Ford fuel efficiency update guinea pig testers

[keybman]

The 2nd PCM Recalibration was successful...

 

While this update will not likely affect my typical work commute (as I am not able to drive any long stretches above 65 MPG), it should greatly aid my planned Florida trip in August...

 

I was wrong - the PCM update does affect my work commute. This morning, over the same 17.6 miles, I attained 56 MPG, which is in par with what I normally might do but...I had several miles available to cruise at 70-75 MPH and the EV mode seemed to be utilized even more than usual. Plus, this MPG trip was achieved without my EV+ destination point - which normally helps my last 2 minute climb up around and around the parking garage at work.

 

I am impressed so far. :)

[acdii]

 

Something to share with your service dept's tech so that your PCM update works on the 1st try:

 

I was able to talk to the tech that did the PCM recalibration on my FFH yesterday (both times). He said that he read the Ford bulletin re-programming instructions 5 times before he figured out what the problem was. He indicated that while technicians know how to reprogram the IDS, they likely are just doing what they know to do. The bulletin in this case, though, clearly states that they must have Version 85.05 for the reprogramming to work correctly. Once he updated the IDS with the correct version, the recalibration worked like a charm.

 

Hope this helps! :)

 

 

Very helpful info. So much so I added it to the TSB thread!

[jeff_h]

 

Something to share with your service dept's tech so that your PCM update works on the 1st try:

 

I was able to talk to the tech that did the PCM recalibration on my FFH yesterday (both times). He said that he read the Ford bulletin re-programming instructions 5 times before he figured out what the problem was. He indicated that while technicians know how to reprogram the IDS, they likely are just doing what they know to do. The bulletin in this case, though, clearly states that they must have Version 85.05 for the reprogramming to work correctly. Once he updated the IDS with the correct version, the recalibration worked like a charm.

 

Hope this helps! :)

 

Thank you - have pasted the above into a Word Doc in large font and it will be sitting on the top of the passenger seat. I will also mention it to the service advisor, but have found that customer comments tend to get left at the service counter and never passed to the tech.

 

As part of yesterday's service request that I made online, I noted for one of my items "Recall 13S04 replace fuel delivery module - do not have any fuel smell, so just need to get the part(s) associated with a work order and on order to replace when parts are more widely available." --- service advisor called my cell phone and told me "we don't have those recall parts in stock yet and would have to order them"//// Helloooooooo, McFlyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

 

So I am hoping that leaving the above note on version 85.05 on the seat will catch the attention of the tech, as I do not have a high degree of confidence that the service advisor will pass along anything meaningful.

[hybridbear]

You can tell as soon as you get back in your car before leaving the dealer if your update was installed correctly. Just turn your car on then back off and look at the Regen miles on the Lifetime Summary. If your Regen miles have been reset while your EV miles aren't then you know the update was successful. If your Regen miles are not reset then go back inside and tell them the update was unsuccessful. Hopefully this will save some ppl the pain of driving away only to have to return.

Edited August 1, 2013 by hybridbear

[acdii]

 

Thank you - have pasted the above into a Word Doc in large font and it will be sitting on the top of the passenger seat. I will also mention it to the service advisor, but have found that customer comments tend to get left at the service counter and never passed to the tech.

 

As part of yesterday's service request that I made online, I noted for one of my items "Recall 13S04 replace fuel delivery module - do not have any fuel smell, so just need to get the part(s) associated with a work order and on order to replace when parts are more widely available." --- service advisor called my cell phone and told me "we don't have those recall parts in stock yet and would have to order them"//// Helloooooooo, McFlyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

 

So I am hoping that leaving the above note on version 85.05 on the seat will catch the attention of the tech, as I do not have a high degree of confidence that the service advisor will pass along anything meaningful.

My Service Manager personally worked on my cars, so if I mention this he will not forget it.

[cgul]

You can tell as soon as you get back in your car before leaving the dealer if your update was installed correctly. Just turn your car on then back off and look at the Regen miles on the Lifetime Summary. If your Regen miles have been reset while your EV miles aren't then you know the update was successful. If your Regen miles are not reset then go back inside and tell them the update was unsuccessful. Hopefully this will save some ppl the pain of driving away only to have to return.

 

Not exactly! I had my C-Max updated early this week and the regen miles were reset but EV will only work up to 62 mph. Have it rescheduled for next Tuesday to redo.

[dmt1971]

You can tell as soon as you get back in your car before leaving the dealer if your update was installed correctly. Just turn your car on then back off and look at the Regen miles on the Lifetime Summary. If your Regen miles have been reset while your EV miles aren't then you know the update was successful. If your Regen miles are not reset then go back inside and tell them the update was unsuccessful. Hopefully this will save some ppl the pain of driving away only to have to return.

I had mine done yesterday and just saw this post today. I have not seen mine in EV mode over 62 mph but I just checked my lifetime regen statistic and it says 7.2 miles. I assume that is just yesterday's regen miles. So, I am now confused as to whether my update "took" or not.

[hermans]

My update works just fine. I went to NYC late yesterday afternoon and was able to achieve EV up to 80 MPH on the NJ turnpike. Same coming back.

[LEM]

Has the blue region been expanded after the update or it stays the same? I know that has more to do with the battery charge, but just in case...

Click on the attached image for details.

 

Edited August 1, 2013 by LEM

[acdii]

Has the blue region been expanded after the update or it stays the same? I know that has more to do with the battery charge, but just in case...

Click on the attached image for details.

 

Capture.jpg

You know, I at one time did have the blue bar go very high, in fact it is in that video I posted about the extreme hypermiling that was done to achieve Ford's accepted MPG range. I dont know what they did for it to do that, but I have not been able to get that to happen again on the old one, just that one trip after I got it back, and never again, and never on the new one. It was up to the third bar.

[MaineFusion]

Over the past few days of commuting 97mi round trip. I haven't seen a big difference in fuel economy, however, I am now setting my cruise control to 65mph instead of 63mph as I did before (my car would do EV mode at 63 previously). Maybe over the long run I'll start to see bigger improvements. Still it is nice to be able to use EV mode over 63mph. I'm actually passing other vehicles occasionally now.

 

I'm sure if I had been driving at 65mph previously I would be seeing a noticeable difference in fuel economy, so for me this update is more of a speed boost than an fuel economy boos.

[David Henry]

 

Something to share with your service dept's tech so that your PCM update works on the 1st try:

 

I was able to talk to the tech that did the PCM recalibration on my FFH yesterday (both times). He said that he read the Ford bulletin re-programming instructions 5 times before he figured out what the problem was. He indicated that while technicians know how to reprogram the IDS, they likely are just doing what they know to do. The bulletin in this case, though, clearly states that they must have Version 85.05 for the reprogramming to work correctly. Once he updated the IDS with the correct version, the recalibration worked like a charm.

 

Hope this helps! :)

Thank you! Excellent info!!

[keybman]

Over the past few days of commuting 97mi round trip. I haven't seen a big difference in fuel economy, however, I am now setting my cruise control to 65mph instead of 63mph as I did before (my car would do EV mode at 63 previously). Maybe over the long run I'll start to see bigger improvements. Still it is nice to be able to use EV mode over 63mph. I'm actually passing other vehicles occasionally now.

 

I'm sure if I had been driving at 65mph previously I would be seeing a noticeable difference in fuel economy, so for me this update is more of a speed boost than an fuel economy boos.

 

I have to agree. My afternoon commute home today yielded a 46 MPG trip - which is what I had been experiencing over the last few weeks of ~100 degree weather. But, I have the ability now to drive 70 MPH (if traffic allows for it) for a few miles, and at no major hit to the MPG. Previously, if I were to drive above 65 MPH, the MPG would drop precipitously down into the 30s. Speed, extreme cold and extreme hot were all previously mileage killers for this vehicle. You could say that this update potentially mellows all of those factors.

 

I also noted this afternoon that the A/C kW draw on the climate gauge looked just about the same as it did pre-update - in the 2-2.5 range. How this will ultimately affect overall MPG is still unknown at this point - the jury is still out on that one.

 

[keybman]

Thank you! Excellent info!!

 

You are welcome - hopefully it will be helpful in your update.

[46stang]

 

Something to share with your service dept's tech so that your PCM update works on the 1st try:

 

I was able to talk to the tech that did the PCM recalibration on my FFH yesterday (both times). He said that he read the Ford bulletin re-programming instructions 5 times before he figured out what the problem was. He indicated that while technicians know how to reprogram the IDS, they likely are just doing what they know to do. The bulletin in this case, though, clearly states that they must have Version 85.05 for the reprogramming to work correctly. Once he updated the IDS with the correct version, the recalibration worked like a charm.

 

Hope this helps! :)

Thanks for the info. Yea they redid it today with the updated ids software and it works perfect now. I'm going on a 700 mile road trip this weekend so we will see how it does.

[Geremy13]

@dtw-dave

 

Hi all ... just got our 2013 Ice Storm Fusion Hybrid on 7-11-13. While we are at a lifetime MPG of 41.9 after only 325 miles, I am hoping that Ford wouldn't bother with this upgrade unless it made a 5% to 10% improvement for most drivers ... that would put me at 45-ish and make me a very happy camper. On a side note, I wonder if this is something they just "came up with," or it was a 2014 (or '15) improvement that they figured they needed to pull out of their pocket now due to the poor press on anticipated fuel economy. I'll post more as I have more info on our car. Love all the number geeks here.

 

WOW, Dave... I picked mine up on 07-11-13 as well. My lifetime is only at 36 after 1300 miles. Being a new car I am driving like a grandma and trying to beat everyone else's MPG....... I drive at 20MPH in the 30.... drive 30 in the 40.... get 100% brake score all the time. My daily commute is 3miles..... with alot of 3 miles in between (lunch, etc.)....

 

I would be really happy at 41.9 too! I'm on my 3rd tank and paying attention to the 'coach' now.... get EXCELLENT on everything... and still only get 36...

 

Great for you!... I wouldn't change anything if I was you......

 

I, on the otherhand.... may take the plunge.

[Geremy13]

Hoping this is the part that makes the most difference. AC kills the MPG in my car. I can see up to a 12 MPG difference driving with or without AC on. On my trip home I can feel the car struggling to recharge when the AC is on, and when just having the windows down with the vent on and no AC, It rolls smoothly in and out of EV. I normally get 38 with AC on and 46+ without on the same roads. I have seen up to 50 MPG on these trips without AC.

 

acdii... you have been so helpful in the past. Maybe you could help me with this one. On my HY Ti.. when the climate is on I push the A/C button and it has no effect. So..... I might have climate on... and set to Auto...... and the temp gets comfortable... and then I press the A/C button and expect just fan recirculation and hopefully better MPG....

 

BUT.. pressing the A/C button makes no difference at all. I still get to enjoy a nice comfortable air conditioned car....... but ....

 

What do you think?

[corncobs]

Geremy you should definitely benefit from the PCM update!

 

I had to make a fuel stop this morning it's only 1.6 miles from my house and I got a whopping 31 MPG. There is almost nothing I can do different since the engine just runs because its cold and that really sucks literally. I didn't use the AC since its rather comfortable in the morning.

 

I would be as unhappy as you are when I would drive such short distances daily returning unhappy MPG results.

[Jamone]

acdii... you have been so helpful in the past. Maybe you could help me with this one. On my HY Ti.. when the climate is on I push the A/C button and it has no effect. So..... I might have climate on... and set to Auto...... and the temp gets comfortable... and then I press the A/C button and expect just fan recirculation and hopefully better MPG....

 

BUT.. pressing the A/C button makes no difference at all. I still get to enjoy a nice comfortable air conditioned car....... but ....

 

What do you think?

Turn it off auto and make sure you select an output location such as upper body. Then you can toggle the AC off. Watch the graph to confirm climate goes to 0 then AC is truly off. The fan shows up on the other bar not climate.

[dtw-dave]

Well, I got my PCM reprogramming yesterday afternoon and as of right now, I am underwhelmed. This is my wife's car but I drove it to work yesterday (21.6 miles, about 15 of which is highway), cruising when possible with a top speed of 75 and got like 46 with no A/C. Today I got 41.5 with same conditions, 6.5 EV miles. I did see it pop into EV a few times when I was coasting but not nearly as much as I had hoped. I did turn on Grade Assist though, so I'm not sure if that had a negative effect on my pretty flat drive. I am still very hopeful, as maybe the vehicle has to relearn a few things but based on the positive reviews I see here from the update, I'm wondering what's going on. I'll post again when I can ... hopefully with better results.

[hermans]

I'm assuming you turned on grade assist in error?

[dtw-dave]

No, I activated it intentionally when I got on the freeway b/c I read somewhere else on this site that it's ok to have it on all the time. Might be a trial and error thing for me ... next trip might tell. When I drive it home today about 4 p.m. ET I will definitely keep it off. The freeway conditions will be more stop and go, so I might not be able to give it a good comparison drive until I take it work again some day next week. Hope it's just operator error ... I was happy with my Lifetime of 44.2 as of yesterday (580 miles on the car), and was hoping for a 5% to 10% bump!

[acdii]

Grade assist boosts regen when descending a hill, and even when coasting down a hill it double freewheeling regen, so you could have a negative impact by having it on when you dont need it. It may be sapping some of your forward speed instead of letting the car coast, which has to then be made up with power from the ICE. It really should only be used when needed and not left on all times.

[dtw-dave]

... acdii, I hope you're right. I'm anxious to get outta work and see it that makes a difference! If it does, it frankly surprises me that the car's computer can't figure that out, or limit the action somehow. I know that Hill Start Assist incorporates a sensor that kicks in if you are on a 5-degree+ grade.

[Charrua]

 

acdii... you have been so helpful in the past. Maybe you could help me with this one. On my HY Ti.. when the climate is on I push the A/C button and it has no effect. So..... I might have climate on... and set to Auto...... and the temp gets comfortable... and then I press the A/C button and expect just fan recirculation and hopefully better MPG....

 

BUT.. pressing the A/C button makes no difference at all. I still get to enjoy a nice comfortable air conditioned car....... but ....

 

What do you think?

 

There is another thread that addresses this issue:

http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/6628-ventilation-without-ac/

 

I found the best advise to be:

 

 

There was a post in another thread indicating to do this in order to get to a "vent" setting:

 

1. Press A/C button (if not already lit up)
2. Press MAX A/C button
3. Press A/C button

After pressing these in succession, none of the A/C lights should be lit and you can use the fan buttons to increase/decrease the amount of air coming in from outside.

 

Not optimal, but works for me.