goody1926

The same thoughts also crossed my mind when thinking about how things might go down hill even further being almost 10 years and counting. I am pretty sure I would not go the aftermarket new or reman route at this point due to cost. Not looking forward to what happens if the battery fails completely eventually.

Now that mine seems to be showing aging and performance down to 1 division or less I am considering some of these shops that claim off vehicle reconditioning. One shop wants about $500 for a 2-3 day recondition process. This shop also offers recondition plus cell replacement should they come across one or more bad ones. The shop also has brand new packs available for considerably more. As I mentioned before mine came on all of a sudden after it set barely used for 6 months during the airbag recall. Has anyone taken this step of a 3rd party reconditioning or reconditioning and repair? How about any shareable experience going with an entirely new pack or maybe even one from a salvage yard?

Add me to the growing list of FFH owners experiencing this problem. Mine also started to act up after sitting for the airbag recall for months. No acceleration in EV at all with some very limited EV cruising at slower speeds. I have about 62k on mine (2010). Seems a potential leading theory is the HVB pack that has potentially degraded significantly and rebalancing might not or may no longer be able to cure it. I went to the dealer a couple days ago just for an initial inquiry. I already have a routine P2450 and intermittent tire pressure sensor failure that they said would need fixed before they would even try to diagnose the EV mode problem. I had the P2450 prior to the airbag recall timeout and the EV mode was working just fine then. I have yet to begin research on how to diagnose and repair the TPS failure. Unfortunately it did not set a code or my OBD reader is just too old. Since it tends to come on after several miles then after several more miles of driving goes off maybe I need to check codes while the MIL is lit. It seems that even with those fixed then going back to the dealer might still result in their inability to figure it out. Maybe I should just ask them to force a rebalancing and go from there. Does anyone know of a particular brand OBD tool or software plus adapter that can force a rebalance?

Just had my remote start installed a couple weeks ago. So far I have only used it when the temp is between 0F and 20F. It does hit your mileage a bit and the 4cyl takes a little while longer to warm up than a big V8. You have to remember to leave the climate on auto or at least blower on and heat. If you have the climate off then the car engine does not actually start. At least mine does not unless heat is called for. Also if you remote start and the car is already warm then you may also find the engine not running unless enough heat is removed that it then starts to warm back up. In that aspect it helps gas mileage, only running when needed for the 10 minute max remote start time. I fully agree that it would have been better to adopt a design like GM and have remote start on one FOB. I have the bi-directional model so its probably more difficult to integrate that into one. I am happy with it as it lets me start the car while leaving the office cube and about 5 minutes later I am in the car and on those 0F days the quicker to warmth the better.

Kinda what I figured also. I also thought deformation might be an issue as the lesser quality rubber(my perception) sits folded over in one direction for days on end until used then back to that same folded over position. Really this has been true for any car I have owned so from experience a set of quality blades consistently solves just about any OEM blade issue.

Aggravating downstroke bounce on passenger side for me also. Only if it's a heavy rain does it not bounce. Light rain, mist etc... always bounces. Waiting for a sale on a reasonable pair to replace them both. Got it on my list to complain to dealer about because its done it almost since day 1. Nothing they will likely do but at least it's logged.

I should have mentioned that temps of around 40F is where I just leave the heat off. I too noticed that at much colder temps the engine starts regardless. I have not looked for this in the manual yet but I have noticed also that regen braking seems impacted by temp probably like you said based upon the battery temp.

Forums like this never cease to amaze me how much they can benefit everyone. Thanks for the steps to follow and I will see how it responds. The noise kinda reminded me of a TRIAC when it was used in AC circuits.

Wondering if anyone else has noticed this but over the last couple days there has been a very high pitched squeal inside the cabin at times and it seems to be related to the HVAC blower. It kinda sounds more electrical/electronic than mechanical. When it happens it can be shut off by just turning the system off. This does not appear to be a noise associated with the blower motor but tied to the level of the blower motor speed as if it is something related to the drive circuitry. It can be pretty painful inside the cabin when this is going on. I have not had anyone else in the car lately to concur because most of my friends and family have difficulty hearing high pitched noises. Thank goodness it has only happened a couple times but I have a slight concern it might get worse over time. I am going to continue to monitor it for awhile before acting.

These are very good comments regarding getting the best out of it you can given the conditions. It has turned cold in many places and I find the winds are now a far greater factor than in summer. It seems in my commute now I fight headwinds both directions!! However when the winds are with you it sure does make a big difference. My mileage is dropping just like everyone predicted to about 39 now from a high of 42 in the summer. These are the computer's number but I think it still reflects the decline which will likely continue as the weather turns consistenly colder. Some have said MPG improves with miles on car but I have about 3800 now and anything like that has probably happened already in my case. I find myself leaving the heat off when bearable which in some cases keeps the engine from running as much to get it warm. It's interesting to show people how I can simply hit the Auto HVAC button and make the engine start! It has been quite obvious lately with sleet and rain coming down putting extra slush on the road that invariably mileage tanks. Combine that with this recent storm winds and my mileage has dropped even more rapidly. I read many people doing the standard math after fillup to calculate mileage so I think I might start that and see for myself any delta to the vehicle's calculation.

Well it's on order through the dealer directly and should arrive in 7-10 days. Interestingly it comes from the "vendor" as they call it so takes awhile longer.

I think I finally got the Ford accessory site to show prices for part and installation. At least I think so. I had been adding the bi-directional remote to the cart and then putting in a zipcode near where I worked. Every dealer had a button labeled "Request Quote". Well today I put in a zip code closer to home and one dealer line item showed a button "Order Online". I clicked that and it returned to the main page showing cost of part plus installation!! And boy it seems too good to be true. $404 for part plus installation. I am gonna call the dealer directly because that is far below some of the quotes when I called dealers near where I work.

I'm in the same situation where no factory remote start but want the 2 way. I would go with it in a heartbeat but I am kinda concerned with all the work needed to install. Many steps and pretty involved running wires, removing panels, etc... Not typically a big deal but I get a little paranoid they will screw something up and create some issue like panel fit or squeaking that will drive me crazy. One Ford service advisor quoted a install price then promptly recommended I go to a local shop and have them do it. Did not say why though. If you go out and search for aftermarket remote starters you will find some pretty fancy ones even with displays. Pricing with install is comparable to dealer but the aftermarket ones have a ton more features. More to go wrong though and maybe some concern in flawless hybrid vehicle system interaction.

I found this but it did not mention the features you need. See attachment below or... Tech Documents Use the pulldowns to select owner's guides and then electronics and then there will be a pdf of the owner's guide. 2_Way__Remote_Start_System_Owner_Guide_1_.pdf

Great idea!

Well I tried what you suggested but I must be doing something wrong. I brought up the remote start and hit 'add to cart'. It proceeded to pop up a window where I can enter my zip and then choose local dealers. On that final popup I only had a choice to select the 'request quote' button. As soon as I hit that request quote button it then went right back to the remote start picture and instead of 'quote' the add to cart button was now 'add to list'. Unfortunately hitting add to list did not do much. Unfortunately I never saw anything but the price of the part only, no labor costs shown. Maybe I have to figure out how to login or something.

Not yet but will now listen for it.

So far all the responses on the bi model seem pretty favorable. Good range, consistent performance. $500 is a pretty good deal at least to the first quote I got from the local dealer of ~$700. I plan to call a few more in the area and see if I can get some competitive juices flowing!! :cheerleader:

Thanks for the input!!

There has been considerable discussion on the Snow/Ice capabilities of the low rolling resistance tires. I will most likely take my Avalanche whenever accumulation seems likely. I am sure I will give the FFH a try in those conditions just to see... And for all other "nasty" conditions...it's a tough call!! Love the car!! :shift:

I have been following the ESP discussions with interest and I am too looking for some advice but post purchase. I have already purchased an ESP from the dealer a few weeks ago not knowing about some of the online sites. Now I see I can get a better deal elsewhere. I paid $750 for a 6/60 with $100 deductible. I see I can get the same thing for a couple hundred bucks less. :banghead: Anyone have any experience with actually canceling their dealer purchase ESP and then buying one from online site? I see a consensus that these other alternatives are absolutely legit and my dealer most likely would not have matched these other offers. I emailed Myfordwarranty and they say its possible but I wanted to know if anyone has actually done this. The one page contract mentions nothing about cancelation. I apologize if this should have been a new topic since it's not exactly along the same lines as the original thread.

Mine was the Xinlon or whatever it was the dealer applied to the entire interior. They said they sprayed it on everything then wiped everything down. Well they missed some spots and it appeared just like residue. Not sure if you got that dealer item or not.

I know its a tradeoff one way or another but I too would like my FFH to allow a little better pre-ICE EV acceleration than it does. No tire smoking but as it is now you gotta feather it off the line or the ICE spools up thus the beauty of pulse/glide. I have driven an Escalade Hybrid quite a bit and it provides a little better battery accel before ICE even as heavy as it is. However the FFH clearly outshines the GM first gen implementation in every other facet.

I have also thought about the remote start addition. Is it true there are two models to choose from? Seems I have seen a regular separate transmitter model and then one I was considering which was the separate transmitter bi-directional model. The claim on the bi-direct one is 1000ft range which means I could start the car while walking down the stairs of the office building and have it warming up a couple minutes before I get there. I would only use it when its super cold. Guess getting in a hot car does not bother me. Now if it would simply roll down the windows and moonroof then I would use it every scorching day!! A couple searches on the bi-directional one turns up some dealer installation prices of about $500-$850 including the remote. It looks like a couple sites have it listed for sale for as cheap as $234 but not sure if it comes with the install kit or not. I looked over the install instructions PDF and it looks pretty involved to the point where some trim pieces are being removed and reinstalled and several wiring connections etc... Some 30 or 40 steps in total plus programming. I am mainly interested in anyone who has the bi model and gets this super long range. I can see my car from the office building stairs and I would need about 500-750ft of range if activated while I am walking down.

Empower plus 60 minute graph.