If you’ve just got your vehicle battery replaced, then you definitely need to know how to reset Ford battery management system.
Without a reset, your vehicle’s battery management system will keep functioning like the old battery is still in it.
The reason for this malfunction is that the vehicle hasn’t learned the parameters for the new battery yet. So sometimes you might hear people talking about helping the BMS to relearn.
This is the same thing as resetting. And from a DIY side of things, the process is fairly easy.
This piece would take you through some of the things you need to know about resetting your vehicle battery.
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How to Reset Ford Battery Management System: An Easy Guide
Resetting your Ford Battery Management System serves one main purpose. The system gets to relearn the battery. The relearning process is helpful so that the battery functions normally.
Without a relearn, the new battery might keep functioning like you never changed anything.
The battery management systems function is this. It detects if there’s a drain on your battery. If there’s no drain, no problem.
But a detected drain means that the system moves into action cutting off whatever electrical systems might be causing the drain.
Now here is how you can reset a Ford battery management system. Before you rest your Ford battery management system, there are some important steps to note.
The BMS was not designed with self-service in mind. This means that users cannot service the BMS by themselves.
Also, there are a few methods you can sure to rest the Battery Monitoring system on your Ford vehicle including using downloaded applications on your PC.
Here’s how to perform a DIY battery reset on your Ford Vehicle
Into the vehicle
This method of resetting the battery management of your system is very practical. Yet you don’t have to be anywhere near your vehicle hood.
Rather get seated in the car and prepare for the next steps.
Turn on the vehicle ignition
To begin the process of resetting your Ford BMS, the ignition has to be turned. So power the vehicle by turning on the ignition. Then make sure the headlights are turned on too.
Flash the high beam
Here, you need to flash the high beam 5 times
Press the Brake pedals
Then, depress the brakes 3 times. Wait and watch out for the battery light. It should blink three times in less than 15 seconds or thereabout.
Then the battery light comes back on and stays on. Turn the ignition off and your battery reset is done.
Alternatively, you can use FORSCAN to reset the Ford battery management system
Download FORSCAN
After you’ve downloaded the software to your PC you need to connect your vehicle to the PC using a USB cable or a Bluetooth adapter. Start FORSCAN and turn on the key
Connect FORSCAN to the vehicle
FORSCAN connects to your vehicle and finds all the modules required for the process.
Then click on the wrench button. Enter “BdyCM Battery Monitoring System Reset”, and click play at the left bottom area.
Follow the Prompts
Now follow the prompts that come afterward. When the process is finished, click stop and clear any DTCs. Then disconnect FORSCAN from the vehicle.
Ford Battery Management System: What & Why!
It’s great to have some electrical features in your vehicle running when the ignition is switched off. But it can run your battery down quickly.
When you think of the Ford battery management system, think of some low-level artificial intelligence.
The Ford BMS helps to manage your battery usage even when you’re not paying much attention to it.
Precisely, it cuts you the slack and you don’t have to pay dearly for leaving your car engine running.
The BMS would help your battery last longer and make sure you’re not stranded for low battery issues.
The battery-saving abilities of the Ford BMS kick in when the battery is off. This system is present in the Ford F-150.
There are certain instances where the Ford Battery Management System kicks in to help save the day. And the days ahead.
For instance, the electrical features that stay on when the ignition off eventually goes off. And these electrical services stay on for only 10 minutes.
We believe that Ford made the BMS so that drivers can feel comfortable with turning off their vehicle engines. It’s like a win-win situation.
You can still use electrical features when your engine is off. And if you’re carried away or if your battery cannot take it for much longer the electrical services go off anyway.
The BMS is always connected to the negative terminal of the battery.
A Complete Guide on 2015 Ford Escape Battery Replacement
Nevertheless, a 2015 Ford Escape is one vehicle that is more susceptible to battery problems. And a time would come when that battery needs to be replaced.
So it’s necessary to know how battery replacement goes with your vehicle. Here are some detailed steps to a 2015 Ford Escape battery replacement.
Before you begin to take apart the parts of your vehicle that give access to the battery, there are precautions. Make sure you’re replacing it with an appropriate battery group.
Having a non-compatible battery in your vehicle can cause damages. Also, the tools for removing the terminals should fit.
Wrong-sized tools can wear out the terminals. Now even the right-sized ones won’t work later on.
Locate the battery and Remove the Cover
You can easily find the battery for the 2015 Ford Escape if you look under the hood.
Before getting to the battery cover. Let the hood of the 2015 Ford Escape down and undo the wipers.
Taking off the wiper blades allows you to work the battery cover properly without doing any damage. Just bend the wipers up and work them off the attachment.
Once you have gotten the wipers out, you’ll realize there are two 10 millimeter bolts and some clips to undo for the covers to come off.
Take off the Airbox
When the covers are out, you still need to remove the airbox which prevents the battery from sliding out easily.
The airbox is held in place by four screws. Undo the screws and put the airbox aside. Now you’ll be able to slide the old battery out of the way.
Don’t forget to take off the terminals from the battery first before attempting to replace them. Obviously, you can’t pull out the battery while the terminals are still on.
Look for a suitable tool to loosen the terminals on the battery. Another obstruction in the way of the battery is the brake master container.
Replacing the Battery
It’s also necessary to clean the battery head if they are looking messy. One quick DIY solution is a baking powder and water mixture.
You can scrub the head with the mixture using an old toothbrush. Then path the heads to dry and proceed with the replacement.
You must have done your best to make a quality battery choice.
Before replacing your old battery, make sure your new battery is a 96R type.
FAQs about How to Reset Ford Battery Management System
What is BMS?
BMS stands for the battery management system. And this system is put in place so that’s vehicles users don’t need to have their ignition turned on to use some basic electrical services in their vehicles.
Now with the BMS users can turn off the ignition and still have some services running within the vehicle.
But as you would know, these electrical services use the power in the battery and that’s exactly where the Battery Management System comes into play.
The services left to run are eventually cut off. These services usually run for about 10 minutes after the ignition is turned off.
Also, if the battery is not capable of running the services for much longer, the electrical services are still cut out.
How do I reset my Ford battery system?
One of the most common ways to reset your Ford battery system is so easy that you can do it yourself.
The procedure might sometimes vary depending on the vehicle make amongst other things. However, they can be done by yourself. First, you need to pull and release the high beam 5 times.
Afterward, press and release the brake three times. If you’ve taken these steps right, they should flash three times.
And the duration of the flashes shouldn’t last more than 15 seconds. You can also reset your Ford battery system with scanner tools if you’re quite tech-savvy.
Why do I need to reset my batty management system?
When you have replaced a Ford battery it’s usually because the previous battery became weaker over time until you decided you couldn’t use it anymore.
Now the way the Ford vehicle is built with the BMS system the vehicle knows the strength of the battery within. And the BMS system works with the data it has about the battery.
Now the reason you need to reset the BMS is that when a new battery comes in without a BMS reset, the vehicle functions like it still has the old battery in.
What the reset does is help the vehicle relearn the data about the new battery.
What happens if you don’t reset BMS?
If you don’t reset the Battery Management System in your vehicle, the vehicle would malfunction. The battery might trip off at very uncomfortable times.
It might cause you to think that the new battery is malfunctioning. But that’s not the case when you haven’t done a reset.
The BMS of your vehicle only needs to be reset so that it can relearn the new battery.
Another simpler way to put it is that the vehicle would keep referring to the old battery parameters while using a new one.
A BMS rest will help the system learn that the battery capacity has increased and that it can begin to function optimally again
Do I need BMS?
The BMS often comes factory fitted in certain Ford models. The main function is to help manage excessive running down of vehicle batteries.
So basically, every car owner needs the BMS. The Battery Management System can be a good addition to your vehicles.
A Battery Management System is necessary to keep your battery in good health so that’s it doesn’t run too low and still allows you to use basic functions in your vehicles without running the engine.
The BMS works closely with the soc which is the state of charge of the battery. Throughout use, the Battery Management System works with how much juice the battery has got.
Does BMS prevent overcharging?
Yes the BMS not only prevents the battery from going too low. It also prevents the battery from overcharging. The BMS Simple attempts to keep your battery at optimal levels for performance.
Even when the battery is not at its optimal level and isn’t charging to its original full capacity, the BMS can still help the battery function well given its state of charge.
BMS also monitors the temperature and voltage of any battery it’s been attached to. There are two other parameters that the BMS takes into account.
These are the soc and soh meaning the state of charge and state of health respectively.
Why does BMS fail and How do I know if my BMS is working?
The BMS system in a Ford vehicle can fail due to hardware failures or firmware bugs. These are the major reasons why.
For instance, if there is a problem with the stop command in the Battery management system, the battery can continue to discharge to the detriment of the battery and the convenience of the vehicle owner.
This also goes the other way; when charging the battery. Meanwhile determining whether BMS is working or not requires testing by a professional auto technician.
Checking for a working BMS might require hardware and electrical test. However, it’s not something that anyone can easily do by themselves.
Verdict
The Ford BMS system is an impressive piece of technology in the vehicles that are privileged to be manufactured with it. However, a couple of things can go wrong.
There could be failures or you could have a bad battery somehow and decide to replace it. After replacing your battery a reset of the Battery Management System is mandatory.
That’s why knowing how to reset Ford Battery Management System is something that you should know about.
It only requires a few instructions that you can carry out by yourself. Although there are more advanced methods for the tech-savvy, we hope this simple technique works for your automobile.