Pierce Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 I have a 2015 MKZ Hybrid with 41,000 miles (bought new). How long (and/or how far) should I expect the 12V battery to last? Have some of you chosen to replace yours at a certain age and/or mileage, rather than to wait for clear symptoms (or a total failure without warning)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbf2530 Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, Pierce said: I have a 2015 MKZ Hybrid with 41,000 miles (bought new). How long (and/or how far) should I expect the 12V battery to last? Have some of you chosen to replace yours at a certain age and/or mileage, rather than to wait for clear symptoms (or a total failure without warning)? Hi Pierce. With all the computerization and electronics on today's cars, battery life expectancy is 3-4 years. Will many batteries live longer than 4 years? Yes, of course. However, conventional wisdom is to seriously consider testing/replacing the battery once you hit the 4 year mark. Good luck. Edited February 17, 2019 by bbf2530 R2D2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeBrown Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 I agree. On my 2014 (non-Hybrid) the battery failed after four years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R2D2 Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Evidence of the standard battery going are different in the hybrid as the battery is not the engine starter. If you start to notice quirky things wrong or not functioning as they normally do, have your battery checked asap, especially if it is 4 year +/- time frame. 1984Poke 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierce Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 Could declining MPG on similar drives be one of those quirky things that an aging 12V battery might cause? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R2D2 Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Many things could cause losing mpg but the battery would not be IMO the first thing I would suspect. I would look at brakes, especially a hanging caliper 1984Poke 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1984Poke Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 On 2/18/2019 at 2:28 AM, R2D2 said: If you start to notice quirky things wrong or not functioning as they normally do, have your battery checked asap, especially if it is 4 year +/- time frame. When I had my 2016 MKC (not a hybrid vehicle, clearly), I started noticing some quirky things happening after a couple years and soon after the battery croaked (got it replaced under warranty) so I recommend you heed R2D2’s advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierce Posted February 20, 2019 Author Share Posted February 20, 2019 Thanks for all the replies. I'll replace it soon. I'm pushing up against the end of the 4 year warranty. Does anybody know if there's a test standard below which the dealer, with Lincoln's agreement, will treat replacement as a warranty item? Or is their position that until the battery needs repeated jumping, or fails entirely, replacement is the customer's responsibility? (I've never had any issue starting the vehicle.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbf2530 Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 1 hour ago, Pierce said: Thanks for all the replies. I'll replace it soon. I'm pushing up against the end of the 4 year warranty. Does anybody know if there's a test standard below which the dealer, with Lincoln's agreement, will treat replacement as a warranty item? Or is their position that until the battery needs repeated jumping, or fails entirely, replacement is the customer's responsibility? (I've never had any issue starting the vehicle.) Hi Pierce. I'm not sure that I completely understand your question, so here goes nothing. ? The battery is covered under the 4 year/60,000 mile Bumper to Bumper Warranty. A battery replacement under warranty requires a weak/failing battery, usually first noticeable by hard starting or weird electronic/electrical gremlins. Lincoln will not just replace the battery because it is 4 years old. You can usually find coupons for a free battery test by Lincoln/Ford Dealers on the Lincoln and Ford Owner websites. Let's say you have hard starting in the morning...you can bring your car in and ask them to test your battery. If it fails, it will be replaced. Hope this helps, and good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R2D2 Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 My understanding is that in the hybrid model, the 12 volt battery does not "start" the vehicle but that it runs all the electrical systems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierce Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 The information I have gleaned from non-Lincoln hybrid threads (some of which are extensive) is that the 12V battery does not start the engine, but does start the hybrid battery, which in turn starts the engine. In other words, if your 12V battery dies, you're stranded, even though it doesn't directly start the engine. I presume this is also true for Lincoln MKZ hybrids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scn101 Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 I live in TX (hot) and my original 2014 Fusion Hybrid 12V battery still tested good after six years of service and 50K miles. In my previous vehicles I was darn lucky to squeeze 5 years out of a battery. The 12V battery in a Hybrid should last longer as it really doesn't have much of a load as it doesn't turn over a starter motor. So as long as you drive the vehicle often to keep it fully charged and you don't run it down often in accessory mode. 12V starting batteries like to be kept fully charged and will last a long time if not abused. One more thing going for the 12V battery in a hybrid, its in the trunk, which is cooler than the engine bay, and that helps prolong its life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glocklt4 Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 2013 MKZ Hybrid here and I think the battery has just started to fail. Car wouldn't turn on and the center display said something like "disabling systems to save power". I hooked up 10amp 12v source and car turned right on immediately. Ran a 2amp trickle charge on it for 2 days and charger said it never got above 80%. Went to try and turn it on after disconnecting and nothing works at all. 7 years out of a car battery is pretty darn good. New battery at $130-160 is pretty pricey though! Trying one last trickle charge of the battery while i have it out of the vehicle now with no draw, but pretty sure it's toast anyway. I just did a bunch of work trying to seal the truck area of the car recently after finding some water leaks when raining, so I was suspicious at first that I caused a problem, but I think just a coincidence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john-csi Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 I leased a new MKZ hybrid and the 12 volt battery In the trunk would die if the vehicle was not used for 20 days.The manual said 30 days, so there was a problem. I took it to the dealer numerous different times but they could not fix it. So it was deemed a lemon.and the settlement was closed, so I cannot discuss it anymore. All I can say is it was never fixed. My 2016 MKZh has no issues even after 40 days l. The 2016 has much better software for battery management compared to the 2014 vehicle. It has a deep sleep mode which requires an electric start only by the internal start push button. That works very well and I have had no problems with this vehicle. i would like to add an amateur radio to this vehicle, but it draws 20 amps from the 12 volt battery, and 100 watts Rf Output which is high and is not recommended by LIncoln. iIn 2019 the Fusion was modified as a new police cruiser with a trunk mounted electronics tray with extra cooling fans. There are other modifications as well. This wiring adds more High current power taps with at least 3 - 20A fuse power taps added .The 12 volt battery Is the same in all vehicles including the MKZh, all hybrid Fusions, and the Ford PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric vehicle). The wiring diagram shows the same battery and in the same location. it is not a police high speed pursuit vehicle but a police standard patrol vehicle.There may be a different set of internal software in the modules because I saw a video on this.It is confusing because you would think that the vehicle would have a larger capacity battery for a patrol car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Multitask Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 Could be a larger capacity battery is not available for it... and all that would mean is thicker cells to hold more current for longer times... When Ford talked about some police departments having FFH's that was back in 2017-2018 I believe... so it's hard to know what mods they did for the equipment... technically the battery would be the same size, just with thicker cells... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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