New (used) 2010 FFH owner, my first ever hybrid

[GentDiors]

Just finished my purchase of this 2010 FFH from private seller, and this is my first hybrid car as well. Oddly, despite my desire to go diverse, I ended up with Ford cars every single time, starting from 2001 Taurus SEL; 2008 Mercury Milan Premier AWD, and now 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid.

 

Previous owner did a fantastic job (thanks to the ESP and maintenance pkg he bought) taking care of it (overkilled a little). Oil change at dealership every 3k, new throttle body (infamous wrench problem) since Sept., new O2 sensor last year, new 12v battery last year, 2-3 yr old tires. I'm pretty much settled for a while :yahoo:

 

Hoping to learn the tricks and share knowledge as well!

[lolder]

You don't need to change the oil that often. Read all the manuals twice and push all the buttons while parked. There were a few TSB's which you might check with Ford by VIN to see if they apply.

1) TSB 09-13-9 Speedometer inop

2) TSB 10-15-5 Uncommanded instrument panel resets to default mode

3) TSB 10-17-11 PCM update for wrench light

4) 10B 13 "Customer Satisfaction" for nuisance brake failure warnings

5) TSB 11-7-31 False instrument panel warnings

These are all software updates and should take less than an hour.

Have fun!

[GentDiors]

You don't need to change the oil that often. Read all the manuals twice and push all the buttons while parked. There were a few TSB's which you might check with Ford by VIN to see if they apply.

1) TSB 09-13-9 Speedometer inop

2) TSB 10-15-5 Uncommanded instrument panel resets to default mode

3) TSB 10-17-11 PCM update for wrench light

4) 10B 13 "Customer Satisfaction" for nuisance brake failure warnings

5) TSB 11-7-31 False instrument panel warnings

These are all software updates and should take less than an hour.

Have fun!

I registered at Ford owner site, which gives me info on open recalls, Sync updates etc. Site did not show anything regarding recall, do I still need to check with the dealership? Previous owner did go to the dealer for almost everything, hopefully all these have been taken care of.

 

I noticed that you mention these TSBs "might apply" according to VIN, so it's not something every 2010 FFH would experience? If these are not recalls, would the fix be free or not? Thanks a lot.

Edited October 20, 2016 by GentDiors

[GentDiors]

I called up the dealership that has always serviced this car and was pretty much laughed at when asking the guy to check TSBs. He literally asked why I would check TSBs for you if there are no problems currently with the car.

 

He said he would only see the past 6months and none of the TSB service record was found. Checked the owner's record, and noticed that TSB10-21-06 was performed along with the replacement of throttle body a month ago. Previous owner also had a parking brake cable replaced, driver side door handle (another common problem?); O2 sensor; a couple of times cabin air filter replacement. Nothing else.

 

I think TSB 10-15-5 probably has been done or do not even apply to this car (Carfax shows manufactured in 9/2009), since I do see a big green "ready to drive" on my left panel in addition to the smaller one at the right bottom, also my gas consumption at shut off reads XX.XX.

 

Confused here. Do all these TSBs apply to every 2010 FFH or related to the VIN specifically?

[lolder]

They're related to VINs. The really important one was the "Customer Satisfaction" software update on the computer brake system 10B 13. That should be done if the car VIN includes it even if you have never had a problem. After a certain manufacturing date cars from the factory had the updated software. It corrects a nuisance computer brake system failure whose result is you have to push another 1-2 inches further DOWN on the brake pedal to get brakes. Most who experienced it including a Consumer's Report tester thought they had lost all brakes. It was very unnerving. Your car is a pretty early build so you should check that. The other TSB's are pretty much "on condition" ones. The big green car means the instrument panel reset TSB was done. Just check on 10B 13.

Edited October 21, 2016 by lolder

[GentDiors]

So what is the right question to ask in order to ring the bell?

 

I gave him the VIN and ask if those TSBs apply to my car. I said I just got this car and wanted to see if these TSBs have been addressed or apply to my car at all as a precaution.

 

What he did seemed just to check if there was any repair related to those TSBs for the past 6mo, instead of finding if my VIN actually pulled up with those TSBs for its entire lifetime. Please bear with my ignorance, does the dealer have the info of each car for its lifetime repair history?

 

Are you saying that 10B 13 should be updated on all 2010 FFH? How should I ask to have it updated if there's no brake problem currently? The guy I talk to seems to be a little clueless why I was asking for these info. Will this be done free of charge? It's not a recall afterall..

 

Thanks for your patience.

[lolder]

10B 13 should be done on all 2010's that need it. My car was built 5/09 and I had it done 3/10. At some point the software was changed at the factory so those cars don't need it. It was free then. All you need to do is check your VIN at Ford and they can tell you. There are three possible answers; your car doesn't need it, your car needed it and it was done, or it needs it and it has not been done. It should be done even if you have never had a problem. It was a rare event. I think it should have been a recall. The rest of the TSBs are "on demand" and probably don't apply.

 

I just looked up some old posts. The brake software was changed at the factory in the middle of Oct., 09. If the sticker on the bottom sill corner of the drivers door says 9/09 or earlier it needed to be done. If it says 10/09, you don't know and if it says 11/09 and later it didn't need to be done.

Edited October 21, 2016 by lolder

[GentDiors]

Thanks, lolder. Was there A letter from Ford to every impacted 2010 ffh to get the update for free back in 2010? If so I'm more confident the previous owner probably got It done already, he went to the dealer way too often to use the maintainence package and extended warranty..

 

Update: Called up another dealership and the rep was very helpful. He confirmed that the 10b-13 was performed on 04-2010, but no other TSBs listed above was in the record (however, I do know that TSB10-21-06 was done, which is related to 11-7-31, and 10-15-5 is done due to the fact that I see the updated interface on dash).

Edited October 21, 2016 by GentDiors

[lolder]

Sounds like you're set. Enjoy ! Read all the manuals all the way through twice. Push all the buttons while parked. There are a lot of luxury gadgets to this car like the door "puddle lights", BLIS, CTA and others. Pair your phone. You've had the most common problems fixed with the throttle body and O2 sensors. There were a few premature rear brake pads wear but they should normally go 150-200K miles. These have been low maintenance cars but I'm on my third driver's inside door handle which is common to all Fusions. I think that's a big profit center for Ford and it's dealers. There's a YouTube video that shows you how to replace it in about 15 minutes instead of paying the dealer $350!

[GentDiors]

Just had the instrument panel automatically reset to enlighten mode and zeroed out the average mpg on me. i thought it was tsb 10-15-5? i have a big green ready to drive on left panel while starting and two digits after decimal point for gas consumption.

 

Anyway, car was parked in garage overnight, and it just got cooler overnight (50 degree ish). While I was pulling out, the ICE was on almost instantly when I started the car. And on my usual way to Costco, it did not show any EV and always used ICE, but I could see the Regen brake working (green circle). The HVB meter seems to be full compared to the usual half-way. I stopped at Costco for about an hour, and afterwards when I started the car, I noticed that it was reset at Enlighten mode, which zeroed out my long term mpg etc, and the HVB gradually got down to the normal half-way place. The following two trips (with the car on/off) seemed fine, with my empower mode.

The 12v battery was installed less than a year by the dealer, and from the panel, I thought the 10-15-5 has been done, if it's not this, why it's resetting on its own again?

Edited October 22, 2016 by GentDiors

[lolder]

No EV and a full HVB are usually signs of an HVB re-conditioning event but that doesn't cause resets.

Edited October 23, 2016 by lolder