Harbor

Hello all, I had an issue today regarding my 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid and I was hoping someone could explain it. I noticed I had had no cabin lights, the car was completely dead. So I hooked the jumper cables to the battery in the rear trunk which lit my cabin but I could not start the car, turning the ignition did nothing. I hooked the jumpers up to the front battery but the cabin lights went out and I could not start the car as well. So I got two tickle chargers - one to each battery and waited an hour. The car started and seems to be normal. Can someone explain what the two batteries are, and what may have happened. I checked and I did NOT leave any lights on in the car that would have caused it to go dead. Thanks,

Finally got the cracking sound fixed in my car this week. My car is finally quiet again. Also had the dealer apply the TSB 13B07 - POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE (PCM) CALIBRATION. No noticeable difference except maybe I can enter EV mode at 62+. Glad this forum was here to help us all track this issue down.

Fun Service Story: So I drive into Salem Ford in Salem NH and want to make an appointment to get this fixed. They have a poor reputation but it's closer to my house than the dealer I bought the car from, so I figure what the heck. I didn't want to judge them on hearsay. I go to service and I mention the cracking sound issue and the guy at the desk is immediately confused but is more than happy to make an appointment. He doesn't want my VIN, nor does he care about the TSB. I insist that he take the VIN and start ordering parts, as certain parts like the shifter knob - Ford knows which cars they left them off of. The service guy tells me no way - they cannot order parts without inspecting the car and that ALL other Ford dealers work this way. Maybe he's right, but I honestly don't care how they're supposed to operate. I know what issues my car has and it doesn't take a mechanic to realize they shipped the wrong shifter knob or that my car pops when it moves forward or stops. So essentially he's making me drive the car into the dealer, leave the car there for the day so they can find out they don't have the parts they need to fix it, and ask me to come back later when they eventually get them. Rediculous... Needless to say I cancelled my appointment as I could tell their main interest was making money, not providing service. I'll call the dealer where I bought the car, as at least they've heard of the cracking issue. I'm starting to see why dealers are terribly afraid of Tesla. In some service plans, Tesla will drive to you and leave you a loaner. If Ford President Alan Mullaly were here with me, I'd kick him in the nuts.

Are they hard to install? Do they require a dealer to do so? Thanks!

Nice pictures, thanks for posting them. You got me thinking now - which is hard to do.

test234

test 123123

Thanks Jeff, good to know.

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but I have noticed on several occasions that my car is making an electric buzzing after I shut the car off. I'll go down to my car 15 minutes later and it's still making the noise. I restart the car to stop it. This happens about once a month. Just wanted to put that out there in case it was more widespread. I don't know what the noise is or why it's on, or even if its normal - which I doubt.

No problem, this forum is a great community. Mine normally pops more than once as well, I let off the gas as soon as the first pop was heard. The second pop is normally not as loud. Maybe it's just on the other side of the car which makes it harder to hear? The whirring noise is normal. The process to record is: 1) On your iPhone, open "voice memos" which comes with the OS 2) Use it to record the sound. There is a right carrot that shows info for each recording. A trim button and share button are shown. 3) Press Share and email it to yourself 4) Save it to your computer and rename the m4a file to mp3 5) In this forum there is a "more reply options" button on the bottom right of your post. This allows you to add files or photos. I made the recording starting out in the garage as I knew the sound would be amplified back off the walls.

Hello all, I've attached the sound of my FFH pulling out of my garage and popping. It's pretty loud and I can hear it even over the radio. -Harbor FFH_noise.mp3

It sounds exactly like serving a ping pong ball. I hear it all the time, in the parking garage it's really loud. I can quiet the sound to lesser levels by slowing the rate of deceleration/acceleration. I'm no expert, but to me it still feels like it's related to the engaging and disengaging of the regenerative braking system. The experts say suspension. Let's hope a fix is found soon.

Last summer we test drove the KIA and Hyndai hybrids as we thought they might be a less expensive option than the '12 FFH. My wife was looking for a '12 hybrid of some type. We found the KIA and the Hyndai are essentially the same car, built upon the same chassis if I'm not mistaken. Nissan had discontinued their hybrids as they weren't up to par and they are now regrouping for next year. Toyota was too expensive and too small to work for our family as was the Volt. We initally didn't want a Ford. 'Found on Road Dead' I always used to say and test drove one as a last resort. My dad also had an issue with Ford not owning up to problems (when I was a boy in 1978), so our family never bought a Ford for 30 years out of respect for our father. We took all the hybrids out for a spin on a really bad road. Our take on the Hyndai Sonata: 1) The ride was rougher - the car made more noise on bad road than the FFH 2) The car seemed looser. I can't put that one into words but it felt less solid. 3) The windows were WAY too high, about neck level. Don't bother trying to hang your arm out the window, you can't. As such you look like a smurf from the outside of the car because only your head is visible. 4) It was the same price as the FFH, so there wasn't ANY cost savings. We were shocked. The advantages on the Sonata side were: 1) the Sonata could go up to 72 mpg on battery and the '12 FFH was limited to 42. 2) the Hyndai allows you to start the car from a webpage or phone app- a cool feature 3) I think the Sonata had a push button start. 4) The warranty on the Sonata was 5/60k In the end we both like the FFH better, much to our surprise. We waited until we had driven them all before discussing it as we didn't want to influence the others opinion. Both of us were reluctant to admit that the FFH was the best. She bought a '12 FFH in Ginger Ale color.

I have to believe the reponse depends on the dealership. The ones that are just trying to solve customer issues will have more latitude. The ones that are watching the every penny won't make a move without being reimbursed by corporate. In those cases, acdii is correct and I can see why he says they follow the script. My dealership in NH won't make a move without corporate authorization. They tell me not to even bother with an appointment until they know what the solution is (and invariably how they're getting paid). I'm not passing judgement here; just stating that we might see different responses depending on the dealership. The ability of the technicians is secondary to the business model. They might be awesome but not given authority to solve it on their own. -Harbor

I have to agree with the board members on this one. I'd skip the hybrid and research a good diesel engine. At 130-360 miles per day, you'll could be near 40,000 miles a year. Your factory warranty gone in as little as 10 months. Many diesels have a track record of longetivity. You can get 300k,400k and maybe more from a decent diesel. They shouldn't require a ton of maintenance. Driving the FFH at 72-80 is not in the car's sweet spot. Just my 2c.