Won't run in EV mode, ICE kicks in immediately.

[Jazz62]

Haven't checked in for a while and am really excited to try the fix that allen84 has outlined. My 2010 FFH only has 48k miles, yes you read that right, 48k miles. It has exhibited these exact symptoms for over a year. Aside from the aggravation of essentially now driving a non-hybrid car, there are many ordinary day to day driving scenarios where this lag in acceleration is simply dangerous, but I've learned to adapt.

 

That was until we relocated from Chicago to Tacoma 4 weeks ago. Anyone who has ever been here knows of the very steep hills. Twice in the last week I have found myself stopped at a red light while climbing one of these steep hills. The first time it was at night and no one was behind me, but today I was the first car and a women in the car behind me stopped much too close to my rear. I would guess she was maybe 18" or less away from me as I couldn't even see the entire hood of her car through my rearview mirror. I knew that when the light turned green I would have to mash the accelerator pedal to the floor to hopefully avoid rolling backwards waiting for the ICE to kick in. Well, it happened. When the light turned green, I immediately mashed the pedal to the floor and that estimated 1.5 second lag caused me to roll back just enough to make contact with her car. Yes, under those road conditions she never should have been that close to my ass, but that didn't matter. Thankfully there was no damage to her car and we went on our merry way.

 

That Ford will not issue a TSB about this is inexcusable! I have a car with less than 50k miles that I have maintained meticulously since buying it 4.5 years ago. I should not have to rely on a lucky break discovery on a forum like this for my car to be safe to drive.

[lolder]

File a NHTSA report here: https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchSafetyIssues

[Edward]

Hi, Everyone!

 

I had written on May 25 of having the EV problem diagnosed as a stuck thermostat which the dealer replaced, so here's an update. At first I did not notice any improvement but then it got better to the point where it drives like new (I bought my 2010 in June 2009). Just completed a 1,400 mile road trip, averaged 42 MPG over a mix of interstate, (both 70 MPH and stop-n-go), Route 1 thru Maine (30-50 MPH) and lots of back roads. Previously the EV Battery metric on left side of dash showed blue all the way up and no discharge but now its working as should. My 10 year experience with this car is that it has never delivered the city driving mileage advertised but has overdelivered on the highway mileage. Car has 90k miles, most enjoyable driver I've owned since my Saab.

[PaulGo]

By now some 2011 Ford Hybrids should be exhibiting the HV barttery / computer problems that the 2010 hybrid vehicles have. If they don't then perhaps Ford became aware of the problem and put in a larger capacity computer that has programming for years beyond ten years.

[markwilson66]

Good point Paul.

I performed the HVB age reset to 0 year a few weeks ago and I am back to 41.1 mpg. Able to stay in EV mode now for a considerably longer time/distance.

[billford]

Ford is supposed to have an official fix for this issue, stay tuned...

 

 

Oct 3 2019 8922 - 2010-2012 Fusion HEV, 2010-2011 Milan HEV, 2011-2012 MKZ HEV - Reduced ElectricVehicle Operation

Some 2010-2012 Fusion hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), 2010-2011 Milan HEV and 2011-2012 MKZ HEV vehicles may experience reduced electric vehicle operation and increased gasoline engine operation. Do not attempt repairs at this time. Engineering is investigating, monitor OASIS for updates.

[PaulGo]

 

Ford is supposed to have an official fix for this issue, stay tuned...

 

 

Oct 3 2019 8922 - 2010-2012 Fusion HEV, 2010-2011 Milan HEV, 2011-2012 MKZ HEV - Reduced ElectricVehicle Operation

Some 2010-2012 Fusion hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), 2010-2011 Milan HEV and 2011-2012 MKZ HEV vehicles may experience reduced electric vehicle operation and increased gasoline engine operation. Do not attempt repairs at this time. Engineering is investigating, monitor OASIS for updates.

 

Thanks for the information! It appears Ford may finally do something about this problem. I complained about this to Ford on many occasions since January and I even wrote my Congressman about this issue. He also sent a letter to Ford about this issue. So hopefully Ford will oil the squeaky wheel!

[dpdau1111]

Is there a class action law suit on this problem?

[jediboytj]

I've been monitoring this thread for a few months now, and I'm happy to see Ford finally doing an investigation. I have a 2012 MKZ Hybrid, (airbag recall done, car running flawlessly *knock on wood*). Although it has manufacturing date of I believe September 2011. So come next September, I'll hit the dreaded "9 years" age and probably be in the same boat as everyone else in this thread. I've been debating performing the forscan update myself preemptively, but I think I might wait for official word from Ford about this.

[Gskrk]

Huge giant thanks to Allen84 and all the poster folks here!!!! Literally saved me $25K, because I was afraid my 2010FFH HVB was bad and my car might not start and leave me stranded in the middle of nowhere. So I was going to trade it in on a 2018 SUV....just not interested in dealing with the uncertainty, loss of reliability, and new HVB costs more than car is worth. Yes I had the same problem as most others here - car would not run in EV, HVB indicator near 100%, ICE only stops when brakes applied at full stop. I followed Allen84's instructions and voila - it works!!! I reset my battery age to zero and when I hit 'load' (or whatever its called) in forscan, I too heard the HVB click, as others have reported. Car now acts like new - EV at 35 mph or better, HVB at 50%, two bars of EV power, 42 mpg, heck I got 53 mpg just running a few miles to the drug store.

 

So the next challenge is to figure out when the HVB will fail, and what if any indications/symptoms/warnings there might be in advance. Also, what FMC is going to do for us FFH owners, now that they have been outed for leaving us all in the dark on this.

 

Just had a thought...if the car is say 10.5 years old and if the HVB will last 15 years, then it might make sense to program the battery life to say 6 yrs so that when the life reaches 9 yrs (in the computer) the EV will stop to prolong the battery to keep the ICE starter working. Any thoughts on this basic approach idea?

[lolder]

The HVB is 200+ D cell sized batteries connected in series. If a cell shorts, the battery will lose a little capacity but still operate the car. That is the usual failure mode for NiMh batteries. If a cell opens, the HVB will have zero output and the car will not move or start the ICE. There is no way to predict either failure mode. When the OEM software started limiting HVB power, it also stopped the HVB reconditioning events. They may now resume which is characterized by no EV operation for 15-20 minutes and the HVB goes to a very high SOC. When successful, normal operation returns. If not, it is rumored that a message is displayed and to take it to the Ford dealer. I've never heard of that actually happening. My 2010 FFH HVB reconditioned about every 8k miles.

 

Other maintenance issues are O2 sensors, dirty throttle bodies and noisy electric vacuum pumps which are a problem on other Fords as well. These are repairable. Aftermarket HVBs are available for about $3k plus installation. The ICE and transmission should last a very long time. My 2010 went to a grandson over a year ago. He hasn't done the reset yet.

Edited October 29, 2019 by lolder

[Fusion_Hybrid]

I am also having the same issue with my 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid that has 136,000 Miles. My car rarely runs in EV Mode anymore except when applying the brakes. This morning on my way to work I had the lowest gas mileage I have experienced at 26 MPG in stop and go traffic for about an hour to cover 16 mies. My car use to run this way when it was -20 fahrenheit in Minnesota but now it runs like this all the time. I have taken it to the Ford Dealer in Eden Prairie and because they can no fault codes they said there is nothing wrong with my car. can't people diagnose a problem anymore without using a computer? I asked them to replace the thermostat but because there was nothing wrong he told me to save my money.

 

I also had my Takata airbag replaced but this problem was occurring before the airbag was replaced. Other than replacing the hybrid battery, "balancing the cells", has anyone identified the real issue? If it has been posted I did not see a general fix to the issue. My car is in print much mint condition so I would like to keep it if I can get back to 40 mpg. Thoughts? (mplsguy@prodigy.net)

[Cnaroach]

Mplsguy, scroll back, the fix is detailed. Your on board computer restricted use of your hybrid battery once it hit 10 years old. If you reset the age of the battery to one year, it will run like new.

[lolder]

I am also having the same issue with my 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid that has 136,000 Miles. My car rarely runs in EV Mode anymore except when applying the brakes. This morning on my way to work I had the lowest gas mileage I have experienced at 26 MPG in stop and go traffic for about an hour to cover 16 mies. My car use to run this way when it was -20 fahrenheit in Minnesota but now it runs like this all the time. I have taken it to the Ford Dealer in Eden Prairie and because they can no fault codes they said there is nothing wrong with my car. can't people diagnose a problem anymore without using a computer? I asked them to replace the thermostat but because there was nothing wrong he told me to save my money.

 

I also had my Takata airbag replaced but this problem was occurring before the airbag was replaced. Other than replacing the hybrid battery, "balancing the cells", has anyone identified the real issue? If it has been posted I did not see a general fix to the issue. My car is in print much mint condition so I would like to keep it if I can get back to 40 mpg. Thoughts? (mplsguy@prodigy.net)

Here is the fix: https://www.fordfusionforum.com/topic/19361-my-instructions-on-restoring-the-hybrid-ev-function-on-the-ford-fusion-hybrid-approaching-the-89-years-mark/

[mmtphoto]

Since you mentioned you have the 2010 FFH and a 2009 ESCAPE Hybrid, I figured I's give this a shot-I have done the re-balance with my MS 808 Autel, and have done the "year 1' fix on it too, and did two other cars owned by my neighbor-I was telling a friend about this, he has a 2006 Escape Hybrid, and he asked if this was possible to do to his car-anyone know?

does anyone know the answer to this question? thanks

[lolder]

They are completely different vehicles. Does it have the same problem?

[gillessv]

Here is a detailed post I made on how to fix the issue:

 

https://www.fordfusionforum.com/topic/19361-my-instructions-on-restoring-the-hybrid-ev-function-on-the-ford-fusion-hybrid-approaching-the-89-years-mark/?tab=comments#comment-109239

I applied this fix last night to my 2010 Fusion hybrid and it worked like a charm! Thanks to Allen84!

[mmtphoto]

They are completely different vehicles. Does it have the same problem?

it does, he said it does not run in EV mode and asked if i could find out if this fix could be applied to his vehicle. I'm going to hook my laptop up and see where it goes but I hoped that someone here might know if it had been attempted on a 2006

[IrisD]

Just started happening with my 2010 milan hybrid. Thanks for all the helpful info. Will be interested what reaction I get at the dealership after I take it in after Xmas! Mileage dropped from about 37 in cold weather in November to 30 now in December. 
 

Iris

[PaulGo]

2010 Ford Fusion VIN 4757 Hybrid Electric Vehicle Battery Test Results - Department of Energy

 

Conclusion: The Ford Fusion, with VIN 4757, experienced a 3.8% degradation in battery capacity and stayed below DOE targets for all aspects of the HPPC test over the duration of 160,000 miles of fleet testing.

 

From this result I would assume the 9 year cut-off that Ford did on the hybrid function is much  too conservative.  Full hybrid functionality could extend for many more years without risk of HV battery problems. 

 

https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/02/f7/batteryfusion4757_0.pdf

[lolder]

On 1/3/2020 at 11:37 PM, PaulGo said:

2010 Ford Fusion VIN 4757 Hybrid Electric Vehicle Battery Test Results - Department of Energy

 

Conclusion: The Ford Fusion, with VIN 4757, experienced a 3.8% degradation in battery capacity and stayed below DOE targets for all aspects of the HPPC test over the duration of 160,000 miles of fleet testing.

 

From this result I would assume the 9 year cut-off that Ford did on the hybrid function is much  too conservative.  Full hybrid functionality could extend for many more years without risk of HV battery problems. 

 

https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/02/f7/batteryfusion4757_0.pdf

Most hybrids of that era were below the DOE targets even when new so that statement is unimportant but the HVB durability performance of the Ford was better than all the others. There were two cars in the test operated by a delivery service in Phoenix. The other one got rear ended by a truck at 70,000 miles that totaled it. Up to that time it was performing the same.

[Fusion_Hybrid]

The Ford Dealer I go to in Eden Prairie MN said they do not have the proper equipment to perform the fix. Sounds like a cop out to me. Looking for someone else to apply the fix. Anybody have any ideas on a location in Minneapolis/St. Paul that will do the work?

[Fusion_Hybrid]

I found the following video on YouTube that shows how to fix the EV mode expiration problem:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxW0C9FEBPc

 

[rowekmr]

I have been following this thread since I found it a few weeks ago bothered about my car not going into EV also. I am not that techie so didn't want to try to process described worried I would mess something up and cause bigger problems. I took it to Ford awhile back and they gave me a print out that said that the same as another posted in that they won't do anything until they get an answer from engineering department.

I was driving my mother to the airport yesterday and at 49F the gas engine stayed on and seemed to be at high idle (like it was charging) while sitting at stop lights. While it kept the heat blowing good I think it really cuts into the fuel economy. After watching this video I think I will try it now.

[Kwm_55]

I have the same problem with my 2010 Milan. My car was stored for a year and was driven only occasionally. I started driving the car again daily in Dec of 2017. However I didn’t have this problem until after I had the air bag replaced in June of 2019. If the problem was from improper storage, why did it take a year and a half to manifest? The car has 144,000 miles so maybe the info above about shorted cells applies. What is the average HVB life?

Edited January 9, 2020 by Kwm_55
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