Flat Battery

[AlanD]

Originally Posted by warren77

GRT046

A couple of questions:
1) How old is your car?
2) If the dealer has admitted it is a dud battery, could you not get it under warranty?

My car is now over two years old.
I get the "low battery" warning if have the radio on for more than about 30 minutes.
Thinking I am due for a new battery sooner rather than later.
Thinking it would be best to be proactive on this, rather than reactive.

Anyone know what the battery model number / type is?
Experience with an aftermarket battery, as opposed to the standard Ford one?

Hi Warren,

There are a couple of links about the Mondeo battery in my post about twenty posts ago and that post also identifies the battery type and CCA.

I can report that our Zetec TCDi started without trouble after being left idle for five weeks earlier this year while we were away (left the battery connected to avoid lost code problems).

And I changed the Territory's battery last week as a precaution. Original equipment and 6 years 2 months old. Still able to start the car but was showing signs of not maintaining charge levels if left for a few days.

Cheers

[GRT046]

Build Date is Oct 07 .... it was registered 30 Dec 07 and delivered early Jan 08 so well outside battery warranty of 12 months.

Judging from other reports on this thread I did well in term of length of life.

[yelpir]

[QUOTE=GRT046]Had my first experience with a flat battery Friday.

Went to start the car Friday morning and nothing. Instrumentation haywire with dash indacitations that hazard lights were operating although not switched on......

I had an experience similar to yours in March, this year (Dec 07 build). I drove the car out, parked, went in to get something, returned with my son, rolled down the window, got in and the car wouldn't start.
Got RAA in, the first guy tried to start the car using his van's battery and it did not work. After about 30 mins, he gave up and called in an expert RAA man. I wait for him for about an hour , he spends about 15 mins and told me i had to tow it back to the dealer. Being a Sunday and with all the windows down, I thought it was a bad idea. So we pushed it into my drive. I could open or lock the doors with my keys, the radio will turn on for a while but once I put in the key the alarm goes off and indicators start flashing and this continues until the battery runs out of juice. I also get the message Immobilizer active

At the dealer, I had my car back within an hour. Turned out that there was a dead cell in the battery. With that (according to the service manager) the only way you could start it was to take out the battery and put in a new battery and the ECU would still recognise the key. The problem was the car was still under warranty and the RAA guys simply refuse to do much because of fears of invalidating the warranty!

I do have a good Ford manager. He wanted me to pay for just the battery at a price more than the RAA's. We had some arguement on that and he allowed me to drive away and pay when I was sure it was just a battery issue (you see, I had serviced the car with them a couple of days before the battery died). After a week, no dramas. I gladly pay him $200 and have had no problems whatsoever.

He told me battery warranty is only a year. I will suggest if your car is about 2 yrs old, get the battery checked .

[warren77]

Opps my bad for not reading back of the thread.
Sorry.

[XtRmn8]

Same thing happened to our 07 Zetec about 4 weeks ago. Wife went to the shops turned the car off and she said the dash lights started to do strange things. Could not lock the car or start it.

Roadside assistance came out and diagnosed it as a dead battery and car had to get towed to local dealer. New replacement gel battery and labor for diagnosis was $400.

[Samy82]

Hey guys, just thought I'd give you some useful info. Mondeos aren't the only ones that get dud batteries. Anything european is in the same boat, literally. Focus and fiesta end up with dud ones to because they spend 1 month on a boat to get here, and by the time they get complianced, the battery has been sitting on the car connected just draining slowly. Most have to get jump started when they hit the dealerships but still only get the 12 month warranty like the rest of ford branded cars. As for getting the buggers out, once you do it once, it's not so bad. Got to pull the air box out, unclip a few things, and it slides right out. As for loosing key memories and codes etc, it does happen. Even in falcons. If they drop below a certain voltage, memory can't be retained and that's it. As for trying to jump start them, not sure what went wrong there, I've jumped them many times before, but maybe it was just sooooo dead it had nothing to give. Hope this helps.

[warren77]

Originally Posted by Samy82

Hey guys, just thought I'd give you some useful info. Mondeos aren't the only ones that get dud batteries. Anything european is in the same boat, literally. Focus and fiesta end up with dud ones to because they spend 1 month on a boat to get here, and by the time they get complianced, the battery has been sitting on the car connected just draining slowly. Most have to get jump started when they hit the dealerships but still only get the 12 month warranty like the rest of ford branded cars. As for getting the buggers out, once you do it once, it's not so bad. Got to pull the air box out, unclip a few things, and it slides right out. As for loosing key memories and codes etc, it does happen. Even in falcons. If they drop below a certain voltage, memory can't be retained and that's it. As for trying to jump start them, not sure what went wrong there, I've jumped them many times before, but maybe it was just sooooo dead it had nothing to give. Hope this helps.

When you say "getting the air box out" do you mean the entire air box?

I just have (as in on Tuesday) replaced my standard airbox with a GGR CAI (OT but a highly recommended mod if you wanting to improve performance) and getting the entire air box, especially the first time, is not an easy task.
Certainly not something I would want to do in a hurry to replace a battery.

[Samy82]

Originally Posted by warren77

When you say "getting the air box out" do you mean the entire air box?

I just have (as in on Tuesday) replaced my standard airbox with a GGR CAI (OT but a highly recommended mod if you wanting to improve performance) and getting the entire air box, especially the first time, is not an easy task.
Certainly not something I would want to do in a hurry to replace a battery.

I take it for granted because it's something I've done so many times... Sorry.

[Dusty1]

Samy82, so you do have to take the whole airbox out then to change the battery. Sounds like a lot of stuffing about for something that in a good number of cars would take 10 minutes to do.

[NZ XR6]

Originally Posted by Dusty1

Samy82, so you do have to take the whole airbox out then to change the battery. Sounds like a lot of stuffing about for something that in a good number of cars would take 10 minutes to do.

No, I'm sure that you don't need to. I've had part of the battery cover off and I can't see why the airbox would need to come out. But I'm not sure how the back half of the cover comes off - must try it on a fine day at home in case I ever need to get at it on a wet night!

[Dusty1]

Originally Posted by NZ XR6

No, I'm sure that you don't need to. I've had part of the battery cover off and I can't see why the airbox would need to come out. But I'm not sure how the back half of the cover comes off - must try it on a fine day at home in case I ever need to get at it on a wet night!

The battery sort of goes in at an angle and it is tricky to get 'just right'. That's why I think the airbox is in the way when the battery has to go in at the angle.

[NevC]

One thing that I discovered causing the battery on the Territory to get low is not locking the vehicle when parked at home. The Territory can take up to 35 minutes to shut down when parked, but can still have some systems that may react and start the whole shutdown process again.

If you lock the vehicle, it shuts down in approximately 15 minutes, and only has the alarm active. The other processes are stopped.

Just opening a door starts the shut down again, it does not need to be driven.

Looking at how much is on the Mondeo, I wonder what shut down activity there would be. I will ask Ford when it goes in for first service.

My brothers BMW also suffered a flat battery from leaving car unlocked over time. BMW said it would keep some things active more so than the Territory unless locked.

[Dusty1]

NevC, good points you make. My car sits in a garage, and I don't bother locking it, as I often have to go out there and get something out of it.

I got my car in Jan 08, and replaced the battery in Dec 09, meaning I got over a year out of the battery. The car was sitting for at least three months that I know of, as it was built in Oct 07. So I guess I actually got two years out of the battery if I take that sitting into account. Maybe locking the car will extend that, but it's worthwhile trying it out.

[DRU842]

I've stored my Oct '07 build in my garage with the doors locked for most of its 62,000k; still on the original battery - touch wood. Originally done on advice to address the 'non starting' issues, with the keyless start.

[Samy82]

Yep, if you take the airbox out, the battery slides in and out easier. Some times it's alot easier to pull out more than you think you need because you spend more time trying to do what needs doing.

[brucel]

Decided to replace the battery in my TDCI as it was dropping down to 11.9V when left standing a few days and 3 years old., took the installer around 15 minutes of mucking around to remove the old battery due to the tight fit. I'd have to agree with Samy82 that it would be much easier to remove the airbox first. The original battery was 315mmx175mmx175mm, Ford label indicated 700A, 130RC which was larger than I'd thought. Ended up getting a Supercharge Gold MF77 (650CCA/125RC) as this was the only one the same physical size that they had in stock. Cost was $160 with 3 yr warranty. Century have a DIN75LMF (730CCA/135RC) that would be a better option though not sure of cost.

[jared79]

While reading this, I am having flash backs to when my 2008 MA Mondeo's battery died as well. Stopped for fuel, got back in and nothing. No power at all. Thought it may be a fuse, but it wasn't. Called a friend to try and jump start, but that didn't work either. Ending up towing it ourselves to Ford. Turns out a cell collapsed in my battery and had to be replaced. I think I paid something similar to what you guys are talking about too as the battery is out of warranty and not covered by Ford (typical). Also had lots of fun getting it out of Park too. Had to pull off a panel in the drivers foot well and release a lever so that I could change the gear as you need power to put it into a different gear.

[airbag]

Hi Folks I know this thead is old but just looking around Ford mondeo forums I noticed the battery removal debate.

I have a 09 LX Mondeo.
Battery can only come out with the Cold Air intake box dismantled.
Battery will then slide forward and out. Only the first half of the Battery cover over the + battery terminal is removed.

[Diesel]

Hi, seems to be a common issue. My '08 TDCI had te same thing, wife started car to go to work, no problems, finished work battery dead,
I went to local AutoBahn store and bought new 750 CCA eurpoean style battery to suit for approx $250. I had to remove the airbox in order to provide room to get battery out of the tray.
Once you pop the cover of the battery box and pull out the airbox it was quite easy to replace. I had to reset the window limit settings as per the owners manual to get the global lock window settings to work again.(quite simple process).

Luckily no immobolizer issues.

[Dusty1]

I have no idea why the immobiliser kicked in on mine, but it wasn't a happy couple of days.

[NZ XR6]

Originally Posted by Dusty1

I have no idea why the immobiliser kicked in on mine, but it wasn't a happy couple of days.

Dusty, you weren't alone. Just be thankful that you don't have an early Titanium - see the UK forum.

[Katoomba]

Same story today as I've read here: my wife went to work this morning and battery was dead when she finished. NRMA replaced it in a few minutes.

Got 3 years and 3 months out of it which is not bad considering Blue Mountains winters.

[Katoomba]

Originally Posted by Katoomba

.... NRMA replaced it in a few minutes.

I was wrong about that. My wife just got home and said the fitting took quite a while to do.

I asked my wife to get the guy to keep the terminals connected so we didn't need the radio code etc. He said you can't do that on the Mondeo. In the end it didn't matter because only thing that had to be reset was the clock.

[Dusty1]

Confirms the missus did something.

Done now. This is all pieces of the puzzle to make other Mondeo owners lives easier.