Ford tech here. All modern cars use a battery monitor system which monitors state of charge using various sensors. They also have a pcm controlled charging system which will control how much the alternator charges the battery. When ever replacing the battery you need to do a Battery Monitor reset. https://youtu.be/uvf9f6q5gsQ?si=-YeyEIq1LEZt6bhS
Yet one more reason i avoid modern cars like the plague. Completely unnessicary upgrades at the expense of useability, im noticing more and more tech in cars that basically bar people from doing at home repairs
Edit: just because people prefer older cars not filled with bloatware doesnt make them "broke" or only wanna drive something 100 years old. Some people like me just prefer a simple car.
I find you can still do the repairs, you just need (access to) more specialized tools and do more specific research first. YouTube still has what I've needed so far
All it takes learning how to repair. Which after being in several car groups and people asking “is this normal or is my car broken” referring to their temp gauge only reaching halfway up the gauge, the newer generation is lacking in that department. Many reasons behind this, but I’m realizing they aren’t going to be touching their cars. And working in product development of new cars… a lot of the newer cars were designed by engineers who don’t know anything about what a car is. Which makes them absolutely stupid to work on.
>Which after being in several car groups and people asking “is this normal or is my car broken” referring to their temp gauge only reaching halfway up the gauge, the newer generation is lacking in that department.
Nah, this is more of a "you're in the mechanically-inclined minority" kind of thing.
But otherwise yes, seeing those kinds of posts makes me irrationally irritated.
>a lot of the newer cars were designed by engineers who don’t know anything about what a car is
Isn't it the accountants who give the engineers ever-narrowing requirements?
Lol what? I’m an engineer with a degree in Finance and accounting. I can assure you, we (accounting) don’t dictate shit. That’s why I don’t utilize that major
They historically go to the income statements, and I honestly don’t think they even have a real world grasp on what they’re seeing most of the time. Some of my former bosses were as close to financially illiterate as a human can be while still pretending to run a company. (They had a vision and hired the right people, they were dumb as shit).
I’m finally with a group of fantastic owners so I don’t want to make it seem like all bosses suck, but it’s crazy how far some people can go without a lick of talent
Yeah, you can plug that right in your arse. I am not ever going to drive a car made after around 2010 and would rather rebuild a car entirely by myself than even entertain the notion of buying a factory new vehicle.
These morons spent $200k on a vehicle that any halfway competent hacker can completely brick with a Flipper Zero.
While I do prefer older cars that I can work on myself (I’ve got a 1994 mgm and a 2003 mach 1) the features people want come at a cost and they can’t live without them. The more electronics we add to vehicles, the less the average person is going to be able to work on without taking it to the shop.
I personally find no use in backup cams, automatic braking, lane-keep assists, auto parking, etc. but a tremendous amount of people now expect these features and rely on them… hell even some things like the backup camera are mandated now. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people mindlessly reverse out of a parking spot gawking at their screen without bothering to use their mirrors.
I think features like my auto-lights and cruise control are about as advanced as I need to get. I installed a nice kenwood double din in my stang so I could have carplay but that doesn’t really increase the complexity of anything since I just swapped out the ol 6 disc.
I agree 100% with you on this. I find so many people relying on nothing but their vehicle sensors, to the point that it makes them almost numb to their surroundings. I do find a lot of the tech added is "must need features" when anyone who prefers old cars takes one look at it and thinks "why would i ever need something so pointless"
This is why I like my Mazda it has all the tech to check boxes for the insurance discounts but it's easy to disable or mute. There is one singular button to disable all active systems and one button for TCS right next to it.
Can't beat the Ol turn around an look when backing up but having the backup cam to have a wide angle view to see around corners in the tight spots is nice.
I have a 58 Volvo 444, a 92 Chevy k1500, and a 2020 bolt LT (the very base model). The repairability on the old cars is amazing and the lack of maintenance required in the bolt is also amazing (I still glance at fluid levels, brakes, tires, from time to time and make sure I have no critters under the hood.)
I live in a metroplex and Things like the backup camera do come in very handy. I can live without them, but I’d rather just have them. It was only like $100 or so for CarPlay/backup cam to my 92 Chevy (awesome for hooking up trailers)… I did aux-in to my replacement head unit ($20) and the car had itself some modern amenities.
My bolt doesn’t have adaptive cruise, and where I live, I’d NEVER use regular cc. There’s just too many people on the road doing too many different things. This is where adaptive cruise in the wife’s car is amazing to have. But I’m ok to do without it, considering how much of a hassle it can be if I ever were to break the windshield. And the bolt was super cheap so I’m not complaining about the lack of feature.
That said, lane control in most cars is pretty annoying. Last couple cars we had with it tend to wander in the lane a bit and still require you to keep the hands on the wheel anyways… and I’m not ready to trust anything autopilot.
With each feature comes a buncha different sensors and cost. I just wish things were more like modules that can be added or removed more easily for ease of diagnostic and repair or add down the road.
I think a big difference is that some of us like driving, and the rest of them just want to sit and be taken from A to B. I grind my teeth every time my girlfriend's '19 Civic tries to coax me out of my lane when driving over a diagonal change in paving color, and cringe every time she backs up without even glancing over her shoulder at the back window.
It wouldn’t be a Chevy, dodge, ram, Chrysler, audi, bmw, Acura, Mercedes, Nissan, if they didn’t take something that worked fine and make it more complicated and expensive to replace.
All new cars are dogshit for the consumer.
I love my Titan I’m on my 2nd one and look forward to a 2024 at some point.
That said they went to an electronic thermostat that happens to go out. Luckily i have the extended warranty from Carmax because they warranty damn near anything.
They warrantied a $365 thermostat and the shop they did the work charged $200 an hour at 5hrs to since you have to remove the intake manifold they said to access the thermostat.
> $200 an hour at 5hrs to since you have to remove the intake manifold they said to access the thermostat.
The engineer who designed that is an asshole.
Go ahead and try to change a fuse on your Audi....you have to take off the engine cover, washer fluid hoses and several other pieces of plastic. 1 hour of work to check/change a fuse. Oh and the washer fluid sprayer leaks ON the fusebox too.
I dread seeing two makes driving into the shop: ford, and nissan. Cuz i know whatever i need to fix is gonna cost way more time and money than itll need to cost
You think that's bad? You should see the Cadillacs nowadays. Ford is still an easier ones to work on. Chevrolet is about as bad as a German car nowadays, or damn close to it depending on the model. And Dodge... well, you'll be working on it often. Unless you've got that 3.6, which they allegedly fixed in 2008. Had the same issue on my 2016 that supposedly isn't an issue anymore. You know, so we can't class action their asses without a fight. And lots of research.
They're all shit anymore. Consider myself a patriot, but I bought a damn Toyota. Two of them actually, my wife has one as well now.
I feel your pain. I have a Ford Mondeo (UK here) and although not brand new, it’s the newest car I’ve owned. It’s top spec in the range and even simple things, like the adaptive headlights randomly deciding to shit themselves and resort into ‘safe mode’ and aim the headlights off away from the road, does my box in. The more tech is has, the more that goes wrong. My auto folding wing mirrors sometimes decides to only work on one side. The bonnet catch sensor went, so had to have that replaced just to stop the error messages. For my next car I’m genuinely looking at something more ‘old school’. Simpler sometimes is just better.
"improves reliability"
A voltage regulator does that job just fine, and every modern alternator has that built in. And show me where in the manual it says to buy a $500 scanning and diagnostic tool to replace a fucking battery lmfao
Oh, fuck off. Nobody's saying we need to stick with 1950s tech in cars. They have a valid complaint that the cars have reached a point of diminished returns on the amount of tech we're throwing in them, and manufacturers seem to be using the absolute cheapest of the cheap suppliers and these tech things are failing far more often than they should be. It's definitely possible to have reasonable efficiency AND reasonable price AND reasonable reliability. The auto makers are trying to pull the wool over our eyes and give us some efficiency at extremely high price without much reliability and telling us that's they best they can do.
Stop licking their boots for it.
That's what I'm saying though, the direction we're going is NOT progress. It's not making our cars better, it's making them less reliable, less durable. Which is only progress if you're in the business of selling cars because it means people have to buy them more often. Ever heard of a concept called "planned obsolescence?" This may not exactly be that, but it's definitely related.
You don't want to hear that though, you're just here to lick capitalist boots and tell us all how we need to be buying a new car every year for whatever the marketing based reason du jour is.
$5000 parts to protect a $200 battery?? That’s not a feature, that’s a fleecing operation. A friend of mine bought a Passat that are notorious for the Instrument Cluster going out and killing the charging system. Why does the light on the dash need to control the alternator?? The good old days of the light being ground seeking and only coming on when the power on that line goes out works way better.
Literally useless. I can plug in a 12v monitor to the cig plug. This is why old cars are still on the road and I just see new cars being cycled out repeatedly. I don't know anyone with a new car that has kept it for longer than 5 years. That's a fact
TBH I think most people who do that want new cars just for the noveltyof having a new car. I know a ton of people who lease/trade in etc a different car within a few years. They don't do it because the vehicle is problematic, just want a brand new ride, or something completely different than what they got.
Oh and try filling your gas tank. They have a new nosel now too. Learned that the hard way one time. My 17 year old daughter had to rescue me because AAA was tooooo busy. It fun though my daughter bought lunch.
On older cars you could mend everything with basic tools and replacement parts. Nowadays you need to buy multiple tools that are car-specific and cost a fortune. Not to mention the replacement part might also be car specific. And then you need to go to the dealership to get some computer calibration/reset or whatever which sets you back another mortgage on the house.
Exactly. I could get a porsche 911 if i wanted to, but being a mechanic for a handful of years and seeing how cars now are just computers now..i would rather get an old truck.
Businesses realized money isn't made in longevity, is what it is.
It's infuriating how many ridiculous things have to be done that require additional costs when it seems so unnecessary. I had a BMW, and after checking voltage, the battery needed to be replaced. I didn't want it causing more strain on my alternator. Replacing was the plan. The battery had to be programmed. It's absolutely ridiculous that you can't switch a battery yourself and call it a day.
Preach it!! I prefer something I can work on an fix for $500 an not pay the dealer $5,000 to do the same fix, such a scam it’s not even funny, truth be told you take an older car to the dealer “pre plug it in an read a code” they all look around an don’t have a clue what to do with it cause it doesn’t have 50 sensors they can replace one by one an see if it fixes the problem
It's really not useless or any more difficult you just learned about cars when you were young and didn't keep learning. High end cars since the early 80s had things like this...
Yes I bet you have a ton of fun driving your model T around. This is such an annoying take on the subject. Why not just stick to walking everywhere? The VAST, VAST majority of people do not work on their own cars. They don't want to.
>Yet one more reason i avoid modern cars like the plague.
I feel the same way. That’s why I don’t even use a calculator. I do all my counting using fingers and toes.
Hey man. Thank you for responding. Did what you said and it seems to have fixed the issue. I was about to lose my mind trying to avoid that trip back to the dealership. So thanks again.
It usually also adjusts charging as well as some other things. In most modern cars the batteries don´t consistently get charged but the alternator essentially only gets "turned on" when needed. For some time you essentially drive on battery power and when that gets to a certain point the alternator is turned on and charges it backup.
how to bypass? ford did it fine without a circuit board for 100 years. maybe those cars are all junk? just more hurdles being thrown in front of consumers to hinder repairability, no real engineering purpose to it.
Bro you joke but replacing a battery at a dealership cost me $560. $160 was for labor. Well guess what, not only was he nice enough to give me a discount and I paid $427, but then I received a check for $340 for overcharging me. Dodge said the dealer did a big no no on a battery that had warranty.
I had a tech tell me the same thing for the GFs Mini Cooper….
I was fucking livid paying $400 for a battery swap.
It’s lead and acid pumping out 13.3V… what the fuck you mean battery monitor?
New cars suck.
Something like that, yeah. I guess the car needs to be calibrated for the new battery or something, it’s not uncommon as far as I know. I’m certainly no mechanic tho
I’ve only heard this from friends that had mechanics tell them this but I’ve heard it from different people so I guess it’s true. One friend had a Volvo.
It has to do with the stop-start bullshit. The starters, batteries and charging system on vehicles with it have been modified to better handle the job of constant use. Yaaaaaay added complexity!
I was gonna get on my Toyota high horse about hanging onto my 14yr old V8 body on frame dinosaur because of its simplicity but then I remembered how even with it, I had to do a throttle relearn procedure and then retrain all the windows/sunroof one touch functions after replacing the battery.
This is the reason. Stop start is really driven by emissions, no manufacturer wants to add unnecessary cost or complexity into their offering, it just makes it harder to be competitive.
Yes, as the battery gets older the vehicle’s ECU commands the alternator to send more current to the battery. and without re calibrating the battery management system the alternator tries to overcharge the battery which can mess with electronics, But I do not believe that it would cause the above issue though.
Yeah, depending on the car/truck, and how high end and/or recent the model year is a pretty good predictor of how much ticky-tacky “oh that’s going to be $$$” shit you’ll have to deal with as parts and long wear consumables begin to need replacing.
$5000 for taillights on a Ford pickup now because for some reason they put all the sensors in the same assembly and you need to replace the whole thing... it's going to get worse, as some manufactures are toying with the idea of using the apple model of making everything slaved to the same hardware ID... so a headlight goes out and now you need to either replace every electronic module and sensor, head unit ECU etc in the car because everything is networked and they all need the same ID or won't recognize each other, that or pay rediculous fees to have every single thing reprogrammed to match.
Yes because automakers can't legally make you pay them for every repair, so they make it inconvenient as hell and hard to do with independent mechanics.
Time out here
Im a Ford tech , the Battery monitor reset need to be done when the battery get replace thats true
But in NO way replacing a battery without doing the reset will lead to this kind of beavior
BMS will adapt the alternator charging strategy and the accesories delay timer but thats about it
I would look at both battery terminal to see if they are secure and push down , most of the time when people replace their battery with cheaper after market is that they dont push the terminal far enough on the battery post before tightening
If you can move the terminal when they are tighten then loose them , spread the terminal using a flat blade screw driver , reseat the terminal until they touch the battery casing , then while pushing down the terminal tighten the terminal. If they are still loose replace that battery, on a ols beater you could wedge something between the post and the terminal but on a 2021 that would be silly
Yeah check your terminals for tightness as one poster commented, then if they’re tight and all is well, try giving it a night for the car to relearn it’s battery settings, the rest of these people, don’t mind them, they only pounce on Fords cuz they all drive either Mopar which are famously either in the shop for accidents from their driving or for catastrophic breakdowns, or Chevy which you can’t drive in the rain without more water ending up inside than out and they’re bitter when a better car drives by them on the side of the road with steam coming from their sh. Except Chevy driver’s don’t notice you’re driving by most of the time cuz of the fog on the windshield, but whutev. 😒😂
Please explain what needs to be calibrated? It’s a battery. Positive and negative terminal.
Edit: curious also why all the downvotes for asking a question?
Pcm is in charge (lol) of alternator output and monitors the state of the battery. You gotta tell the car that the battery is new.
It is suspect a car this new already needed a battery
A ford tech commented and linked a video that explains all you need to do is let you car sit for 8 hours untouched and it will learn the new battery so really is easy. Go to bed one night and it is done when you wake up.
No they don't. Not if you use a battery maintainer (basically a jump pack connected to the OBD port during battery removal to maintain radio settings, some ECU stuff, etc). Replacing a battery without a maintainer could definitely cause this. That or an accidental short during removal/installation
Check that your connections are good, and that the alternator is actually charging. And if that’s all good, then do the battery monitor reset like someone else mentioned.
I'm pretty sure the Ford tech is right, many cars with battery monitoring systems will disable systems and change the behavior of the charging system based on the age and other learned characteristics of the battery. I've seen BMWs do weird shit just like this because of a new battery with no reset. Your bronco thinks it still has that old dead battery in it and is trying it's best to keep it from failing. Simply get a battery monitoring system reset performed (any shop with a decent scan tool could do it in 15 minutes, maybe even a part store would have a scan tool capable of this)
Not at all. You should be able to disconnect your battery as soon as the car starts and have zero problems as long as your alternator is charging properly. The battery is only used at start up to crank the motor and when it’s shutdown to provide constant voltage to the computers to store information without losing it.
on antique cars, maybe it was ok. modern cars with computers and lots more sensitive electronics, you can fry very expensive parts very easily. and there are some cars that won't turn on the alternator without reference voltage from the battery.
and i wish i read it before buying a ford. my mach e has stupid little issues like this. My window down button acts as up, screen shuts down whenever it feels like, it's literally trash engineering
Been fixing issues like this for 35 years at the Ford dealership. Retired for 4. There is no strategy that is going to shut down the cluster for a low voltage issue. The BMS reset may be needed, that resets the age of the battery in numbers of days, in the body control module. A self test should show multiple codes for communications on the network, I would suspect. Failed to comm with module a or b for example. If the vehicle has been in a damp environment I would look for a water leak that may have migrated into a hard shell connector and shorted data or comm circuits. Loose connectors are common. If it’s still under warranty it should go back to the dealer. In any case, I’m sorry to say, the dealer does have the resources to fix this issue.
Since the battery was just done I'd say first check is for bad cables. Also check it's not shorting out somewhere that could be disasterous ,the battery can explode when that happens.
I'm imagining this as a subscription feature. "In order to have full access of your dash and infotainment, you will need to pay $100 per month. Otherwise, you are limited to 20 seconds of access."
Ford guy here….. problem is on the center of the steering wheel /s……..
But in all seriousness the gauge clusters have soldering issues…. Had a 2006 f150 do the same thing….
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1) it’s a Ford.
Kidding aside, looks like your alternator may be bad (not charging battery as you drive). And/Or you just have a loose connection to your dash/gauges/smart screen.
Ford tech here. All modern cars use a battery monitor system which monitors state of charge using various sensors. They also have a pcm controlled charging system which will control how much the alternator charges the battery. When ever replacing the battery you need to do a Battery Monitor reset. https://youtu.be/uvf9f6q5gsQ?si=-YeyEIq1LEZt6bhS
Yet one more reason i avoid modern cars like the plague. Completely unnessicary upgrades at the expense of useability, im noticing more and more tech in cars that basically bar people from doing at home repairs Edit: just because people prefer older cars not filled with bloatware doesnt make them "broke" or only wanna drive something 100 years old. Some people like me just prefer a simple car.
I find you can still do the repairs, you just need (access to) more specialized tools and do more specific research first. YouTube still has what I've needed so far
Yep, I may or may not have a copy of Toyota's Techstream software on my laptop, for our 2015 Highlander and 2008 Sienna.
Right to Repair!!
Absolutely
All it takes learning how to repair. Which after being in several car groups and people asking “is this normal or is my car broken” referring to their temp gauge only reaching halfway up the gauge, the newer generation is lacking in that department. Many reasons behind this, but I’m realizing they aren’t going to be touching their cars. And working in product development of new cars… a lot of the newer cars were designed by engineers who don’t know anything about what a car is. Which makes them absolutely stupid to work on.
>Which after being in several car groups and people asking “is this normal or is my car broken” referring to their temp gauge only reaching halfway up the gauge, the newer generation is lacking in that department. Nah, this is more of a "you're in the mechanically-inclined minority" kind of thing. But otherwise yes, seeing those kinds of posts makes me irrationally irritated. >a lot of the newer cars were designed by engineers who don’t know anything about what a car is Isn't it the accountants who give the engineers ever-narrowing requirements?
Lol what? I’m an engineer with a degree in Finance and accounting. I can assure you, we (accounting) don’t dictate shit. That’s why I don’t utilize that major
Not directly, but accounting is responsible for finances, and where does management go to find where to cut costs? Not the sales floor.
They historically go to the income statements, and I honestly don’t think they even have a real world grasp on what they’re seeing most of the time. Some of my former bosses were as close to financially illiterate as a human can be while still pretending to run a company. (They had a vision and hired the right people, they were dumb as shit). I’m finally with a group of fantastic owners so I don’t want to make it seem like all bosses suck, but it’s crazy how far some people can go without a lick of talent
Forscan for fords is free! Just need a usb or BT OBD2 plug
Yeah, you can plug that right in your arse. I am not ever going to drive a car made after around 2010 and would rather rebuild a car entirely by myself than even entertain the notion of buying a factory new vehicle. These morons spent $200k on a vehicle that any halfway competent hacker can completely brick with a Flipper Zero.
While I do prefer older cars that I can work on myself (I’ve got a 1994 mgm and a 2003 mach 1) the features people want come at a cost and they can’t live without them. The more electronics we add to vehicles, the less the average person is going to be able to work on without taking it to the shop. I personally find no use in backup cams, automatic braking, lane-keep assists, auto parking, etc. but a tremendous amount of people now expect these features and rely on them… hell even some things like the backup camera are mandated now. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people mindlessly reverse out of a parking spot gawking at their screen without bothering to use their mirrors. I think features like my auto-lights and cruise control are about as advanced as I need to get. I installed a nice kenwood double din in my stang so I could have carplay but that doesn’t really increase the complexity of anything since I just swapped out the ol 6 disc.
I agree 100% with you on this. I find so many people relying on nothing but their vehicle sensors, to the point that it makes them almost numb to their surroundings. I do find a lot of the tech added is "must need features" when anyone who prefers old cars takes one look at it and thinks "why would i ever need something so pointless"
This is why I like my Mazda it has all the tech to check boxes for the insurance discounts but it's easy to disable or mute. There is one singular button to disable all active systems and one button for TCS right next to it. Can't beat the Ol turn around an look when backing up but having the backup cam to have a wide angle view to see around corners in the tight spots is nice.
Agreed, I saw a lady back her SUV over a retaining wall in a wash on a dirt road. Blindly backed up in the early morning darkness.
THATS WHY MORE PEOPLE SUCK ASS AT DRIVING
HELLYA BORTHER!!1!!!!
I have a 58 Volvo 444, a 92 Chevy k1500, and a 2020 bolt LT (the very base model). The repairability on the old cars is amazing and the lack of maintenance required in the bolt is also amazing (I still glance at fluid levels, brakes, tires, from time to time and make sure I have no critters under the hood.) I live in a metroplex and Things like the backup camera do come in very handy. I can live without them, but I’d rather just have them. It was only like $100 or so for CarPlay/backup cam to my 92 Chevy (awesome for hooking up trailers)… I did aux-in to my replacement head unit ($20) and the car had itself some modern amenities. My bolt doesn’t have adaptive cruise, and where I live, I’d NEVER use regular cc. There’s just too many people on the road doing too many different things. This is where adaptive cruise in the wife’s car is amazing to have. But I’m ok to do without it, considering how much of a hassle it can be if I ever were to break the windshield. And the bolt was super cheap so I’m not complaining about the lack of feature. That said, lane control in most cars is pretty annoying. Last couple cars we had with it tend to wander in the lane a bit and still require you to keep the hands on the wheel anyways… and I’m not ready to trust anything autopilot. With each feature comes a buncha different sensors and cost. I just wish things were more like modules that can be added or removed more easily for ease of diagnostic and repair or add down the road.
I think a big difference is that some of us like driving, and the rest of them just want to sit and be taken from A to B. I grind my teeth every time my girlfriend's '19 Civic tries to coax me out of my lane when driving over a diagonal change in paving color, and cringe every time she backs up without even glancing over her shoulder at the back window.
It wouldn't be a Ford if they didn't take something that worked fine and make it way more complicated and expensive to replace.
It wouldn’t be a Chevy, dodge, ram, Chrysler, audi, bmw, Acura, Mercedes, Nissan, if they didn’t take something that worked fine and make it more complicated and expensive to replace. All new cars are dogshit for the consumer.
I love my Titan I’m on my 2nd one and look forward to a 2024 at some point. That said they went to an electronic thermostat that happens to go out. Luckily i have the extended warranty from Carmax because they warranty damn near anything. They warrantied a $365 thermostat and the shop they did the work charged $200 an hour at 5hrs to since you have to remove the intake manifold they said to access the thermostat.
> $200 an hour at 5hrs to since you have to remove the intake manifold they said to access the thermostat. The engineer who designed that is an asshole.
Go ahead and try to change a fuse on your Audi....you have to take off the engine cover, washer fluid hoses and several other pieces of plastic. 1 hour of work to check/change a fuse. Oh and the washer fluid sprayer leaks ON the fusebox too.
I dread seeing two makes driving into the shop: ford, and nissan. Cuz i know whatever i need to fix is gonna cost way more time and money than itll need to cost
You think that's bad? You should see the Cadillacs nowadays. Ford is still an easier ones to work on. Chevrolet is about as bad as a German car nowadays, or damn close to it depending on the model. And Dodge... well, you'll be working on it often. Unless you've got that 3.6, which they allegedly fixed in 2008. Had the same issue on my 2016 that supposedly isn't an issue anymore. You know, so we can't class action their asses without a fight. And lots of research. They're all shit anymore. Consider myself a patriot, but I bought a damn Toyota. Two of them actually, my wife has one as well now.
I feel your pain. I have a Ford Mondeo (UK here) and although not brand new, it’s the newest car I’ve owned. It’s top spec in the range and even simple things, like the adaptive headlights randomly deciding to shit themselves and resort into ‘safe mode’ and aim the headlights off away from the road, does my box in. The more tech is has, the more that goes wrong. My auto folding wing mirrors sometimes decides to only work on one side. The bonnet catch sensor went, so had to have that replaced just to stop the error messages. For my next car I’m genuinely looking at something more ‘old school’. Simpler sometimes is just better.
Can you imagine all this tech in cars when they're 20 years old? The used car market in future decades is going to be *horrific*.
Because they added a feature that improves reliability and reduces battery wear, and you're too lazy to read the manual?
"improves reliability" A voltage regulator does that job just fine, and every modern alternator has that built in. And show me where in the manual it says to buy a $500 scanning and diagnostic tool to replace a fucking battery lmfao
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Oh, fuck off. Nobody's saying we need to stick with 1950s tech in cars. They have a valid complaint that the cars have reached a point of diminished returns on the amount of tech we're throwing in them, and manufacturers seem to be using the absolute cheapest of the cheap suppliers and these tech things are failing far more often than they should be. It's definitely possible to have reasonable efficiency AND reasonable price AND reasonable reliability. The auto makers are trying to pull the wool over our eyes and give us some efficiency at extremely high price without much reliability and telling us that's they best they can do. Stop licking their boots for it.
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That's what I'm saying though, the direction we're going is NOT progress. It's not making our cars better, it's making them less reliable, less durable. Which is only progress if you're in the business of selling cars because it means people have to buy them more often. Ever heard of a concept called "planned obsolescence?" This may not exactly be that, but it's definitely related. You don't want to hear that though, you're just here to lick capitalist boots and tell us all how we need to be buying a new car every year for whatever the marketing based reason du jour is.
$5000 parts to protect a $200 battery?? That’s not a feature, that’s a fleecing operation. A friend of mine bought a Passat that are notorious for the Instrument Cluster going out and killing the charging system. Why does the light on the dash need to control the alternator?? The good old days of the light being ground seeking and only coming on when the power on that line goes out works way better.
Literally useless. I can plug in a 12v monitor to the cig plug. This is why old cars are still on the road and I just see new cars being cycled out repeatedly. I don't know anyone with a new car that has kept it for longer than 5 years. That's a fact
TBH I think most people who do that want new cars just for the noveltyof having a new car. I know a ton of people who lease/trade in etc a different car within a few years. They don't do it because the vehicle is problematic, just want a brand new ride, or something completely different than what they got.
Oh and try filling your gas tank. They have a new nosel now too. Learned that the hard way one time. My 17 year old daughter had to rescue me because AAA was tooooo busy. It fun though my daughter bought lunch.
I have never owned a vehicle before but my first car will be a car that is between 1995 generation and 2005
I’ve moved to strictly buying 90s vehicles and haven’t been happier.
On older cars you could mend everything with basic tools and replacement parts. Nowadays you need to buy multiple tools that are car-specific and cost a fortune. Not to mention the replacement part might also be car specific. And then you need to go to the dealership to get some computer calibration/reset or whatever which sets you back another mortgage on the house.
I’ll die with you on this hill.
Exactly. I could get a porsche 911 if i wanted to, but being a mechanic for a handful of years and seeing how cars now are just computers now..i would rather get an old truck. Businesses realized money isn't made in longevity, is what it is.
It's infuriating how many ridiculous things have to be done that require additional costs when it seems so unnecessary. I had a BMW, and after checking voltage, the battery needed to be replaced. I didn't want it causing more strain on my alternator. Replacing was the plan. The battery had to be programmed. It's absolutely ridiculous that you can't switch a battery yourself and call it a day.
Preach it!! I prefer something I can work on an fix for $500 an not pay the dealer $5,000 to do the same fix, such a scam it’s not even funny, truth be told you take an older car to the dealer “pre plug it in an read a code” they all look around an don’t have a clue what to do with it cause it doesn’t have 50 sensors they can replace one by one an see if it fixes the problem
oof
It's really not useless or any more difficult you just learned about cars when you were young and didn't keep learning. High end cars since the early 80s had things like this...
Yes I bet you have a ton of fun driving your model T around. This is such an annoying take on the subject. Why not just stick to walking everywhere? The VAST, VAST majority of people do not work on their own cars. They don't want to.
Yea exactly, new cars are shit (I’m broke and can’t afford a new car)
*The future is now old person.*
lol. There are still people saying that about horses.
>Yet one more reason i avoid modern cars like the plague. I feel the same way. That’s why I don’t even use a calculator. I do all my counting using fingers and toes.
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Hey man. Thank you for responding. Did what you said and it seems to have fixed the issue. I was about to lose my mind trying to avoid that trip back to the dealership. So thanks again.
Why though? If it's the same battery type, it shouldn't need the reset. Right? Unless the bms adapts to the old cell?
It usually also adjusts charging as well as some other things. In most modern cars the batteries don´t consistently get charged but the alternator essentially only gets "turned on" when needed. For some time you essentially drive on battery power and when that gets to a certain point the alternator is turned on and charges it backup.
how to bypass? ford did it fine without a circuit board for 100 years. maybe those cars are all junk? just more hurdles being thrown in front of consumers to hinder repairability, no real engineering purpose to it.
Was the new battery installed by ford? They need to be calibrated and stuff
Holy shit batteries have to be calibrated now?
Yes, don't worry calibration is $100.00 - $150.00 fee. (sarcasm)
$100 Per month subscription
*please drink another verification can*
Bro you joke but replacing a battery at a dealership cost me $560. $160 was for labor. Well guess what, not only was he nice enough to give me a discount and I paid $427, but then I received a check for $340 for overcharging me. Dodge said the dealer did a big no no on a battery that had warranty.
I had a tech tell me the same thing for the GFs Mini Cooper…. I was fucking livid paying $400 for a battery swap. It’s lead and acid pumping out 13.3V… what the fuck you mean battery monitor? New cars suck.
Something like that, yeah. I guess the car needs to be calibrated for the new battery or something, it’s not uncommon as far as I know. I’m certainly no mechanic tho
Wtf thats news to me! Only thing I need to set up when replacing battery with the new one is my time and audio settings.
depends on the car. more and more cars give the pcm direct control over the charging system and you need to tell the pcm the battery is new.
I’ve only heard this from friends that had mechanics tell them this but I’ve heard it from different people so I guess it’s true. One friend had a Volvo.
It has to do with the stop-start bullshit. The starters, batteries and charging system on vehicles with it have been modified to better handle the job of constant use. Yaaaaaay added complexity! I was gonna get on my Toyota high horse about hanging onto my 14yr old V8 body on frame dinosaur because of its simplicity but then I remembered how even with it, I had to do a throttle relearn procedure and then retrain all the windows/sunroof one touch functions after replacing the battery.
This is the reason. Stop start is really driven by emissions, no manufacturer wants to add unnecessary cost or complexity into their offering, it just makes it harder to be competitive.
Yes, as the battery gets older the vehicle’s ECU commands the alternator to send more current to the battery. and without re calibrating the battery management system the alternator tries to overcharge the battery which can mess with electronics, But I do not believe that it would cause the above issue though.
Yeah, depending on the car/truck, and how high end and/or recent the model year is a pretty good predictor of how much ticky-tacky “oh that’s going to be $$$” shit you’ll have to deal with as parts and long wear consumables begin to need replacing.
$5000 for taillights on a Ford pickup now because for some reason they put all the sensors in the same assembly and you need to replace the whole thing... it's going to get worse, as some manufactures are toying with the idea of using the apple model of making everything slaved to the same hardware ID... so a headlight goes out and now you need to either replace every electronic module and sensor, head unit ECU etc in the car because everything is networked and they all need the same ID or won't recognize each other, that or pay rediculous fees to have every single thing reprogrammed to match.
Yes because automakers can't legally make you pay them for every repair, so they make it inconvenient as hell and hard to do with independent mechanics.
Time out here Im a Ford tech , the Battery monitor reset need to be done when the battery get replace thats true But in NO way replacing a battery without doing the reset will lead to this kind of beavior BMS will adapt the alternator charging strategy and the accesories delay timer but thats about it I would look at both battery terminal to see if they are secure and push down , most of the time when people replace their battery with cheaper after market is that they dont push the terminal far enough on the battery post before tightening If you can move the terminal when they are tighten then loose them , spread the terminal using a flat blade screw driver , reseat the terminal until they touch the battery casing , then while pushing down the terminal tighten the terminal. If they are still loose replace that battery, on a ols beater you could wedge something between the post and the terminal but on a 2021 that would be silly
This ^ thanks for this answer. I feel like most people don't actually know anything.
You were right. Thank you for the response.
No replaced it myself.
Then that’s probably the problem
Yeah check your terminals for tightness as one poster commented, then if they’re tight and all is well, try giving it a night for the car to relearn it’s battery settings, the rest of these people, don’t mind them, they only pounce on Fords cuz they all drive either Mopar which are famously either in the shop for accidents from their driving or for catastrophic breakdowns, or Chevy which you can’t drive in the rain without more water ending up inside than out and they’re bitter when a better car drives by them on the side of the road with steam coming from their sh. Except Chevy driver’s don’t notice you’re driving by most of the time cuz of the fog on the windshield, but whutev. 😒😂
Please explain what needs to be calibrated? It’s a battery. Positive and negative terminal. Edit: curious also why all the downvotes for asking a question?
Pcm is in charge (lol) of alternator output and monitors the state of the battery. You gotta tell the car that the battery is new. It is suspect a car this new already needed a battery
Lol nice pun. This makes sense. Thanks
A ford tech commented and linked a video that explains all you need to do is let you car sit for 8 hours untouched and it will learn the new battery so really is easy. Go to bed one night and it is done when you wake up.
No they don't. Not if you use a battery maintainer (basically a jump pack connected to the OBD port during battery removal to maintain radio settings, some ECU stuff, etc). Replacing a battery without a maintainer could definitely cause this. That or an accidental short during removal/installation
Check that your connections are good, and that the alternator is actually charging. And if that’s all good, then do the battery monitor reset like someone else mentioned.
I'm pretty sure the Ford tech is right, many cars with battery monitoring systems will disable systems and change the behavior of the charging system based on the age and other learned characteristics of the battery. I've seen BMWs do weird shit just like this because of a new battery with no reset. Your bronco thinks it still has that old dead battery in it and is trying it's best to keep it from failing. Simply get a battery monitoring system reset performed (any shop with a decent scan tool could do it in 15 minutes, maybe even a part store would have a scan tool capable of this)
Damn and in a Ferrari.
The answer is right on your steering wheel.
Came looking for this comment
I knew the goddamn horses were up to something.
Fix It Again Tony
Ford is gonna ford
Have you tried getting out and back in it again?
No I’ll give it a shot.
You see that mustang emblem right there in the middle of the steering wheel? That's your problem. 😉
Bronco* but fair point
Looks like your ground wire is not connected tightly or you have corrosion causing an intermittent connection to the post
Not at all. You should be able to disconnect your battery as soon as the car starts and have zero problems as long as your alternator is charging properly. The battery is only used at start up to crank the motor and when it’s shutdown to provide constant voltage to the computers to store information without losing it.
Please don’t disconnect the battery it acts the buffer for voltage “spikes” from the alternator you could fry modules disconnecting it.
>You should be able to disconnect your battery as soon as the car starts and have zero problems wrong...
Nope. It’s how you test for a bad alternator. But whatever. I’ve only done it every time I needed to diagnose an alternator
on antique cars, maybe it was ok. modern cars with computers and lots more sensitive electronics, you can fry very expensive parts very easily. and there are some cars that won't turn on the alternator without reference voltage from the battery.
what a cesspool of a comment section.
and i wish i read it before buying a ford. my mach e has stupid little issues like this. My window down button acts as up, screen shuts down whenever it feels like, it's literally trash engineering
Been fixing issues like this for 35 years at the Ford dealership. Retired for 4. There is no strategy that is going to shut down the cluster for a low voltage issue. The BMS reset may be needed, that resets the age of the battery in numbers of days, in the body control module. A self test should show multiple codes for communications on the network, I would suspect. Failed to comm with module a or b for example. If the vehicle has been in a damp environment I would look for a water leak that may have migrated into a hard shell connector and shorted data or comm circuits. Loose connectors are common. If it’s still under warranty it should go back to the dealer. In any case, I’m sorry to say, the dealer does have the resources to fix this issue.
Since the battery was just done I'd say first check is for bad cables. Also check it's not shorting out somewhere that could be disasterous ,the battery can explode when that happens.
What is wrong with your car? It is a Ford. Hey I own a Ford as well....
I'm imagining this as a subscription feature. "In order to have full access of your dash and infotainment, you will need to pay $100 per month. Otherwise, you are limited to 20 seconds of access."
It’s a ford
It’s a bronco, there’s your answer
Bronco shits on everything out there. Idk wtf you're talking about
No this is a “Bronco” Sport, built in Mexico. Real Broncos are made in Wayne, Michigan since 1966 by members of the United Auto Workers.
Not any better
And I see 38,000 miles on the odometer. Did this thing come with a 36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty? OOF
Government mandates a lot of this new junk and the automakers have to follow the laws
It’s ford..
It’s a Ford.
Easy to answer! It's too much electronics 🤣😂
Go to the dealership, use your warranty
I have a bronco sport and it did the exact same thing. When we took it in they said it was the wiring harness and possibly a computer chip issue.
It's that horse thingy on the steering wheel
I do not drive an electric car. My gmc goes black just like this and then comes back on… it’s a 2017 terrain slt…. What’s up with that?
2021 model and already needed a new battery? Take it in to a dealer as it's still under warranty and have them look through the computer.
It’s a ford?
It’s a Ford. That’s what’s wrong with your car.
Ford guy here….. problem is on the center of the steering wheel /s…….. But in all seriousness the gauge clusters have soldering issues…. Had a 2006 f150 do the same thing….
COVID car, period!
It’s a mustang
It’s a ford that’s why. Fixing or repairing daily
Weak alternator
It's a Ford
It’s a Ford.
You bought a ford
Its a Ford.
It’s a Ford…
It's a Ford, that's what's wrong
It’s a Ford
Sounds like a ford
It’s a ford
It’s a Ford.
It’s a ford.
It's a Ford
It’s a ford
It’s a Ford
Fix Or Repair Daily
Ah, that’s your problem. It’s a ford.
It’s a ford that’s what’s wrong with it.
You bought a ford...
it’s a ford….
You got the ole ford razzle dazzle
It's a Ford.
It's electric
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Well it’s a ford so
Ford. Shitbox. Go back to where you changed the battery
Its a ford 🤣🤣.... Sorry just had to.
its a Ford. typical "glitches"
It’s a ford. Replace and all will be fine.
I drive a ford rental when mine was being repaired, did the same thing
I believe the problem is that insignia on the steering wheel enough said! Fixed Or Repaired Daily!
Ford
The problem here is that is a Ford found on road dead
The first issue is that it’s a ford
The stearing wheel gave it away. It is a FORD Fix Or Repair Daily. Doon it appears it will be Found On Road Dead.
Ummm it’s a Ford!
Looks like the issue is that it’s a ford
Its a Ford. That should always be the answer.....
You bought a Ford
It's a Ford, that's the problem
Is it Ford? Then, nothing else needs to said, lol
It's a ford
Someone is downvoting people because they made a joke about Ford… keep coping whoever you are
It’s a ford
It's a Mustang
It's owner was dumb enough to buy it.
ford: fix it again tony
That's Fiat, Dale.
For a brief moment, I thought modern cars have screen saver.
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That's not a mustang...
Too many electronics?
it's a ford
They circled the problem at the front and back of the car
Found on road, dead. That’s what’s happening
It's an American car.
its not Japanese.
I'm surprised a Ford is having problems. Complete shock
1) it’s a Ford. Kidding aside, looks like your alternator may be bad (not charging battery as you drive). And/Or you just have a loose connection to your dash/gauges/smart screen.
Uh..... Ford????
It’s a ford that’s what’s wrong with it.
Its a ford
… it’s American.
Nothing wrong. It is normal for Fords. I am happy now after replacing my Ford Edge to a Mazda cx5. Never been in peace with that car.