Ford Performance 5.0 Charger/Maintainer

[Neggytive]

Even with a tender on the battery it will still go into battery save mode.

It happens to my car all the time, as recently as last week.

I try to have someone start the car every couple of weeks to keep the modems on but this last time it must have gone too long between starts so it shut the modems off.

My friend did take it out and drive it around the block a couple of times and put it back on the battery tender.

I swear Ford does things by time and not actually measurement, the oil life monitor says I am down to 15%, it was 20 last week before the car got driven. The oil has like 3200 miles on it.

I bet by the time 8/8 gets here it will be zero as it is going by the amount of time since the oil life monitor was reset and not the actual driving condition the car sees.

8/8/24 was when I had the oil changed at 1000 miles, it has has 3200 miles put on it since then

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[Starship Enterprise]

Yes oil life is time sensitive, as are most fluids. That’s why in the manual and on the products themselves, they have recommendations to change before either mileage or time, whichever comes first. Fluids have a shelf life regardless of being used or not.

Even my preferred oil for my 06 GT, was Mobil 1 Extended Life Synth. it was guaranteed for 12K miles or 12 months…whichever comes first.

Your car probably is detecting that it has gone into a long term storage mode and might be putting functions and features to sleep. In my manual it strongly recommends the car be started and moved at least once every 15 days. That might be an indicator of what it considers long term storage.

 

[Skye]

I swear Ford does things by time and not actually measurement, the oil life monitor says I am down to 15%, it was 20 last week before the car got driven. The oil has like 3200 miles on it.

For each topic, it's both: time and measurement.

If the battery is trending down, at a certain level, the vehicle will go to sleep mode. If the car is not driven, by about the two week mark, it will automatically go to sleep. Mine does, when the car is in storage. Day 13 or 14, tender or not, it goes to deep sleep. The behavior is normal.

For the OLM, the timer on the car will expire at the one year mark, even if sitting the entire year. 1.92% a week,. The Powertrain Control Module will also adjust, based on RPM, temps, time each run, etc. At one extreme, for people tracking their cars, over a weekend, it could plummet.

 

[Knacht]

The ford accessory one is on national back order:(

I ordered one last week and they cancelled the order yesterday.

Not available.

 

[GrabberB]

According to the link:

• Positive Connection: Use the red plastic-covered terminal near the black fuse box. Alternatively, some users attach the positive lead directly to the positive battery terminal..

To avoid connecting to the wrong place, I'm going to connect directly to the positive battery terminal.

I have my F.P. Battery maintainer + lead attached to the terminal under the red plastic cover to avoid bypassing the onboard battery management system. In addition, I have my Whipple Supercharger intercooler pump + lead attached here as well per Whipple directions. Both grounds are connected to the ground post on the passenger side strut tower.

 

[Neggytive]

For the OLM, the timer on the car will expire at the one year mark, even if sitting the entire year. 1.92% a week,. The Powertrain Control Module will also adjust, based on RPM, temps, time each run, etc. At one extreme, for people tracking their cars, over a weekend, it could plummet.

Well that explains why it dropped from 20 to 15% going around the block, the first time the car had been out of the garage in 5 weeks

So when I go to visit the car in 2 months, it will have been just about a year since the last oil change so it will be at or near zero. I was planning on having it changed in August anyway.

 

[Starship Enterprise]

In general….Keep in mind even brand new oil in a sealed container has a shelf life. Synthetic properly stored in an unopened container has about 5 years. Much shorter if the container was opened…about 2-3 years. On every bottle of oil is the manufacturing date. usually the first 4 numbers is the month/year of manufacture. The clock starts ticking from then, before it even goes in your car.

In the manual, it considers “severe driving conditions” less than 10 mile trips or less than 15 minutes of driving. That accelerates oil wear and shortens it’s life.

if you keep a qt. Bottle for topping off, best to dispose of it after a year and get a fresh bottle. Why take a chance adding contaminated oil?

(I take my oil to either the oil disposal tank at the local dump, or my local garage has a tank for oil disposal.)

This is all based on research I did, and every website I consulted basically said this same thing…so I’m just not pulling this info out my ass….lol.

 

[20ducks]

I'll post my photo of my hook-up tomorrow.

 

[Zig]

Thank you. I see the unit has a wall power plug. Does this need to be used often or just once or...?

Needs to be used each time, it is a charger/maintainer (read converter) not a ‘jump pack’ (read portable battery)

 

[Fender5803]

It is rebranded so I think either one works. I used it for winter storage last winter and it did what it said it does. Mine is the rebranded one for what its worth.

 

[20ducks]

hard wired to the battery. What should I do differently?​

 

[dusman59]

I believe connecting directly to the battery you are going to effect the BMS(battery management system).You will charge the battery but not ideal. Use the suggested charge points Ford recommends. Use the stud on the right spring tower and the blade under the red plactic cover. If you change out the battery to a new one don't forget to reset the BMS.

 

[20ducks]

You have lost me... "Ford Charge points": okay, are they in all photo 2? "Use the stud on the right spring tower" What is this tower. You are telling me to attach the maintainer to the power connection under the red plastic cover. Do I still connect the ground cable to the battery ground stud? I haven't changed out the battery but for the record, how would I reset the BMS? Sorry for my ignorance.

 

[RevMatch]

You have lost me... "Ford Charge points": okay, are they in all photo 2? "Use the stud on the right spring tower" What is this tower. You are telling me to attach the maintainer to the power connection under the red plastic cover. Do I still connect the ground cable to the battery ground stud? I haven't changed out the battery but for the record, how would I reset the BMS? Sorry for my ignorance.

Passenger shock tower negative grounding stud and fuse box positive post.

Resetting the Battery Sensor

When you install a new battery, reset the battery sensor by doing the following:
Switch the ignition on, and leave the engine off.
Note: Complete Steps 2 and 3 within 10 seconds.

Flash the high beam headlamps five times, ending with the high beams off.
Press and release the brake pedal three times.

The battery warning lamp flashes three times to confirm that the reset is successful.

 

[dusman59]

Under the red cover you will see a verticle metal blade. That's the positive.

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