Ok, so my gas mileage/EV problems have been well documented on this board. But I've started noticing a pattern that has me stumped.

If I just get in and just start driving, it'll take a good 30 to 45 minutes of solid driving before the ICE will shut down and kick into EV mode. Then, even when it does (at a stoplight or wherever), I usually can only get to about 5 miles per hour before the ICE kicks in again.

BUT...

If I get in, drive two blocks to the bank. Turn the FEH off. Go get cash from the ATM (total time: 1 minute). Then start driving again? It'll kick into EV mode almost immediately and I'll be able to get up to 20 or so miles per hour before the ICE turns itself back on again.

And the even weirder thing is, it'll stay that way unless I don't drive it for an extended number of hours. If, for example, I park for an hour, go shopping, then start the FEH again? It'll work fine as long as I had that bank stop earlier in the day.

Any ideas what to do? I've explained this to the dealer about 5 times and they keep claiming nothing's wrong.

That's pretty odd. Are you using the air at full blast?

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A couple suggestions, the first being to find a new dealer service department. Your vehicle obviously has a problem according to the way you are describing what it does.

The second suggestion would be to document exactly what you do for an entire tank or a week or whatever appropriate time period you think is necessary. This will be a major pain but so isn't not getting what you paid for in a vehicle. Keep track of where you went, how long the engine ran before going EV, the outside temp, a/c usage, traffic, distance travelled, etc. Put down anything that could possibly vary day to day or trip to trip.

Take your logbook to the (new) dealer and show it to them. Make them perform a diagnostic on it and give you a printout showing no codes. Ask them if the computer can be reprogrammed. It certainly sounds like some sort of program error or a bad sensor of some sort. Any error like this should show up on a diagnostic.

If I remember correctly from another thread you are getting about 24 mpg or so? My 2005 is averaging 32+ over 5000 miles and the first tank on my 2006 I got over 31.5.

Good luck.

Ray

We know there has been a firmware update since the introduction of the 2005. It is your right (and perhaps the dealer's right to charge for service time?) to demand that he flash your PCM with the update (or if yours is up to date - just reflash it anyway). I have said before this seems the most logical place for a solution. If your dealer says no a sixth time I would tell the manager you will be doing business elsewhere.

Mike Maline - Sdctcher
2005 Ford Escape Hybrid Owner
California School Teacher

We never run the AC on max, and actually, hardly run the AC at all. And yeah, we're consistently getting under 25 mpg with over 5000 miles on the FEH.

I think what I'm realizing (and what several of you have been trying to get into my stubborn head) is that I need to find a new dealer to work on it. (It's hard when my current dealer is about a 3 minute drive away!)