Does this message pertain to the recall?

[mrs mighty]

Hey Fam! I’m usually stalking ya’ll & learning from afar. There is such an impressive group here that just blows my mind when it comes to auto knowledge. Anyway, these messages popped up just as I came home. So I immediately went back & restarted it, & backed up & down my driveway thinking that might help IDK. Please help, do you think these messages have something to do w/the recall? I drive my Badlands everyday at least 25 miles. This is the first time I’ve experienced these messages... “Mrs. Mighty“ drives like a Tank & I haven’t had any issues with it. I’m just shy of 5K miles. I Thank you in advance

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[Dude]

Yes most likely your battery is not charged enough. The recall for the software only updates for BCM Calibration and PCM Calibration might solve those sorts of messages. However you should have your battery tested with a load test (not just a simple voltage test). Some brand new batteries have been known to fail.

My guess is you are not driving enough and a 30 minute drive at least at 30mph would charge up the battery and those messages will (might) not reoccur. Doing that sort of drive at least a couple times a week is recommended. If you already do that or more have the battery and charging system checked out. 5k mileage is basically a brand new vehicle.

 

[mrs mighty]

Yes most likely your battery is not charged enough. The recall for the software only updates for BCM Calibration and PCM Calibration might solve those sorts of messages. However you should have your battery tested with a load test (not just a simple voltage test). Some brand new batteries have been known to fail.

My guess is you are not driving enough and a 30 minute drive at least at 30mph would charge up the battery and those messages will (might) not reoccur. Doing that sort of drive at least a couple times a week is recommended. If you already do that or more have the battery and charging system checked out. 5k mileage is basically a brand new vehicle.

Thanks so much!
This is a whole new type of beast that I’ve never driven before. I’ve always had Honda’s and they are completely different.

 

[Sojourner]

Put it on a battery tender! I put a NOCO Genius 2D in all my vehicles. Even when driven "alot," you can still get problems as these newer vehicles have so many vampire devices running when the vehicle is sitting in garage/driveway. So as soon as I get home, I plug it in. Has been going swimmingly since.

I followed @MAGPLM 's idea and did what he did on his BS on all my vehicles. See here:
https://www.broncosportforum.com/forum/threads/anyone-try-a-different-battery-brand.9861/post-172594

It was even a problem with my 2012 F150 years back.

 

[Dude]

IDK …vehicle is 5k mileage. Yes it could have a marginal or defective battery but unlikely. And a vehicle that cannot maintain a charge by driving it multiple times a week minimum of 30 miles at 30mph or higher each time (and let’s keep auto stop/start off to eliminate that variable) .., with no changes to factory equipment is a defective vehicle.

Sure recall 24S24 (BCM AND PCM Calibration recall) could play a role but not on above scenario.

 

[mrs mighty]

I drive it for @ a 25 min commute to work, then for a quick lunch then back home. All city driving. I hit the hwy on the weekend for errands. So my car is differently spoiled. I don’t use the auto/ start cuz it’s just annoying to me. So I always turn it off first thing when I get into the car. But look at the pic, it’s off all by itself. Didn’t come on when I started it. I called the dealership & made an appt for the recall update & battery check for next weekend . Adviser told me they would only replace it w/my exact same Motorcraft as they don’t sell any other brand. Can’t upgrade it.

 

[Mark S.]

And a vehicle that cannot maintain a charge by driving it multiple times a week minimum of 30 miles at 30mph or higher each time (and let’s keep auto stop/start off to eliminate that variable) .., with no changes to factory equipment is a defective vehicle.

The text of the recall suggests some cars' battery management systems may not provide enough charge to recharge the battery while driving -- which, I agree, is the very definition of defective.

@Sojourner has the best advice: put a battery charger on it until you get the recall work done. Some owners have been stranded when the alternator fails to recharge the battery while driving. A fully charged battery should get to work and back with no problem.

 

[sajohnson]

Sandee,

As others have mentioned, a Battery Tender (Battery Minder is another brand) is a good idea with any vehicle, and particularly with yours since you are getting the low battery messages.

We use a BT on our Badlands (and on several other vehicles). In fact that reminds me, I need to go out and check the battery voltage in the BL and connect the BT. I intentionally leave it sit for a day or two before connecting the BT, to see if the voltage drops much. It's been pretty good, but it varies.

Deltran makes several BT models:
https://www.batterytender.com/battery-chargers

Those prices are MSRP, they can be purchased for less. For example, Costco has one on sale periodically. You can find them on Amazon and elsewhere.

They are easy to connect and are protected against reverse polarity and short circuit.

Deltran claims 4x average battery life. That's a stretch, but 2x is pretty common. So you end up saving money.

 

[Dude]

It’s not clear to me why some owners are recommending a device to maintain the battery for a nearly new Bronco Sport (5,500 miles) when that vehicle is being driven sufficiently under normal conditions to keep the battery reasonably charged. And the owner doesn’t use the Auto Stop/Start.

The owner has stated they have appointment getting the recall work (BCM/PCM Calibration Programming) and a battery test scheduled next weekend.

I’m going on a limb here and guessing that 99.95% of Bronco Sport owners and dealerships with Bronco Sports for sale do not hook up any sort of battery maintainer no matter how “easy” it seems to be. This is purely a guess and don’t ask me for backup data.

After the owner gets the battery tested and the recall completed, and given their driving amount and duration, there should be no need to periodically hook up a battery maintainer (unless they want to eek it just a bit more overall life of their battery over its lifetime).

Should be unnecessary and up to the owner to understand the pros and cons of worrying over their battery .. if it were me and I was forced to hook up a battery maintainer as my only solution I’d sell any vehicle in a heartbeat that I was unable to drive it sufficiently to keep the battery charged.

 

[sajohnson]

To add to my post above (#8) -- I just went out to the garage and checked the Badlands' battery voltage. It was OK, but not fully charged (<100% SOC). That's after:

* Starting a trip with a full charge (the BT had been connected).
* Being driven almost 25 miles on rural roads
* Auto stop/start off
* Parked for just 2 days

That's pretty typical for our BS BL.

I connected the BT -- it took about 20 seconds.

Sometimes after a similar drive (and 1-2 days sitting) it's been as low as 75% SOC. That low SOC makes the BT a very worthwhile investment, as it minimizes sulfation. Quote:

"https://www.power-sonic.com/blog/what-is-a-sulfated-battery-and-how-do-you-prevent-it/

Like so much else in life, whether or not to use a battery maintainer is not a black and white question. A vehicle starting battery that is held at 100% SOC by the charging system (except immediately after starting of course) may not benefit much from a BT -- unless the car sits for a long time and/or there is a relatively large phantom load.

The BS seems to have a significant phantom load. So even if the current recall fixes the weak charging problem, the battery will still be discharged relatively fast while parked.

I have a couple older cars and their batteries hold a charge for a long time. They do not need to have a BT connected continuously. The BS is different. The typical phantom load is so heavy that the engineers realized they had to design it such that certain features would have to be disabled to preserve enough charge to start the engine.

That's not the end of the world, but it means that BS batteries will not last as long (unless a BT is used).

 

[Mark S.]

It’s not clear to me why some owners are recommending a device to maintain the battery for a nearly new Bronco Sport (5,500 miles) when that vehicle is being driven sufficiently under normal conditions to keep the battery reasonably charged

Because we have pretty strong evidence that some Bronco Sport vehicles are not properly charging their batteries while driving. Further, the life span of a lead-acid battery is measured in charge/discharge cycles, and keeping your battery on a maintainer reduces the depth of discharge between drives contributing to longer battery life.

 

[Dude]

All true but next week the owner is getting the recall work done and the battery checked

So I think let’s see how the Bronco Sports do after the recall - going forward, if there is new pretty strong evidence that some Bronco Sport vehicles are still not properly charging their batteries while driving even after the recall is done then I’ll agree that use of a battery maintainer going forward is a necessary evil.

My point is with a properly designed charging system, using a battery maintainer is going to provide marginal benefit but isn’t something that 99.95% would need or use.

 

[Mark S.]

My suggestion to use a battery charger was mainly aimed at preventing a mid-drive shutdown (as some have experienced) before the recall work is done. I don't use a battery charger on a daily basis. It likely would increase battery life, but for me the juice isn't worth the squeeze.

 

[Bucko]

My suggestion to use a battery charger was mainly aimed at preventing a mid-drive shutdown (as some have experienced) before the recall work is done. I don't use a battery charger on a daily basis. It likely would increase battery life, but for me the juice isn't worth the squeeze.

I'm one of those that do use a tender...it's because our BS will be parked in the garage for several days, or even a couple of weeks before we get in and drive it. There have been times when we do get in, and the screen states the BS is in "battery save mode".

For this reason, I maintain the battery with a battery tender.

I will be calling my dealership ahead of waiting on a notice sent to me to "get in line" for this TSB update.

 

[Sojourner]

For me, the BT was worth the squeeze as there wasn't much squeeze to worry about. I did 5 vehicles following the idea I mentioned in the post I made above and the total cost was less than $350 and no more than five hours of work.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, my 2012 F150 FX4 had this problem even though it was driven quite a long/quite frequently and had less on-board electronics. Battery replaced by Ford several times and when the last battery failed just outside of warranty I went with both a BT and an Odyssey battery. Didn't have a single problem after that. So new non-Motorcraft battery? Or BT? Or both? Don't know, didn't care. What I did care about is that the problem was solved.

Anyway, maybe the OP's problem is hardware and/or software. Hope it gets figured out. Regardless, I still think a BT is a good idea. I look at the BT in somewhat the same manner as an ESP. YMMV

Cheers.

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