rattlesnake04

So folks, as it turns out, Ford was unable to repair the vehicle. They knew somethinng was wrong, but they could not come up with a reason as to why. However, Ford made me completely happy by offering to replace the vehicle for any other Ford vehicle for the difference in msrp plus a mileage adjustment charge. I am now driving a brand new 2012 Fusion hybrid, steel blue metallic wiith charcoal interior, and the same 502A package that had 29 miles on it. I am projecting to get about 640 miles on the 1st tank of gas; about 36mpg.

So my 2010 Fusion hybrid has been in the shop for over 10 weeks between two visits and they still are incapable of fixing the problem. The problem is: even when the car is warmed up, press the accelerator peddle and the ICE starts up. Level ground, temperature in the 90's. The problem has actually been in the vehicle since November 2009 following a 1 month repair after a catastropic failure of the electric system. The ICE stops on deceleration, but always starts on acceleration. Field engineers cannot solve the problem. On the first visit - when I finally got them to agree there was a problem, after giving me the runaround for a few years - they changed the 12V battery claiming that a bad cell was causing to the computer to think the 12V battery always needed charging. That did not fix the prooblem. So now I continue to wait, pester Ford customer service, all without a vehicle where this time of the year gets the best mileage. I am not looking for ideas, I simply am getting fed up with the inability of Ford to repair this hybrid and am getting to the point of venting. If anyone else has had this kind of problem, please let me know. This was one of the originall 2010 Fusion hybrids purchased in May 2009.

Your dash lights should also dim if you are going underneath an overpass during daylight; this is due to the low light received during that traversal.

Final Solution: Got the car back finally on 11/25. They replaced the Battery Electronic Control Module (BECM). I'll try to abbreviate the tech notes: Codes P0AFA, P1A14, P0A0A, U0100, U100, P0685, P0562. Performed Pinpoint tests HJ-1 thru HJ-9. Hotline verified that HJ-9 was wrong in the EVTM. Performed HJ-9 thru HJ-11. The repair in the pinpoint tests are wrong again. Hotline gave pinpoint tests not in EVTM. Verified BECM to be bad. So that was a $286 part and $1098 labor time. I still love the car. I hope this is the last tow to the dealer for a long time.

I have also seen the panel intensity change (the twitch as folks here are calling it); but I noticed that it occurs when going under a wide overpass (or tunnel). Perhaps this is associated with automatic dimming?

Actually, the discharge was not overnight; it was probably from the morning to the afternoon. And I am just assuming that the ev battery was discharged based on what the dash display was showing. It seems to take the dealer many days to track down the problem.

Background: FFH ordered late March delivered late May. Love the car - fully equipped even with remote start - ice blue. Had an electrical failure 10/17 @ 11:00PM while driving back to northern VA from Harrisonburg (about 140 miles) pouring rain; car has about 3700 miles on it and the long term mpg was 37.4. Got the big wrench warning with battery charge failure - stop ASAP; the battery charge level was down near 0. Of course I had to stop as power was lost. Luckily I got to the shoulder of the road. Called roadside assistance for tow. Luckily, they came in less than 30 minutes; had to also call a taxi as there were 4 people in the car. The vehicle was towed to the tow lot and delivered to Sterling Ford on following Tuesday. The dealer had the car for over a week tracing the problem. They concluded the DC to DC converter was bad and got Ford's approval to replace it. Got the car back about 10/28. Working fine... On 11/5 afternoon, the same big wrench and electrical failure warning came on when I started the car in the garage to leave. Needless to say, the hybrid battery level was down near 0 (the battery was probably over half when it was put into the garage in the morning). Had to get the car towed again to the dealer. Had to help the tow truck driver to push it out into the street before he could hook it up. As of the morning of 11/9, still no word as to the problem. I am currently driving an Edge loaner. Has anyone else experienced this kind of electrical failure, or are they learning from me?