Battery dead 2012 cold weather?

hard to say ... if you do lots of real short trips, then the battery may not be fully charged and with the crazy low temp we are having ... who knows what the real reason(s).

Time to shop for a new car

Key in FOB ? Open it and look .

Not normal. Did you buy the vehicle new or used?

Our Benz C350 didnt start as well, but it has been sitting outside without being moved for almost 3 days
im guessing the deep freeze drained it out

Got a boost using my Costco DAA membership. The fellow told me he'd boosted 2 2015's that morning which surprised me.
Ford tells me to bring it in and they'll test it but with this cold it's affecting a lot of cars. I asked if there was a 'bigger/better' battery but was told that you can only go with so many cranking amps in these vehicles.
No one is recommending bothering with the block heater....
C'mon spring!!!!!!!!!!

A brand new battery generally lasts 5 or 6 yrs. I think it is the battery and driving habits, no the car, affecting the battery performance. Buy a battery with high cold cranking amp (Sears Die Hard, Costco Kirkland and Walmart battery have been rated good). Short driving trips hurt the battery. Battery block heater and battery blanket help.

Yep - if I replace this battery I don't think it'll be with a ford battery. I wasn't sure if Costco kirkland batteries had good reviews..I'll look at that when this one is out of warranty.

FYI, I do lots of short distant drives and the new battery did not last 5 years. It was dead in about 4 years. So not unreasonable if yours didn't last 5 years.

On average, my travel time is 30 minutes there, then back again= hour a day. Not so much on weekends.
Ford replaced it last year since it died on me. They tell me just drive it and it'll be fine...me, I'm not so sure...

jackie999 wrote: ↑On average, my travel time is 30 minutes there, then back again= hour a day. Not so much on weekends.
Ford replaced it last year since it died on me. They tell me just drive it and it'll be fine...me, I'm not so sure...

Get a Parasitic Draw Test done before you replace the battery again. If you replaced the battery last year and have to do it again this year then there is clearly something wrong.

jackie999 wrote: ↑On average, my travel time is 30 minutes there, then back again= hour a day. Not so much on weekends.
Ford replaced it last year since it died on me. They tell me just drive it and it'll be fine...me, I'm not so sure...

My motorcraft (ford) battery lasted 6 years. Make sure the headlights and radio are off when starting on those really cold mornings. Block heaters are really handy, use it next time Short trips to the convenience store down the road or even turning on your car to move it off the road and onto your driveway in cold weather, is a real big drain on batteries. It doesn't give your battery enough time to charge up all the way so eventually it'll die if it's cold enough. And also what the guy above me said.

technocar2 wrote: ↑get a parasitic draw test done before you replace the battery again. If you replaced the battery last year and have to do it again this year then there is clearly something wrong.

qft

jackie999 wrote: ↑No one is recommending bothering with the block heater....

The main purpose of a block heater is to reduce engine wear, as engine oil is thicker and doesn't lubricate all parts of the engine as well or as quickly in extreme cold. A block heater will reduce engine wear, and will also result in having heat quicker for your car. While having a blocker heater will reduce stress on the battery and starter motor for cold weather starts, a block heater will not prevent the battery itself from getting weaker in the extreme cold. So those who tell you don't bother with the block heater are not giving you good advice. If you have a blocker heater, then using it on days like the last couple of days would be helpful.

jackie999 wrote: ↑Yep - if I replace this battery I don't think it'll be with a ford battery. I wasn't sure if Costco kirkland batteries had good reviews..I'll look at that when this one is out of warranty.

Interstate brother.

I wired one of these in one of my cars last last after having dead battery after a few days in extreme cold. I couldn't do a quick and easy install on a block heater so this was a cheaper solution for my issue. There is a mild parasitic power draw somewhere that I think is the root cause of my weak battery but for the time and cost to figure it out for $35 this solved my problem. And I did do a bunch of draw tests myself and couldn't really find anything conclusive. The battery was tested recently as showed as good health. If you want the hardcore winter solution a block heater plus an on board charger for your battery is good particularly if you don't do the long drive needed to recharge the battery in a meaningful way.

This year even after sitting for 5 days in extreme cold the battery has enough power to crank.

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Thanks for the suggestions..the parasitic draw youtube is great and I will try this - I'm not sure how you wouldn't notice your interior lights were on, but who knows.
My headlights were on auto, I've switched that off now, figuring, as was mentioned, it's a lot of draw when trying to start. Also, I always bumped up the fan/heat before shutting down vehicle - won't do that again. Thanks for the info on the block heater, I didn't know that. Also, my GPS was plugged in, it was turned off, but it was possibly drawing power...that's unplugged now.
All good info!

Parasitic draw is a real issue with modern cars. All those *CM's, OnStar, etc. don't power themselves. A previous car I had drew 200-300 mA while parked and off. And if it's sitting there unused for more than a couple of days, that's quite a drain on the battery.

I've got a Deltran battery tender that I plug my car into. It addresses the parasitic draws and keeps the battery topped up which is even more important in -20 weather.

jackie999 wrote: ↑Is it normal that a '12 escape wouldn't start in this cold weather? I drove it on Saturday and tried to remote start today but no go. Looking back I should have plugged in the block heater but I didn't realize these escapes are so fragile!

I would think not normal. Had a 99 Pontiac Transport, always started in this type of weather until 9 years later when the battery died. Had the new battery in for 6 years, no issues with starting either. Block heater on sometime and not in the garage.

bobcat99 wrote: ↑I would think not normal. Had a 99 Pontiac Transport, always started in this type of weather until 9 years later when the battery died. Had the new battery in for 6 years, no issues with starting either. Block heater on sometime and not in the garage.

Yeah, but this is Ford. My coworkers '14 Escape was as dead as it could be yesterday. It sucks waiting for the tow truck while you still have few years of $500/mnth. People with old junkers were driving away and he was shaking in his Titanium $$$ Escape. Must be a bad batch of batteries, or another recall coming up.