MeeLee

What tool do I need to undo the screws on top of the 3.7V cells? Is it a torx screw?

I know the main electric wires from the motor run below the center console and come out the back under the rear bench, driver side. I can assume it's magnetic interference with the high voltage lines. I would recommend using a shielded wire to go from the radio console via the passenger side under the carpet, away from the high voltage wires. I would also recommend you to ground the amp to the body, in case the negative terminal of the battery isn't grounded well. Third, in would recommend installing a 1 to 3 Farad capacitor for any amp of 500W or more subwoofer, or just wire a second 12V battery to the stock battery. A 500W system should draw roughly 100-150W continuous (or 10 amps). My vehicle draws 250W over the 12V circuit, or 12A, but I have led lights. The stock SE version might draw closer to 15A. The stock battery handles up to 50Ah continuous. It does get help from the DC to DC converter, which charges it up with up to about 10A.

Does the 2017+ models use a 4g or 3g connection? If 3g, that's on its way out and won't work soon anymore. Do know, if you plug in your phone via the USB port that connects to the radio, the car could be sending and receiving data via your mobile network. And with future cars using AI in them (like current modern Mercedes vehicles), they are always listening. A mechanic once installed a screw in the chair of our company van, because Mercedes sucks at building cars. Really, they do. I bumped myself on that screw and got a cut and was bleeding. I was mad and shouted some profanity. The Mercedes lingtronic started a customer service call, without my authorization. There was no phone connected to the van. It just made a call to Mercedes cs. I hung up before anyone could pick up, because the issue was a screw a company mechanic had installed, not a Mercedes issue, and checked why the van initiated the call, even though lingtronic (My Mercedes) was turned off, and any sort of sound capturing or recording feature should have been disabled... Expect more of this BS in our cars soon, and if you want life to be even more miserable, expect paid ads to soon be playing in the entertainment system or over the speakers when you use them...

I just use a 1 inch larger outside diameter tire. The 0.5" extra sidewall does the trick quite well.

My fusion charges the battery only if the battery level is low. If it is high, it actually drains the battery, as shown by the indicators, and lower mpg on trips. Have you never noticed this? As explained by an engineer, the battery sends power to both generator and power motor, and both of them will start working against one another, generating a massive amount of braking torque. "Massive" being rather small on a 4 ton car using only a 40hp motor.

Yes, the Douglas touring tires I have, cost half the price, are quieter, have more grip, and at its current rate break even in the amount of miles I'm getting out of them (about 50k miles).

Mercon LV

They say to generally not store the ev battery at full charge when storing for longer than a few weeks. Ideally your hveb should be about 50% charge. Don't worry about it failing. So long the 12v battery works, it can jump start the engine which will start the charging process. Ideally you will want to disconnect the positive terminal on the 12v battery, (and keep the trunk open, if you want easy access to the 12v). I think the 12v only needs to be charged one day a month or so. Without the positive terminal connected, it won't lose much charge over time.

130k miles, and still stock plugs. User manual says replace at 150k miles. They are iridium plugs. On the Honda forums, people managed to run +200k miles on iridium plugs. And those are regular gas cars, revving between 2 and 4k rpm. The FFH runs revs way lower (usually 2-2.5k rpm max if you drive carefully). It also runs about 30-40% in ev mode, but depending on your situation may lower to 10%. That means, if the plugs last 200k miles on a Honda, they should last about ~300k miles on the FFH. I know a guy who had 400k miles on his energi. Not sure if he ever changed the plugs. The energi generally runs the engine even less.

I'd recommend the ecvt fluid change, with a Ford certified fluid at ~90k and ~175k miles. If yours didn't have a fluid change, it's high time to do so. Only my front right suspension makes a bit of a squeaky noise, but that's because of me hitting speed bumps at 15-25mph. I'm also at 130k miles.

Not really. If the battery is charged, it will actually use battery energy to brake (aside from the brake pads). I know it's counter intuitive, but the battery can only handle about 40hp of power for short bursts, which isn't much. If it sends the right voltage to the generator/motors, you can get a lot more braking power using both to brake, but it's at the cost of draining the battery.

Totally normal. If your vehicle is in eco mode, the electric heater is either disabled or reduced. In normal mode, the electric heater is weak, and you need to wait for the engine to reach optimal temperature before getting decent heat. If you live in a very cold area (below 30F), you may already have a low battery output due to the cold, and the engine will take longer to reach ideal temperature. You could try to remote start the engine, or start it manually, in park, and press the accelerator about halfway. This should kickstart the engine to warm up. Put the heater on, close the doors, and come back in 1 minute. The engine should turn off automatically, when it reached operating temperature, and when the battery is charged up.

Just don't buy Chinese tires. UK, Japanese, or US tires are the best. Modern tires need 5PSI less than the max written on the tirewall. Modern tires need 45psi, so pump em up to 40. If they say 50, put 45. If you follow the 35 psi rating on the car chassis, you'll lose mpg. I replaced mine with Hankook tires (okay, but don't last too long), and lost 5% of mpg, but only 1% when inflated properly. I then replaced them with Walmart Douglas tires. They were $<100/tire, and get identical mpg as stock, but drive so much quieter. They've been on there for approximately 30k miles, and are about halfway used. I fully expect to get 50+k miles out of them, like the stock tires. To me they're superior to the stock tires.

They both use the same powertrain. The FFH power train is already very quiet. Much quieter than most cars. The biggest difference between the two, is that Lincoln has a more upscale interior. As far as sound dampening, it would be very hard to hear any difference, as during normal driving, you'll mostly hear road noise through the tires. If it was me, I would have engineered them with the same outer diameter tires, but on a 16" rim instead of a 17" rim. The 1" extra tirewall makes a big difference in lowering road noise. You can also put 1 inch larger external diameter tires on the 17" rims, helps too, but lowers acceleration and braking (noticed especially when regen braking or accelerating on the weaker motor).

If your (12V) battery is over 4 years old, yes, then even the 50s or 60s can cause this, as lead acid battery voltage and current flow, highly depends on temperature. The lower the temps, the lower the voltage. If your voltage drops below 11.8V, all kinds of glitches happen.