Hi All

Anyone out there know of a good youtube site explaining how to alter battery % using forscan. Did it years ago on one of my Fiesta's but would like a refresher course. Only found one site which is useless, background music, narrow screen and short.

I have Forscan and licence and new vLinker FS cable.

Hi All

Don't bother looking for video. Have managed to bimble my way through it and battery now charging to 95%.

Having worked out how to do that I shall next have a go at disabling the dreaded "stop/start" if that option is available.

Anyone puchasing a vLinker FS cable don't forget to download drivers and software updates.

The battery is not supposed to charge fully in order to extend battery life. There is an option to turn off the useful stop/start if you are so inclined.

19 minutes ago, anon said:

The battery is not supposed to charge fully in order to extend battery life. There is an option to turn off the useful stop/start if you are so inclined.

I always assumed from reading numerous posts on here that there was no option to switch off stop/start via ForScan, but you could buy an aftermarket device that disables it. @unofix , can you confirm if I'm an idiot? (OK, lets narrow that down to this one particular issue LOL)

Most people who can spell and punctuate don't fall into that category and my version of Forscan does allow the Stop/start to be written out. In its defence, it makes cities less polluted, not just by exhaust, but noise so I am in favour of it and it was certainly on my wish list.

1 hour ago, StephenFord said:

on here that there was no option to switch off stop/start via ForScan,

There is no option to turn it off sadly, but you can install a simple aftermarket device which will automatically turn it off each time you start the car.

Pleased to hear you have managed to set the SOC to 95% it should at least give your car a fighting chance of keeping the battery charged.

As I believe that the above information is both erroneous for obvious reasons and will shorten the battery life, I shall refrain from posting advice here as Unofix has made it his mission to argue with anything I post but have a look at the data in Forscan if you would like to change the stop start parameters.

1 minute ago, anon said:

... but have a look at the data in Forscan if you would like to change the stop start parameters.

Can you post a screen shot of the ForScan parameter that will switch off the start/stop facility? I'm sure many of us would be interested to see where this option sits...

You cannot deactivate STOP/START on a Ford using FORScan, only the switch or in Sport mode, if you have it.

Your only option is to have it mapped out.

Stop/Start suits some people @anon but not others.

Mainly because it stretches the cam belt or cam chain keep dragging an engine over all the time and wears the starter motor out. Getting the top of the engine to turn vs keeping the top of the engine turning is a completely different ball game.

I keep mine off

16 hours ago, anon said:

The battery is not supposed to charge fully in order to extend battery life. There is an option to turn off the useful stop/start if you are so inclined.

Correct, but 85% is stupidly low and 95% is still not 100%

The Smart Charging is actually quite smart whether the SOC is set to 80 or 98%.

As well as Conventional Charging there is one Refresh and three different Regeneration Modes that charge the Battery differently. I'm confident that the PCM/BCM will do the correct thing no matter what the SOC is set to but setting it higher gives you a much larger reserve for when the car is not used or the weather gets very cold like it will do in some parts of the country tonight,

A couple of Screenshots taken 3 days apart to illustrate two of the above Smart Charging modes. 

One was in Conventional Mode after the car had been sitting for a week and temperatures below zero and 79% SOC. It was showing 15.1 Volts, a bit more than normal, and 2 Amps. 

The other one was in Slow Regeneration Mode 91% SOC, 13.6 Volts and rythmically pulsing between 0 and 1 Amp. 

The other modes do different things. 

The reason I increase my SOC to 95% is due to the fact my car is garaged 100 yards from  my house and no power supply for a battery charger. Also no road in front of house to charge it that way.

At 95% it gives me 2 or 3 more days before I need to give it a reasonable run. I suppose I could get it out the garage and leave it idling for an hour or so. For some reason I don't fancy that idea and would rather give it a run out.

Usually only get out to nearby shops a couple of days a week that doesn't put much into the battery if any.