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jediboytj

2012 Hybrid needs audio repair, part not available. Parking Car for 1-2 Months, couple questions...

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So my 2012 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid has a bad amplifier. A loud popping sound comes from the back speakers (sounds like someone is banging on the back window every second). It started off only for a few seconds at initial start up, but eventually got worse. Only took like 3-4 days before it got worse...

 

I brought my car to the dealer on August 17th due to most of the speakers finally going out. It still works a little bit, but as you can guess driving with a loud banging sound can get a bit annoying. I dropped it off quickly, and drove away in a nice loaner.

 

They were able to diagnose is in less than a day, telling me its the amplifier, or "Digital Sound Processor" as its called (Its the THX 5.1 System). They said the part is on "emergency only order" status or something, and did not have an ETA for the part. He said it could arrive next day but wasn't sure.

 

Long story short, it took almost two weeks for me to finally hear from the dealer about an ETA for the part arrival... which is now Early/Mid October! And on top of that, they told me I had to return the loaner because Lincoln will not pay for a loaner for a car awaiting parts for a non-safety related issue. I can understand the reasoning, but it certainly made me a little upset.

 

So now I decided to just park the car at my house, I unfortunately don't have a garage so I just have it under a car cover while I wait to hear about the part. Thankfully I have an old car that I can drive in the mean time.

 

One question I have, is is it worth escalating any higher? Other than the lack of initial communication, the service department and manager has been very helpful, and I know its not their fault that the part is not available. Should I call someone at Ford/Lincoln directly?

 

And finally, my main question here is, while the car is sitting, Is it ok to just run it for about 10mins every week or so? I don't want to disconnect the LV battery while it sits there, so is just running the car every few days sufficient to keep the HV battery healthy?

 

Thanks!

Edited by jediboytj

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10 minutes is not even close to long enough. Connect a smart battery charger to the 12 volt battery.

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10 minutes is not even close to long enough. Connect a smart battery charger to the 12 volt battery.

Is there one you would recommend getting, and/or would running the car for longer help?

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Is there one you would recommend getting, and/or would running the car for longer help?

I do not know what the recommendation is for a hybrid but for a standard car the general rule was that it took 25 miles of driving to replace the energy used to start the car. The hybrid does not have a starter motor but there is a continuous drain from all of the computers that run all of the time.

 

I have several battery chargers, one of which can provide 60 amps to start a traditional car. I also have this one

 

http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-XC6-SpeedCharge-Battery-Charger/dp/B004EIBX00/ref=sr_1_26?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1441497650&sr=1-26&keywords=schumacher+battery+charger

 

which will charge a battery and then maintain the charge by monitoring the battery and resuming the charge when needed. This is important because of the continuous drain by the car.

 

You could also just disconnect the battery. The owner's Manual should list the items that will be lost. The main one is the fine tuning parameters for the engine. It takes some amount of driving for the computer to relearn the parameters for the engine.

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So my 2012 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid has a bad amplifier. A loud popping sound comes from the back speakers (sounds like someone is banging on the back window every second). It started off only for a few seconds at initial start up, but eventually got worse. Only took like 3-4 days before it got worse...

 

I brought my car to the dealer on August 17th due to most of the speakers finally going out. It still works a little bit, but as you can guess driving with a loud banging sound can get a bit annoying. I dropped it off quickly, and drove away in a nice loaner.

 

They were able to diagnose is in less than a day, telling me its the amplifier, or "Digital Sound Processor" as its called (Its the THX 5.1 System). They said the part is on "emergency only order" status or something, and did not have an ETA for the part. He said it could arrive next day but wasn't sure.

 

Long story short, it took almost two weeks for me to finally hear from the dealer about an ETA for the part arrival... which is now Early/Mid October! And on top of that, they told me I had to return the loaner because Lincoln will not pay for a loaner for a car awaiting parts for a non-safety related issue. I can understand the reasoning, but it certainly made me a little upset.

 

So now I decided to just park the car at my house, I unfortunately don't have a garage so I just have it under a car cover while I wait to hear about the part. Thankfully I have an old car that I can drive in the mean time.

 

One question I have, is is it worth escalating any higher? Other than the lack of initial communication, the service department and manager has been very helpful, and I know its not their fault that the part is not available. Should I call someone at Ford/Lincoln directly?

 

And finally, my main question here is, while the car is sitting, Is it ok to just run it for about 10mins every week or so? I don't want to disconnect the LV battery while it sits there, so is just running the car every few days sufficient to keep the HV battery healthy?

 

Thanks!

 

Hi jediboytj,

 

Have you called into the Lincoln Client Relationship Center? You can reach them at 1-800-521-4140.

 

Meagan

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