Our 2005 Escape Hybrid started occasionally coding in late 2020, but would "reset" itself the next day. We decided to replace the battery this summer with a Greentec's 3 year warranty battery. When we called Greentec Auto, they insisted that the 3 year battery is built with new cells.

The batteries keep failing. The first one died the same day it was installed after driving around about 2 hours. After getting towed home, it restarted, but had P0A1F, P1A10 errors. Greentec came out a few weeks later with another battery, but it wouldn't start the car. Said something about not matching the vehicle's VIN number. Battery 3 was installed over a week later, and it worked fine for just over 3 weeks. We were driving the car every day. But then just after backing out of the garage, the car died again with the "stop safely now", with codes P0A1f and P1A10.

We are quite frustrated. They are coming out with battery 4 in about 10 days.

Does anyone else have experience with Greentec Auto's hybrid batteries? I've heard the FORScan software will let me dive deeper into the codes. But am not sure what I'm looking for and what my standing is if we decide to push for a refund on the battery. Ford wants $9,300 for a new hybrid battery. Is it worth it? The Escape only has 77,000 miles on it.

 

There is nothing I know of about vins in the battery. P0A1F sounds like they screwed up replacing the cells. Appears I shouldn't bother with greentec if my battery goes out. I don't think they use new cells in any of their escape batteries. We just had this conversation here a few days ago. If mine goes it's used battery for me, heh.

 

Hi Nash, sorry to hear about the battery problems. I have the same 36mo battery from Greentec, installed about 3 weeks ago. I'm having no issues at all with this battery so far. This battery was a warranty exchange from a Greentec reman 12mo battery that replaced my OEM battery in May '21. Just like the failing OEM battery the reman battery began exhibiting self-discharge when parked overnight (52% -> 28%). If left parked longer I had to plan on using the HV jump starter to get sufficient charge to start the car. Not wanting to gamble on another reman battery I contacted Greentec about the 36mo battery. I was told by phone and email from two different people that the 36mo battery is rebuilt with all new cells, none have been previously used. Obviously I can't prove that statement but so far this battery is behaving like a new battery. I just left it parked for 6 days and the SoC only decreased by 1%. I have a new car on order but in the current environment delivery could take 6 to 9 months, so I hope to have a reliable FEH for at least that long.

When you say "The batteries keep failing.", how are they failing? Do you monitor State of Charge and is it falling too low to start the car? Both the Scangauge and Forscan will give you SoC.
With 3 battery failures in a row like you described, could the problem be something other than the battery? Before I got the 36mo battery I had the Ford dealer run a diagnostic on the hybrid system to confirm my problem was the battery only and nothing to do with the vehicle systems. You might want to do the same if you plan to push Greentec for a refund. BTW, Ford quoted me $11k for the battery installed, and no it's not worth it, still a $4k car even with a $10k battery.

The codes you reported P0A1F, P1A10 are generic fault codes for BCM and Hybrid Powertrain Control, IIRC. I would see those codes every time I had a HV battery self-discharge event.

That's about all I know, keep us updated on what happens.

 

Hi Econoline,

Thank you for your reply! I'm a little encouraged by your comment When I say "The batteries keep failing", I mean the car dies with "Stop Safely Now" while driving, and my bluetooth code reader reports P0AIF and P1A10. The first time it happened we had been driving about 2 hours and had to be towed home. The car would not restart while waiting for a tow, but did after getting home. The 2nd battery wouldn't even start the car (we waited 2 weeks for that battery). The 3rd battery died after 3 weeks of daily driving, with "Stop Safely Now" just after backing out of the garage. We are waiting for Greentec to install battery #4 in roughly 2 weeks. My wife is worried about getting stranded and the car dying on the freeway.

My old bluetooth OBDII reader only gives the codes. I just bought a USB OBDII reader for FORScan software, installed on a laptop. How do you monitor State of Charge? I don't think the 05 Escape shows that anywhere. I think FORScan can do it, but I haven't figured how how to do so, and no one on their forum has answered my question about showing battery health and voltages yet. I've seen postings where folks with FORScan show VPACK (HV battery voltage), and a host of other hybrid battery details, but having figured out how to do so.

When I run the FORScan BCM self-test on battery #3, it reports ===BCM DTC P0A81-20=== Code: P0A81 - Hybrid Battery Pack Cooling Fan Control Circuit

I do hear the fan run for a while during the BCM self-test, so I'm not sure what is wrong with battery #3.

 

P0A81 is a bad battery fan. It has two - one for each half of the pack. They both must be operational for proper cooling.

After you're connected, go to "Table" select the BCM and then select the parameters you want to monitor. SoC is reported by the BCM.

 

Thank you Keith!

Does the P0A81-20 code indicate which fan, or does the same code come up if either fan fails? I'm just curious as the battery is being replaced (again) under warranty.

Thank you for the hint on selecting BCM in the Read PID data (oscilloscope icon). I was able to add the BCM PIDs and now can see how fast the pack is self discharging. Are there any PIDs I should pay extra attention to? Is there a way to read the individual cell pack voltages?

FORScan is reports the following (KOER in park)If anyone else has a hybrid battery from Greentec Auto, I'd love hear how your battery is doing. Thank you.

 

i would check the wiring must have an issue somewhere causing it esp odd of having the same failure over and over unless a bad batch of fans was installed into these units

 

Please don't comment on things you know nothing about. The failure mode of these Sanyo cells is well known.

 

Sort of a tangential question, but something that I have been wondering for a while: What is the (practical) difference between AVG_SOC and BSOC? When folks refer to their current state-of-charge (SOC), which field is it? DELT_SOC seems close to the (mathematical) difference between those two values, but not quite.

 

BSOC is the current battery state of charge.

Can't help on the other two. I ignore them.