I have a 2014 Ford Taurus that was mint condition when I got it 4 months ago, no problems. On a Monday morning, my boyfriend attempted to jumpstart his 2014 Dodge Charger using my car and some basic jumper cables I had in my trunk. The jump didn’t work but he allowed my car (Taurus) to run for about 30 minutes while trying to start his. His car never started. It was under recall for an alternator diode issue. Five days later, the Taurus was hesitant to start as if the battery were dying. One AutoZone said the battery was charged (7pm Friday night). He said the problem was possibly the alternator caused by the failed jumpstart a few days earlier. Saturday morning (the next day), an Advance AutoParts said the battery was bad, so I had it replaced. It’s been starting fine. But on Sunday while driving, the fuel indicator (the one that counts down) went from 266 miles left to empty to 243 miles left to empty, and I’d driven a mile. Since the failed jumpstart incident, I’ve filled up twice. Monday after the incident, then that following Friday when the hesitant starting began. I’m only at half a tank now. Usually I can get Monday- Monday on one tank. Could all of this have been caused by trying to jumpstart the other car? My car had zero problems previously.
This is a good example of why I never jump a vehicle or let one jump mine. For 25.00 the last time I needed a jump a roadside service came with a battery pack and on my way I went.
I think your are fine now but instead of just saying you can go a week on a tank actually check your miles per gallon the proper way. And reset everything each fillup, the miles to empty can make big jumps in a short distance you just may have not noticed before.
That’s a lesson I’ve now learned! Thanks for the advice on reset.
The jump starting event may have taken 2% of the life from your car’s battery but it was going to fail sooner or later.
The distance to empty values were reset when the battery went dead and was replaced, it may take a few weeks of driving for your fuel economy average to stabilize and give a closer distance to empty display.
Thanks! That’s good to know.
Suggest to monitor the situation. If everything returns to normal, which is what I expect given your postings, discontinue the worrying & drive on. As you’ve learned, providing jump starts is best avoided with newer cars and all their computerization. I do expect that the Ford engineers design and test their cars to do that and remain unharmed, but they can’t test every possible configuration and failure mode. The wiring diagram on my 46 year old Ford truck is only 4 pages. On your Taurus, probably over 200 pages.
Thanks, within a few days the readings appeared to go back to normal as others suggested as well.
Good for you. Glad you are back on the road w/a smooth running Taurus.