as a 55B24L(S) or 46B24L/NS60L.

Capacity: 45Ah - 48Ah (45-48 Ampere-hours).
Voltage: 12 Volt.
Cold Cranking Amps (CCA): 350A - 454A.
Reserve Capacity (RC): 75 minutes.
Physical Size: 55B24L (JIS code), sometimes referred to as NS60L.
Terminal Location: L (Left-side negative).

Yes, always on the maintainer when at home in the garage not being driven.

 

[StevenC56]

Anybody notice that Ford's website is out of these batteries and a few online dealers show them as being discontinued? Maybe there's a new model battery coming out soon?

 

[chl]

Anybody notice that Ford's website is out of these batteries and a few online dealers show them as being discontinued? Maybe there's a new model battery coming out soon?

Funny but not funny they've run out, I guess it's not surprising with all the posts about bad behaving batteries lately.

They ought to give everyone a free battery maintainer with the replacement battery!

 

[StevenC56]

Ordered an Interstate H3 from one of my local Costco stores today. $149.99. Costco shows that it has a 3 year prorated warranty, but Interstate's website shows 36 month replacement.

https://www.interstatebatteries.com/product-search-results/2024-ford-f-150-lightning-l4-l

 

[chl]

Ordered an Interstate H3 from one of my local Costco stores today. $149.99. Costco shows that it has a 3 year prorated warranty, but Interstate's website shows 36 month replacement.

https://www.interstatebatteries.com/product-search-results/2024-ford-f-150-lightning-l4-l

Perhaps a $40 battery maintainer with an AGM mode like the NOCO GENIUS1 would be a good idea to keep he new battery happily fully charged for a long productive life.

 

[StevenC56]

Perhaps a $40 battery maintainer with an AGM mode like the NOCO GENIUS1 would be a good idea to keep he new battery happily fully charged for a long productive life.

Already have the Genius 5 I used to try and rescue to factory battery. (Unsuccessfully)

 

[chl]

Already have the Genius 5 I used to try and rescue to factory battery. (Unsuccessfully)

Yes once they go, usually gone for good. I have rarely heard of anyone using the repair mode to bring one back, though it's worth a try.

I had a flooded battery that had dried out and all the chargers said was dead - it came back when I added distilled water and charged it for a good 24 hours.

But when a sealed AGM battery has lost it's electrolyte from overcharging and venting it's pretty much impossible to repair.

And if it was constantly and deeply discharged, the plates will have sulfates that have become 'premanent' - the repair modes are trying to cause to sulfates to be driven off the plates and back into the electrolyte using a high frequency oscillating voltage/current, but it's likely too late by the time the battery dies.

An ounce f prevention is a better option for sure.

 

[StevenC56]

What's kind of weird is that other than the automatic software updates not installing, the truck operates totally normal in all aspects.

 

[chl]

What's kind of weird is that other than the automatic software updates not installing, the truck operates totally normal in all aspects.

Yes...until it reaches a point where the battery will not boot-up the truck - then it's tow truck time or a jump start if available.

When the truck is on, it uses the DC-DC converter with the battery to run 12v system stuff, so things will work 'normally' until some level of weakness is reached.

Sometimes the load becomes too much when the battery is really weak and then weird errors pop up, because the system is off-loading some modules, maybe even the communications among the system modules stops functioning properly, an OBD scan will find all sorts of errors....

OTA's not installing AND weird malfunctions or error messages is usually a sign of a bad battery from all the posts and battery replacements mentioned on the forum.

Sometimes the culprit is some electrical malfunction - bad heating element, short circuit somewhere, a bad wiring connector corroded from the weather or road salts, etc.

Watch out for any of the above.

 

[StevenC56]

Oh, I'm changing it for sure with the Interstate H3 I just ordered. Im just saying there a zero symptoms other than the software abort every niight. It's funny however that when I called Ford they were adamant that I just needed to drive more. When I asked if it could just be a failed battery, they said no LOL!

 

[chl]

Oh, I'm changing it for sure with the Interstate H3 I just ordered. Im just saying there a zero symptoms other than the software abort every niight. It's funny however that when I called Ford they were adamant that I just needed to drive more. When I asked if it could just be a failed battery, they said no LOL!

OMG, it would be funny if it weren't so serious when the 12v battery goes.

When I had the update fail back in mid-2024, it was a cryptic message, so I called customer support and they told me it was the battery needed to be at 85% or more and to drive for an hour...I did but didn't solve the issue, so I did a long slow HVB charge overnight and first thing in the AM manually started the update that was pending and had failed - went through fine...so then I got a maintainer and have been using it ever since, with no update fails or other weird events - knock on wood.

It seems though one of the most recent updates has glitched my PPOB so it shuts off way before the reserve has been reached, another owner posted a thread about that...then while testing the PPOB for the issue, my frunk opened up for no apparent reason! No idea why, but there was another thread about that happening too...

It's like having a teenager, you never know what they are going to do next!

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