2010 - 2012 Fusion Hybrid High Voltage Battery TSB at 10 Years of Age

[SunnyB]

1 hour ago, mwr said:

I will say that once I overfilled to the max (and got 700 miles from the tank) with no adverse effects that I know of. But I won't do it again.

Once the auto-shutoff on the pump hits, I will only round it off and don't fill it to the max.

 

Funny thing is, my fillups this way used to be close to 17 gallons and now they are about 15.5 gallons.  That and the continued poor mileage have me wondering what is going on.

 

 

[Waldo]

21 hours ago, mwr said:

I will say that once I overfilled to the max (and got 700 miles from the tank) with no adverse effects that I know of. But I won't do it again.

 

How would you know if your vehicle was producing more emissions from evaporating fuel?

[mwr]

1 hour ago, Waldo said:

 

How would you know if your vehicle was producing more emissions from evaporating fuel?

I wouldn't know. I would only know if the performance or fuel economy suffered, which I've read is possible (on some cars, don't know about the FFH) if damage is caused by overfilling.

[Edward]

On 6/30/2020 at 12:39 PM, SunnyB said:

I've finally been able to drive on fairly flat roads and I'm not getting the same results.  Negligible increase to 34 mpg.  Original bill from the dealer was $254.

 

Also strange, fillups are only about 15.5 - 16.0 gallons even though the tank has a capacity of 17.5 gallons.  I take it down to about 10 miles until empty according to the dashboard, and it's still only 15.5 gallons.

I'm afraid that you were overcharged if that is the only svc they performed.    My dealer is Kennedy Ford, Conshohocken, PA outside Philly.  They should now know how to perform this service as I left them with the Tech Bulletin.

[lolder]

On 6/30/2020 at 12:39 PM, SunnyB said:

I've finally been able to drive on fairly flat roads and I'm not getting the same results.  Negligible increase to 34 mpg.  Original bill from the dealer was $254.

 

Also strange, fillups are only about 15.5 - 16.0 gallons even though the tank has a capacity of 17.5 gallons.  I take it down to about 10 miles until empty according to the dashboard, and it's still only 15.5 gallons.

It sounds like the software update was not done correctly. There is a dramatic improvement even in hilly areas. The ICE should cut off when you take your foot off the accelerator below 46 mph. At 30 mph on level roads it should run about 1/2 mile in ICE and about the same in EV alternating.

[bryanb]

2010, that I just bought with 144k on it. Found this forum while researching. 
 

Went to local ford dealer. Told them I have the TSB. They took car to do a standard diagnostic, and apparently the way it works is: you give them symptoms, they type it in, and the terminal comes back with TSB’s and other articles from ford on what might be problem. They have to do these before the mechanic can run down his own ideas. So this one immediately came up, and they did it. Charged me $75 for an hour or so of work. Immediate improvement!  

[lolder]

That's the cheapest dealer update so far.

[SunnyB]

On 7/21/2020 at 8:54 PM, lolder said:

It sounds like the software update was not done correctly. There is a dramatic improvement even in hilly areas. The ICE should cut off when you take your foot off the accelerator below 46 mph. At 30 mph on level roads it should run about 1/2 mile in ICE and about the same in EV alternating.

What would a mechanic need to be able to determine if the software update was done correctly or not?  I complained to the dealer and they sent me a check for $64.10, which was only an acknowledgement that they overbilled me.  ICE does not immediately cut off when I take my foot off the accelerator.  It will run in EV mode sometimes, but not 1/2 half the time at 30 mph.  

Edited August 19, 2020 by SunnyB

[lolder]

The normal level of HVB charge is about 1/2. When the car is warmed up at 30 mph on a level road it will alternate between ICE and EV about equally every 1/2 mile. The HVB cycles between 1/2 and about 1/3charge . It seldom goes above 1/2 except long high speed braking  or going down long hills. The ICE will shut off when you are coasting below 46 mph. Here are the reasons why the ICE may run:

 

1: Low HVB
2: HVB reconditioning ( 2010-12 ) for about 20 minutes every 8-10k miles
3: Evaporative emmissions check at start up
4: Speed over 46 mph.
5: Higher power demand such as acceleration
6: Cabin heater demand
7: Warmup of catalytic converter when cold and speed above 12 mph. ( 2010-12 )
8: Use of "L" gear
9: The ICE is motorized with no fuel flow when coasting down steep hills and speed exceeds 46 mph or at any speed while brake depressed and HVB becomes full. For instance if you are coasting at 60 mph and put on the brake, when regen is not sufficient the brake pedal will call for higher motorizing rpm for compression or "jack" braking.

 

If it doesn't behave like this the software has not been changed. The behavior change is dramatic.

[SunnyB]

On 8/21/2020 at 6:29 AM, lolder said:

If it doesn't behave like this the software has not been changed. The behavior change is dramatic.

 

You didn't answer my question.  Can a mechanic determine whether the software has been updated (without driving the car)?  Can only a Ford Dealer update the software? 

[billford]

5 hours ago, SunnyB said:

 

You didn't answer my question.  Can a mechanic determine whether the software has been updated (without driving the car)?  Can only a Ford Dealer update the software? 

 

Yes, you can determine if it's been updated by trying to update it again. The tool will tell you if it's at the latest level or if there's another update available.

 

Anybody besides a Ford dealer can do the update. Just need the Ford tool and Internet access. Some shops use a pass through box for updates, but the Ford tool makes it easier

 

[SunnyB]

On 9/2/2020 at 10:38 PM, billford said:

 

Just need the Ford tool and Internet access. Some shops use a pass through box for updates, but the Ford tool makes it easier

 

What is the name of the Ford tool?

[billford]

1 hour ago, SunnyB said:

What is the name of the Ford tool?

 

Its the Ford IDS scan tool.

[Automate]

On 8/18/2020 at 10:21 PM, SunnyB said:

What would a mechanic need to be able to determine if the software update was done correctly or not? 

 

An owner can also check the firmware version of their BECM and PCM modules using free Forscan software  https://forscan.org/home.html and a cheap OBDII adapter.

[SunnyB]

What is the number of the firmware version we should have if the TSB 20-2142 was properly done? 

[Automate]

9 hours ago, SunnyB said:

What is the number of the firmware version we should have if the TSB 20-2142 was properly done? 

That is a good question.  Below is what Forscan shows  for my 2010 that has NOT had the TSB applied.

 

Not sure why it's showing no known upgrades for the Powertrain Control Module.

Hopefully someone who has had the upgrade will post theirs.

 

 

[Mark J]

Has anyone who has done the Forscan reset also taken their car in for the tsb work?  Anyone know specifically what other updating is done by the dealer?  If the Forscan reset could maybe or not cause an issue with the tsb,  is it possible to reset back to the setting that was originally there thus rendering the ev mode back to it's pre -  Forscan uselessness? 

[Automate]

The ForScan change is very simple.  All it does is tell the computer the battery is a young  battery.  The original module firmware improperly assumed the battery would be severely degraded after 9+ years.  This turned out to be untrue.  The original firmware limits how much power can be drawn from the old  batteries.

 

The TSB fixes the firmware so it does not assume the battery is so weak when it is 9+ years old.  One should be able to reset the car module battery age back to the true battery age  using ForScan either before or after the TSB.

 

 

[mmtphoto]

i did this fix on our 2010 fusion hybrid about a year and a half ago now, really when this all came up and Allen posted the fix-prior to that, the car that had been getting 35-36 mpg in mixed driving in a NE city.  We bought our fusion used at about 90,000 miles in January 2017 and drove it for about a year and a half before it sat for 7 months for the airbag fix.  When we finally got it back on the road, the mileage was noticeably down at this point (28-29), and I came across the fix on this forum. 

Now at the end of 2020, we have moved to South Carolina and are doing a lot of driving (virtually all highway) and are getting over 39 mpg average, with occasional trips in the mid 40's.  The car has 114,000 miles on it now, and we can easily get over 600 miles on a full tank, not bad for a 10+ year old car.  It runs great, no leaks, dependable and qualifies as one of the best cars we have ever owned (more than 50 years of car ownership).   As an aside, we never got any notice from Ford that this TSB was released much less contacted us to bring it in to correct this stupid flaw in the software.  Ford should incur some penalty for the costs and issues this created for thousands of owners.

Edited December 15, 2020 by mmtphoto

[Mark J]

Yes I did the forscan reset.  It's been working correctly now.  There's no need to have the dealer do the tsb,  right?  Thanks for reply.

[Automate]

 

7 hours ago, Mark J said:

Yes I did the forscan reset.  It's been working correctly now.  There's no need to have the dealer do the tsb,  right?  Thanks for reply.

 

There might be some risk if you used ForScan to reset the battery age all the way to zero.  Obviously a battery does degrade over time.  Its just a matter of how much.  The original firmware was too conservative and protected the battery too much.  But when you use ForScan to set the battery age to zero you are saying you have brand new battery with all the capacity that comes with a new battery.  The battery aging feature of the firmware was there to protect the battery as it gets weaker with age.

 

So, after resetting the age with FroScan to zero, there  is a risk you could over stress the old battery and cause it to fail completely where your car would not move or run.  Although I have not heard of this happening to anyone.  We just don't know how big this risk really is.  I chose to reset my battery to 6 years old with Forscan.  That still made  a big difference in the way the car drives but I don't know how much of a difference it is from 0 years.

 

In theory, now that the batteries are 10+ years old, Ford could actually measure how much the batteries have degraded and put the proper factor into the new TSB firmware.  On the other hand, how much effort are they going to put into firmware of 10+ year old vehicles?

[Mark J]

Can I go back in and change the setting again?  I believe I set it to one.  Thanks

[Automate]

3 hours ago, Mark J said:

Can I go back in and change the setting again?  I believe I set it to one.  Thanks

Yes

[Mark J]

ok thanks

[SunnyB]

On 12/15/2020 at 8:24 AM, mmtphoto said:

i did this fix on our 2010 fusion hybrid about a year and a half ago now, really when this all came up and Allen posted the fix-prior to that, the car that had been getting 35-36 mpg in mixed driving in a NE city.  We bought our fusion used at about 90,000 miles in January 2017 and drove it for about a year and a half before it sat for 7 months for the airbag fix.  When we finally got it back on the road, the mileage was noticeably down at this point (28-29), and I came across the fix on this forum. 

 

 

My car supposedly got the update at the dealer, but is still running at 29 mpg.   Interestingly, the problem arose after I got the airbag fix.

Edited December 30, 2020 by SunnyB