The new Recall is out now.

[RWT]

Had the recall done this past Tuesday. My dealer set up an appointment and told me it would be done in 30 minutes. It was almost exactly 30 minutes from the time I handed over my key until it was done.

It was interesting because they never even moved my vehicle. The Tech came out to where I parked it, hooked up some device (I couldn't tell what it was from my vantage point) and walked away. He came back 20, or so, minutes later, checked it, unhooked the device and off I went.

I haven't had any issues but I've only had my BS/BL 6 months and I am about to turn 5k miles. So, my battery may not have yet suffered the results of the improper programming of the BCU/PCU.

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[Mrmike]

Had the recall done on my '23 OBX on Tuesday. About 1 hour spent at the dealer. Never showed any signs of problem before recall. Definitely good to go now.

 

[sajohnson]

The recall is written as if the recalibration of the BCM and PCM is focused on how a dead/dying battery is handled. It refers to sudden degradation and a sudden drop in SOC.

My theory is that because the batteries in most Bronco Sports are in good shape, most owners have not experienced a problem.

IOW, while of course the recall is important and should be done, unlike most recalls, this one is not focused on the primary cause of the problem (defective batteries).

I wrote about this in post #45 and linked to my post in the other recall thread (for anyone interested).

 

[BSBB4Les]

I got the recall message on Ford Pass a while ago. I read the posts of others having the programming done earlier and some reported issues afterwards. Then the letter was sent out last month, I did not receive it, and folks got the programming done with no issues so I decided, what the heck, and made an appointment with my dealership a couple of weeks ago. An hour after the appointment was made the service advisor called me back and said there was a hold put on the repair. I got the letter day before yesterday and decided to give it another try to get the reprogramming done. Next Tuesday, 10a. FWIW, same battery, non AGM, since I drove off the lot 1/31/2022.

 

[Mighty3]

I had...get this...a new 1976 AMC Hornet coupe in the mid 70's. I double parked with the flashers on for 2 minutes. Came back...stone dead battery. Dealer said they had a number of bad batteries factory installed. They replaced it for free. Somethings don't change. My 23 BB never exhibited a no auto stop start event nor deep sleep mode even while sitting for a week but I will get this done soon.

 

[sajohnson]

I got the recall message on Ford Pass a while ago. I read the posts of others having the programming done earlier and some reported issues afterwards. Then the letter was sent out last month, I did not receive it, and folks got the programming done with no issues so I decided, what the heck, and made an appointment with my dealership a couple of weeks ago. An hour after the appointment was made the service advisor called me back and said there was a hold put on the repair. I got the letter day before yesterday and decided to give it another try to get the reprogramming done. Next Tuesday, 10a. FWIW, same battery, non AGM, since I drove off the lot 1/31/2022.

Same here. OE battery going strong since 3/25/22. Of course, that's to be expected.

I use a BT maintainer, but when I intentionally leave it disconnected for 2-3 days, the voltage doesn't drop much. Again, that's normal.

Most OE batteries seem to be good, but judging by the posts here on the BS Forum, there may be a higher than average percentage of defective batteries. The fact that the BCM and PCM were not calibrated properly exacerbated the problem.

In my experience, batteries typically lose capacity slowly. Had that been the case, most owners would have noticed and replaced the battery before it failed completely. Many BS owners seem to have experienced the sudden degradation and drop in SOC described in the recall. I'm curious about what defect(s) causes that rapid discharge. Maybe shorted plates?:
https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-804a-corrosion-shedding-and-internal-short

FWIW:
https://www.f150forum.com/f129/lets-discuss-fomoco-motorcraft-batteries-548353/
https://www.fordtremor.com/threads/sudden-battery-dead.14123/

 

[sajohnson]

From "Battery University" (See link in post #67):

"Electrical short is another failure mode, especially with starter batteries in trucks. As the battery sheds its lead to the bottom of the container, a conductive layer forms that gradually fills the allotted space in the sediment trap. In time, the now conductive liquid may reach the plates, creating a shorting effect. The term “short” is a misnomer and elevated self-discharge or soft short would be better terms to describe this condition.

Soft shorts are difficult to detect because the battery functions normally immediately after charge and everything seems fine. In essence, a charge wipes out all evidence of a soft short condition, except perhaps an elevated temperature during charge that may be noticed when touching the battery housing. However, once rested for 6–12 hours, the battery begins to show anomalies such as a lower open circuit voltage and reduced specific gravity."

Sounds like a problem. Here' are a couple more:

"Another form of soft short is mossing. This occurs when the separators and plates are slightly misaligned as a result of poor manufacturing practices and they cause parts of the plates to become naked. Such exposure promotes the formation of conductive crystal moss around the edges, which leads to elevated self-discharge.

Lead drop is another cause of short in which chunks of lead break loose from the welded bars connecting the plates. Unlike a soft short that develops with wear and tear, a lead drop often occurs early in battery life due to a manufacturing defect. This can lead to a serious electrical short with a permanent voltage drop that could result in thermal runaway.

The most radical and serious form of short is a mechanical failure in which the suspended plates become loose and touch each other. This results in a sudden high discharge current that can lead to excessive heat buildup and thermal runaway. Sloppy manufacturing as well as excessive shock and vibration are the most common contributors to this failure."

 

[Robins21]

We had the recall done yesterday. We dropped off the truck @ 9:00 & they called us @ 11:00 to say it was done. We have approx. 42K on it & never had any battery problem with it.

 

[sajohnson]

Recalls like this don't typically provide much detail about the cause(s) of problems prompting them. The term "sudden degradation" doesn't tell us much about the cause. For example, the way this reads suggests the battery is fine one second then bad the next. That doesn't seem likely. Batteries don't suddenly/spontaneously discharge themselves.

I must have missed this when it was first posted.

I agree that:

"The term "sudden degradation" doesn't tell us much about the cause. For example, the way this reads suggests the battery is fine one second then bad the next."

Exactly, that's impression I get as well. It is also true that a battery in good condition is unlikely to be "...fine one second then bad the next" -- but one with internal damage might.

The recall refers to "sudden" degradation or decrease in SOC several times. Perhaps they used the word "sudden" because that's how the failure appears to the driver? IOW a slowly declining SOC might not be noticeable until the battery voltage dips below the low limit. Then everything would suddenly fail, even though the battery is probably OK (can be recharged).

If that's the case, then the recall is poorly written (which may be the case). It strongly suggests defective batteries.

Of course, there are causes of sudden failure:

Electrical shorting
The positive and negative electrodes (plates) in any battery cannot touch each other. If they do, they immediately short out and the cell dies. Note, this does not mean the entire battery suddenly becomes lifeless, it depends how many cells the battery is made from. A 12 volt car battery, for example, is made of six cells. If one cell shorts out, you still have a 10 volt battery which is usually enough to power dashboard lights, but not to turn the starter motor.

Shorting out can occur for a number of reasons

• Manufacturing defects – badly cut plates can cut through the separator meant to keep electrodes apart, especially if the battery is jolted by a drop or operates in an area with vibration as car batteries do.
• Active material shedding – in flooded lead acid batteries the active paste applied to the plates gradually falls off as part of the physical wear and tear when chemical reactions taking place. These fall to the bottom of the battery case, but if the build up becomes excessive, this sludge can end up touching both positive and negative plates.
• Heavy vibration or jolts – this can cause the separator to come loose or split allowing the plates to touch each other.
• Plate buckling – see below.

Plate buckling
If lead acid batteries are cycled too deeply their plates can deform. Starter batteries are not meant to fall below 70% state of charge and deep cycle units can be at risk if they are regularly discharged to below 50%.

In flooded lead acid batteries this can cause plates to touch each other and lead to an electrical short. In both flooded lead acid and absorbent glass mat batteries the buckling can cause the active paste that is applied to the plates to shed off, reducing the ability of the plates to discharge and recharge.

~~~
https://batteryguy.com/kb/knowledge-base/why-dont-lead-acid-batteries-last-forever/#electrical-shorting

AFAIK, the above failures are not common (most 12V lead-acid batteries just slowly lose capacity) but they are another way of explaining the recall language ("sudden").

 

[BLUEOVALRACER]

We had the recall done yesterday. We dropped off the truck @ 9:00 & they called us @ 11:00 to say it was done. We have approx. 42K on it & never had any battery problem with it.

Have you had any water pump problems in those 42,000 miles?

 

[Robins21]

Have you had any water pump problems in those 42,000 miles?

No water pump problems, & the coolant is full.

 

[BLUEOVALRACER]

No water pump problems, & the coolant is full.

Thanks.

 

[Remotecellphone]

Not sure if anyone would know the answer to this but will this recall fix the Service Advancetrac, 4WD Fault, Pre-Collision Assist not available, Hill-Assist warning lights warning lights? My GOAT modes are no longer working because of it. Went to the dealership before the recall and they were gonna charge me to replace the AWD module.

Sadly, i got all these warning lights after having done the recall. I have an appointment this week to take it back to the dealership to see whats going on.

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