[Packard8]

What the heck is a "Enhanced Flooded battery"?

Somewhere between a standard wet cell flooded battery and an AGM. Subaru carries them for their models with the Stop-start "feature". In this case, it is 620 CCA vs 530 CCA for the original OEM Ascent battery. It has a greater reserve capacity. I suspect they are replacing all OEM batteries that fail to test with this model. I believe there is a TSB concerning this, originally aimed at 2019-2020 cars, but now expanded to 2021-2 as well.

When I explained that my OEM battery had died several times, the service writer was aware of the issue and the TSB. She said "We see a lot of bad batteries in the Ascents"

https://www.rotronicsbms.com/advice/battery-tips/what-you-need-to-know-about-efb-s-enhanced-flooded-batteries#:~:text=EFB%20batteries%20are%20an%20enhanced,a%20reduced%20state%20of%20charge

.

 

[CosmoK]

Somewhere between a standard wet cell flooded battery and an AGM. Subaru carries them for their models with the Stop-start "feature". In this case, it is 620 CCA vs 530 CCA for the original OEM Ascent battery. It has a greater reserve capacity. I suspect they are replacing all OEM batteries that fail to test with this model. I believe there is a TSB concerning this, originally aimed at 2019-2021 cars, but now expanded to 2022 as well.

When I explained that my OEM battery had died several times, the service writer was aware of the issue and the TSB. She said "We see a lot of bad batteries in the Ascents"

https://www.rotronicsbms.com/advice/battery-tips/what-you-need-to-know-about-efb-s-enhanced-flooded-batteries#:~:text=EFB%20batteries%20are%20an%20enhanced,a%20reduced%20state%20of%20charge

.

OK, thanks. I guess I'll wait & see if I get a notice from my dealer on the TSB for this. If I don't, I ask about it when I bring it in for the first oil change.

 

[Packard8]

OK, thanks. I guess I'll wait & see if I get a notice from my dealer on the TSB for this. If I don't, I ask about it when I bring it in for the first oil change.

It may vary from dealer to dealer, but in my case, they tested the battery (a load test I assume) and determined it had a bad cell, hence the replacement. I'm not sure if a "bad test" is required by the TSB, I don't have it in front of me. But it never hurts to ask! PS: Subaru's MSRP for this battery is $395!

 

[rockthebeef]

What the heck is a "Enhanced Flooded battery"?

[deleted] nevermind. I posted redundant information.

The 2023 Ascent comes with an LN2 battery as opposed to the previous group 35. It's PN 82110AN00B and according to a thread on the Outback forums, it's EFB.

 

[Packard8]

"EFB batteries are an enhanced version of standard wet-flooded technology. The primary benefits of EFB technology are improved charge acceptance and greater cyclic durability when operating in a reduced state of charge (typical of Stop Start applications). As an approximation, EFB batteries will provide 85,000 engine starts, compared to 30,000 starts from standard flooded product."

https://www.rotronicsbms.com/advice/battery-tips/what-you-need-to-know-about-efb-s-enhanced-flooded-batteries#:~:text=EFB%20batteries%20are%20an%20enhanced,a%20reduced%20state%20of%20charge

.

The 2023 Ascent comes with an LN2 battery as opposed to the previous group 35. I have had a tough time finding out if it's EFB or AGM.

If you look closely at the photo of my new battery, the blue SoA label states "EFB". Maybe the label on yours will have that info?
Mr. Google isn't much help.......

https://www.gs-yuasa.com/en/newsrelease/article.php?ucode=gs160315422530_238

 

[Packard8]

[deleted] nevermind. I posted redundant information.

The 2023 Ascent comes with an LN2 battery as opposed to the previous group 35. It's PN 82110AN00B and according to a thread on the Outback forums, it's EFB.

If it is user fillable (like my new one) it won't be an AGM. Let's both hope this eliminates the "Ascent Battery Issues"

 

[rockthebeef]

If it is user fillable (like my new one) it won't be an AGM. Let's both hope this eliminates the "Ascent Battery Issues"

My battery does say "do not tip or open", so it's probably EFB. I will leave it out of curiousity, but I'll start getting nervous around year 3.

 

[Packard8]

My battery does say "do not tip or open", so it's probably EFB. I will leave it out of curiousity, but I'll start getting nervous around year 3.

Odd...does it have the removable caps and the fill lines like the photo I posted? Mine has no warning about opening, and is obviously user serviceable. There are "Sealed Lead Acid" and "Maintenance Free" batteries that have been around for some time.

 

[rockthebeef]

Odd...does it have the removable caps and the fill lines like the photo I posted? Mine has no warning about opening, and is obviously user serviceable. There are "Sealed Lead Acid" and "Maintenance Free" batteries that have been around for some time.

It looks sealed but I haven't poked around enough to see if any of the top section comes off. Here's a pic.

 

[Cosmo]

This new battery is a modest improvement from the factory. Maybe between improved software and quality control, Subaru will get it's fingers around the battery issue. By comparison, my Volvo with similar electrical load came with an 850 amp battery, while my 2020 Subaru came with a 550 amp battery.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

But it never hurts to ask! PS: Subaru's MSRP for this battery is $395!

Wow...I paid $160 net at Costco for a replacement battery early last year and it's an Interstate AGM type 35 with the higher cranking capacity by 100 over the OEM my MY19 Ascent Touring came with.

 

[Packard8]

This new battery is a modest improvement from the factory. Maybe between improved software and quality control, Subaru will get it's fingers around the battery issue. By comparison, my Volvo with similar electrical load came with an 850 amp battery, while my 2020 Subaru came with a 550 amp battery.

I had a Sonata Sport turbo with half the electrical load that came with a 740 CCA AGM battery. 5 years later it was still going strong.

 

[Packard8]

Wow...I paid $160 net at Costco for a replacement battery early last year and it's an Interstate AGM type 35 with the higher cranking capacity by 100 over the OEM my MY19 Ascent Touring came with.

I would have never paid that for the "new EFB" Subaru battery at that price. $400 will buy you the best high capacity AGM battery on the market, maybe even lithium.

 

[Cosmo]

I had a Sonata Sport turbo with half the electrical load that came with a 740 CCA AGM battery. 5 years later it was still going strong.

I had a 77 Mustang that came with a 550 CCA battery. And a 60 AMP alternator!

 

[Packard8]

It looks sealed but I haven't poked around enough to see if any of the top section comes off. Here's a pic.

That's the same CCA (630) and Ah (62) rating as the EFB battery they installed in my car. I wonder why SoA would stock 2 nearly identical batteries for essentially the same car. I noticed that the tech had to do a bit of "trimming" on the insulated case to make the fill line visible. The service writer also mentioned a new tray/baseplate was installed, perhaps the dimensions are different? All in all, I prefer a battery with fill caps to a sealed "maintenance free" (maintenance incapable) design. Let's hope the new batteries put the problems behind us.

 

[Packard8]

The tcm learning can only be reset with the SSM the learned throttle mapping however is lost when the battery goes dead or is disconnected.

I noticed in the TSB regarding replacing the B200 battery with the B600 model, one of the line items for the tech is to "relearn torque converter", or something to that effect. That might account for the difference in drivability I and others have noticed.

From the TSB: "CVT TORQ CONV RELEARN AFTER BATTERY DISCONNECT "