Software upgrade

[hermans]

Cool, then it won't Matt if they drive it first. I'm assuming they will take it for a test drive first anyway, right?

I had the MKZh done yesterday and there was only a couple of tenths more on the car and my drivers seat setting had not been changed. The Tech that worked on the car is about 5-6 and I'm 6-3...he could not have driven it far with that seat position.

[jeff_h]

I had the MKZh done yesterday and there was only a couple of tenths more on the car and my drivers seat setting had not been changed. The Tech that worked on the car is about 5-6 and I'm 6-3...he could not have driven it far with that seat position.

 

Mine was only driven one-tenth mile during the service, which is the distance from check-in around the back of the shop, into the shop, and out to the ready line where I got it.

[djminfll]

Considering that my FFH has been scoring 25-29mpg on every trip since I got it back from the dealer this afternoon, even if the regen score is something other than 0% when I have it redone at the other dealer tomorrow, I'll still have a pretty good idea if the software update was done correctly.

If it does work, I think I will reset my fuelly (or create new account if resetting isn't possible) so that I can track mpg from the update onward.

[jeapa]

djminfll, I am sorry you are having such a hard time getting your update done correctly. My dealerships service department has already done the update wrong once to my car before I bought it so I nervous about their ability to get it right. The guy behind the service counter seemed surprised when I disagreed with him about the update and explained how I knew it had not been done correctly. I don't think he expected a woman to know that much about the car. I am praying that I wont have an experience similar to yours.

[djminfll]

djminfll, I am sorry you are having such a hard time getting your update done correctly. My dealerships service department has already done the update wrong once to my car before I bought it so I nervous about their ability to get it right. The guy behind the service counter seemed surprised when I disagreed with him about the update and explained how I knew it had not been done correctly. I don't think he expected a woman to know that much about the car. I am praying that I wont have an experience similar to yours.

jeapa, it's inconvenient, but I won't give up until it's done right. If you have a similar experience, you need to do the same thing. I'm optimistic that the new dealership's service department will do it right tomorrow. But if they don't, I'll keep plugging away until it is.

Thanks for your support! :cheerleader:

[djminfll]

WOO-HOO! I got my FFH back from AutoNation Ford in Fort Lauderdale, and they completed the software update correctly! I was driving by myself, so I couldn't take pictures, but my FFH went into EV mode at 70mph!

:happy feet: :headspin: :banvictory: :sing_rain: :cheerleader:

 

For anyone whose update is not done correctly the first time, it was explained to me today that the software is either completed correctly or it's not. If your vehicle is not going into EV mode over 62mph, it was not completed correctly. The service advisor brought out the Hybrid Technician to talk to me, and he said he was going to attempt to perform the update. He advised that it cannot be performed more than once, and the reason why so many people are getting it done twice before it works is because the update is either incomplete the first time, or not done at all. He advised me that when he plugs the vehicle into the computer and attempts to complete the update, the computer will either start the update and work through it, or will advise him that is has already been done.

[corncobs]

And what's the first verdict on MPG?

 

Nice to hear that you had a pleasant service expierience with this dealer.

[djminfll]

And what's the first verdict on MPG?

 

Nice to hear that you had a pleasant service expierience with this dealer.

42MPG coming home from the dealer, but I went in traffic to get on the highway to test it out over 62mph. Then I drove over to pick up dinner, only 3 miles, but 46mpg. I'm going to do some normal driving tomorrow and will see how it goes. And Sunday, we are going to visit family on the Gulf Coast of FL, about an hour south of Tampa. Looking forward to seeing how it does on that straight, flat highway stretch.

 

I also submitted my VERY negative survey to the other dealership, and will be calling the dealership manager tomorrow.

Edited August 8, 2013 by djminfll

[djminfll]

After dinner, I couldn't resist but to take a quick ride on the highway and see how the update worked.

 

 

Here is EV mode at 68mph (blurry b/c I took it myself... I know, I shouldn't have!)

 

 

And here is my mpg so far for this tankful.

Edited August 9, 2013 by djminfll

[corncobs]

Not bad I would say.

 

Yesterday my ride home sucked and I had to run the AC while being stuck in bad stop & go traffic and it returned "bad" MPG with a 7 MPG penalty (I had 52.5 MPG the day before w/out AC and flowing traffic)

 

[djminfll]

Not bad I would say.

Yesterday my ride home sucked and I had to run the AC while being stuck in bad stop & go traffic and it returned "bad" MPG with a 7 MPG penalty (I had 52.5 MPG the day before w/out AC and flowing traffic)

I'm hoping that I will be able to start getting trips in the 50's. up until now, I've only achieved this on some trips where I'm doing a steady 45mph using the ACC.

Did you ever think you would be disappointed with 45mpg?

[corncobs]

I'm hoping that I will be able to start getting trips in the 50's. up until now, I've only achieved this on some trips where I'm doing a steady 45mph using the ACC.

Did you ever think you would be disappointed with 45mpg?

I'm not disappointed because I know why it "only" returned 45. I was pretty much at a standstill for 20 min or so with very little movement or ICE runtime but the AC keeping me comfy. The energy for the AC comes from the HVB for a charge it's more efficient to be on the move. It's MpG so if I'm not moving but the ICE runs to charge the HVB to keep me cool it will return crappy gas mileage.

 

If I would have to guess I would say that without the update I would have seen 42 MPG on this trip but without the AC around 47-48 MPG. Unfortunately that's is hard to prove since the conditions are hard to duplicate and I don't wanna sweat in my car. ;-)

Edited August 9, 2013 by corncobs

[acdii]

Yesterday was too nice out to have AC blowing. I can see that the update is living up to its promise too.

 

 

Best trip EVER going home!

 

 

While not the BEST trip coming in, still better than it has been.

[djminfll]

This was this afternoon, 90% highway with ACC at 65 mph, A/C at 73F fan on low - the update is working!

 

[acdii]

Well lets hope MXGOLF has better news with his after the update.

[corncobs]

This was this afternoon, 90% highway with ACC at 65 mph, A/C at 73F fan on low - the update is working!

 

Cool I'm happy for you!

Looks like you got really excited taking the picture - you are shaking quite a bit. ;-)

[corncobs]

I was hoping for better short trip improvements but not so much. Left a customer site after a meeting to stop for lunch it's a lot of uphill and lights at 50 MPH results aren't that grand as usual.

I'm showing this because its important for others to see that different trip parameters can make a huge difference even for my FFH.

 

 

But driving home after lunch returned more normal numbers.

 

 

I had a light change to red just the "right" distance away returned an awesome 50% brake score :-( that's why it's only 93% total.

[MTGilby]

I just got my letter Saturday, and am very nervous about doing anything. Our lifetime average is now 46.6 mpg, and we can average anywhere between 50 and 75 mpg on our travels across town and around. Took our car in to have the sync rebooted when the screen went black, it took them all day to do that. I am afraid of our dealers service dept. they claim to have an electric vehicle tech. but not really sure. I am going to keep monitoring these topics and see how everyone else does. I don't want to go backwards. The letter says we have until Aug. of 2014 so I think I will go through the winter first and see what the mileage does then.

Thanks to everyone on here for the info, and advice.

Ken

Edited August 12, 2013 by MTGilby

[MXGOLF]

OK I went 861 miles and averaged 35.4 MPG. This is with the new software upgrade. Very disappointed. I am probably through with this forum. It makes me very angry not getting 40+ MPG and surly I got a lemon. Thanks to all the great people on this forum for all the support.

[DeeCee]

OK I went 861 miles and averaged 35.4 MPG. This is with the new software upgrade. Very disappointed. I am probably through with this forum. It makes me very angry not getting 40+ MPG and surly I got a lemon. Thanks to all the great people on this forum for all the support.

Come on Ford. Step up and find out what the problem is with these few under performing cars (not drivers).

[anguyen]

OK I went 861 miles and averaged 35.4 MPG. This is with the new software upgrade. Very disappointed. I am probably through with this forum. It makes me very angry not getting 40+ MPG and surly I got a lemon. Thanks to all the great people on this forum for all the support.

Ford needed to own this problem

[Tullinator]

I had my Ford dealer update the PCM software and since I had received a letter from Ford on updating my SYNC software they did both software packages.

 

1. I drive to work in the car and it's a elevation change of 440 feet. Typically on the downhill leg I was getting 44 mpg avg. and 32.6 avg. on the uphill return prior to the software upgrade. Now I am getting 52 mpg on the downhill and 44 mpg on the uphill.

 

2. Today I did a 96 mile round trip on pretty level terrain and the average mileage was 46 mpg one way, and 48 mpg the other.

 

3. The AC was on in all of the above and the ambient temperature was 87 degrees Fahrenheit for the level round trip, somewhat higher for the rest of the trips. I did nothing unusual in terms of driving the car. In short, from my experience the upgrade worked. I will track gallons of gas consumed and odometer mileage over the next several months to see how that compares with my average from before which was 36.8 MPG from December 2012 when I bought the car to September 1, 2013

 

A few other points. I had the car in CV mode at 75 MPH after the upgrade, now the car goes into EV mode more directly. Prior to the software upgrade I would have to back off the gas slightly to get it to do that; now it just does it by itself with no change in the accelerator pedal position

 

So far so good, usually there is no free lunch; but since I paid $34K for the car it was definitely not free. I hope I get my well deserved lunch and enjoy it too.

[B25Nut]

I had my Ford dealer update the PCM software and since I had received a letter from Ford on updating my SYNC software they did both software packages.

 

1. I drive to work in the car and it's a elevation change of 440 feet. Typically on the downhill leg I was getting 44 mpg avg. and 32.6 avg. on the uphill return prior to the software upgrade. Now I am getting 52 mpg on the downhill and 44 mpg on the uphill.

 

2. Today I did a 96 mile round trip on pretty level terrain and the average mileage was 46 mpg one way, and 48 mpg the other.

 

3. The AC was on in all of the above and the ambient temperature was 87 degrees Fahrenheit for the level round trip, somewhat higher for the rest of the trips. I did nothing unusual in terms of driving the car. In short, from my experience the upgrade worked. I will track gallons of gas consumed and odometer mileage over the next several months to see how that compares with my average from before which was 36.8 MPG from December 2012 when I bought the car to September 1, 2013

 

A few other points. I had the car in CV mode at 75 MPH after the upgrade, now the car goes into EV mode more directly. Prior to the software upgrade I would have to back off the gas slightly to get it to do that; now it just does it by itself with no change in the accelerator pedal position

 

So far so good, usually there is no free lunch; but since I paid $34K for the car it was definitely not free. I hope I get my well deserved lunch and enjoy it too.

 

Your ownership experience mirrors mine almost exactly. I purchased mine in early November at the same price. In the 500 miles since I did the update, my average has been 44.3 mpg. Before the update, the lifetime average was 37.0 mpg.

You are right about the free lunch. There are times now on the freeway that it feels like something is pushing me, providing free energy.

Edited September 6, 2013 by B25Nut

[gadgetguy]

I left my car with my dealer last week while we were away on vacation to have all of the TSB's dealt with. My observation after I picked it up yesterday, I have only driven a very short amount of time. Just FYI my car has 13,500 miles on it.

 

1. No more popping/clicking!

 

2. So far no more doors not unlocking by grabbing the door handle and "Key Not Detected" messages when I start the car. It was occurring fairly often and there is a TSB for a software update related to the module that controls those functions.

 

3. EV mode comes in over 62 and seems to go into EV mode much easier and sooner than before at all speeds! I will have plenty of opportunities (and looking forward to it) to test the highway mileage next week as I will have to do a lot of travel for work.

 

4. I have no definitive proof of this but it seems that the Regen during braking is more efficient and provides a better recharge.

 

5. They applied the updated MFT patch after the PCM update and everything seems the same as before

 

6. The creaking (not a TSB issue} that was a constant and torturing noise from the driver side B piller is fixed!! Thank goodness because that was driving me and my OCD crazy lol....

 

 

I have reset everything incl. lifetime numbers and I am going to create a new Fuelly car to track after update numbers. I will add the Fuelly badge as soon as I have my first fill up. I feel like (and hope) that my highway mpg will improve!

Edited September 8, 2013 by gadgetguy

[MXGOLF]

OK my car is not getting any better mileage with the new update. 6500 miles on the ticker and she is a 36-37 mile per gallon car. I do get 45 sometimes 50 mpg on short trips mostly down hill. Freeways are a joke with no better mileage. I drive like a grandma and do all I can to hyper mile but it doesn't work. Very frustrated. I feel ripped off especially because of all the people who are getting 47 or better mpg. :( Not sure what to do now. Would like to shove it up fords you know what, but it wouldn't do any good.