This is mostly an fyi thread, because I had trouble finding info on the subject.
Bought the car new in Jan of 2012, battery passed away in May of 2013. That's pretty horrible battery life. There was no prior indication of it going bad. No alternator lights or low battery warnings. I spend 3 hours a day on the freeway, so it has plenty of time to recharge every day.
I came out in the morning, took a short run to the store, and shut everything off. Four hours later I came out to make a food run, and it was basically dead. It had enough to juice to run the door locks (thank goodness) but not enough to even bump the starter. It had 10.45 volts on my voltmeter. It should have 13 or 14. Although the weather is very moderate in this area, I wanted to check the water levels (in hot dry areas like Arizona even "maintenance free" batteries lose water after a year). I could only check the cells in the front, and one cell was a little low, but not very bad. I left the charger on it all night, and it would not take a charge at all. It started with ease when jumped, so I bought a new jump starter battery because my old one was worn out.
Monday morning I went to a dealer, but they didn't stock the battery, so I went to another one about 8 miles away. Warranty on the battery is 36 months or 36,000 miles. Mine was 17 months old and I had... 36,300 miles on it. ARGGGHHHH. I don't know what mileage has to do with battery life since the car basically runs off the alternator while it's running, other than to eliminate warranty claims like in my case.
The good news is it cost about 130 or 140 bucks for a new one, including install. I'm not sure I want a new Ford battery since the old one was so crappy. They did replace it in under an hour, so it must not be as bad a job as it looks. The damn thing is virtually buried, so it looks like a horrible job to replace it at first glance. Oh, it also cost me a weekend of rental car fees and I bought a jumpstarter battery that I should not have needed. I was lucky that I got stranded at home instead of out somewhere.
I would recommend anyone with a Focus a year or more older get a small jumpstarter battery (about 50 bucks at Home Depot) and keep it in their trunk. Yes, you can call roadside service, but then you have to wait for them to come and it could be a long wait if you're out in the boonies. I had NO warning and these batteries are clearly defective to be failing so quickly.
Bought the car new in Jan of 2012, battery passed away in May of 2013. That's pretty horrible battery life. There was no prior indication of it going bad. No alternator lights or low battery warnings. I spend 3 hours a day on the freeway, so it has plenty of time to recharge every day.
I came out in the morning, took a short run to the store, and shut everything off. Four hours later I came out to make a food run, and it was basically dead. It had enough to juice to run the door locks (thank goodness) but not enough to even bump the starter. It had 10.45 volts on my voltmeter. It should have 13 or 14. Although the weather is very moderate in this area, I wanted to check the water levels (in hot dry areas like Arizona even "maintenance free" batteries lose water after a year). I could only check the cells in the front, and one cell was a little low, but not very bad. I left the charger on it all night, and it would not take a charge at all. It started with ease when jumped, so I bought a new jump starter battery because my old one was worn out.
Monday morning I went to a dealer, but they didn't stock the battery, so I went to another one about 8 miles away. Warranty on the battery is 36 months or 36,000 miles. Mine was 17 months old and I had... 36,300 miles on it. ARGGGHHHH. I don't know what mileage has to do with battery life since the car basically runs off the alternator while it's running, other than to eliminate warranty claims like in my case.
The good news is it cost about 130 or 140 bucks for a new one, including install. I'm not sure I want a new Ford battery since the old one was so crappy. They did replace it in under an hour, so it must not be as bad a job as it looks. The damn thing is virtually buried, so it looks like a horrible job to replace it at first glance. Oh, it also cost me a weekend of rental car fees and I bought a jumpstarter battery that I should not have needed. I was lucky that I got stranded at home instead of out somewhere.
I would recommend anyone with a Focus a year or more older get a small jumpstarter battery (about 50 bucks at Home Depot) and keep it in their trunk. Yes, you can call roadside service, but then you have to wait for them to come and it could be a long wait if you're out in the boonies. I had NO warning and these batteries are clearly defective to be failing so quickly.
