[chrisman63]

I replaced my battery 5 months ago. I went with removing the "wiper blade method." It was MUCH less of a hassle. It took me about an hour to R&R the battery. Incidentally, I had Ford fix a valve cover gasket leak (covered under the extended warranty) and they used the same method to R&R the valve cover gasket.

 

[Vader101]

This thread is on the air box removal method, not the cowl method. There is another thread that discusses the cowl method to replace the battery.

 

[RushMan]

Battery replacement

This is the EASIEST way to change the battery. After viewing it on YouTube, I found this method (which is what my Ford dealer did to R&R the valve cover gasket …… 1.6L) to MUCH less of a hassle than going with the air cleaner housing method.

I'm only 2+ years into my Escape ownership, but did appreciate the one YouTube video I watched showing the air cleaner method and the guy breaking the air cleaner box. [G] *Just be careful* using the airbox method.
I sure liked the battery in the rear of my '04 BMW X3. Clean and "Easy Peasy." Makes me wonder what the heck is wrong with Ford engineers: e.g. battery replacement, some bulb replacements, no tow hook on later models, etc [a different thread - what you don't like].

 

[rgomez51]

i had to also replace my battery. after looking at videos on both methods, i decided to let the dealership do it. After the cost of the oem battery, it was only $20 for the labor. 20 dollars well spent

 

[tamonti]

I was able to reset the BMS /Battery Life with my Bluetooth OBDLink MX and Forscan(windows 10) - no Extended License required

Is this a required step??

 

[Vader101]

Is this a required step??

Yes it is. There are threads here that contain instructions on how to do this.

 

[teacherdan]

i had to also replace my battery. after looking at videos on both methods, i decided to let the dealership do it. After the cost of the oem battery, it was only $20 for the labor. 20 dollars well spent

I took my 2016 Escape Titanium to the dealer today for a battery change. Total cost $140 for a 100 month battery and installation. Checked all the electrical and reset battery monitor and I was in and out in about an hour. After looking at the battery location, I was expecting to pay about $200-250.

 

[klc317]

I did this last weekend. Not a bad job just a little time consuming. I will agree with a previous response that removing the ground cable from the body is a good idea. Unfortunately while moving the air intake tube around to clear the air filter box I broke what I assume is some sort of evap nipple. Be ginger and look over everything and make sure to unhook anything connected to that area. I ordered a new part, the only way to get it was to order the entire tube so that ended up costing an extra $100. Oh well....lesson learned. Heres some pics if it helps anyone.

 

[ralph7up]

I did this last weekend. Not a bad job just a little time consuming. I will agree with a previous response that removing the ground cable from the body is a good idea. Unfortunately while moving the air intake tube around to clear the air filter box I broke what I assume is some sort of evap nipple. Be ginger and look over everything and make sure to unhook anything connected to that area. I ordered a new part, the only way to get it was to order the entire tube so that ended up costing an extra $100. Oh well....lesson learned. Heres some pics if it helps anyone.

View attachment 75742 View attachment 75743 View attachment 75744 View attachment 75745 View attachment 75746

Thanks for posting the pics. Worth a thousand words. If I am not mistaken, a trick that the dealers use is to connect the battery connections to a trickle charger/maintainer while the battery change is being done. That way no settings are lost due to the disconnection. Also, make sure your BMS is reset.

 

[2.0L]

Thanks for posting the pics. Worth a thousand words. If I am not mistaken, a trick that the dealers use is to connect the battery connections to a trickle charger/maintainer while the battery change is being done. That way no settings are lost due to the disconnection. Also, make sure your BMS is reset.

Some trickle chargers connect directly to the ODBII port. Extremely easy and keeps wires out of the way. I got this adapter that plugs into my Battery Tender brand charger:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007KJ2RZK

 

[ralph7up]

Some trickle chargers connect directly to the ODBII port. Extremely easy and keeps wires out of the way. I got this adapter that plugs into my Battery Tender brand charger:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007KJ2RZK

Very interesting. I have the battery tender plus. Question: if the battery was totally disconnected at this time would it still work? In the method I understand (maybe), the positive lead on the battery tender would be connected to the positive terminal of the car; and the negative lead of the battery tender would be connected to the negative terminal of the battery lead; all while the battery is missing for replacement. This keeps voltage on the car without a battery and prevents loss of learned settings.
Have I got this right or is something wrong with my logic?

 

[2.0L]

Very interesting. I have the battery tender plus. Question: if the battery was totally disconnected at this time would it still work? In the method I understand (maybe), the positive lead on the battery tender would be connected to the positive terminal of the car; and the negative lead of the battery tender would be connected to the negative terminal of the battery lead; all while the battery is missing for replacement. This keeps voltage on the car without a battery and prevents loss of learned settings.
Have I got this right or is something wrong with my logic?

I think you're right. I didn't have it yet when I changed out my battery but some of the reviews mentioned keeping power to the computer when the battery is removed.

 

[chucksbp]

I don't think the battery tender type units will power the computer once the battery is disconnected. A lot of the newer chargers will not have an output until the charger sees a certain battery voltage. You would need a charger that has output as soon as it is plugged in. Probably an older charger with out all the safety devices would be needed. Also a good alternative is a jumper pack, Shoemacher makes a nice cable that will plug into most jump packs. https://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SEC-12V-OBD-Memory-Saver-Adapter/dp/B009PHKPI6/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

 

[murcod]

You'd want to check what voltage the battery charger outputs with no load (battery) connected to it first. I know one of my more basic chargers would probably fry the electronics if there wasn't a battery in circuit to load it down. My Ctek and another no brand charger can be set up to act as regulated DC power supplies (a fixed 13V I think in the case of the Ctek, variable on the other.)

Plugging a charger in via the OBD2 port scares me more than a little bit! There are also cigarette lighter type devices to maintain the memory.

 

[klc317]

Thanks for posting the pics. Worth a thousand words. If I am not mistaken, a trick that the dealers use is to connect the battery connections to a trickle charger/maintainer while the battery change is being done. That way no settings are lost due to the disconnection. Also, make sure your BMS is reset.

Yea. I did not trickle charge the battery connections, I didn't lose any settings, just the bass/treble/midrange setting on the radio but all my presets were still stored. I did reset the BMS with my FORscan app and OBD2 adapter. Very easy!

 

[murcod]

Have you checked your Nav settings? Sync 2 loses them if the battery is disconnected, IIRC it doesn't lose the radio presets though!